Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler
“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” -Saint Augustine
I am very pleased to feature Memoir Author Linda Kovic-Skow in her book tour for her memoir, French Illusions. Leaving your homeland when you are twenty-one years old and traveling to France to work as an au pair without knowing a bit of French can lead to a very intriguing story. Not only was I captivated by her story but I felt I was there with her experiencing France for myself. My book reviews are on Amazon and Goodreads.
Welcome, Linda!
KP: Can you tell us a little about your memoir?
LKS: In the summer of 1979, when I was twenty-one, I contracted to become an au pair for a wealthy French family in the Loire Valley. To secure the position, I pretended to speak the language, fully aware that my deception would be discovered once I arrived at my destination. Based on my diary, French Illusions captures my often challenging, real-life story inside and outside the Château de Montclair. The over-bearing, Madame Dubois, her accommodating husband Monsieur Dubois, and their two children are highlighted as I struggled to adapt to my new environment. Continually battling the language barrier, I signed up and attended classes at the local university in the nearby town of Tours, broadening my range of experiences. When I encountered, Adam, a handsome young student, my life with the Dubois family became more complicated, adding fuel to my internal battle for independence.
KP: What compelled you to write this story after thirty-three years?
LKS: About four years ago, after my husband and I dropped our youngest daughter off at college, I went through a sort of mid-life crisis. I missed being a mom and I wondered how I would fill the void. Sure I had my part-time bookkeeping business, but it consumed only a few hours a day and it wasn’t interesting any more. Something was missing, but what?
This prompted me to review what I like to call my “mid-life list.” This is similar to a “bucket list,” with an important twist. The idea was to refocus myself and figure out the things I wanted to do with my life in my fifties – while I could still do them. My list was short.
-Learn to play the piano
-Travel to Africa to see the elephants
-Travel to Tahiti and see the island of Bora Bora
-Travel back to France (with my family this time)
-Write a book
At the time, I didn’t own a piano and, with two daughters in college (on the east coast no less!), I couldn’t afford a trip to Africa or Tahiti. I had already traveled back to France in 2001 with my family, so that left me to examine the fifth item on my list more closely. If I did write a book, would it be fiction or non-fiction? What genre would I choose?
The answers to my questions came to me in the shower (which is where many of my ideas seem to materialize, strangely enough). I decided to hunt down my diary from my au pair adventure in France and compose a memoir. It took me three years and countless hours to write French Illusions, but now I can scratch another item off my mid-life list.
KP: Can you tell us about some of the difficulties you experienced writing your memoir?
LKS: I have to admit writing my memoir was a lot more complex than I initially imagined it would be. My diary offered a great outline, but I realized early on that I would have to change the names of people and places in my story to protect identities. This was especially true with regard to my host au pair family. Acquiring permission from them was out of the question. Totally out of the question. I mean it. Read my book and you’ll understand. Additionally, over thirty years had passed since I spoke with anyone I’d met in France. I no longer had any contact information. With this in mind, I researched common French names that might fit my characters. I tried them out and retained the ones that were a good fit.
Other decisions haunted me along the way. Where will I find elusive data on the Loire Valley, the Loire River and the town of Tours? How should I deal with the French sprinkled throughout the book? Should I italicize my inner thoughts? Oh, and I really struggled with how much detail to include in my own love scenes. This was probably the most challenging dilemma of all.
KP: Is there an excerpt you would like to share?
LKS: It’s difficult to choose one excerpt, but I’m proud of the detailed picture I paint of a French baker in Songais.
“I watched as the other woman, maybe in her eighties, kneaded a large ball of dough at a table on the other side of the display window. Her gnarled fingers pulled and rolled the dough, adding flour until it gained the right consistency. At one point, she stopped to scratch her face , leaving a smudge of flour on her cheek. As I followed Madame out the door, our eyes met, her grin transforming her face from serious to radiant.”
KP: What’s a typical weekday like for you?
LKS: I start my day about 8:30 in the morning with a generous cup of coffee. After I check emails, I attend to book business for a few hours – promotions, research, my blog or twitter. At certain times of the month, I meet with clients or perform tasks associated with my bookkeeping business. Often, in the afternoon, after lunch, I walk the dog, run errands or write. I can’t sit for long or my neck hurts, so I switch back and forth between my desk and a standing computer station. Late in the day, my husband arrives home from work and that signals a break for dinner. After a few more hours writing at the computer, I finally shut things down at around nine o’clock. Ahhh, a glass of wine usually helps me unwind.
KP: Does your book have a hidden message for readers?
LKS:Set in the beautiful Loire Valley, French Illusions, my remarkable true story, will remind readers what it was like to be young, adventurous and filled with dreams. It’s not too late to create your own memories so go out and explore the world.
Life’s for living, after all.
Thank you Linda for sharing your adventuresome,romantic and intriguing memoir writer’s journey with us.
-Purchase information for my book at Amazon: Amazon
Author’s Bio:
Linda Kovic-Skow resides in Kirkland, Washington. She earned an Associate Degree in Medical Assisting in 1978 from North Seattle Community College and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Seattle University in 1985. She has been married for 27 years and has two daughters. An enthusiastic traveler, Linda also enjoys boating, gardening and socializing with friends. French Illusions, her debut memoir, is the culmination of a three-year project.
For more information, visit http://lindakovicskow.com/. Watch the book trailer, it’s a lot of fun
How about you? Do you have a daring story to tell?
Linda will give away a free copy of her memoir to a random commenter.
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
Next Week: “The Face of Alzheimer’s Dementia: A Memoir Moment”