The Final version of the trailer for The Vertigo of the Rhombus.

Dear readers / visitors,

Here's the final version of my book trailer for The Vertigo of the Rhombus, which will be published in France at the end of  May.

So, without further ado, let the adventure start!

 

CLIQUEZ ICI POUR LA VERSION FRANÇAISE

"La Marque de l'Orage", quinze jours après sa sortie. // "The Mark of the Storm", two weeks after its release.

 EN FRANÇAIS // IN ENGLISH

Bonjour ! // Hello!

Chers visiteurs, voici quelques photos pour vous tenir au courant du cheminement de La Marque de l'Orage depuis sa naissance au monde il y a quinze jours. //  Dear visitors, it's been two weeks since my book The Mark of the Storm was released into the world. Here are a few photos to keep you posted about what's been happening to it so far.

Il a été présenté en détail dans "Biblioteca magazine" (j'ai été à la fois fière et triste d'être la seule française parmi les traductions d'auteurs étrangers). // It has been presented in detail in the French book magazine "Biblioteca" (I have felt both proud and sad to be the only French author amongst translated foreign writers).

Sa naissance a été dûment arrosée, une ou deux fois, par son auteur sur son île Grande-Bretonne -- remarquez que les British savent vivre et que la taille de leurs verres à vin reflète leur amour des bonnes choses ! // Its birth has been celebrated in due form, once or twice, by its author on her Great British island (note that the Brits know how to live, a fact that is reflected by the size of their wine glasses!).

Voici le livre en France, mis à l'honneur dans une grande librairie à Paris (couverture contre couverture avec Umberto Eco !) // Back to the book, here it is presented in a choice place (on a display desk, cover to cover with Umberto Eco!) in a big Paris bookshop.

Maintenant, c'est avec un mélange d'impatience et de nervosité (difficile de ne pas se sentir nerveuse !) que  j'attends les premiers avis et critiques sur mon livre. J'espère de tout coeur qu'il saura toucher ses lecteurs. // Now it's with a mixture of impatience and nervousness (it would be hard not to feel nervous!) that I'm waiting for the first reviews and opinions about the novel. I hope with all my heart that it will manage to touch its readers.

Merci de votre visite et, je l'espère, à très bientôt ! //  Thank you for your visit and I hope to see you again very soon!

PS: Le livre est maintenant disponible à l'étranger : sur Amazon UK, Amazon Espagne, Amazon Allemagne et sur Fnac Belgique. Pour les francophones vivant aux USA, au Canada et dans le reste du monde, le livre est disponible sur le site Deastore.com (port gratuit dans le monde entier !) :
 

Virtual launch party for the release of my novel "The Mark of the Storm" in France today!

IN ENGLISH

VERSION FRANÇAISE ICI

WELCOME to Marwen's world!

At the dawn of World War II, on Enez Disrann, the island of disappearances, ancient legends, ferocious storms and dark mysteries ...

To mark the release of my novel The Mark of the Storm today in France (yay!), I interrupt my work on my second volume to invite you to join me on this page of celebration.

A big thank you for your visit, and I sincerely hope that my story will be translated into English. It is available in France from today in all good bookshops and online at the usual addresses. It may become available in French on Amazon UK (my publisher is looking into it). 

So watch this space, dear English speaking friends, I'll keep you posted!

Here is the cover that represents so well the mysterious mood of the book:

Here's my publisher's friendly and passionate team, the great "Galodé Team"!

Here is a short extract from the book (a draft translation) just to give you a wee taster:

Marwen was shivering. Although her wet clothes made her cold, it was mainly because her nerves were relaxing after being stretched to their limit. If she could, she would have huddled in a corner and slept a moment to recover. But she did not allow herself this indulgence. She had escaped from the flooded well but still had to find a way out of the tunnels and try to save Anaïk. She absolutely could not let herself go.

Painfully, she stood up. When she touched it, she felt her knee had bled again since her last fall. The handkerchief around it was saturated with blood but she had nothing to replace it with. Galvanized by her fear for her sister, and by the feeling of having a job to do, she no longer felt the pain as much as before.

