Juliette Sobanet's Blog

For My Fellow Writers: How to Get in the Zone Juliette Sobanet March 21, 2023 12:55 pm No Comments

Patreon Get in the Zone

For my fellow writers, I’ve got some tips over on Patreon today on how to get in the zone when the inspiration just isn’t flowing!

Imagine this scene…

By some miracle, you’ve carved out your writing time. You’ve got 30 minutes until you have to pick up the kids or 45 minutes first thing in the morning with your coffee before you have to get ready for work. It’s time to write!

But…

The inspiration just isn’t coming. You’re staring at a blank page wondering where in the heck the words are going to come from. How do you get in the zone when this happens so you don’t spend your precious writing time feeling frustrated and not writing?

I have a few “Getting in the Zone” tips for you, which I’m sharing with my Patrons over on Patreon.

Here’s the link to the post: For My Fellow Writers: How to Get in the Zone

And here’s the link to my Patreon page: Juliette’s Patreon Page

Would love to see you there!

xo

Juliette

Juliette Sobanet is the Amazon bestselling author of All the Beautiful Bodies, Midnight Train to Paris, and thirteen other books. She is currently at work on her next (several) novels, while trying to keep her kittens Violet and Oliver off of the keyboard so she can actually write. PrevPreviousMarch Birthday Announcement! Latest Release Read more Join the Mailing List for your free Juliette Sobanet Starter Library Name Email Send Recent Posts For My Fellow Writers: How to Get in the Zone March Birthday Announcement! Will You Go All In for Love? When the world goes crazy, we write A Love Story & A Book Giveaway

The post For My Fellow Writers: How to Get in the Zone appeared first on Juliette Sobanet: Amazon Bestselling Author.

March Birthday Announcement! Juliette Sobanet March 18, 2023 7:54 pm No Comments

Patreon Announcement

Hello everyone! It’s my birthday today…I’m 41 – so wild! On this big 4-1 day, I’m so excited to announce that I am launching a Patreon site for my writing! If you’re not familiar with Patreon, it’s a really cool site where you can support your favorite artists and creators in exchange for cool rewards. I’ll be giving my members on Patreon EXCLUSIVE early access to draft chapters of all of the new books I’m working on, first look at the new cover art I’m creating, blog and video posts on the hilarious and ridiculous dating stories I’ve had over the past ten years, live video Q&As every month, and more! At the higher tiers, you can receive signed copies of my books in the mail and even have the chance to come up with character names with me. It’s going to be so much fun, and such an awesome way to connect with all of you! I would be thrilled and so grateful if you’d like to take a look at my Patreon page and consider becoming a member.

Here’s the link: Juliette’s Patreon Page

I hope you’re all doing well in 2023, and I’m so thankful for all of your book love over the years!

xo

Juliette

Juliette Sobanet is the Amazon bestselling author of All the Beautiful Bodies, Midnight Train to Paris, and thirteen other books. She is currently at work on her next (several) novels, while trying to keep her kittens Violet and Oliver off of the keyboard so she can actually write. PrevPreviousWill You Go All In for Love? Latest Release Read more Join the Mailing List for your free Juliette Sobanet Starter Library Name Email Send Recent Posts March Birthday Announcement! Will You Go All In for Love? When the world goes crazy, we write A Love Story & A Book Giveaway When You Realize “Perfect” Doesn’t Exist…

The post March Birthday Announcement! appeared first on Juliette Sobanet: Amazon Bestselling Author.

I woke up this morning with this powerful Rumi quote in my head. I am one who goes ALL IN for love. For my career. For my dreams. This has resulted in many broken hearts–both my own and others’–and many moments of falling flat on my face. Yes, gambling everything for love means you WILL fall. But, what is the other choice? To go into relationships, careers, and dreams half-assed, half-heartedly? To let fear of the past, fear of what others may think of you, dictate your every move in the precious NOW – which is all we really ever have anyway?



To live this one beautiful, precious life we have been given, and to not open our hearts to love–in all its beautiful forms–this, to me, is a tragedy. Falling on my face, getting my heart broken, risking the way others may see me–none of that is a tragedy. I have survived each and every one of those moments, and I am stronger because of them. Those moments mean I am alive. I am living. I am giving everything I have, everything I am, to the greatest power there is–Love. And I trust that Love has my back in the end.



