The Long Way From Iowa Book Tour Heads Back to France…
The coast-to-coast book tour for A Long Way From Iowa is now complete. Forty-nine days after the tour began at a library in Mystic, Connecticut, the final event was held last night–with a wonderful book group meeting in the home of a longtime friend, in Seattle.
It’s been a heartwarming, thrilling ride, and I am so grateful for the interest, support, and help I’ve received all along the way from friends, colleagues, family–as well as acquaintances, interested bystanders, and the public.
Stay tuned for the next installment in this adventure–and thanks so much for your interest!
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
Au Revoir, Portland, Bonjour Seattle!
After a 36-hour trip across the country on the Empire Builder –two nights on the train, and one full day–I arrived in Portland, Oregon.*
I boarded the train in St. Paul (Minnesota) at 11:00 pm on Friday night, and arrived in Portland Sunday morning shortly before noon. I had been warned that Amtrak trains are notoriously unreliable in terms of on-time arrival: nevertheless, this train was not only on time, but a bit early. Therefore I had plenty of time to get cleaned up and rested up enough to be the guest of honor at the book party my friends Ginnie and Rick hosted for me in their lovely home the following evening.
This party was a great success! The guest list was composed of a nice mix of Ginnie’s friends and mine–including one friend from my first neighborhood in St. Paul, a woman I had not seen since before we were even women, still just girls (we figured out that the last time had been when we were about 14 years old!). Another was a dear old friend from my time of living in New York. A third was actually someone I had never met, the friend of a mutual friend. And the fourth was Linda Witt, who served as moderator for a couple of panel discussions I organized about Demystifying the French–with Linda’s help–for the Fédération des Alliances Françaises USA.
I enjoyed meeting with this group so much! The questions they asked, and the comments they made proved to me yet again that there are many ways into the story I tell in A Long Way From Iowa, and each individual reader tends to find the path that is most interesting for him or herself. Therefore, as usual, when there is the opportunity to discuss a book with a group of readers, all kinds of interesting and alternative ways of reading it tend to be discovered.
The next night, Ginnie and some of her friends and I went to a Barbara Kingsolver event sponsored by Literary Arts. Kingsolver was discussing her latest novel, the Pulitzer prizewinning Demon Copperhead. Prior to this event I had had no opportunity to learn anything about the book, but I was very interested to see that it has strong connections with the theme I am exploring with my students in my current online class for Politics and Prose bookstore, “Bootstraps.” That is, poverty in America. I’ve since started reading Kingsolver’s book and it is very compelling.
The next day was spent on some furious catching up on reading and preparing for class. Being three hours behind most of the students in my class meant that this time I had to be ready to teach at 6:45 am. It also meant that once class was over, I had a good deal of daytime ahead of me in which to explore Portland, and happily it worked into my friend Larry Kirkland’s schedule. He invited me to join him and some friends on a trip to Portland’s famous Japanese Garden, which was amazing!
By Friday my friend Ginnie and I were finally caught up enough on our various professional responsibilities that we were able to do a little bit of sightseeing. Ginnie’s husband Rick generously offered to be our chauffeur and tour guide on a drive to, and through, the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. His knowledge of both the geological history of this amazing area of protected natural beauty, and the political history of how it has been preserved made the trip so much more interesting than it would have been without him.
Saturday morning it was time for me to say goodbye to Portland and get back on the train–this time for a short and very pleasant three-hour ride to Seattle, with lovely forest all along the coast. (The train was once again right on time, yay Amtrak!)
I’ll have a few days here in Seattle and environs, staying with dear friends; and one visit to a book club hosted by another friend–then it’s onto a plane and on my way back to France, with a layover in Calgary.
Stay tuned for my report from Seattle. So far it is a very interesting town!
*I’ll comment on the name of that train–(the Empire Builder?!)–in a future post, when I report on my Amtrak experience. Teaser: Mostly it was a good experience. 🙂 )
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
A Minnesota Welcome for A Long Way From Iowa
So, here are some highlights from the Minnesota part of my book tour:
Top row, left to right: 1. Illinois and Minneapolis contingents of cousins converged in Wisconsin, where we paid a visit to my 98-year-old Aunt Rose Ann (who has a cameo role in A Long Way From Iowa, and was an invaluable source as I worked on writing it.). 2. Dinner at a great pizza place in Excelsior with 10 of my female cousins and one brave man, James; Bottom row, left to right: 1. At the West Side Farmers Market with my brother-in-law and sister; 2. Reading aloud from A Long Way From Iowa with my sister’s help; 3. With more cousins, and my sister and niece, after the book-signing.
