Escape to the South of France with author Patricia Sands

My love of reading, combined with my love of France, has led me to read many wonderful authors in the last fifteen years. You can review my list of suggestions on My Favourite French Connections page.

I search bookshops and the Internet looking for books based in France. Many have been real life stories, describing purchasing a house, with the trials of renovating a country cottage and negotiating the French way of life. When I discovered Patricia Sands, an author from Toronto, Canada, it was like a breath of fresh air. Patricia writes lively page-turning fiction that transports me to Provence. Apart from her books, Patricia shares enticing photos of the south of France on her Instagram account. Let’s find out more.

Carole: Hi Patricia, thank you for coming along to ‘French Views’ to talk about your books and your love of France. When did you first fall in love with France?

Patricia: Hi Carole! Thanks so much for inviting me to visit your wonderful blog. I’ve been a fan for years. I first fell in love with France when I was 21 years old, backpacking around Europe with friends after university … a long time ago! I’ve been fortunate throughout my life to come back to France many times and the love affair continued to grow. For the last twenty years, my husband and I have spent several months each spring/summer … and sometimes in the autumn … in the south of France. It feels like our second home now.

Carole: Have you always been a writer? How did you come to start writing novels?

Patricia: I’ve always been a photographer … since I received a Kodak Brownie camera for my 7th birthday! It took me a long time to realise I have been telling stories all my life through photography. It never occurred to me to be a writer. But 12 years ago, my husband had retired and we were wintering in Florida. I found myself with some time on my hands and began to write The Bridge Club, a novel about my real-life bridge club. I had no intention of publishing. Famous last words! Long story short, I was encouraged to pursue publishing and that was the beginning of an entirely new career at the age of 65.

Patricia is a keen photographer just like her character Kat

Carole: Your ‘Love in Provence’ series starts out with heartbreak and an impulsive home exchange to Antibes. Have you ever done a home exchange or a long stay in France?

Patricia: In fact, my husband and I have had fourteen very successful home exchanges. I often recommend the experience to friends and was happy to make that part of Kat’s journey in The Promise of Provence. Our stays in France have varied from one month to five months.

Carole: Did you set out to write a series or did it evolve from readers falling in love with your characters and begging for more?

Patricia: How perceptive of you. That’s exactly right. The Promise of Provence was intended to be a stand-alone novel. However, I was asked by a great many readers to continue Kat’s story. So, I did. It has been a lot of fun for me to see where how her journey evolved.

Carole: ‘Drawing Lessons’ is set near the town of Arles. It is a beautiful part of France and a great base to visit many wonderful places. Have you personally experienced a drawing/photography or writers retreat?

Patricia: I’ve been to a number of writers’ conferences in the past twelve years but never a ‘retreat’ per se. I loved setting Drawing Lessons in Arles. We had visited the town several times and all of a sudden received a request to do a home exchange in Arles. Once we settled in, I knew I wanted to write a novel set in the area and spent the entire three weeks researching and photographing. Our exchange home was a restored town home adjacent to Les Arènes. We had a view of that magnificent structure from every window and it was truly inspiring.

Carole: The ‘Villa des Violettes’ series has the same main characters from the ‘Love in Provence’ series and of course some new ones. Is it easy to come up with characters? Are they based on real people you know or have met?

Patricia: The Villa des Violettes series exists as a direct result of readers asking me to write more about Kat and Philippe and their extended family and friends. That too has been a pleasure. Storytelling gives an author a great deal of leeway to create situations and personalities. It’s part of the fun of writing fiction. Somehow the characters begin to appear and grow as the story evolves. Yes, some are based on people I know and others develop of their own accord.

You can’t help but smile when you see the array of colours of the buildings along the Côte d’Azur.

Carole: You certainly tackle some big issues in your stories, along with a variety of different relationships, which makes it very interesting reading. Is it hard to weave it all together and keep a good balance?