On my journey, I have all too frequently come across the half-heartedness of others. And I agree with Rumi on this one. If you’re not willing to put your heart out there, to risk it all for love, if you’re going in half-assed, what are you doing here? Is that why you came to this earth? The Love Warriors are here, living love, breathing love, risking everything they have for Love. You can join the Love Warriors, or you can continue knocking about, living half-assed lives, leaving your half-assery as a stain on others’ hearts.



At least when you go all in, you know you tried. You know you lived.



Which path will you choose?

We all need an outlet these days – a way to escape this wild world we have found ourselves living in – if only for a day, a few hours, a few minutes even. Of course there are the usual suspects: wine, Netflix, social media…more wine, more Netflix, and more social media.



Whatever your particular escape may be, ask yourself this: Is this escape route I have chosen actually helping me to release all of the pent-up frustration, exhaustion, anger, and fear that has built up inside me over the course of 2020?



Be honest with yourself.



If your answer is no, might I suggest another outlet?



Pick up a pen, grab a notebook or a journal, and write that shit down. ALL OF IT.



And if your pen won’t write fast enough, type it out. ALL OF IT.



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If we want 2021 to be a better year (and don’t we all want that?), then the year we have just lived through needs to come out of us. All of that energy that has built up and had nowhere to go except to drown itself in the bottom of a wine glass – it needs to be released. Physically. Mentally. Fully and for real. Write it down so that you can understand what you’ve gone through this year, process it, face it, forgive it, and let it go. Write it down so that you can move forward and look toward a brighter future.



For many of us, this year has been about survival. And living in survival mode for a prolonged period is insanely draining and disheartening. BUT, if you look deep enough, you will find the gems. And that’s where the writing comes in. When you start to write down and release all of the pent-up emotions, the ridiculous stories, and the madness that has gone down in your particular corner of quarantine, you will begin to understand something about yourself:



No matter how this year has played out for you, you are strong. You are loved. You are capable. And you have a story to tell. A story that matters. A story that will not only help you to heal and survive, but that will help others to heal and survive, too.



It was Maya Angelou who wrote, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”



Haven’t you found this to be true? I certainly have. Stories pull at me, push me, prod me, beat me over the freaking head – all day long. They are relentless, and I never feel less myself than when I am not writing.



I know many of you feel the same. You have come to me, telling me you have a story you want to write. An idea for a novel, or perhaps a memoir. You’re not sure if you should tell the true story, or mask the truth in fiction. Either way, the story is there, sitting over your shoulder, waiting for you to get the courage to write it down.



And guess what, that story is NOT going away. Because it’s yours. And YOU are the one to write it.



So cork up the wine, turn off the Netflix, stop scrolling through the madness of social media, and honor the part of you that needs to be released through the gift of writing.



If you need help along the way, I’m teaching a 6-week motivational “Kickstart Your Writing” course with the Paris Writing Salon. We’ll be meeting on Zoom every Monday from November 9th – December 14th, and writers at any stage of the game are welcome and encouraged to join. I would absolutely love to see you there.



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What is The Paris Writing Salon? An amazing and supportive online writing community designed to help you get writing, get published, and get more readers. With a monthly or annual membership, you will have access to writing workshops taught by bestselling authors, exciting author chats, and regular writing sprints. You can join anytime, and if you a miss a session, no problem. Everything is recorded and available online.



We’re offering my MasterClass to members of the Paris Writing Salon as part of our launch—a $297 value for just the price of 2 month’s membership. It’s a steal.



So if you need a kick in the pants, join the Paris Writing Salon, and let’s write while the world goes crazy.

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Happy Valentine’s Day friends! In honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d write a post about…yes, you guessed it: love and books! The two go quite well together. After all, most of the books I’ve written are love stories based upon my own love stories, or love stories I hope to have one day. Even the rather twisted love stories that play out in my thriller, All the Beautiful Bodies, have hints of the love stories I’ve experienced in my own twisted and beautiful life.

Twisted love stories, you say? That’s not the kind of romantic, dreamy Valentine’s Day love we should be celebrating today! And here’s what I say to that: love is not always–or ever–the straight-shot fairy tale we were all fed as children. You know the one. It goes something like this:

Boy meets girl, they fall in love, everything is perfect, they get married, they buy a house with a white picket fence, they have 2.5 children (What does a 1/2 child look like anyway?), and they live happily ever after into old age where they die peacefully in their sleep holding hands (The Notebook anyone?).

