Annie Fauve: Sometimes the Biggest Challenge is Finishing the Damn Book
“I had to write books, and I was born with stories.”
Annie Fauve writes, edits, and reads in the swamplands of Louisiana. When she isn’t writing or reading, she’s kayaking in the local bayou & naming the baby alligators. Annie is proud to be writing empowering, celebratory Romance novels.
Blitz:
Name: Annie Fauve
Book title: Praline Martini
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release date: July 16, 2023
Blurb/short description of the book: Mica Williams believes she can dodge all her problems. Until the roof falls in. Now her only hope is an impossibly cheerful Frenchman with muscles for miles.
Welcome to Big’s Lounge, the historic New Orleans cocktail bar where Mica Williams mixes perfect cocktails and listens to other people’s hopes and heartaches. After hours, she unwinds in an old-fashioned bathtub big enough for two, hidden in the luxurious garden of her old wooden house.
Except, in reality, Mica’s life is a train wreck: she’s in debt to the tips of her long Medusa locks, and the roof of her bar just got torn up by a freak windstorm. So the big budget movie shoot, which was going to save her from financial collapse? It’s not going to happen. Mica’s temper is short at the best of times, and now she’s ready to snap. The last thing she needs is a handsome stranger tumbling into her bar and into her life.
Previous titles: This is my first Indie book, and my first Romance.
Please tell our readers about yourself.
I love New Orleans, even in the sweaty summertime. But I grew up in Montréal, and my heart will be forever Canadian. My Mum’s people are from Gaspé, Quebec—if you leave Montréal and head east, you wind along the Saint Lawrence River, heading for the Atlantic. As a kid, as soon as school ended in June, I used to take the train to Gaspé with my grandmother. I love going back whenever I can, to catch up on family gossip and local news, and I love kayaking there, watching seals and whales and migrating birds.
Paddling in the bayous around New Orleans isn’t that different—though there are more reptiles (and I kinda love the baby alligators!). I arrived in New Orleans in 2010, but before living here, I worked in Paris, Toronto, and Vancouver—where I married my amazing American husband on a beach in Stanley Park. Writing has been my main gig for years. I’ve written non-fiction stories for news outlets, I’ve written literary fiction and poetry (under a different name) and I’ve done a lot of editing and behind-the-scenes writing for non-profit groups and NGOs. My real passion is writing stories about love, found family, and chosen community, and I’m so happy to be following this passion, writing empowering, celebratory Romance novels set in my favorite city.
What inspired you to be a writer?
I started writing as soon as I learned how. Inspired by Dr. Seuss, my first story was about a cat. And I was lucky—my mum worked in libraries, and I was let loose to read whatever I wanted. I’ve been devouring books since I literally teethed on them. My dad is also a fantastic story-teller. In the summer, he would weave wonderful tales about magical animals and mysterious moon aliens, as the coals of the bonfire burned down. So there was never any question: I had to write books, and I was born with stories.
Tell us about your writing journey so far.
I love Romance as a genre—all kinds. I read more Romance than any other kind of fiction. I’m getting into writing a historical romance right now. I’ve traditionally published books of poetry and literary fiction, under a different name, and I’ve also worked as a journalist.
What is your writing process—from idea to final draft?
I’ve tried to plan my plots, but I’m more of a pantser. I write a lot, in different scenes, mostly dialogue at first, trying to get a handle on my characters. The scenes are the fun part. Stitching the plot together is really really difficult. But then, editing is fun again. So… the middle of my writing process is short but very painful. The third part—getting feedback from critique partners and beta readers and editing the book into shape—that’s the longest part of the process but also the most fun. I love that feeling when the characters are really moving, the plot is working, and the dialogue makes emotional sense. To do it, I need feedback throughout, to keep me on track and energized.
You’ve recently published Praline Martini. What inspired you to write this book?
The city of New Orleans—the place and the people here have been so generous and warm to me over the past decade, and that’s my inspiration for the Frenchmen Street Series.
What were your biggest challenges?
Getting discouraged, losing hope, and giving up. Like most indie authors, I juggle a lot of “real work” along with fiction writing. Sometimes the biggest challenge is finishing the damn book.
What are you most proud of regarding Praline Martini?
That I finished it! I know that sounds obvious, but I wrote the story and the characters I wanted, and I’m really happy with the way the story turned out.
Were there any surprises in the writing process of this book?
The entire book! I was working on what’s now the second book in the series, Praline Crush, and I wasn’t happy with the first draft. While I sat, glaring at my blinking screen, all of a sudden Mica and Ludo argued their way into center-stage. They refused to be pushed off-screen, so I wrote Praline Martini to give them a home—I confess, Mica’s Bywater house in New Orleans is pretty much my fantasy house, complete with the bathtub in the garden. What’s surprising is now that I’m finishing Praline Crush, it’s so much more fun. The lead character, Gee, now has the right energy—as if I needed Praline Martini to build the community and place for her to thrive.
How do you create your characters?
Oh, I’m firmly in the “characters start talking in my head” camp. Which is not always practical, because some characters announce themselves at really awkward times. I’m the person eavesdropping in the coffee lineup and making illegible notes with a pencil, I confess. But in New Orleans, people talk to each other when they’re waiting in line, so it’s also a magical place for me to sit with my notebook over coffee and let my mind wander. This also happens on long-distance drives—I’m the person parked by the side of the road madly trying to write an entire chapter on my cellphone, because a character suddenly solved her plot issue, and I need to make notes. What I really need is a voice-to-text app that copes with both French and English words and doesn’t balk at my accent. (Recommendations totally appreciated!)
What is the current (or next) project you are working on?
I’m working on the next Frenchmen Street book, Praline Crush. It is nearly finished and should be out this winter. I’m also tapping away at a historical romance set in Paris in 1803, called A Parisienne’s Guide to Larceny.
Many of our readers are fellow indie writers, some of them at the very beginning of their journey. What advice would you give them?
Have fun! What’s the point otherwise?
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To learn more about Annie and her newest book Praline Martini, visit her website: https://anniefauve.com/.
P.S.—You might even find a recipe for a delicious cocktail ;-)
