I can’t tell you how excited I am to be heading to Paris in March for Paris’s biggest book fair, the Salon du livre (translates as “room of the book”). The fair is held every year and is a huge event. Dreamspinner Press has been going for some time now, and I’ve watched on social media and been green with envy.

I have five books that will have been translated into French as of March of this year: Stealing the Wind and Into the Wind (Mermen of Ea Books #1 and 2), First Comes Marriage (Dreamspun Desires #2), Prelude (Blue Notes Series), and Blood and Rain (Blood Book #1). For me, seeing my novels translated into French is particularly cool because I lived in France for several years when I was in middle school, and I speak fluent (albeit a bit rusty) French.

So I’ll be joining Ariel Tachna, whose French totally puts mine to shame, Kim Fielding, one of my favorite people, and the rest of the Dreamspinner crew at the table, as well as appearing at a book signing event. I’m really looking forward to getting to meet readers and getting to finally see the show firsthand.

I’m also looking forward to getting back to Paris. I’ve visited Toulouse recently, but it’s been nearly 8 years since I’ve visited Paris. The last time I was there was when I got inspired to write Blue Notes, which tells the story of an American former pianist who meets a talented French jazz violinist and falls in love. It’s the first book I wrote in the Blue Notes Series, and I think it shows how I fell in love with the City of Lights all over again during that trip.

I hope you’ll follow along on social media as I travel to France and check out the amazing French book market as well as the sights. Luckily, my husband is on spring break that week, so he’ll be joining me. We’ve both been in Paris many times, but at least for me, the city is so amazing I never get tired of it. Stay tuned, because the next installment of my monthly author post will be from Paris! -Shira

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About Shira: Shira Anthony was a professional opera singer in her last incarnation, performing roles in such operas as Tosca, i Pagliacci, and La Traviata, among others. She’s given up TV for evenings spent with her laptop, and she never goes anywhere without a pile of unread M/M romance on her Kindle. You can hear Shira singing “Vissi d’arte” from Puccini’s Tosca by clicking here: Shira’s Singing

Shira loves a great happily-ever-after and never writes a story without one. She’s happy to write what her muse tells her, whether it’s fantasy, sci fi, paranormal, or contemporary romance. She particularly loves writing series, because she thinks of her characters as old friends and she wants to visit them even after their stories are told.

In real life, Shira sang professionally for 14 years, and she currently works as a public sector attorney advocating for children. She’s happy to have made writing her second full-time job, even if it means she rarely has time to watch TV or go to the movies. Shira writes about the things she knows and loves, whether it’s music and musicians, the ocean, or the places she’s lived or traveled to. She spent her middle school years living in France, and tries to visit as often as she can.

Shira and her husband spend as many weekends as they can aboard their 35′ catamaran sailboat, Land’s Zen, at the Carolina Coast. Not only has sailing inspired her to write about pirates and mermen, her sailboat is her favorite place to write. And although the only mermen she’s found to date are in her own imagination, she keeps a sharp lookout for them when she’s on the water.