Choosing Love Over Pride by Marielle de Vassoigne

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Marielle de Vassoigne will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre?   What draws you to it?

I started to write to stop overthinking and to unwind. My writing became a book organically. The contemporary romance genre emerged when I decided to create new narratives in a near future for my alter-ego. I brought in my books what was missing in my life.

 

What research is required?

I had just confirmed my decision to move from Montreal to Vancouver when I started to write “New Beginning in Vancouver”, the prequel to “Choosing Love Over Pride”. The first research I had to do was about the context and location where my fiction takes place: Vancouver, my then-future adopted city, where I had never been before.

I created Maxime (the main character), a businesswoman owner of the Salon Blossom – Flowers & Teas. I met with BIPOC women entrepreneurs and owners of their respective flower shops, and tea blend businesses.

Finally, exploring the romance genre, I committed to navigating my readers through a rollercoaster of emotions; I received bits of advice from a therapist to be realistic in how my characters would experiment with theirs.

 

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

I made Maxime a curious, resilient, and benevolent person. I laughed and cried while writing her story. She taught me to embrace my emotions, dive deep down into them, and stick to my core values to come back strong, rich from the lessons, and forgiving.

 

Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

I found a Café in my new neighbourhood, after I moved to Vancouver, with an aesthetic close to the one that I depict for the Salon Blossom – Flowers and Teas, in “New Beginning in Vancouver”. I love to go there on weekends to write.

Also, I often get inspired by the lyrics of random songs I listen to on my walks.

 

Are you a plotter or pantser?

I usually begin a book or a chapter with an end in mind. But when I dive into my characters' world, they take over. They got me to change the first novel's ending and surprised me throughout my writing of “Choosing Love Over Pride”. Only when I get writer's block do I step back, come back to the first idea, and drill down to a potential root cause from where I am, using the 5 Whys method (Why is this idea important, why would this happen, why…) or just relaxing.

 

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

Believe it or not: a worn-out copy of “Choosing Love Over Pride” … and water. I must hydrate constantly to keep my mind clear.

 

Anything new coming up from you?  What?

I’m working on the translation in French of the two first books of the series. And I strive to write the last book of this series. After I finished “New Beginning in Vancouver”, I decided this series would be a trilogy. But knowing this book is my last opportunity to dive into Maxime’s world (at least in that context), it is tough to progress. Also, real life collided with fiction, blocking me from creating this last stage of the Smith-Eunoias story.

 

Do you have a question for our readers?

What makes a series ending memorable to you: is it the surprise, an opening for more questions, a happy or fateful ending?

There are so many ways this fiction could end. The characters seem to have different wills, and I don’t want a “GOT last season syndrome”. I commit to keeping the rollercoaster of emotions going until the end and creating new narratives through my books. Why not fuel my inspiration from you?

"Max, do you remember the proposal-gate?"

"How could I ever forget, sweetie? You made sure no one would. Why do you ask?"

"Was it worth it? I mean, I recall being a fierce advocate for the 'I do.' But when I think of how much Dad and you have suffered because of love I wonder. Was it worth it?"

Maxime's stepdaughter refers to her father's legendary attempt to propose in New Beginning in Vancouver, the prequel to this book. This new stage of Maxime's life navigates us through a rollercoaster of emotions while she must face new joys and challenges.

I hope you will enjoy, laugh and cry reading their story as much as I did when I wrote it. I offer you an opportunity to complete the experience of reading this novel appealing to all senses with a soundtrack, available on my author website: http://www.marielledevassoigneauthor.com.

Finally, as I identify as a BIPOC and LGBTQ+ ally, this book reflects once again my core belief: a rich life is filled with kindness, curiosity, and exploration, as well as values of diversity and inclusion.

Enjoy!

Read an Excerpt

“You two have something special as well. You’re soulmates too.”

“That’s exactly how we feel.” She’s beaming now. “Hmm. Love feels so good when it is reciprocated,” I concede, wistful.

“But Uncle Gab still loves you Max.” “Everyone but him knows it. That’s what hurts the most! And I can’t do the same and pretend with your father.”

My reaction to the first shock of Gabriel moving out was a warning. The discussion with my dear Sophia starts shaking me out of my emotional swamp. After spending time with Bloom, Emmy, Kim, and Josh I realize I can no longer focus on my pain only.

For their sake, that of Gabriel and Jason, of James and my two babies, the Blossom, and the Explorer but mainly for my own sake I bury myself in work. Spending my days at the Blossom. The Salon, always buzzing in the spring is the best distraction to my sorrow.

After spending half her life in Montréal, Marielle de Vassoigne moved to Vancouver during the pandemic in January of 2021.

Just like her main character Maxime, she was born in France and grew up in Martinique, a French Caribbean Island, before moving in Canada.

An organic writer, she's publishing her first novel, which is an outcome from her many experiences. The story has been influenced by her core belief—that a rich life is filled with kindness, curiosity, and exploration—as well as values of diversity and inclusion.

WEBSITE: http://www.marielledevassoigneauthor.com
FACEBOOK: https://web.facebook.com/marielledevassoigneauthor
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/marielledevassoigneauthor/

AMAZON.COM: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0228883989
AMAZON.CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0228883989
AMAZON KINDLE: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BV4SWRQV
BOOKTOPIA: https://www.booktopia.com.au/choosing-love-over-pride-marielle-de-vassoigne/book/9780228883982.html
BARNES & NOBLE: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/choosing-love-over-pride-marielle-de-vassoigne/1143060418
BOOK DEPOSITORY: https://www.bookdepository.com/Choosing-Love-Over-Pride-Marielle-de-Vassoigne/9780228883982
SMASHWORD: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1338396
IBOOKS: https://books.apple.com/us/book/choosing-love-over-pride-the-sequel-to-new-beginning/id6445731289

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