Guest Blog: Blog. E-book. Book? by Karen A. Chase (Bonjour 40: A Paris travel log)

Blog. E-book. Book?
By Karen A. Chase
Author of Bonjour 40: A Paris travel log
(40 years. 40 days. 40 seconds)

I began a blog because I went to Paris for a month. I was turning forty, and to celebrate, I planned my dream trip and away I went. For nearly forty days I kept a daily blog with posts that included one of my photos and something my friends and family could read in about forty seconds. For the first week or so it was fun, but then something happened.

Writing opened my eyes. Suddenly Paris seemed more magical. The food started to look like art. People began to appear like characters in a novel. Streets glistened. My daily posts became not just about how I was seeing Paris, but how all those back home might see it too. I saw it through my friends, my parents, and my partner, Ted, who joined me only for the last ten days. Through my words we described Paris. Through my lens we captured her, and in so doing, Paris deeply captured me.

I never thought I’d have a blog. But once it caught on, once I saw the impact sharing my words had for others and for me, I knew I needed to reach out to more than just friends and family, and maybe through more than just my blog.

Hello Bonjour 40! Compiling longer pieces, I filled in details of Paris and the impact my trip had on me. Paired with my blog entries, my writing resulted in a 25,000-word memoir complete with accompanying photos. It’s allowed so many more to visit the wondrous Paris I experienced, and it’s allowed me the chance to relive my dream trip with each interview and speaking engagement.

One day I hope Bonjour 40 will expand from e-book to print book, complete will full-page images. I wish it if for no other reason than to be able to curl up in a chair in my own reading room, with a book that reminds me, I happily turned forty in Paris. May my words reach readers in their own chairs, and may they seek and find such joy in realizing their own dreams.

About Bonjour 40: A Paris Travel log (40 years, 40 days, 40 seconds) by Karen A. Chase
If Karen A. Chase absolutely had to turn 40, she decided she could do it gracefully in Paris… for nearly 40 days. What began as a blog to communicate with friends and family became a travel journal filled with over a months’ worth of daily details of her Paris adventures, each of which could be read in about 40 seconds. Peppered with Karen’s own photographs, she also weaves in longer stories that reflect upon her experiences with Parisians, travel, food, photography, writing, and love in the City of Lights.



**Tomorrow I will post my review of Bonjour 40: A Paris travel log, which is absolutely delightful and has me ready to travel for my 40th birthday in a few years**