The very next day my sister and I were off to western Minnesota, where yet another cousin, along with my best friend from college, Ruthie, had been busy planning an event for me, at the Sunburg Community Center. What a surprise it was to me when I opened my email a few days before the event to see a Google alert informing me that this event, held in a town of 100 inhabitants, was featured in an international publication, French News Today, thanks to my cousin Darlene and her amazing skills at promotion. (Kinda funny to think of readers of French News Today trying to find out where Sunburg is. 🙂 ) She and Ruthie also brought out a good-sized crowd on a 90-degree (in October!) evening to talk about memoirs with me. We had a lively discussion; and afterward the attendees were offered delicious cookies and other tasty treats Ruthie had brought, to make the evening even more special.
I was lucky enough to be able to stay on for a few days in this area, on the shores of Norway Lake, in the cabin Ruthie’s grandfather had built, which is right next door to her home. Those few days of downtime at Norway Lake were a wonderful opportunity for me to unwind a bit after a fairly intense few weeks of traveling; catch up on some of the administrative tasks that pile up even when you’re on the road and that are easy to fall behind on; and just be in a beautiful, beloved, and familiar place, with some of my best friends in the world right next door. Heaven!
Here are a few of the scenes of quiet beauty that restore and sustain me when I find myself by the side of a lake on the edge of the prairie. Especially this lake.
Next it was back to St. Paul for a couple of days, and then on to beautiful Red Wing, Minnesota, on the Mississippi River for a book-signing at Fair Trade Books, a delightful indie bookstore; followed by visits with more cousins on the Wisconsin side of the river. After the book-signing my sister and I were able to finally bury the ashes of our brother next to the graves of our parents in a cemetery on the Wisconsin side of the river, with a few cousins gathered round. It was time to find a final resting place for him, and this is not a bad one. My cousin’s husband had prepared the site for us in advance, and we were all able to take a quiet moment to remember and honor my brother Jake.
A planned meeting with my friend Lorrie’s book club in Red Wing for the following night had to be cancelled due to concerns about Covid but I was able to see Lorrie and her husband, whom I hadn’t seen in a very long time, and spend the night with them before taking the train from Red Wing on to Winona for the next event, further down the river.
Left to right: 1) The waiting room in the Red Wing Amtrak station is a beautiful, well-maintained homage to train travel in this part of the country. 2) Rick and Zoe at Fair Trade Books in Red Wing set up a table for me for signing books for an afternoon. Every first-time visitor to this store is given a free book, chosen by Rick based on the reader’s description of their reading interests. Have you ever heard of such a thing?! (The only requirement is that upon receiving your gift book, you must say aloud, loud and clear, so everyone in the store can hear: “Books make great gifts!” 🙂 (And that is true, by the way…) 3) Here I am in Ellsworth, Wisconsin, my mom’s hometown, after visiting my Aunt Rose Ann. (If you don’t know what cheese curds are, I guess you will have to plan a trip to Wisconsin to find out.) 4) With my friends Larry and Lorrie at their home in Red Wing. Lorrie is a master quilter, and she is working on a beautiful quilt featuring Joan of Arc, one of my heroines (and hers).
Next it was on to Winona, where another very close friend of mine lives. I took the train there from Red Wing, which was a lovely hour-long ride down along the banks of the Mississippi.
The next night I had my final book event in Minnesota, at Paperbacks and Pieces, a book-and-puzzle store in Winona. For the second time in less than a week I was surprised by friends I hadn’t seen in many years who showed up at this event. This time it was my friend Paul, another friend from my college days, and his wife Catherine. They had driven more than an hour to see me; I was so touched, and what a treat it was to see their smiling faces in the crowd as I read from A Long Way From Iowa. (There was a fair amount of interest in Demystifing the French as well at this event.) We had a very lively and fun discussion; another wonderful evening.
Left: Taking questions and comments from the audience at Paperbacks and Pieces. Top right : With my friends Paul and Catherine. Bottom, left to right: Shannon of Paperbacks and Pieces; me; and my dear friend Cherie Hales.
