Published. I am published.

A year ago (ok, a little bit more I must acknowledge) I added to my resolutions that I would write a novel... That might have been a bit ambitious from someone that comes from the same city as Stendhal, but I kind of made it. Kind of.

16 months later, "La Loi du Milieu" (The Law of the Underworld) has made its way from my head to the printer. So here is a self-promoting post to make the French-speaking readers of this blog aware that the bespoke short story is completed and is available for purchase on blurb.com. Sorry for the English speakers but you will be missing out until Steven Spielberg decides to adapt it to the Big Screen.

The pitch? Well, I have spend so much time on the introduction wording that there is no need to paraphrase. It is best for you to read it by yourself by clicking on the below-stated "Book Preview" link (note: the preview application is a bit heavy, so you will have to wait a bit, sorry). It will give you a idea of the content, style and photographic illustration to expect, and hopefully interest you enough to click further:

La loi du milieu. Une nouvelle de Cedric Chambaz Book Info

And because I am a model of generosity, I am happy to send a signed copy to the first person who drops me a line... Cheap incentive today, but hey, maybe one day this will worth millions, who knows:).

La loi du milieu.

Une nouvelle de Cedric Chambaz

Book Preview

Ménage à trois

Once upon a time.

French are said to have developed the concept of love affairs. Bill Maher highlights that as one our key trait in his excellent tirade about "being French". But what people may not necessarily be aware of is our fantastic story-telling capabilities. You really have to be good at it when living two parallel lives.

Here is an illustration from Canal+, the French TV channel which is also one of the main cinema producer around the globe. Canal+ is an iconic advertiser in France served by a great creative agency BETC Euro RSCG. They have come up over the last few years with some great advertisements including The March of the Emperor, Broke Back Mountain or Mafia. A saga that is creating much anticipation...

To read further:

• Parisian, head of crustaceans... another French advertising saga for Paris newspaper.
• 8 years later... the Budweiser iconic advert revisited
• How's your job? another great spoof of teh MasterCard saga... A bit horny.

French clichés... Frightening

Just came across this ad from Burger company Hardee's, and I must say that I really don't like. Too many clichés, not enough twists in it. And the product ultimately is nothing but a good representation of what French cuisine can and should be. Anyway they forgot the French beans, the French letters, the French windows, the French doctors... Merci quand même.

To read further:

• And the burger started to rule the world, an article on Burger King immersion in the world of Burger-agnostic civilisations.
• American dream... a short video on how journalist Bill Maher sees France. Hilarious.
• Cuisine like no other a real location about food.
• Computer Generated Tourism or how cartoon can make the most out of France.