Patricia: What a good question. A writer is always searching for balance in a story, particularly if the desire is to keep the narrative interesting and entertaining without becoming too serious. At the same time, important issues such as mental health and grief often require a strong focus because I want the issue to resonate with readers and to inspire them to consider such issues in their own lives. It’s been so satisfying to hear from readers who say they related to a situation in one of the stories and how the decisions a character made inspired some of their own.

Patricia with her friend, Deborah Bine aka Barefoot Blogger

Carole: I’m lucky to have travelled to many of the same places which you refer to in your books. Do you have a favourite place in France that you would keep going back to?

Patricia: I have spent time in all of the places that I write about. That’s important to me. I want my descriptions to be authentic and always hope that readers will truly feel they were there with the characters. I love hearing from readers who write and tell me that’s how they felt.

I guess it is obvious that my heart lives in Antibes. We stay there whenever possible and also love Nice. We are addicted to the entire Côte d’Azur from Menton through to Cannes and could never visit France without spending time there.

Carole: Have you ever considered purchasing a property in France?

Patricia: We’ve been tempted many times. However, we have a large blended family in southern Ontario ~ seven adult children with partners and nine grandchildren … the most recent being identical twin boys who are almost four months old. We often get together and all of our ‘kids’ have visited with us in France. Now some of our grandchildren are older and have also spent time there with us. We love that!

Since we also had a home in Florida until recently, we realised it was best if we continued to do long exchanges or rentals. Thankfully that has always worked out well for us.

Carole: When was your last trip to France? How do you keep your connection to France alive when you can’t travel there? Do you speak French?

Patricia: Like so many others, my last trip to France was in September 2019 with one of our South of France Memories Tours. And then Covid struck. Our 2020 tour and then the 2021 tour were postponed. But we are already booked for 2022 and cannot wait! It’s been truly painful not to be over there every year but I keep in touch with friends and often Zoom with some. Of course, as you know, online connections often help one to feel they are in France.

I’ve been taking French lessons all my life and I love the language! As an elementary school teacher years ago, I taught French Immersion for a few years. However, I still don’t feel truly fluent. Once I am in France, it just feels natural to speak the language and hope mistakes are forgiven.

Carole: In the past you have organised some small tours to the South of France for women. I believe that there is a tour planned for 2022. Can you tell us a bit more about it and how readers could get in touch with you if they were interested?

Patricia: In 2014 I was approached by a travel agent who asked if I would consider developing a tour based on my novels. This was something I had not ever dreamed of and it has turned out to be such a rewarding experience year after year. It has evolved into the South of France Memories Tour and I co-host with my great friend, Deborah Bine aka Barefoot Blogger. The extremely knowledgeable and talented Nancy McGee, owner of Absolutely Southern France travel organises all the logistics for us and every tour has been a great success. Sixteen women travel together for twelve days and at the end everyone is the best of friends and no one wants to go home! It’s a joy to watch this happen. All the details can be found at this link. And of course I’m always happy to answer any questions through my website. One very popular aspect of our tour is that we only change locations once. We stay six days in Nice and six days in Arles and then have day trips. So there is never a lot of packing and unpacking.

Ladies enjoying the South of France Memories Tour with Patricia Sands

I also publish a monthly newsletter and there will always be information about the tour … and photos! There is a sign-up link on the blog on my website.

Carole: Are you writing another book? Is it set in France?

Patricia: One thing I have discovered about being an author is that the desire to write simply never stops. Yes, I’m working on another novel and part of it is in France. It has to be! And there will be one more Villa des Violettes book. I had hoped to publish it by December of this year but life has intervened in so many ways, I suspect 2022 is more realistic.

Carole: Thank you very much for taking the time to share some of your story and photos with us. Below are some links if you would like to find out more about Patricia and her books.

Patricia: It truly has been a pleasure. Thank you for the fabulous blog you share with all of us!

https://patriciasandsauthor.com

https://www.instagram.com/patricialsands/

ps://www.facebook.com/AuthorPatriciaSands