There is no way I can adequately thank all of the many people who in the past few weeks drove long (or short) distances to see me; cooked meals for me; gave me beds to sleep in; bought my books and said nice things about them; and told their friends about these events, and about the book. (Several people have also recommended the book for their book groups to read; I am hoping there will be more of that.)
But there is one person I might all too easily forget to mention just because she is such a constant source of love and support in my life, so always there for me that it would be easy to take her love and support for granted; and I want to be sure to not forget her!
That is my sister Betsey, mi querida hermanita. In the two weeks I was in Minnesota, she picked me up at the airport (twice); drove me around the state for several of these events; and took me to the train station in St. Paul late at night when I left town. Before I had even gotten to Minnesota she had arranged for my book-signing at the West Side Farmers Market. While I was there she cooked meals for me, washed clothes, and did a hundred other kind things I can’t even remember. She even bought a bunch of my books as birthday presents for her friends! Best of all, she arranged for some time off from work while I was there so she could do some of these things, and so we could have more time together.
And that is just a fraction of the nice things she has done for me not only this month, but all my life.
In short: thank God for my sister, and muchissimas gracias TO my sister!
I arrived in Portland, Oregon yesterday, after a 36-hour train ride from St. Paul, Minnesota. An almost entirely pleasant experience, with some great opportunities to enjoy magnificent views of raw, rustic, and beautiful natural landscapes outside the big windows of the lounge (“sightseeing”) car. There’ll be more about that trip to come…stay tuned!
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
Thank You, New York, Washington, and Mystic, Connecticut!
Photos, left to right: 1. With Bob Attardi, Director of Programs at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington DC; 2. Colleagues, friends, and former students met me for a wonderful mini book event in Prospect Park, Brooklyn on a beautiful day in September; 3. Greenlight Books kindly invited me to come in and sign copies of A Long Way From Iowa. Stop by this wonderful Brooklyn bookstore and pick one up! 4. Breakfast with my friend Kevin Sisson, at Kitchen Little on Mason’s Island, near Mystic, CT.
I’ve been on the East Coast for a little more than a month now, and what a whirl it has been! In addition to visiting friends in New York, Connecticut, and the Washington DC area, and having book events, with the help of my son Sam I managed to (finally!) pack up the contents of the storage locker in Silver Spring, where my piano and many boxes and trunks full of family treasures–photographs, letters, journals and other documents, and of course a few books–have been trapped for far too long. They are now on their way to our home in France, hooray!
While I was in Brooklyn, I was really lucky to be able to stay in the home of my previous upstairs neighbors–and lifelong friends–in the very same building where I last lived in Brooklyn. It felt so good to be back! I have much more to say about Brooklyn, but most of it will have to wait until I’m working on my next book. For now I will just quote Francie Nolan, the protagonist of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.
“At the end of their street, the great Bridge threw itself like a sigh across the East River and was lost… lost…on the other shore. The dark East River beneath the Bridge and far away the misty-grey skyline of New York, looking like a city cut from cardboard. ‘There’s no other place like it,’ Francie said…”
My trip to Mystic, CT was also a pleasure. I took the Amtrak train from the Moynihan Train Hall in Manhattan, a very comfortable, well-designed, and gleaming new station; and am happy to report that the train was comfortable, the staff was extremely helpful, and the train was on time. The first night I was in Mystic my friend drove us to the elegant Ocean House hotel in Waverly, Rhode Island, where we attended a very bookish event, an enjoyable evening with the authors Ann Hood and Michael Ruhlman. The following night I was given the chance to meet with some aspiring writers–and admiring readers–of memoirs at the Mystic/Noank Library to talk about writing an intergenerational memoir. I owe a big debt of gratitude to my friend Kevin, and to Ery Caswell, for giving me this opportunity.
Next it was on to Washington DC, where last Saturday night I had a very exciting moment in my career as a writer; a celebration of A Long Way From Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France at Politics and Prose, one of the best bookstores in the country–and my favorite, and “home,” bookstore. Despite threatened severe weather that night, the house was packed with a wonderful mix of friends, former neighbors, current and former students, and some members of the P&P community that I knew not at all. Bob Attardi, the store’s Director of Programs led me in conversation about the book, and I read a few excerpts from it. The store sold a lot of books, I signed some more, and they are now there, and available for purchase, in person or online. I’m deeply grateful to this wonderful bookstore, and the community of writers and readers it has built and nourished through the years, for all they have done for me, and for other readers and writers in the Washington DC area–and actually, across the country and around the world–through their excellent programs, trips, and classes.
