A Cat in Sancerre

This is how I launch a book

Yesterday I finished the first full edit of my novel, A Cat in Sancerre!

What a haul! I’m feeling somewhere between “Woohoo!” and “Finally! What a pain in the ass that was.” 😂 (I’m leaning towards “Woohoo!”)

If all goes well, I’ll be launching the book as early as next month, and I hope that many of you will join me in the adventure.

“What the heck is this book about?” you may ask.

I know some of you are thinking “It’s about time!” But for many of you, this may be the first time you’ve heard about my book.

A Cat in Sancerre is a novel that grew out of my personal experiences.

I started writing it because I wanted to share some of the stories from my mildly but not entirely crazy life. BUT… this book isn’t about me. Yes, I wanted to tell some of my stories, but more importantly, I wanted to write a book that I would want to read - a story that I’d enjoy taking to bed and staying up late with because I couldn’t put it down. I wanted to create one of those stories that transports you to another place and makes you feel things. After all, that is one of the reasons we create - to make other people feel.

Of course I like sharing my stories – that’s why I’ve given TEDx talks. But for A Cat in Sancerre, my experiences were just the seeds. I picked out a handful of them and tossed them into the life of someone else - a guy named Brooks Redgrave (poor guy!), and thus was born a novel.

Rather than go into a long essay about the details of the story, here’s the blurb I wrote for the back of the book.

When former special forces soldier Brooks Redgrave discovers that he may have children in Europe, he sets out on a journey to find the now-adult offspring he never knew he had.

Now single and in his fifties, Brooks learns of the supposed children at a time when his career as an artist-photographer has ground to a halt, and his carefully constructed world is starting to fray. As cracks begin to appear in the walls he’s built around himself, Brooks is forced to come face to face with his past amidst a whirlwind of unexpected relationships.

A Cat in Sancerre follows Brooks on a transformative journey from the over-the-top New York art scene to the history-drenched vineyards of Sancerre, France. As he comes to know a series of extraordinary women with and without children, Brooks finds himself challenged to redefine his understanding of love, family, and ultimately himself.

A Cat in Sancerre is a poignant tale of newfound family and the unexpected relationships that reshape our lives – a must-read for anyone who believes in the transformative power of love, family, and second chances.

What now??

This past fall, when I had first thought to launch, I realized that I had no idea how to market a book. Honestly, I still don’t, but while I was fretting I created an alter ego to be my exasperated marketing manager – meet Nicholas the Explorer. Nicholas is the one part of me who gets completely frustrated with the me who can’t promote my own stuff. Here he is in his first appearance.

That’s hilarious, but… is the book any good?

Of course it is!

(Can you ever trust an author with that question? Probably not.)

But I can tell you this… I loved writing A Cat in Sancerre, AND… I was excited that my first readers have loved reading it and want more.

I knew I was on the right track when I would find myself so engrossed in the story that I’d finish a writing session and be surprised to find myself at home rather than in the French countryside, or I’d look out the window and be shocked to see a sunny day rather than the gathering storm clouds I’d just written about. At the end of the process, I was almost convinced that I could get on a plane and go visit some of the characters from A Cat in Sancerre. I wish I could, because I like many of them.

Creating people who I wanted to meet was one of the greatest joys of writing fiction like this. A lot of the characters I created from bits and pieces of people I have known at some point in my life. Even though I know that they were born in the distant mountain ranges of my imagination, I still find myself wanting to meet them. I want to go for a walk through the French countryside with some of them or cook a meal together in an old French farm house.

Writing in France

Last summer I got a little taste of my book when I spent a month in the French countryside not far from Sancerre, the historic hilltop town where I set my novel. I spent my days there writing, walking in the countryside, and cooking with and for my French hosts and their friends. It was an amazing experience filled with quirky, interesting people, new landscapes, and great food. I already have an idea for another fascinating book just from my one month there.

