The Storyteller | Mary Vee

Photo Courtesy There are those who, due to their position, should have wealthy places to live. Like many Americans, I have seen the White House and it is a much fancier home than mine. But I don't mind.  The president of a country should have a nice place to live. Agreeing with the individual's politics or other views has nothing to do with this special dwelling place.  I felt proud to walk through the rooms and see where foreign dignitaries are hosted, etc. Nothing seemed garish. All had been tastefully elegant. The outer court of Versailles Palace Photo by Mary Vee's hubby Once upon a time, in the 1600's the Château de Versailles, or the Palace of Versailles, was built on seventeen acres southwest of Paris. French kings and queens lived there, twenty kilometers away from the people. The Hall of Mirrors Photo by Mary Vee's hubby Some have said the kings moved to Versailles because of the plagues in the city. This can b...

Hubby and I had decided not to buy souvenirs while in Paris. Instead, we set aside funds to make a memory book.  It took two days to make a special memory of our dream trip. Two well invested days.  I happened to work on my order when the company offered a 50% off discount. This made me super happy because I ended up with twice the pages. I'm not a great scrapbooker.  In fact, all my mother's art skills went to my sisters. But--put a reasonable computer program in my hands, one that is sensitive, offers more than I could possibly dream, and offers great discounts, and I'm on board.  This is the product. Awesome, eh?  To see Mary's album, click here When I finished ordering the book, Shutterfly gave me a chance to let you see it as well!  Wow! If you are interested in taking a walk through Paris, click on the link and flip through the pages.  Hubby and I had so much fun in Paris and this book will help remind us of the t...

Today I welcome author:  Susan Mason To win an eBook copy of  Betrayed Hearts Scroll to the end of the post  to see how to get your copy. As you will see from her post below, Sue has had an exciting career journey. Sue is a sweet friend who visits the Writers Alley and other places I also hang out. I asked her to share with us how God has led her on her writing journey. This is what she said: God Dreams Bigger Dreams for Us Than We Could Ever Imagine! Like a lot of writers, my journey has been a winding road, filled with highs and lows. It has taken more than ten years of serious writing to finally achieve my dream. It wasn’t until I switched to writing Inspirational Romance that I found my true home. My first ‘break,’ so to speak, was finaling in the 2008 Golden Heart contest through Romance Writers of America. I became part of a Golden Heart writers’ loop (Yay, Pixies!) and was recruited to write a piece for a blog cal...

Photo by Mary Vee I am sitting in the Chicago airport at this very moment. Hubby and I arrived an hour ago. The announcer said our flight to Paris would depart from gate H3. We had 3 hours to get there. How hard could it be? We gathered our things and walked into Ohara airport's terminals and looked for a monitor to confirm the information. Of course, Paris was the ONLY International city not listed. We saw a courtesy desk with two elderly volunteers. "Can you tell us which gate is for the flight for Paris?" The man looked at his pad of paper and said, go to gate K19. The answer seemed reasonable. But we had our doubts because he had his information scribbled on a small pad of paper. Halfway to gate K19 we saw a booth with American Airlines courtesy phones. We called the airlines and asked, what gate we should go to. The person said, "The gate has not yet been assigned." Really? Hubby and I walked a few gates farther and found an American Ai...

Susan Meissner was my guest on February 14 of this year. C lick here to read her post . We mostly had a standing room only for her visit. Susan's book,  A Fall of Marigolds,  was featured that day. Since her featured day, I have read this well-crafted book and have chosen to do a book review. As you may recall, I don't post reviews of every book I read on my site, only the ones I really want to praise. Meissner's book tells the parallel stories of two women living in New York City. Taryn lived during the 9/11 terrorist attack and Clara lived during the September 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Each woman attempts to live with the loss of a loved one in the tragedy and the struggle to find a way to move forward with her life. Their way of dealing was to avoid reliving the day. Yet, circumstances force Taryn and Clara to deal with the hurt buried in their hearts.  Clara finds a job on Ellis Island and refuses to leave the shores. Safe in the ...

Time to pack your bags. This is the last day we will spend in Paris. It has been a wonderful trip. I hope you have tons of pictures. Writer, Sarah Forgraves gave me permission to post her Paris photos.  Hopefully you took an extra day of vacation to rest from the jet lag when you get home.. I am playing cyber French music and cooking with butter. Julia Child is laughing in the background from her Paris apartment. Are you ready? Arc de Triomphe The Eiffle Tower Notre Dame and the Seine River Notre Dame Cathedral Palace at Versailles The Louvre The Louvre View of the Seine from the Eiffle Tower Paris really lights up the night sky. I like the evening photos the best, don't your? And so life returns to normal next week. We'll be back in our beds at home, woken by the alarm, and ...

If you've always dreamed of going to Paris, planning a trip, or have been there and would like to go again, Kissing Adrien is the perfect book for you. Siri was my guest on March 14, 2014. You can  click here   to read her fabulous post. During our email conversations to arrange her guest visit to my website, I learned she has lived in Paris and speaks fluent French! Oh la la!  I mentioned my plans to go to Paris to her. She told me about her book Kissing Adrien  which she set in Paris. Well, having enjoyed other books by Siri, I immediately purchased a copy and delved into the story. I didn't have a clue that the book would be as spectacular as it was. Using story world, Siri took me through the city streets of Paris, to all the famous and not as well know places to see, we ate meals, and her characters taught me French. Magnifique! I read Kissing Adrien a second time, just because I enjoyed the story and to take notes in preparation for my trip! As a...