All along my way there have been wonderful people who have helped me through what could have been a very bumpy landing in my home country after several years away–since I arrived here having broken my glasses, wrenched my back, hurt my foot, and come down with Covid all in the space of a week or so. (Really, you’d think just one of those things would have been enough, wouldn’t you?) These friends have given me beds to sleep in; guided me through the learning curve of using my very first Iphone; picked me up from various bus stops and train stations; fed me delicious and healthy food; encouraged me when it seemed like things were really not going so well; and in one case literally (but gently) half lifted/half pried me out of bed when my back was saying “Uh-uh, no I don’t think she’s going anywhere…”
They have made me think of that Beatles song…you know the one I mean, right?
Strangers have helped too, helping me up or down stairs with my bags when they could see I was struggling, in general just being kind. I am grateful!!! Thanks, Americans! 🙂
I know there will be many other helping hands along the way as I make my way across this country, and I am grateful in advance for it. My first Minnesota event will be in St. Paul; my birthplace, and truly “home country” for me, since this event will be at the Westside Farmer’s Market, which is held in the parking lot of Icy Cup, my sister and brother-in-law’s wonderful little ice cream-and-taco business. There will also be events in West Central Minnesota (in Sunburg); and in indie bookstores in two lovely Mississippi River towns–Red Wing, and Winona. I am so excited about this, after five long years away! Here’s the link for the scheduled events, hope to see some of you along the way!
After that I will be heading to the Pacific Northwest, to two towns I’ve never been to, and have always wanted to go: Portland, Oregon, and Seattle. Stay tuned!
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
US Book Tour of A Long Way from Iowa Underway!
What a great time to start a book tour, the beginning of September! And the US part of the Long Way from Iowa Book Tour starts this week.
The first event is this Thursday, in Mystic, Connecticut, a place I’ve never been before, and am very much looking forward to visiting.
On September 15 I’ll be stopping by Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, where I used to live (and where I left a big piece of my heart), to sign preordered copies of A Long Way from Iowa. You can order YOUR signed copy of the book here. (Be sure to indicate that you want your copy signed and/or personalized before completing the order, and order SOON so your book has time to get to the store before I do!)
The next event will be at Politics & Prose bookstore, my favorite, and my “home” bookstore in the US, on September 23.
And you can find out about the rest of the tour (thus far!) here.
Hope to see you in one of these places. In the meantime, if you’ve read A Long Way from Iowa and haven’t yet written a review on Amazon or Goodreads, I sure hope you will. You have no idea how much those reviews help writers! And it doesn’t have to take you more than five minutes to write one. 🙂
Thanks for all your enthusiasm and support. It is very much appreciated!
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
My wonderful first trip to Sweden…
A few years ago, one of my sons had a brilliant (and very generous) idea. “Mom, you are not traveling enough,” he said. (This is my most-traveling son, and I have fond memories of encouraging him as a teenager to take some of his first steps in solo travel.) “We should go to Sweden. You should go see where your family came from. Let’s go together. I’ll help you plan the trip.”
It would seem that a bit of role reversal was going on here. What a wonderful thing!
So, my Christmas present that year (2019) was a beautiful, hand-painted watercolor “Ticket to Småland” from my son, found in my Christmas stocking. And our plan was to get there–to Småland, the homeland of my great-grandfather– the following summer.
Well, you all know what happened a few months later: that nasty virus changed things for everyone, and travel became if not impossible, difficult. And not a very attractive prospect.
So 2020 went by. And 2021 and 2022 went by for different reasons. But finally 2023 came around and my son said. “You’re turning 70 this year; and I’m turning 30. I think we should celebrate our 100th birthday by finally getting to Sweden.”
And so we did!
And here are a few pictures from our wonderful time there. I will have to write more about this trip later, much more in fact. But for now pictures will have to suffice. Because Covid is still here, folks, and I’ve got it (again). So my energy is low. But I couldn’t wait to share some of these pictures with you, so here they are!
