Encounters in Paris: A Collection of Short Stories

By Carolyn Moncel

Ellery Roulet, a 35-year-old African-American PR executive living in Paris thinks she has the perfect life until trouble enters her world via job loss, infidelity, and death. When Ellery’s world changes at five different periods of time over a ten-year span, she quickly learns that it is how she chooses to deal with life’s trickiest situations that shapes her soul.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carolyn Moncel
• Release date: Dec 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452372808

Carolyn Moncel

A virtual media and web consultant by day and author by night, Carolyn Davenport-Moncel moved to Paris from Chicago, her hometown, in 2001. In Paris, she started the first English-speaking Virtual Assistance firm. Known for her online articles on media relations, Moncel owns MotionTemps, LLC, a Digital Project and Web Content Management firm with offices in Chicago, Paris and Geneva; and its subsidiary, Mondavé Communications, a media relations training and publishing company. She has written, placed articles and been featured in such diverse publications as Entrepreneur.com, Expatica.com, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Wired News, International Herald Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Working Mother, Bonjour Paris, and PrissyMag.com. She currently resides in Lausanne, Switzerland with her husband and two daughters Encounters in Paris is her first work of fiction. Her next collection of short stories, 5 Reasons to Leave a Lover will debut in fall 2011.

Book preview

ENCOUNTERS IN PARIS –

A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES

by

Carolyn Moncel

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Carolyn Moncel on Smashwords

Encounters in Paris –

A Collection of Short Stories

Copyright © 2010 by Carolyn Moncel, Mondavé Publishing,

a subsidiary of MotionTemps, LLC

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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Acknowledgments

My thanks go to my parents, Wiley and Margaret Davenport for reminding me that I've always been a storyteller. To my husband Philippe for having the patience to listen to my stories repeatedly. To my family, friends and clients for accepting the fact that it is near impossible for me to hold a conversation without telling a story. To author Priscilla Lalisse-Jespersen for editing multiple drafts of my stories. To Cheryl Osborne and Dr. Mary Cassai for seeing what I couldn't.

Ships that pass in the night and speak to each other in passing;

Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;

So on the ocean of life we pass and speak to one another,

Only a look and a voice; then darkness again and a silence.

—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"…But it’s one missed step

One slip before you know it.

And there doesn’t seem a way to be redeemed. …"

—Sarah McLachlan, Fallen, 2003

Foreword

I was 13 the first time that I read the famous essay, Why I Write, by the British author, George Orwell. In the essay Orwell stated that writing could, indeed, become a horribly, exhausting struggle. He was right, but writing is also an incredibly joyful experience.

Many years have passed since I’ve read that essay, and I am still influenced by it. I still struggle with organizing my thoughts, but I’m a lot more patient and a lot less self-conscious. I’ve learned to write from (my) heart and edit (many times) with (my) brain.

Pandora’s Box Revisited

Actually, three letters arrived that Tuesday morning, but only two would change Ellery Roulet’s life. It was a hot day, too hot for mid-September in Paris. The leaves were already starting to change from a vibrant green to a jeweled orange, falling from the trees, dry and prickly, and sprinkling the ground like crunchy fairy dust.

Evie and Maddie, her 10-year-old daughters, were

Reviews for Encounters in Paris

[samantha100_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After reading the first short story in Encounters in Paris by Carolyn Moncel I felt drawn into Ellery Roulet's world. She is the protagonist in all the stories and the reader comes to know her quite well. She is an American who married a Frenchman, has twin 10 year old daughters and lives in what has been called the most romantic city in the world-Paris. For Ellery, life in Paris is about a great deal more than romance.The introduction to Ellery and her family comes in the first story, Pandora's Box Revisited. While preparing to drive her daughters to school she has an encounter with the woman who has been delivering her mail for ten years. She accepts her mail and continues on with her day. She realizes she does not know the woman's name and had she been in the US she would have known her mailman. "Like everything else, it was different back home in the States." This proves to be true as she reads her mail- she has been fired from her job. The author deftly gives voice to Ellery's outrage. "At least in the America, the boss would call you into the office and tell you in private." Julien, her husband, tries to console and comfort her the only way he really knows how and she finally succumbs to him. Then Ellery drops a bombshell.In the story, A Haunting in Courbevoie, Ellery visits a Catholic church because her mother, who lived in Chicago, had died that morning. "What Ellery needed most was absolution from the guilt of living her own life." She has so many regrets-her daughters had not known her mother and she herself had not kept her own promise to care for her mother. A chance encounter with a stranger and prayer leads to a defining moment in her life.In the story, A Brief Indiscretion, the author eloquently writes about matters of the heart. She provides incredible insight into what human relationships can be. After 15 years Ellery agrees to meet with an old love. An indiscretion does occur but this story is greater than the actual act. Ellery comes to terms with her husband's infidelities with surprising results.Until It's Gone is the story of Ellery and Julien's meeting and Some Birds of a Feather finds her divorced but paying tribute to her parents.Each story stands on it own. However, I found that after reading the first story I had to continue reading so that I could learn more about Ellery. The more I read the more I came to admire and respect her. I can only hope that there will be more stories about Ellery in the future. Ms. Moncel has crafted a special collection of stories. I highly recommend reading this book.I received this book free of charge through Review The Book. I give this review of my own free will.

[asigg44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have never read a collection of short stories incorporated into a book before, so this was a new experience for me. I found this book very interesting; I was able to really connect with the characters in a very short time and I loved the fact that it presented issues such as infidelity and betrayal and things that are present in today's society. I am looking forward to reading more of Ms. Moncel's works and I will be recommending this story to friends.

[hideandread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Encounters in Paris explores a few key moments in the life of Ellery Roulet. Set in Paris, the woman's life is turned topsy-turvy as a result of two letters. The rest of the stories cover the ripples caused by those initial two events, exploring Ellery's emotional state and focusing on the decisions that she makes.Described as a book of short stories, Encounters is more like a series of vignettes. What makes these scenes works is the author's ability to evoke emotion and create an ambiance with these short interludes; despite the limited amount of information given, I felt like I knew exactly what was going on, and I was connected to Ellery in those moments. There is something easily accessible about the experiences that are relayed; the setting of Paris is more incidental than anything else. With a few particulars altered, these stories may just as well have taken place elsewhere.Perhaps what is most remarkable about this work is its ability to pull you into each story. In a matter of two or three paragraphs, one is drawn into Ellery's life just as surely as one would tumble into the world of a much longer tale. What is implied is as important, if not more so, as that which is stated outright. It's an effective reflection of a world in which most of our communication is nonverbal, and a single action can convey a mountain of words. Ellery's actions certainly speak volumes about her development as a character.The book itself is only about twenty-seven pages long. I would have liked to have seen more scenes, as the everyday does as much to establish a character as do major life events. Additionally, the style took some getting used to. The sentences were a little overdone in terms of their content—that is, too much information was crammed in, and not necessarily in a logical manner. The attempts at lyricism felt forced, and the story flowed best when the author wasn't trying quite so hard.Given the length of this work, there is only so much that I can say. It is a quick read, and the snapshots are easy to fit into a short wait at the doctor's office or the spin cycle on your washing machine. I managed to complete it in the course of a single lunch break. For those who want something that is easy to put down and to pick back up, this just may be the right fit for you.Hide and Read(Review copy provided by the author)