Emily in France 🇫🇷 The Weird, Weird World of Fiction Writing
Am I inventing stories, or are the stories inventing me?
A little over a year ago, I realized I had taken on too much. I was constantly behind on deadlines, waking from anxiety dreams where I was subsumed by my Gmail inbox… and yet I couldn't stop myself from spending the mornings either creating videos about French cheese or outlining a new novel project. Finally, after one too many sob-fests, I devised a system, dividing my time among my passion projects and my actual work, complete with a color coding system referencing the various hats I wear. (I considered investing in some actual hats, but given the frequency with which I sported newsboy caps unironically from 2002 to 2005, this seemed too dangerous a possibility to fathom.)
All that to say… I’m extremely good at compartmentalizing, and despite it being a massive part of my life, I rarely discuss the fiction-adjacent portions of my day-to-day, especially not in this newsletter. Which is odd… seeing as I start each and every morning knees-deep in Scrivener, the software I’ve been using to craft novels for years. It’s even more of an oddity considering the fact that I met some of my best friends in a writers’ workshop, and I’m gearing up to host my own in Nantes with one of those dear friends, Anna Polonyi, at the end of this month.
But it feels essential to share that fiction is – and long has been – a huge part of my life if I’m going to address the way that the following sentence has affected me, nearly haunting me, as I dig into the second draft of my current project. (Spoiler alert: It’s about cheese.)
“I kind of always find that things that I make tell the future.”
Dean Fleischer Camp told Rachel Syme this for a piece in the New Yorker, and despite having read it a year ago, it continues to resonate with me, though not in that visceral “same!” kind of way, but rather in the way in which it makes me consider my own relationship to the things I create. I understand what Camp is saying, but his reality isn't mine: Rather, the things I make make me.
What does this look like? I never really know. Sometimes, the story I’m telling causes me to zero in on details in my own life I had never really noticed before, elements of myself, my relationships, my habits. It’s almost as though the fictional story I’m telling myself (and hopefully, someday, the world) causes things in my real life to glint and shimmer.
If I sit too long with this sensation, it makes me wonder which came first: Did my subconscious sow these seeds in my novel in order to make me more aware of my own reality? Or is it rather the fictional universe that is somehow seeping and steeping into my life, changing me by virtue of its existence?
Either way, reckoning with this overlap between my reality and my fiction has the strange effect of pushing back an ethereal curtain, something that feels as though it's not-quite obeying the rules of the universe. It’s a little terrifying, like a too-on-the-nose astrology prediction or déjà vu that feels a bit too… vu.
But for as much as I often find myself clinging to the comfort of the real world, I've got to say… I kind of love the power my fiction has as it sprouts wings of its own and begins to look as though, some day, it might even fly.
Cheese of the Week
Summer has definitely arrived in Paris, having a nearly pornographic effect on this super-sexy Brie aux truffes. These sorts of modified cheeses, like Brie with a layer of walnuts or mustard in the middle or goat cheeses rolled in herbs are nuts, are usually made in-house by cheesemongers, so no two are created alike. This one was particularly toothsome with generous truffle shards suspended in that delightfully oozy paste. #sexy
To discover more of my favorite cheeses, be sure to follow me on Instagram @emily_in_france, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and tune into the Terroir Podcast, where Caroline Conner and I delve into France's cheese, wine, and more one region at a time.
What I'm Eating
This is certainly going to garner me the sort of hatred that I get when I say I don't like chocolate or I actually crave vegetables, but I have to admit: I've gotten a bit bored of the Parisian dining scene of late. Luckily, Chefs à Table resurfaced my culinary excitement with its lunchtime prix fixe featuring one of the most creative, surprising beetroot dishes I’ve tried in a while and mains that, for once, were even more enticing than the appetizers. More on the blog.
Discover more of my foodie finds via Instagram @emily_in_france and on the blog.
What I’m Doing
June 26 to 30, my friend and fellow writer Anna Polonyi and I will be launching the very first iteration of the Nantes Writers’ Workshop.
During the five-day workshop, you'll take full advantage of morning generative writing sessions with me and afternoon craft and feedback workshops with Anna, an Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad and teacher based in Nantes. In the evenings, convene with us for craft talks over an apéritif.
Check out our website and Instagram for more information, and snag your spot before it’s too late!
After a first successful TERRE/MER long weekend, we're at it again! There are still a few questions up in the air: Will we opt for a shared house configuration or independent lodging? Will the weather allow for hikes along the calanques, or will we get cozy with cake and tea with local honey? But the most important is of course the big W: When. And to answer that, we need your help!
If you're interested in joining us for four days of ceramics, cheese tastings, and conviviality in southern La Ciotat, please consider filling out this poll to help us choose our next dates.
Where I’m Going
To Rome! See you next Tuesday, at which point I hope for my blood type to be amatriciana.
What I'm Writing
1. Behind Michelin-starred Chef Hélène Darroze's ever-present smile is a veritable tour de force of nostalgic flavors and sharp savoir-faire. For Life & Thyme.
2. Whether it's a spaghetti marinara, braised beef ragù, or a cacio e pepe served out of a hollowed-out cheese wheel, there's something about restaurant-made pasta that tastes better. But top chefs from across the country clued me in to some of the ways you can cultivate restaurant secrets for even better at-home sauces. For Mashed.
3. Follow this recipe for the best grilled cheese you've ever had. (Spoiler alert: It's actually a croque madame.) For InsideHook.
What I'm Saying
When people call Paris the City of Light, it evokes images of a rose-tinted city illuminated by beautiful street lamps. But this "Light" is actually of a philosophical nature, as researcher Knox Peden is here to explain. In our conversation on lumière for Navigating the French, he delves into the tenets of this philosophy and how it still resonates in French culture centuries later.
What I'm Reading
1. Is it fair to give Italy in Mind five stars when I glazed over some of the essays? I think it has to be, because this collection introduced me to some writers I had long overlooked, including (embarrassingly) D.H. Lawrence. I often read a book set in my destination when I travel, and this collection was indeed perfect for vacation: The selections were short, the introductions to each provided just the right amount of context, and the experience had me adding at least three or four new full-length works to my to-read pile just from the excerpts. From Dickens to Wharton, Lord Byron to Henry James, seeing Italy through the eyes of writers was an overall fascinating and rewarding experience.
2. I always love reading Vittles, but this particular column has some wonderful one-liners pulled straight from the mouths of the author’s grandparents, including one I intend to use to fend off small talk: “You’ve got a degree and you’re talking about the bins?”
3. Part of me wonders if my lack of excitement regarding dining out isn’t down to the fact that home cooking just hits different – an idea that I’m considering all the more deeply after reading this piece in the Atlantic.
A bientôt !