The next day we took the train to Mariefred, about 70 km west of Stockholm. We decided to spend a day or two there on our way to Småland so we could see and properly appreciate the wonderful “art fence” depicting 500 years of Swedish history that is there. We knew about this public art project because our friend Lina Nordin Gee (otherwise known as parisianpostcards) was one of the seven artists commissioned to create this beautifully crafted steel fence. Here are a few pictures of Mariefred:
On the recommendation of Lina’s father we also visited the royal Gripsholm Castle. On the day we were there there were a lot of people in 18th century costume and there was a jousting demonstration going on in the courtyard. The castle was so large we were sometimes lost within it and felt a bit like we had been caught in a time trap. “Can you help us find our way back to the 21st century?” I asked one of the clutches of people clothed in their elaborate 18th century finery when we found ourselves wandering around in circles. (By the way the thing I loved most in that castle was the incredibly elaborate parqueted woodwork in the ceilings. Amazing! Don’t fail to look up in every room if you go here.)
The next morning we left for the main focal point of our trip–Småland. We took the train to Jönköping, where we picked up a rental car from the Hertz office. (Well, actually we picked the car up from the parking garage in which there was an automated pick-up-your-car-system.) However, we only found this out because a kind member of Sweden’s Christian Democratic party who was working in the party offices (which are installed in the former Hertz office) saw our bewilderment when the address we had for picking up the car did not lead to a Hertz office. He locked up the office, came outside and said “I’ll show you how to get your car,” and added “This isn’t the first time this has happened.” So…anyone planning to get a car from Hertz in Jönköping–you now know you have to go to the parking ramp around the corner from where the Hertz office used to be to get it, and do it yourself! A very beneficial travel tip!
And now it was on to the heart of Småland, at least the heart of Småland for me. We went to a lovely stuga we had rented for the next few days which was not far from Lommaryd Parish, where my great-grandfather was baptized and I assume where he worshipped (or at least attended church) until he left Sweden and emigrated to the United States. We took a day to settle in, my bicyclist son took some wonderful bike rides around the area; and on our second full day which (conveniently) was a Sunday, we went to the Lommaryd church.
I was not at all sure we would even be able to go inside the church, since it appeared that the main Sunday service was being held in another area church that day. But what a wonderful surprise when we got there!
The church was holding an outdoor service, right next to a pasture occupied by a herd of cows. The theme of the service that day was man’s relationship to nature (and, basically, how we all need to be creating a much healthier relationship with it). My son and I wandered over to the place where the service was being held, not intending to stay very long since most of the people were sitting either on the ground or in folding chairs they had brought with them. But a kind woman who intuited our intentions gestured to some folding stools that belonged to the church, and entreated us to use them.
And so we did. And what a wonderful experience we had there! This day turned out to be truly a highlight of our trip for me, and honestly, I think it may turn out to be a highlight of my life–this opportunity to reconnect with the church community that my great-grandfather left behind more than 150 years earlier. Our warm reception there, and the connection with the rural Lutheran roots of the Swedish half of my family, was just simply wonderful. There will be more to say about it in future posts. But for now, here’s a taste. (Be sure to click on the video links, especially if you love church bells, or traditional singing in Swedish. 🙂 )
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
All’s Well That Ends Well…
At a certain point I thought that instead of spending my 70th birthday with my two sons in Paris, I was going be spending it alone at our home in Champagne, waiting for a repairman to come and do the necessary work to avoid our entire swimming pool emptying into our basement.
The night before, when my son was cleaning the pool filter, a key part–the screw that holds the pressure gauge on top of the dome-like structure that the water passes through in its cleansing process–broke and left my son stuck holding the gauge firmly in place in order to avoid water spouting out of the top of the dome and continuing on to empty the contents of the pool into our basement. Quite an awkward position!
I’ll skip over some of the next steps, which involved an emergency call to my husband–who is known to keep a cool head and offer brilliant practical suggestions in such a situation–and who offered same from his home in Vermont. With the help of his long-distance creative thinking (and his knowledge of the basic physics and mechanics of the pool mechanism) and with my son’s admirable practical ability to fix things and also stay calm in these kinds of emergencies, as a temporary solution my son ended up fashioning a plug made from a wine bottle cork that he was able to insert in the place where the pressure gauge should be, and fasten it down with several layers of some very strong tape.
