France is where she belongs... The French Impressionist by Rebecca Bischoff (Blog Tour Interview & Giveaway)

Thursday, December 8, 2016 - Leave a Comment

I'm welcoming Rebecca Bischoff to my blog today for an interview about her new book.
Definitely check that out as well as the book and giveaway below...

The French Impressionist

by Rebecca Bischoff

YA Contemporary

Paperback & ebook, 250 Pages

December 6th 2016

Summary

Rosemary is fifteen and gloriously free, on her own for the very first time. Part of an exchange program for aspiring artists, she arrives in sunny southern France with a single goal: she doesn’t plan to leave, ever. She wants a new life, a new family, and a new identity. But her situation, crafted from lies big and small, is precarious.

Desperate to escape haunting images from her past and a stage one helicopter parent, Rosemary struggles to hide her lack of artistic talent and a communication disorder that has tormented her all her life. She believes her dream of a new start will come true, until she unwittingly finds herself enveloped in a decades-old mystery that threatens to ruin her only chance for success. Determined to stay, Rosemary must choose whether or not she’ll tell the biggest lie of all, even if it means destroying the life of someone she cares about.

Dramatic, heartwarming, and full of teenage angst, The French Impressionist perfectly captures the struggle of those who feel they have no voice, and also shows the courage it takes to speak up and show the world who we really are.

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Author Interview

Welcome, Rebecca, to my blog today! Let's jump right in...

1. What inspired you to write The French Impressionist?

I came across an article online about an apartment in Paris that had been left locked up for over seventy years. When it was opened, it was discovered to be full of beautiful furniture and many works of art, including the portrait of a woman in a pink dress. That portrait was found to be the work of Giovanni Boldini, an Italian artist. The portrait later sold for quite a bit of money. I couldn’t help wishing that I could be the first to make such a discovery. What would it be like to set foot inside a place like that? I think it would be like walking into a life-size time capsule, giving you a glimpse of a past life. The story really began to evolve from there.

I think that would be really cool!

2. Have you been to France, and if so, what was your favorite thing?

I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Paris a couple of times. I loved so much of what I saw and experienced it’s hard to choose one thing! I love the French language, and enjoyed trying to speak French. It’s a fun challenge to learn another language, and has been an interest of mine for a long time. I loved the bakeries, and still remember the smell of freshly baked bread and the windows filled with colorful pastries. I enjoyed visiting the museums and got chills when I was able to stand so close to amazing works of art, like the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, or Degas’s sculpture “Small Dancer,” in the Musee D’Orsay. Also, I simply loved the city itself. It has lovely green parks, long avenues lined with gorgeous old buildings, and a fascinating history. It’s like a beautiful woman who only gets better and more graceful with age.

It sounds lovely. One day I plan on going.

3. What was your biggest challenge in writing The French Impressionist?

For me, the biggest challenge was that my main character, Rosemary, makes some terrible and quite illogical decisions, all because she is desperate to escape from her life and start over. I wanted readers to understand why she could possibly believe her crazy scheme to ditch her old life and get a new family to take her in could actually work. I think I worried about that more than anything else.

I think that would be challenging because the reader has to buy into it.

4. What did you find the most interesting in researching the book?

I’ve loved to draw ever since I could remember, but had never tried my hand at painting. Since I was writing a book in which the main character is taking art classes and learning to paint, I decided that I needed a little real-life experience myself. I ended up finding a beginner’s-level oil painting class taught by a local artist, and loved the experience. I now paint on occasion, and though I can’t claim to be a great artist, I’ve found a new interest and much greater appreciation for the visual arts.

That sounds really fun! Makes me want to take a painting class. 😊

5. Do you have a favorite part or scene from the book that you could share with us?

I can’t help smiling whenever I reread the scene where Rosemary and Gavin kiss. It’s the opposite of so many kissing scenes in books: it’s awkward and embarrassing and funny, pretty much like my own first kiss. Poor Rosemary hates herself because she has such conflicting feelings for Gavin. She doesn’t totally like or trust him at that point, but she still wants to kiss him.

Lol! I think we've all wanted to kiss some people that we might not have completely liked.

6. If you only had one sentence to convince someone to read your book, what would you say?

I hate rhetorical questions, but I can’t help using one now: How far would you go to get everything you’ve ever wanted?

I see what you mean. 😉

7. What are you most looking forward to reading in 2017?

I just started reading the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children series by Ransom Riggs. Yes, I know I’m behind the times! I really enjoyed the first and am happy I have two more to read. I am trying to read more fantasy so I’m delving into The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer next, since her books were recommended by some of my students. I don’t know a lot about books coming in 2017 but my “to-read” list is already a mile long and keeps growing longer.

I need to read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children as well. I love The Lunar Chronicles so I hope you love it too! I also can relate to the ever growing tbr pile!

8. What are you working on next?

I’ve been working on several projects at the same time. I’m working on a couple of historical novels, which is a genre I love, and am trying my hand at a middle grade contemporary novel.

Those all sound really fun! I hope they go well. Thanks so much for answering my questions!

About the Author

Rebecca Bischoff currently resides in Idaho with her family and works as a speech-language pathologist. She loves helping others, especially kids and teenagers, discover their own unique voices and learn to share who they are with the world. When she isn’t writing, she loves to read, spend time with her kids, and make awkward attempts to learn foreign languages. She is drawn to all things both French and Italian, used bookstores, and anything made out of chocolate.

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