Bienvenue
As you probably guessed by now, I’m an incurable romantic and an incorrigible daydreamer addicted to Happily Ever After stories, big time. Guilty as charged. What can I say, happy fuels me! And you made my day by visiting (insert humongous smile).
But in any case, this obsession of mine is what started my story-telling journey. I can’t tell you how many times I concocted additional scenes in my head every time I got lost in a romance book. What do you mean The End? Noooo. It’s the beginning! Give me the happy!!
So here’s to love and wonder, my fellow romance enthusiasts, warm fuzzies, fun times and daily sips of over-brimming cups of happy.
Share a moment. Share a smile.
Hugs.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Incurable romantic. Obsessive daydreamer. Happily Ever After devotee. Epilogue activist. Fairy tale enthusiast. Unicorn believer. Romance novelist the rest of the time.
Author of the up and coming Incandescent Series, Sylvie lives her own Happily Ever After in the beautiful mountains of Les Laurentides in Northern Quebec alongside her whole set of characters.
In between treks in their backyard wilderness, you can find them hanging out over at :
Come and say hello. They’d love to hear from you!
Q&A
These are the ‘About Me’ questions most asked … of me. Feel free to ask away, and add to this ever-growing repertoire. I promise you’ll be reaching another human being, me, in just one click. Truly.
WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
I was born and raised in Montréal (Québec), the world’s second-largest French-speaking city (ever heard of Paris by any chance?) ;).
Montréal is a pretty cool city. However, back in those years, I admit to existing through the winter months only to come truly alive in the summer time (La Belle Saison), running free at a lake cottage up in Les Laurentides, where I now live full time.
Happily Ever After. No longer winter challenged. Virtually hugging trees every morning.
But can you blame me? I wake up to this.
Where are you from?
WHAT OTHER JOBS HAVE YOU HAD?
Sailing instructor, babysitter de l’heure, summer camp counselor…
Oh. You meant the serious ones, didn’t you?
Once upon a time, Life promoted me and I became the Maman of two of the nicest, most wonderful persons I know, my two grown-up sons. Who may or may not kill me if they ever read one of my stories…
In another lifetime, I have also been an executive secretary in one of the innumerable departments at the head office of The Royal Bank of Canada, downtown Montréal.
And in this lifetime, I am a paralegal by day. Office bonus, it keeps my QWERTY skills off the charts, killing on average eighty words a minute on my keyboard, producing legal briefs, no tyops typos allowed. And in French, no less (somersault gymnastics do apply to reach weird accentuated vowels).
All of which keeps my fingers quite nimble as I type away at my favorite occupation of all, writing Happily Ever After stories.
What’s your favorite occupation of all?
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR HOBBIES & INTERESTS?
Indigenous gardening.
It sort of grew on me, literally. It took two seasons of battling early frost, late frost, slaving away on delicate buds that made the absolute delight of whole herds of critters, large and small. I swear they had a killer marketing team behind them, posting ads everywhere at once on social media.
Psst! The green house across the road, you know the one back in the woods? Yeah, that one. Go check it out. It serves 24/7 all sorts of plant delicacies. All you can eat, guaranteed!
But I finally saw the Light.
What am I doing? I am finally living deep in the woods, in the middle of nowhere (well, figure of speech. We do have a high-speed Internet connection after all.). I want happy, harmony and yet, here I am, toiling away, despairing over the hundreds of buds chewed off during the previous night, the whole of it sowing frustration and dissension? Not to mention, sweating a whole lot of unnecessary sweat (a lot.).
Light bulb moment.
Indigenous plants and trees. The lazy gardener in me rejoiced, and all-out war on the critters was averted by the same token. Everyone Happy!
I have been living in harmony ever since. Balance. Beauty. Sharing. All living creatures welcomed (well, okay… Pépé LePew underneath the balcony? Not so much.).
Nota Bene: I am happy to report, however, that Pépé&I parted ways amicably, and that he is now presumed to be living Happily Ever After, deeper into the woods. Way deeper.
Have any lazy gardening tips to share?
The forest.
I spend long periods of time in the forest. I do some hiking, yes. But mostly, I do a lot of observing, contemplating, reading, writing or simply breathing in the moment. Guess I finally stopped and smelled … the evergreens.
The forest close at hand is an extension of my living room. Comfortable Adirondacks, rustic benches and flea market tables and chairs are spread all over, in hidden nooks underneath trees or gracing natural clearings.
Felicity.
I may have been a tree in another life.
What resources you the most?
Home.
I’m the nesting sort. Guess the Adirondacks in the forest gave away the clue…
Aside from writing down the stories constantly swirling in my head, one of my favorite creative outlets is home decoration, arts and crafts.
Our home (and forest garden for that matter), is the perfect representation of my nesting syndrome. My style, that has no style, is probably best described as eclectic meets cozy meets cottage meets shabby chic meets practical yet, meets quirky.
In the end, meets me.