This part of our unplanned evening adventure ended at about midnight, at which point my son, who was really supposed to have been packing for his trip to the US 36 hours later, not doing makeshift pool filter repairs, went off to bed, exhausted, saying he’d have to pack in the morning.
Before turning in for the night, I composed an email message to our pool maintenance service with the subject line “Situation URGENT!” hoping that they would read their email first thing in the morning and maybe–if we were very very lucky–they would be able to come to the rescue sometime the following day.
Americans in France do quite a lot of complaining about their feeling that French service providers do not respond to requests for service as quickly as they ought to. (Americans have a rather inflated sense of entitlement as consumers. They don’t really get that the “customer is always right” mentality just does not work in France.) I have often remarked, in response to such complaints, that it seems to me that French service providers tend to respond to requests for service when they are able to actually provide it, and sometimes not before. This can, I agree, be frustrating for Americans, who expect an answer one way or another, and often don’t get it from French people, or don’t get it as quickly as they think they should. “Well they tend to respond in their own time,” I have said more than once, in trying to help bridge this particular cultural gap. But I have always added: “EXCEPT when there is an emergency, in which case they tend to show up very quickly.”
I was hoping that would be the case this time.
And indeed, the first good thing that happened on my birthday is that I got a call at 8:00 in the morning from the owner of the pool service, responding to my appeal for help. I was not really holding out hope that I would be able to get them to come on that very day (and–not to stress the point too much–but it was my birthday). So I was resolved to it just being one of those birthdays that didn’t go quite the way you had hoped.
However, to my surprise, here is what happened next. (The hard bits will be translated from the French.)
Pool Guy: Bonjour, Madame, c’est [first name, last name]
Me: Oh, merci, monsieur, you got my message…
PG: Oui…
Me: And you can come and help?
PG: Yes, I don’t want you to be bothered by this problem…
Me: And [holding my breath] when can you come?
PG: Today.
Me: Today…
PG: This morning.
ME: Oh, that’s good! [Then, remembering] But…I have to take my son to the train station, I have to leave here about 9:30…
PG: That’s okay, we’ll come before then.
ME: Oh, that’s wonderful, thank you! (Oh, c’est très bien, merci!)
PG: Pas de soucies. Bonne journée. (No problem. Have a good day.)
ME: Merci, monsieur, à vous de même… (Thanks, monsieur, same to you…)
Now I must confess that I did not fully believe that they would be able to get someone to us quite that quickly. The pool place is nearly an hour away from us, and it was already 8:00. So I still didn’t really think I was going to be able to go to Paris that day, and I wasn’t sure I would even be able to get my son to the train he was hoping to take either. Nevertheless both of us began preparing as if this rather unlikely event was actually possible.
And now: having made my point about French service people answering with an amazingly quick and helpful response when it is truly needed, I’ll skip to the happy ending of this story: a young technician got to us in time to make the needed repair; he gave us a couple of bits of advice about how to deal with the problem we were also having with controlling the chemical balance in the water; and he went on his way.
And as he left, my son and I went into a sitcom-worthy race to the train (you can imagine the giddy sound-track yourself): we quickly closed up the house, threw our bags into the car, and drove off as quickly as we could to our train station; where we got the last available parking space; and ran (through a rather heavy downpour) to the platform; and got onto the train–which came gliding into the station at the exact same moment that our feet hit the pavement of the platform. And we got onto the train. Which then pulled out of the station, and away toward Paris. (It is a very short stop at our station, very short.) And we weren’t even that wet, since our race had been so rapid, and our time in the pouring rain so brief.
So. When a friend gave me a one-day-late birthday greeting on Facebook, and said he hoped I had had a nice birthday, I answered as briefly and as truthfully as I could. “It was wonderful,” I said.
And I saved the rest of my answer for this post. 🙂
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
The Long Way from Iowa Book Tour Continues…
I was delighted to once again be invited to speak at the Adrian Leeds Meet-Up in Paris last week. I’ve been lucky to be able to talk about my various books and interests at this fun venue in Paris on a number of occasions over the past few years–on everything from Downsizing the Family Home to the beautiful départment de l’Aube (in the Champagne region) where I live in France, to Writing from the Heart, to Demystifying the French. This time I gave a presentation about my newest book: a memoir titled A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France. If you’d like to see a recording of this event, you can do so right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKsxjc6S8-8&t=1s
The next event on the Long Way from Iowa calendar is in Washington DC, in September. But I’m hoping I will be able to fill in a couple of other locations on the East Coast by the time I arrive there in August.
