Deborah L. Jacobs
During the year that my husband and I spent planning our first lengthy French sojourn, I envisioned writing a book about the forces that converge to force baby boomers out of the workforce sooner than expected – something that had happened to both of us. While living in France, I was going to focus on that project.
But, as so often occurs with foreign travel (and life), nothing went according to plan. And when that happened, I began to write about it. At least a few times a week, I turned my notes into e-mails to friends and family whom I thought they would interest. Soon I became so occupied with this correspondence that I put aside the other book idea and started this one.
By the time we returned to New York, I had produced about 60 e-mails, totaling about 70,000 words, and organized them into a draft table of contents. It took another year of writing, editing and rewriting to finish Four Seasons in a Day. But, unlike other memoirists and travel writers, I didn’t have to rely purely on recollections. I believe in the adage, “The worst pencil is better than the best memory.”
But, as so often occurs with foreign travel (and life), nothing went according to plan. And when that happened, I began to write about it. At least a few times a week, I turned my notes into e-mails to friends and family whom I thought they would interest. Soon I became so occupied with this correspondence that I put aside the other book idea and started this one.
By the time we returned to New York, I had produced about 60 e-mails, totaling about 70,000 words, and organized them into a draft table of contents. It took another year of writing, editing and rewriting to finish Four Seasons in a Day. But, unlike other memoirists and travel writers, I didn’t have to rely purely on recollections. I believe in the adage, “The worst pencil is better than the best memory.”
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more