Hello folks! Today Traveling With T has a COVER REVEAL! You may remember from past posts at Traveling With T about Vicki Lesage and Adria Ciminio- well those 2 ladies joined forces and created Velvet Morning Press- a new small press. When Adria contacted me about doing a cover reveal for one of Velvet Morning’s first projects- I was ecstatic- and immediately agreed. So now here we are!
Before I reveal the cover of THAT’S PARIS– here is a link to the post about it at Velvet Morning Press- a little behind the scenes look, if you will!
And now.. if you are ready- click that read more button to see the cover and read an excerpt!
Isn’t it gorgeous? I just want to crawl up in the cover and live and do French stuff!
But, wait.. there is more:
An excerpt by Marie Vareille:
La Vie en Rose
Marie Vareille
Christmas passed with hardly a trace: In the neighborhood of Belleville, neither the owners of the Chinese supermarkets nor the prostitutes on boulevard de la Villette put up trees in their windows. Between the Peking ducks hanging in the restaurants, no one hung up Christmas ornaments. All the better. As of tomorrow, I would officially be a widow for longer than I had been married. I’d have to buy a small bottle of champagne to celebrate.
In my previous life, when I was married, I would have told you that from the dormer of my studio under the rafters, I saw the Sacré-Cœur and Notre-Dame and that the snow, like a coat, wrapped the most beautiful city in the world. I wouldn’t have lied. That’s really what I would have seen. I used to wear rose-colored glasses that masked the ugliness of the rest of the world. Everything was to be marveled at, everything was magnificent and beautiful. Not any more. David took the rose-colored glasses when he left. Now, I see life the way it is. I see the truth, and the truth is ugly. The truth is that my window is poorly insulated and the view is of a gray cement building across the way, laundry on rusty lines and melting snow in pots of dead flowers. That’s the real Paris—not the Paris of postcards and American films. It’s the gray Paris that doesn’t interest anyone. The truth, also, is that I have more and more difficulty remembering David’s face.
It’s good the rose-colored glasses are gone. Now, I live in reality. And reality is gray. I’m 26 years old, and I’ve been a widow for two years. It’s my fault, of course. Instead of getting married at an early age, I should have done as everyone else does: screw around with every guy in Paris age 20 to 35, then settle down later with a nice Parisian, met on Tinder. Without the rose-colored glasses, that’s likely what I would have done.
With this snow, I would love to cancel my evening out with Samantha and her new friends. But if I back out one more time, she’ll worry, call my mother and create unnecessary drama. Everyone will re-enter “intervention” mode and tell me to “consult.” I saw a therapist for one year. The result (in my unexpert opinion): Me: 1. Depression: 0.
It’s true that I still have difficulty breathing when I walk in front of a park and see a couple sitting on a bench. We never went on vacation during August. David worked in a souvenir shop, and summer was his busiest season. I met up with him for lunch, we would buy crappy sandwiches at an overpriced café along the rue de Rivoli. We would sit on the green, metallic chairs surrounding the fountain in the Jardin des Tuileries. We would watch the children play with paper boats in the water. We would talk about our future, potential baby names and buying an apartment. That’s where we met, where he asked me to marry him and where I said “yes.”
Today, I often make detours of several kilometers just to avoid that green and gold gate. I haven’t been near it since the accident. I’ll never go back. I don’t think I could stand seeing the Jardin des Tuileries without the rose-colored glasses. It would be too painful. I guess I’m not doing that well after all. I force myself to get dressed. I apply a thick layer of concealer to hide the dark circles, and a coat of mascara. This outing, if I behave somewhat normally, will earn me two or maybe even three weeks of peace.
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Want to know more about Velvet Morning Press, it’s founders Adria Ciminio or Vicki Lesage, or THAT’S PARIS?
I thought you might!
Adria Cimino:
Facebook, Website, Twitter, Author Blog.
Vicki Lesage:
Facebook, Twitter, Website, Pinterest, and Amazon Author Page.
And check out THAT’S PARIS at Velvet Morning Press! But… wait.. you want to know who all is in this anthology? I’ve got you covered!
Here is the list of the fab people that have contributed to THAT’S PARIS:
Audrey Chapuis
https://www.facebook.com/audreymarychapuis
Adria J. Cimino
https://www.facebook.com/AdriaJ.inParis
Sarah del Rio
https://www.facebook.com/est1975blog
DryChick
https://www.facebook.com/DryScene
Jennie Goutet
https://twitter.com/aladyinfrance
https://www.facebook.com/aladyinfrance
Amy Lynne Hayes
https://www.facebook.com/CreatriceMondial
April Lily Heise
https://www.facebook.com/JeTAimeMeNeither
Vicki Lesage
https://www.facebook.com/vickilesagewriter
Elle Marie
https://twitter.com/ellemarie24
Emily Monaco
https://twitter.com/emiglia
Lucia Paul
https://twitter.com/DFscrapbook
Didier Quémener
https://twitter.com/FoodMeParis
Laura Schalk
https://twitter.com/Laura_Schalk
Brooke Takhar
https://twitter.com/missteenussr
https://www.facebook.com/missteenussr
Marie Vareille
https://www.facebook.com/vareille.marie
Frédérique Veysset
https://twitter.com/fredisblog
Lisa Webb
https://www.facebook.com/canadianexpatmom
Anna Weeks
https://twitter.com/anna_saurus_rex
April Weeks
https://www.facebook.com/thesteadfastreader
David Whitehouse
https://twitter.com/whitehouse789
https://www.facebook.com/david.whitehouse.351
I know.. I know you are telling me “There just can’t be more GOOD news about this anthology”….. But read my lips: THERE IS!
ALL AUTHOR PROCEEDS GO TO THE CHARITY ROOM TO READ!!! A charity that according to Adria ” is a great cause for literacy and gender equality in education.”
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Happy Reading and Bookishly Yours,
T @ Traveling With T
Traveling With T 
Thank you for such a lovely cover reveal, Tamara! We’re excited about the release of the book in less than a month…
You are so welcome! I was happy to be a part of this! 🙂
Thanks, Tamara! Only a few more weeks until the book is released…
Feb 2! Got it marked down 🙂 And you are SO welcome!
How did I miss this? 🙂
I don’t know! But now you’ve found it 🙂 🙂 😉