Yesterday was our 20th wedding anniversary. In keeping with tradition Franck and I promptly forgot all about it until around noon when a thoughtful vacation rental guest emailed us from France to wish us a happy day.
The photo above was snapped just outside the exquisite wee Roman church in the village of Marey-les-Fussey, completely surrounded by vineyards. If you want to read the crazy tale of the monumental crises and cultural clashes leading up to the moment we emerged from the church as man and wife, grab a copy of My Grape Wedding.
Even though we temporarily forgot our anniversary we did do our draw for the winner at any one of our four vacation rentals in the vineyards of Burgundy. The contest-bot spat out the name of BRAD WILSON!
Brad has been notified and is over the moon. He and his wife went to Beaune many years ago and have been dreaming of returning. My guess is he is going to pick Le Relais du Vieux Beaune.
I am already concocting our new contest which we will be drawing for in a few months, coinciding with the release of My Grape Paris. I am going to try to make it something très Parisian and I have a few incredible ideas. Everyone currently subscribed to our mailing list will be automatically entered, so bonne chance for next time (except for Brad, can't be greedy now...).
Edits of My Grape Paris are chugging along, although as my fellow writers know it's always a challenge to get writing done when it's gorgeous outside and the kids are at home. Don't even get me started on how amazing it is to enjoy all the benefits of a shiny new liver!
I'm tenacious though (just ask Franck, who will roll his eyes and let out a long-suffering sigh at my epic stubbornness) so I'm still aiming for a publication date in September.
In the meantime, I will be offering My Grape Year (the book to start with in the GRAPE series) for FREE starting today for five days to help readers catch up on the series before My Grape Paris' grand arrival. Grab your copy if you haven't read it yet and feel free to share the joy.
Also, as you can probably tell by now, I just really enjoy giving out free stuff. I'll be sending out another email next week and I just may have another surprise in store then too...
