Cardiff author remembers Paris in upcoming anthology

For most people, Paris is often thought of as a romantic, spontaneous city. For Michelle Gable, a trip to the city in France proved stressful and a little too planned.

But it all paid off in the end.

Gable, who lives in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, recounts her 2014 trip to Paris with her husband, parents and two young daughters in a story called “Too Much Paris” that is part of an upcoming anthology, “A Paris All Your Own.” The book, which includes several Paris-themed essays written by celebrated female authors and edited by Eleanor Brown, will be released July 4.

Gable, a Torrey Pines High School alumna who began writing as a child and who formerly worked in finance, said she’s excited to be included.

“Eleanor Brown decided she wanted to put together an anthology of authors who wrote fiction about Paris,” she explained. “We were each tasked with writing a memoir piece of sorts of 20 to 25 pages.”

The anthology also includes stories by Meg Waite Clayton, M.J. Rose, Susan Vreeland, J. Courtney Sullivan, Paula McLain, Therese Anne Fowler, Lauren Willig and Julie Powell.

In her story, which Gable said is more on the humorous side than the others, she narrates a trip to Paris, which she took with her family to celebrate selling her first published novel, “A Paris Apartment,” which was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.

Unfortunately, she and her family had different expectations of the sites they would see and the activities they would participate in, so the trip ended up being more of a headache, Gable remembers. “We weren’t having fun because we were running all over the city,” the 42-year-old said. “We learned the difference between a vacation and traveling. It wasn’t relaxing but, in the end, it was worth it.”

Gable, who also wrote the fictional novel “I’ll See You in Paris,” said she believes many mothers can relate to this story because of the flurry of activity that can surround a vacation.

She described the writing process of “Too Much Paris” as cathartic and fun because it gave her a chance to express her family members on paper. However, she also said it was difficult to describe their personalities in the 20 or so pages she was allotted. “I joke that I must have something that I’m still holding onto,” she said. “It was really fun to get out.”

A book release event, which Gable will be present at, will take place July 13 from 4 p.m.-5: 30 p.m. at Le Parfait Paris, 555 G St. in San Diego. The cost is $40. (A 6:30 p.m. seating is sold out.) Other authors attending the event include Jennifer Coburn, Eleanor Brown and Susan Vreeland.

For more details, visit www.bit.ly/2rleYmP and www.michellegable.com.