If you’re a blogger, a journalist, or would like to share information about me on social media, here’s a little bundle of everything you’ll need. Let me know if anything is missing, and I’ll gladly provide it.
- I am represented by *********. Please contact ******* for publication, translation, or distribution rights inquiries.
- For press inquiries or speaking engagements, please contact *********.
- Feel free to contact me directly for complimentary copies of her books for book industry professionals.
Short bio
Christine Ouendag (pronounced ow-in-dog ) is a writer, educator, and author of the upcoming novel Madame LeGrand’s Oyster Bar. After years of teaching everything from primary school through college, Christine has begun dedicating her time to writing fiction that puts a smile on faces.
Full Bio
Christine Ouendag (pronounced ow-in-dog ) is a writer, educator, and author of the upcoming novel Madame LeGrand’s Oyster Bar. After years of teaching everything from primary school through college, Christine has begun dedicating her time to writing fiction that puts a smile on faces.
Christine has a B.A. from UC Santa Barbara, a teaching degree from UCLA, and a M.A. in Literacy from the University of Maine. Growing up with a French mother and vacationing in France since childhood has given her firsthand knowledge of all things French, especially the food.
A California native, now living in Switzerland, Christine lives with her husband and two rescue hounds in an old house near the hills where she loves to hike. Her pastimes include baking, entertaining, and scouring thrift stores for things she really doesn’t need. Oh, and write, she loves to write!
Madame LeGrand’s Oyster Bar
Media gallery
Pitches
| Starting fresh in a French village, Jane finds love, oysters, and more importantly, herself. | |
| Hollywood diner owner finds love and a new life in a quaint Brittany village. |
Blurbs
| Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus ultrices eget ex in volutpat. Etiam sagittis egestas sem vel rutrum. Praesent pellentesque est elit, ut dignissim tortor feugiat in. | |
| Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus ultrices eget ex in volutpat. Etiam sagittis egestas sem vel rutrum. Praesent pellentesque est elit, ut dignissim tortor feugiat in. |
Praise for MLGOB:
| “Quisque eu aliquet felis. Donec efficitur, libero sit amet consectetur convallis, sapien lectus gravida mauris, nec posuere risus libero nec nibh. Aenean convallis non tellus rhoncus molestie. Nam vel venenatis odio, porttitor vestibulum augue.” —Camille Pagán, bestselling author of Good for You. |
|
| “Quisque eu aliquet felis. Donec efficitur, libero sit amet consectetur convallis, sapien lectus gravida mauris, nec posuere risus libero nec nibh. Aenean convallis non tellus rhoncus molestie. Nam vel venenatis odio, porttitor vestibulum augue.” —Rebecca Hodge, award-winning author of Wildland. |
Book description
What is your favorite place in the world? Given the chance, would you pack up your life and move there? Or does that sound like a fantasy? Something other people do?
Raised in Los Angeles by her French mother and American father, Jane runs her family’s diner in Hollywood. Between putting out fires at work and hours of commute, she never has five minutes to breathe, let alone think about what she really wants from life.
When her grandmother dies, Jane is given the opportunity to completely restart her life in a village in Brittany, on the west coast of France. But, it would mean leaving everything and everyone and taking a chance on something new.
As jane gets reacquainted with Brittany’s rocky shores and picturesque granite houses, she meets old and new friends, eats lots of oysters and crepes, and becomes reacquainted with a handsome man from her past.
Madame LeGrand’s Oyster Bar is about the choices we face in our lives, about being brave, and the friends that hold our hands through it all.
Book information
- Genre: Upmarket fiction
- Subgenres/keywords: Lousiana, bayou, family, friendship, community, environment, ecology, Southern cuisine
- Publication Date: June 12th, 2024
- ISBN-13: 978-1662518492 (paperback)
- Retail Price: USD $3.99 ~ $12.49 (price may vary depending on formats and distribution platforms)
- Format: E-book, 5.5*8.5 Paperback, Audiobook
- Page Count: 364
MLGOB Q&A
Where did the idea for this story come from?
I’m drawn to stories about the natural world and how the global changes we are experiencing are changing people. In 2020, I tuned into a webinar from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) about the Deepwater Horizon, lessons learned 10 years later. I was astounded to consider a decade had passed since the spill. I became curious about what happened to the people and what it would mean to live through that type of disaster.
How much of the story is true and how much is fiction?
The characters and their stories are fiction. However, Grand Isle, Louisiana is a real place and one of the first inhabited towns to be covered in oil after the spill. The story plot follows the actual timeline of events that occurred during the 87 days of the oil spill. The disaster is well documented in videos, newspaper articles, and books. Even the hurricane in the story happened.
Gumbo the pelican steals the story and unites the family and the community. Where did the idea for him come from?
Gumbo was originally just a sea bird who landed regularly on the restaurant deck. I wanted him to represent the ecology of the island and threat that came from the oil. One day while researching pelican behavior, I came across a video about a white pelican in Tanzania named Big Bird who was injured and rescued by humans. His “people” taught him to fish and learn to fly. He was famous for his antics of stealing things and wanting to be part of the family. It was an ah-ha moment, and I restructured the entire story.
Josie’s obsession with hot sauce and her constant stress baking are key elements to the story how did that develop?
Food is something that unites families and communities. Spicy Cajun hot sauce was a fun element to include. I see it as a parallel to the oil that everyone, especially Minnow, is obsessed with. Just as the oil is menacing, so is the hot sauce. Josie feels helpless to deal with the oil, but she knows she can feed people.
The novel has news articles, press releases, and even a magazine article that seems real. What was your thinking about including these elements?
Because this was a real event, I wanted to include elements that people would have seen. Additionally, I needed a way to inform readers about the science and politics surrounding the event that the characters may not have been aware of while they were in the middle of it.