That’s a sweet story, but it’s really boring and totally untrue. We all know that, of course. In this wild world we live in, there are all kinds of love stories: short ones, long ones, devastating ones, joyful ones, sexually awakening ones, friendship loves, love stories that lead us somewhere we never wanted to go, love stories that lead us somewhere we never expected to be, and everything in between. We love our pets, our children, our parents, our siblings, and sometimes we have a hard time loving those people. The pets, though, they’re never hard to love. You know why? Because they teach us unconditional love. The best kind.

[image error]I’m totally in love with Charlie. Perhaps the best love story of my life

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Bonjour friends! So, lately I’ve been having loads of ideas for topics I’d like to write about on this blog. Not the least of which includes stories about dating in France and all of the ridiculousness that entailed (in your wildest dreams, you cannot even imagine!); how and why I moved to the Land of Love and Croissants; why I’m not there now…and much, much more.

So why have I been so damn quiet for so long? Well, here’s what’s been happening: an idea flies in, and instead of running with it, I let it fly away. Every. Single. Time. This has been happening for a few years now. I mean, I was living in France for a year and a half, dating French men and stumbling on cobblestone streets and eating chocolate croissants nearly daily, and I had an IMMENSE amount of writing material flying into my world on the regular. Yet, I stayed quiet. Again, why?

Because I have been waiting for the perfect moment to launch myself back into writing, social media, and blogging. I just wanted it all to be PERFECT before I reconnected with readers in such a vulnerable way again.

What do I mean by perfect in regard to my writing career? Well, I’ve been working my little croissant ass off behind the scenes for a while now, completing some big projects: writing and releasing my super sexy thriller, All the Beautiful Bodies (a 3-4 year project that is still not completely finished on the release end); getting the rights back to all of my Paris books and republishing them under my own imprint (this includes reformatting all of the books so they are Kindle and print-ready, designing cover art, and much, much more behind the scenes work); giving my website a new do; writing a new thriller for my agent; writing the prequel and the sequel to All the Beautiful Bodies; writing the true story of what happened once I moved to France; and continuing to write books in my Paris series which I plan to self-publish (Charlotte, Chloe, and Jillian have so much more to do!!). It’s important to note here that I am mostly a one-woman-show in all of this–as many writers are–and an insane amount of work must happen to accomplish it all. Work that I love, but work nonetheless.

So, you see, I wanted to have most of these projects completely finished and polished and perfect before I really let my voice loose again online. But tonight, I had a nice realization–it’s something I already knew, something we all know, but it’s worth the reminder:

Nothing is perfect. Nothing will ever be perfect. There will never be the perfect time, the perfect life situation, the perfect relationship, the perfect career, the perfect you, the perfect me. Sure, life would be simpler if it was all perfect, all the time. Simpler, but boring as hell.

Sometimes, from deep within the mess of life, this is where we thrive, this is where we find our voice, this is where we find our strength. This is where we laugh, where we make fools of ourselves, and realize we’re all the same, deep down. We’re all connected, which means we all share the imperfect perfection of this life. And waiting for things to be perfect, as in totally flawless, will just never happen.

The perfect moment does exist, however, and that moment is NOW. This is what Charlie is telling you in his intense glare below. Do you feel it???



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So, this is me and my cat Charlie, having a perfectly imperfect night with our Christmas lights still up in late January, which I plan to leave up all year because they’re cozy and they make me feel good. Stretching my writing muscles again makes me feel good, too, even if it’s just to share how scared I am to show my imperfections to all of you imperfect, wonderful people. Below, you’ll find a sneak peek of the new cover I’ve designed and the brand-new print edition of All the Beautiful Bodies–I’ll be announcing the official print release soon, but I couldn’t wait to share this sexy cover!