After a few weeks in New York and Washington, I’ll be heading home to the Midwest, where I’ll be visiting family and friends and adding a few more book events. So far I’ll be signing and/or talking about my book in St. Paul, Winona, and Red Wing, Minnesota. Exact dates still to be determined, but do stay tuned: you can watch for new book tour developments here.
Then, sometime in October I’ll be heading to the Pacific Northwest, a part of the country I’ve never been to: visiting close friends in Portland and Seattle. I’m hoping to have the chance to introduce my book to readers there also, before I head home to France.
I’m grateful for the support I’ve received from people across the US and also in Europe and Australia, and for all the wonderful comments you’ve made about A Long Way from Iowa. I’m hoping if you haven’t already done so you will share what you liked about the book on Amazon or GoodReads. Most readers have no idea how helpful these reviews are! (And you don’t even have to have bought the book from Amazon in order to write one.)
Yesterday was what we call Bastille Day (but the French call it “la fête nationale,” or “le quatorze juillet,” not Bastille Day! 🙂 ). From my home I was able to watch the bursts of color showering the sky above both Essoyes and Loches–our nearest adjacent village–on a lovely summer evening, with my son. I’m grateful for my life here in France–and for the chance to visits friends and family across the United States for the first time in a few years, very soon. I’m really looking forward to that.
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France.
Five wonderful memoirs set in the Midwest
I am so pleased that Shepherd.com is featuring another list of five of my favorite books. This time the theme is literary memoirs set in the Midwest. You can learn why I recommended these five books, and a bit more about them here: https://shepherd.com/best-books/literary-memoirs-from-the-midwest
But don’t stop with my page: keep browsing Shepherd.com, and tell your friends about it. It’s a wonderful new way to connect passionate readers with wonderful books, and it’s constantly getting bigger and better. For example, they’ve recently launched new genre and topic pages. So if (for example) you love memoir but aren’t particularly interested in reading Midwestern literary memoirs (or maybe just not right now), you might want to look at Shepherd’s Memoirs Bookshelf to find memoirs set in all kinds of other places.
Or maybe you’re a Minnesotan, like me, and right now you are in the mood to read about Minnesota. In that case you would definitely want to check out this page.
Or maybe you’re a Francophile: in that case, you might want to know that my other list on Shepherd.com features books about–surprise, surprise–understanding and appreciating the French! 🙂 )
We all owe a big thanks to Ben Fox (the creator of Shepherd.com) for making it easier for readers to find good books about whatever they’re in the mood for. Thank you, Ben!
And Happy Fourth of July to everyone!
Janet Hulstrand is a writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who divides her time between the US and France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France.
A Sunny, Delicious, Bookish Weekend in Nice…
It was the Festival du Livre (Book Festival)–a celebration of contemporary French literature–in Nice, on the Cote d’Azur this weekend. But it was also the ninth annual Meet the Authors event, hosted by Ella Dyer, author of Nice in Nice: The day-to-day musings of a middle-aged housewife living “part-time” in the South of France. And for the second time in a row I was invited to be one of the authors to present my book and read from it there.
Last year I presented Demystifying the French. This year I was thrilled to have the opportunity to present my new memoir, A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France to a crowded room of Anglophone expats who were eager to learn about new books published in English.
In addition to the actual event I was there for, there was lots of eating great food (hanging out with my friend Adrian Leeds, there’s just no choice about that). I was also pleased to make a couple of new friends among the other writers: you can read about the whole event here. There was even some time on Sunday afternoon to venture down to the beach and dip my toes in the Mediterranean Sea. Nice!
I took the train to get to Nice. Lots of people say the train trip is “too long” but for this reader it’s never long enough. I always have more book to read when the train pulls into the station in Nice, or back in Paris at the Gare de Lyon. And so with a reluctant sigh I put my book away and do whatever needs to be done to get to the place I can finish it in peace.
And that is all I have time to report for today. Summer seems to really be here now: wishing everyone a safe and happy summer, with lots of good books to read!
Janet Hulstrand is a writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who divides her time between the US and France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France.
Writing from the Heart, Reading for the Road 