What arts&crafts project are you working on now?
Road trip adventures.
Road trips, hands down, are my favorite way to travel.
On those trips, I take everything in stride, no matter. My Zen is unshakable.
My mindset is dialed on wonder, and discovery, and adventure.
What I love most about them is exploring country roads, getting lost in new vistas, sampling along the way the many different local flavors, bringing them back with me in mental scrapbooking.
What’s your most memorable road trip?
THE FAVORITES? (Oh, no. Do I have to?)
What is your favorite book?
You mean… I only get to pick one? That’s just … so cruel.
I have lots of favorite books and authors within my favorite genre, ANYTHING ROMANCE. In an ever-growing list that took on a life of its own.
I’m not kidding. For a short and sweet sampling, visit Mes Coups de Coeur above whenever you feel like it (the menu bar is following your every move, stalking (oops!) accompanying you).
For as long as I can remember, I have always been a bookworm. The shy one, the quiet one. I have older siblings, and by the time I came around, I fortuitously had access to an extensive library already. Books fascinated me from then on, and even though I couldn’t read any of them yet, I used to get lost in stories I made up just from the images for hours on end.
Add to it that my favorite Saturday afternoons in the winter time were spent at the public library, in a tête-à-tête with shelves upon shelves of books, and voilà. You have me in a nutshell.
When did you discover your inner bookworm?
And then … e-books happened!
Browsing anytime, on my time? Downloading books in just one click? Even from under my rock, on top of a mountain, in a forest, in the middle of nowhere? With a full library of my beloved neatly following me wherever I go? With minimal imprint on trees I virtually hug every morning?
And here I am, revolutionized.
Anticipation? Character building.
Instant book gratification? Decadent bliss.
buy e-books
What do you like the most about e-books?
Favorite music.
Um. So many. In no particular order (well, mostly so;).
Jazz (largely thanks to my eldest son who never did listen to anything else and rocked the alto saxophone all through his teenage years).
Classical (particularly cross-over classics, Andrea Bocelli, Il Divo, David Garrett).
Gregorian.
Celtic.
Rock (soft rock, progressive rock, British pop).
Indie Epic Music.
Favorite movies.
Again, so many. A few, in no particular order.
A walk to Remember (2002) (had to concoct three alternate endings for that one)
Endless Love (2014)
Maleficent (2014)
Jane Eyre (BBC 2006)
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
An Enchanted April (1992)
Out of Africa (1985)
And so many others…
Les Choristes
La Gloire de mon Père / le Château de ma Mère
Manon des Sources
The Lord of the Rings
Les Aventures de Tintin (2011)
And less I forget, all of Pixar animated movies as well as pretty much all of Walt Disney’s animated ones. Magic. Wonder. Laughter.
Les favorites en vrac :
favorite color : blue, from the lightest azure to the darkest navy, and all the nuances in between.
favorite dish: anything pasta.
favorite time of the day: cuddling time.
favorite snack: aaaaah! Keep me far away from Cheetos. Bad Sylvie.
favorite keyboard keys: Ctrl,S.
favorite flowers: wild myosotis, lavender, echinacea, wild daisies.
favorite day of the week: Saturday.
favorite plants: ferns, moss.
favorite mood: happy.
favorite people: romance book readers.
What are your favorites?
WHAT IS YOUR WRITING RITUAL LIKE?
I have a writing/reading nook upstairs with a window seat, and a view of the forest. A view I’m more than happy to share en direct from my winter wonderland on my home page.
It’s a quiet room. A peaceful room. When I step into that room, I step into an alternate universe, and it puts me in the frame of mind needed. I let the surrounding beauty infuse me.
Sometimes, depending on my mood, I plug in headset earphones to immerse myself in background music. Mostly without lyrics, otherwise, I get lost into the story unfolding within the song.
Beyond that, I don’t require much else to keep me going for hours on end. I get by with only a shot of organic guarana caffeine once in a while (okay, maybe more than once in a while. I’ll never tell.).
WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Life. Love. Laughter.
The written words.
Art, in its many forms.
Man’s creative genius.
The Earth’s abundant, natural wonders.
Breathing in the moment, letting it seep, blending into it.
What inspires you?
HOW CAN I BUY YOUR BOOKS?
It’s easy. INCANDESCENTLY, APPREHENSION and EXPOSURE are now live, one-click away from your e-reader, or in paperback version. Go for it!
Found on Amazon worldwide and the following channels, click on the direct links below to access your favorite distributor.
INCANDESCENTLY IS AVAILABLE AT THESE DIGITAL STORES – CLICK ON YOURS!
APPREHENSION IS AVAILABLE AT THESE DIGITAL STORES – CLICK ON YOURS!
EXPOSURE IS AVAILABLE AT THESE DIGITAL STORES – JUST CLICK ON YOURS!
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Map. Teasers. Excerpts. Bonus scenes. Upcoming releases. Hugs.
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