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And so, I’m breaking the ice with this first post. There will be more to come on pressing topics such as: needing to buy bigger jeans because of excessive chocolate croissant and butter consumption, and because of an absolutely fabulous Brazilian roommate–we’ll call him Alberto–who made me the most decadent dinners and desserts nightly in our adorable Lyon apartment (yes, this man actually does exist, and I will never, ever share his true identity for fear that women everywhere will try to find him and lock him away in their kitchens forever!); what to do when you finally have a really good boyfriend and he wants kids, but at the ripe old age of (nearly) 38, you’re not sure if that ship has sailed…maybe it has, but perhaps it hasn’t…; and how a walk down the cobblestones one night in Vieux Lyon led, not to the love of my life as I thought it would (not at that moment anyway…), but instead to a surprising spiritual journey which ultimately led to the meditation I did tonight, which then led me to write this totally imperfect post. And voilà! We’re back…

Love to you all and à bientôt!

xxx Juliette

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Bonjour friends! So, lately I’ve been having loads of ideas for topics I’d like to write about on this blog. Not the least of which includes stories about dating in France and all of the ridiculousness that entailed (in your wildest dreams, you cannot even imagine!); how and why I moved to the Land of Love and Croissants; why I’m not there now…and much, much more.

So why have I been so damn quiet for so long? Well, here’s what’s been happening: an idea flies in, and instead of running with it, I let it fly away. Every. Single. Time. This has been happening for a few years now. I mean, I was living in France for a year and a half, dating French men and stumbling on cobblestone streets and eating chocolate croissants nearly daily, and I had an IMMENSE amount of writing material flying into my world on the regular. Yet, I stayed quiet. Again, why?

Because I have been waiting for the perfect moment to launch myself back into writing, social media, and blogging. I just wanted it all to be PERFECT before I reconnected with readers in such a vulnerable way again.

What do I mean by perfect in regard to my writing career? Well, I’ve been working my little croissant ass off behind the scenes for a while now, completing some big projects: writing and releasing my super sexy thriller, All the Beautiful Bodies (a 3-4 year project that is still not completely finished on the release end); getting the rights back to all of my Paris books and republishing them under my own imprint (this includes reformatting all of the books so they are Kindle and print-ready, designing cover art, and much, much more behind the scenes work); giving my website a new do; writing a new thriller for my agent; writing the prequel and the sequel to All the Beautiful Bodies; writing the true story of what happened once I moved to France; and continuing to write books in my Paris series which I plan to self-publish (Charlotte, Chloe, and Jillian have so much more to do!!). It’s important to note here that I am mostly a one-woman-show in all of this–as many writers are–and an insane amount of work must happen to accomplish it all. Work that I love, but work nonetheless.

So, you see, I wanted to have most of these projects completely finished and polished and perfect before I really let my voice loose again online. But tonight, I had a nice realization–it’s something I already knew, something we all know, but it’s worth the reminder:

Nothing is perfect. Nothing will ever be perfect. There will never be the perfect time, the perfect life situation, the perfect relationship, the perfect career, the perfect you, the perfect me. Sure, life would be simpler if it was all perfect, all the time. Simpler, but boring as hell.

Sometimes, from deep within the mess of life, this is where we thrive, this is where we find our voice, this is where we find our strength. This is where we laugh, where we make fools of ourselves, and realize we’re all the same, deep down. We’re all connected, which means we all share the imperfect perfection of this life. And waiting for things to be perfect, as in totally flawless, will just never happen.

The perfect moment does exist, however, and that moment is NOW. This is what Charlie is telling you in his intense glare below. Do you feel it???



[image error]

So, this is me and my cat Charlie, having a perfectly imperfect night with our Christmas lights still up in late January, which I plan to leave up all year because they’re cozy and they make me feel good. Stretching my writing muscles again makes me feel good, too, even if it’s just to share how scared I am to show my imperfections to all of you imperfect, wonderful people. Below, you’ll find a sneak peek of the new cover I’ve designed and the brand-new print edition of All the Beautiful Bodies–I’ll be announcing the official print release soon, but I couldn’t wait to share this sexy cover!

[image error]

And so, I’m breaking the ice with this first post. There will be more to come on pressing topics such as: needing to buy bigger jeans because of excessive chocolate croissant and butter consumption, and because of an absolutely fabulous Brazilian roommate–we’ll call him Alberto–who made me the most decadent dinners and desserts nightly in our adorable Lyon apartment (yes, this man actually does exist, and I will never, ever share his true identity for fear that women everywhere will try to find him and lock him away in their kitchens forever!); what to do when you finally have a really good boyfriend and he wants kids, but at the ripe old age of (nearly) 38, you’re not sure if that ship has sailed…maybe it has, but perhaps it hasn’t…; and how a walk down the cobblestones one night in Vieux Lyon led, not to the love of my life as I thought it would (not at that moment anyway…), but instead to a surprising spiritual journey which ultimately led to the meditation I did tonight, which then led me to write this totally imperfect post. And voilà! We’re back…