Anyway, the point is that these kind of unique, personal experiences are one of the things that make life warm and wonderful, and my goal in writing is to share that kind of world with you in a way that makes you want to step into the pages, embrace the characters and walk through the romantic countryside. Here’s a photo from the corner of the centuries-old farmhouse where I wrote every day.

Another taste…

One more revolution, one more cycle of seasons, one more harvest,... One more long quiet night of the land. They pass and pass and pass, and our lives build and fall and build and fall.

What are we but layers upon layers? Layers of sunlight, layers of rain, layers of hope, layers of loss – all of them wrapped over us again and again and again, Laying down the sediment of our souls.

- Thérèse Rousseau

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Who is Thérèse Rousseau?

Thérèse Rousseau was one of the three leading female characters in A Cat in Sancerre. She is a winemaker in Sancerre with the heart of an artist. Wine-making is as much an art as any other culinary tradition, but Thérèse inhabits that art particularly well. As I was developing characters, I wrote back stories for a number of them, including Thérèse. Part of Thérèse’s back story was her journal, and several of those entries ended up providing a perfect transition between the four parts of the book. I included a little history of Thérèse and her journal in the epilogue of the book, but you’ll have to get the book to read it. 🙂📚

I’ve always felt incredibly fortunate to have met and known a lot of amazing women in my life, and one of the things I really enjoyed about writing A Cat in Sancerre was being able to create interesting women characters who reflect some of the different people I’ve met over the years.

Okay, so when can we get A Cat in Sancerre?

I am going to launch A Cat in Sancerre with a Kickstarter. It is a lot of work to put together a good Kickstarter campaign, and it’s even harder to be successful. Many of you know me from my previous Kickstarter projects. Some of you were part of my community when I was photographing roadless areas across the U.S., some of you helped me travel to conflict zones around the world to bring together enemies. Some of you helped me build a school in Kenya.

So how the books are coming along? Let’s ask Nicholas the Explorer…

Now I need feedback from my community

Once I get the Kickstarter up and running, I will need all the help I can get from my wonderful community (that’s you!) to spread the word about A Cat in Sancerre (you can tell your friends that it’s a good feel-good book).

But until then, I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on Kickstarters rewards. Kickstarter campaigns can have multiple reward levels. Of course, the main reward is the book, but I’d like to offer some tiers that go beyond just the book, and I’m still trying to figure these out. Here a few – I’d like to know what you all think.

• Art prints from my photographic work - this kind of makes sense, because the main character is a photographer and some of his stories are based on my own experiences;

• Tasting of Sancerre wines in your home – Sancerre wines are some of the most sought after white wines in the world and it would be super fun to share an evening of sampling with people;

• A dinner from the book made by me in your home - 👨🏻‍🍳 If I haven’t said so already, I love cooking and the book has a bit of a food movie thing. I love cooking for people and dinner table conversations are always the best;

• A trip to Sancerre, France 🛫🇫🇷 – Clearly a top tier reward! Think amazing wine and cheese in a beautiful French countryside. Mmmmm…. So fun!

I would love to hear back from people about what sounds interesting or fun to them. I’ll keep everyone up-to-date as I get closer to launching. Please touch base with me if you have thoughts about rewards or if you have any other great ideas.

I love feedback!

I’m still debating how to structure the Kickstarter video. I’ve thought of going back and forth between me talking about my book, and Nicholas the Explorer getting more and more exasperated. However, I don’t know Nicholas is right for the job. Maybe the video should be more serious. I’m conflicted, and I’d really like to hear your thoughts on it.

I hope this message has brought you a little entertainment to help weather the coming week! You can reply directly to this email or you can go to the bottom and click this link below.

One more thing - I created a site for A Cat in Sancerre and my writing. Please check it out!

PS: I love the creative process. I can’t live without it, and writing a novel like this completely tapped into that love. The whole process of crafting a story and writing a book turned out to be so unexpectedly fascinating that I’ll probably write something about the process itself in a future newsletter.