The small lights sprang up in front of her indicating the way forward, as if they suddenly recognized where they were. The Manac'h was still floating by her side, dull, faithful and indifferent.

Marwen did not feel very stable on her legs. She leant against the wall for a moment before following the lights. The gallery was long. Contrary to the well, it seemed to have been carved in the rock by men. This reassured Marwen. If people had built this passage, there should be a way out.

At last she saw an archway down the corridor. The lights disappeared through it and rushed into the next chamber. Marwen found herself in the dark.

A bright spot appeared in the distance. It came up to her at a tremendous speed and stopped before her just in front of her face. She recognized the six-pointed star that she had not seen for months, except in her dreams.

The shining star began to turn on itself and Marwen was seized with a giddiness that had nothing to do with altitude or fear. Then the star vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

Marwen staggered, shocked by the contrast between darkness and light. She closed her eyes. Light spots floated for a moment under her eyelids before disappearing. When she opened her eyes again, she knew she had lost her sight. It was not only that she was in the dark but that deep inside herself she knew she’d become blind.

A terrible fear engulfed her. She had been warned by her father never to look too long at the sun.

"Even during an eclipse," he had said, "you can be blinded by sunlight. Man is made for medium experiences. For medium sound frequencies, average brightness and average temperatures. We are creatures of the middle and yet we still believe ourselves superior to other species."

Marwen had not looked into the sun but had stared at a supernatural star. The result was the same. Her eyes were burned by the star as were Michael Strogoff’s, in the Jules Verne novel, by a white-hot sword.

Terrifying thoughts jostled in her head. Was the star the reason why Maïa the witch had become blind? Was it the price to pay for the gift of second sight? Or was it the branding with which the forest marked its servants, as the thunderstorm branded his own with a three line mark on their skin?

Marwen's heart was pounding. In the Bible there was mention of the mark of the Devil. But nothing about the mark of the Lord. She moved forward, holding the wall to compensate for the loss of her sight.

"What does it mean?" she shouted to the solitude of the corridor. "Does it even make sense?"

Scarcely had she spoken that an echo came back.

"Sense.. sense ... sssseeeeennnnssse ..."

Marwen shuddered and stumbled on a shallow downward step. She only just managed to regain her balance and began to grope blindly around her. But she felt nothing. There was no light, no sounds, no walls. Nothing.

"Tell me what to do," she cried in a vacuum. "I don’t understand anything!"

At these words, her sight returned as instantly as it had been brutally removed. What she discovered around her was nothing short of extraordinary.

And finally for those of you who have not yet seen it – and for those who want to see it again! - the book trailer (with music by Westwind – a very talented fellow Breton):

So to all of you WELCOME to Marwen's world, on her island, Enez Disrann, the island of disappearances, ancient legends, ferocious storms and great mysteries ...

The final trailer in English for "The Mark of The Storm"!

IN ENGLISH (CLIQUEZ ICI POUR LA VERSION FRANÇAISE DE LA PAGE ET DE LA BANDE-ANNONCE)

To celebrate the fact that a month today (20 April) my novel, The Mark of the Storm, will be released in France, I am really excited to share with you the English version of its trailer.  The book is the first volume of an exciting historical fantasy trilogy entitled THE MASTERS OF THE STORM, which takes place in my native Brittany during WW2.

I hope with all my Franco-British heart that it will be translated into English in the not too distant future.

If you like the trailer, don't hesitate to share it!

Thanks!

PS: The brilliant soundtrack is by the very talented Christophe Galès (alias Westwind).

PPS: For full screen versions, please go to Youtube.

VERSION 1 (Broadband -- fast download but lower quality):

VERSION 2 (High Quality -- larger file):

The Mark of the Storm

The first volume of my trilogy "THE MASTERS OF THE STORM" is entitled The Mark of the Storm, and will be published in France by Pascal Galodé Éditeurs at the end of April 2012.

If you wish to learn more about it, click HERE or on the tab "The Mark of the Storm" on my Homepage. Thank you!