Love to you all and à bientôt!

xxx Juliette

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I’m thrilled to be featured on the Why We Wander Podcast this week! Tune in to hear our chat about the fantasy vs. the reality of moving abroad, what my biggest fears were when I decided to move to France, and more on creativity and expat life! Thanks so much to Shannon and Tamara, the wonderful hosts of Why We Wander, for having me! You can listen to the podcast on SoundCloud, and you can also find our talk on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher. I would love to hear your stories and dreams on moving abroad!

I’m thrilled to announce the release of the latest novellas in my Confessions of a City Girl series! The DC story was inspired by events in my own life (turns out divorce provides endless writing material!), and of course the Paris story was inspired by my travels and my love (obsession) for the city. You can also save money and grab both books together in the boxed set! To celebrate the release, I’m giving away Kindle copies of all of the books!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

About the books:

When famous romance novelist Violet Bell returns to her DC alma mater to speak to the senior class about her glamorous life ten years after graduation, the last thing anyone expects to hear is…the truth. But after a devastating divorce and way too many missed writing deadlines have left her scrambling for both money and her sanity, not even a healthy dose of Xanax can stop the humiliating meltdown she has on stage.

As soon as her shocking anti-love diatribes go viral, Violet’s once lustrous career writing happily-ever-afters becomes a distant memory. With nowhere else to turn, Violet finds solace at the home of her closest friend from college, Aaron Wright. Practical, preppy, and married to his job on the Hill, Aaron was never the guy for the ultra-scandalous Violet. But a whirlwind weekend together in the Nation’s Capital could have her wondering if Mr. Wright hasn’t been right underneath her nose all along…

Read Confessions of a City Girl: Washington D.C. on Kindle!

From bestselling author Juliette Sobanet, a charming and poignant short story that will take you on a heartwarming journey through the City of Light…

Overworked talk show assistant Olivia Banks sets off on a one-day adventure in Paris to fulfill the dreams she and her sister once had as little girls, and ends up finding herself…and love…along the way.

Read Confessions of a City Girl: Paris on Kindle!

Read both Washington D.C. & Paris Confessions in one spicy volume!

To celebrate the release, I’m giving away three Kindle copies of each book!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

 

I’m so excited to announce that my Confessions of a City Girl novellas are included in a fabulous 12-book romance bundle: FINDING LOVE IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES. The bundle is available for only 99-cents on pre-order, and release day is right around the corner ~ July 25th! The book will only be available for 2 months after release day, so it’s an exciting limited-time offer to stock up on some spicy romance novels and discover some fabulous new authors! Plus we have a special giveaway for you!

In the bundle, you’ll find full-length novels from an incredible group of bestselling and award-winning romance, women’s fiction, and chick lit authors, all for only 99 cents!

Aching for You by multiple award-winning author SJ Miller

Arielle Immortal Journey by multiple award-winning author Lilian Roberts

Virtual Lies by JD Combs

The Heiress of Santorini by #1 best-selling author Angel Sefer

The New Ever After by Julie Farley

Confessions of a City Girl by award-winning author Juliette Sobanet

What (Not) to Expect When You’re Expecting by multiple award-winning author MJ Fredrick

Emma’s Home by best-selling author Maryann Jordan

The Necklace IV by Linda S. Rice

Flawless by award-winning author Jan Moran

Love’s Journey by Maggie-award Finalist Jolene Cazzola

Fly Like You’ve Never Been Grounded by SJ McCoy

Where to get the Finding Love 12-Book Romance Bundle

We are thrilled to offer this incredible deal to readers on Kindle, iBooks, Nooks, and Kobo all around the world! Here are the links:

Amazon (US, UK, and International link)

iBooks (US, UK, and International link)

Barnes & Noble Nook

Kobo 

Share & Win with our Special Pre-Order Giveaway!

Our release date is July 25th, but to give you a chance to win some exciting prizes, we’re running a special pre-order giveaway. The MORE you SHARE, the greater your chance of winning these prizes!

Here are the prizes:

$50 Amazon Gift Card – When we hit 1,000 preorders

FREE Kindle Fire tablet – When we hit 3,000 preorders

Click here to enter the giveaway!