I’ve often wondered how the main characters in my memoir, the Dubois family, would feel if any of them picked up a copy of French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley. For those of you unfamiliar with my story, I worked as an au pair for Madame and Monsieur Dubois in France in 1979. In 2007, when I decided to write my memoir, I searched the internet using their real names and found nothing. No mention of them at all. Another search using the name of their chateau produced zero results, so with trepidation I progressed with my project. Five years later, when I published my memoir, I revisited the subject of how the Dubois family might react to my story. I had changed the names of everyone I met in France and followed my diary religiously, but I still worried about the reaction of the Dubois Family. My name was on the cover, after all, and I was sure that Madame Dubois still cursed the day she took me in. Read my book and you’ll understand.
Linda Kovic-Skow, author of French Illusions
Four Things I’ve Learned as an Indie Author
It’s been a little over three years since I published my first book in The French Illusions Series and I thought I’d recap four things I’ve learned during that time.
Remembering the “Place de la Concorde” in Paris
Traveling abroad and living in Paris in 1980, when I was in my early twenties, was a big deal. It was the kind of experience I dreamed and talked about long before I worked out a way to make it happen. Even though I was on a tight budget at the time, I enjoyed La Ville Lumière, or City of Light, on many levels. 
One of my favorite memories is the day I toured the Place de la Concorde with Michel. Here is an excerpt from my memoir, French Illusions: From Tours to Paris, describing this magical event.
Enhanced Ending for French Illusions
I want to thank all of my readers who have posted positive reviews of French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley. I’ve received so many delightful, positive comments over the last few years, but this wasn’t always the case. Early on I received a consistent criticism, gulp…about my abrupt ending. At first, I didn’t get it. I thought my readers wanted the story to continue until all of the remaining questions were answered, no matter how long the book became. The truth is that after I outlined my first diary, I realized that I had too much story left in my second diary for only one book. I agonized over where to end my first memoir and came to the conclusion that a natural place to break the story occurs after my au pair experience. Questions like, “What happens to Linda and Adam,” “Does Linda ever learn French” and “Does she ever become a flight attendant” are not answered until my second book, French Illusions: From Tours to Paris.
A Gift to Remember
In 1979, while I worked as an au pair for a family in the Loire Valley in France, I spent a few Saturdays at the local middle school helping the teacher, Madame Bernard, teach English to her students. During the holidays, I visited the school and the children surprised me with box filled with Christmas presents. The doll in this photograph was one of those gifts. I’m so pleased that I kept it safely tucked away all these years. Here is an excerpt from my book detailing this special event:
What Defines a Memoir? What Is Narrative Nonfiction?
Merriam-Webster defines a memoir as follows, “a written account in which someone (such as a famous performer or politician) describes past experiences, or a written account of someone or something that is usually based on personal knowledge of the subject.” So, how does that differ from a biography or an autobiography? Once again, turning to our expert above, a biography is the story of a real person’s life written by someone other than that person,” whereas, “an autobiography is the biography of a person narrated by himself or herself.” Obviously the lines can get blurred, but quite often, an autobiography spans a person’s lifetime whereas a memoir tells a story about a certain time period in someone’s life.
Enhanced Ending For French Illusions
I want to thank all of my readers for their reviews of French Illusions at Amazon. Although most of your comments are positive, I’ve received a consistent criticism, gulp, my abrupt ending. I didn’t get it right away. At first, I thought the reader was left with too many unanswered questions. What happens to Adam? Does Linda ever learn French? Does she ever become a flight attendant? These questions are not only understandable, there’re expected. Where to end this memoir was a difficult decision for me. After I outlined my first diary, I realized that I had too much story left in my second diary for only one book. A natural place to break the story occurs after my au pair experience.
Fun French Facts
My first French fact is a personal favorite. The bikini was invented by two different French designers in 1946. Jacques Heim invented his suit first, calling it “l’Atome.” At about the same time, his rival, Louis Reard, created a two-piece bathing suit, the “Bikini.” Reard used skywriting over the Riviera to promote his “Bikini,” and the name stuck like glue.
A Typical Day For Linda Kovic-Skow
My day begins at about eight thirty in the morning. I find my way to the kitchen, pour a generous cup of coffee, plop down on the couch and watch the news on TV. My husband, who gets up earlier than me, greets me , but he avoids chit-chat until I return for a second cup of coffee. An hour or so later, I sit down at the computer and research something to post on my Facebook Fan Page and Twitter. Since French Illusions is set in France, I tie many of these posts to this subject, throwing in quotes or a recent life experience to break it up a bit. Next, I check sales ranking and reviews on Amazon. Often this is the most stressful part of my day. Most of my reviews are four and five stars, but occasionally I get a real clunker that makes my heart ache. Now that I’m writing my sequel, French Encore, I dedicate a few hours each morning to this project. I can’t sit for long periods of time without my neck hurting, so I switch back and forth between my desk and a standing computer station. Often, my husband has to remind me to get up and move around. Once I get the creative juices going, it’s hard to lay my manuscript aside and walk away.
