A bientot

Among all the other joys and discoveries in life, I haven't been able to keep up this blog. But you can find out what's up by following me on Facebook (@LoriAnnStephensWrites,  https://www.facebook.com/LoriAnnStephensWrites/) and on my website at www.loriannstephens.com.
As always, I'll still be DIY-ing and writing and traveling. Bon courage, and have faith in the Good.
Lori

A Year in Pictures

I had noble goals as we packed up and headed to Paris for the long-awaited sabbatical year. When I wasn't dragging my younger son to museums ("too many museums"), I revised a novel (accomplished), submitted a few opera libretti pieces to composers (check), began a middle-grade novel, and wrote a jazz opera summary for an upcoming project. When I returned to Texas, I was seized by another wave of Do-It-Yourself mania (a form of writer's procrastination) and made a sliding door. What I didn't do was this: blog. Nor did I update my website.

Thus: A Year in Pictures. With subtitles.

I went to a writer's retreat in the French countryside:

said hello to this peacock every morning

 

trekked through these grounds at the retreat

 

saw his lady

slept and wrote in this glorious room

visited this grand cathedral

And took part in this book singing for my Young Adult novel Some Act of Vision, at American Library in Paris:

I'm surrounded by cool people.

the toast afterward

We moved into in a cute apartment:

And I dragged Julien to museums with weird art:

Madonna's clothes (by Gaultier)

this odd fellow

gagged at these earth tumors

My libretto, Lingerer, a collaboration with composer Max Perryment, premiered at Meadows School of the Arts in September 2014. (No pics. Sad face.)

I geeked out at a special opera exhibition at the Grand Palais:

I ate too much food:

I watched Julien begin middle school in Paris (eek):

a brave soul, this one. 

And walked home from his school on this street:

visited castles and a cave with Mother:

wine tasting at this cave

I said "so long" to my sweet friend, Amy, who made Paris feel like home:

And then, in February, my son re-enrolled in a Texas school for 3 months and I watched his first performance on the violin:

The kid is in there somewhere

My libretto, EVARISTE, a collaboration with composer Helgi Ingvarsson, premiered in London at two venues in July (and...no pics for this either because I was not in London).

And recently, I gave in to my DIY cravings and made a sliding barn door for my laundry room entrance:

And I baked this year, too:

Now everyone is all caught up and I don't feel as though I've completely abandoned my blog.