Vous souvenez-vous, chers lecteurs, de cette pr\u00e9nomm\u00e9e Isabel qui m\u2019a interrog\u00e9e \u00e0 quelques reprises? La voici encore qui me supplie cette fois-ci d\u2019interroger l\u2019\u00e9crivaine que je suis en train de devenir. Et j\u2019ai dit oui. Oui parce que cette jeune journaliste a de la suite dans les id\u00e9es et parce que ce livre qui bient\u00f4t sera en librairie m\u00e9rite peut-\u00eatre quelques bons mots. Je d\u00e9plie donc son courriel de questions et une apr\u00e8s l\u2019autre, je lui r\u00e9ponds.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0\u00c0 titre d\u2019auteure, quel est votre plus grand d\u00e9sir?
\n\u2014\u00a0Mon plus grand d\u00e9sir est sans contredit la possibilit\u00e9 de vivre jusqu\u2019\u00e0 cent ans. Non pour battre des records de long\u00e9vit\u00e9, mais pour avoir l\u2019opportunit\u00e9 d\u2019\u00e9crire le plus longtemps possible. Plus j\u2019\u00e9cris et plus j\u2019am\u00e9liore mon \u00e9criture. Je suis un tantinet perfectionniste et j\u2019aime abonnir tout ce que je fais. Les mots sont mon champ de bataille pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9; les lourdauds, les boiteux ou les t\u00eates vides n\u2019ont aucune place sur mes lignes. En \u00e9criture comme en affaires, j\u2019ai fait mes premiers pas sur le tard. J\u2019ai ouvert le premier petit resto d\u2019une grande cha\u00eene \u00e0 40\u00a0ans et c\u2019est la pand\u00e9mie mondiale qui m\u2019a ouvert, \u00e0 72\u00a0ans, la grande porte de l\u2019\u00e9criture.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0Quand et comment vous est venue l\u2019\u00e9criture?
\n\u2014\u00a0En septembre 1954, lorsque j\u2019ai commenc\u00e9 ma premi\u00e8re ann\u00e9e, j\u2019ai tout de suite \u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e9blouie par le pouvoir des lettres de l\u2019alphabet et j\u2019ai vite appris \u00e0 construire des mots. Comme la vie de mes parents tristounets d\u00e9teignait sur nous, les enfants, j\u2019avais pris l\u2019habitude d\u2019\u00e9crire en cachette sur n\u2019importe quel bout de papier tout ce qui se passait dans la maison. L\u2019extraordinaire pouvoir des mots m\u2019accompagne depuis toujours.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0En qui ou en quoi croyez-vous, madame Cora?
\n\u2014\u00a0Je crois en la force cr\u00e9atrice de la vie et en Celui qui, le premier, a dit \u00ab\u2009Que la lumi\u00e8re soit\u2009\u00bb. M\u00eame lorsqu\u2019elle se repose et couvre ses yeux de noirceur, la Lumi\u00e8re est. Il y a, selon moi, cette divine programmation du temps qui ne s\u2019arr\u00eatera jamais.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0Quel d\u00e9faut pouvez-vous vous pardonner?
\n\u2014\u00a0Peut-\u00eatre la gourmandise puisque je suis appel\u00e9e \u00e0 go\u00fbter tout ce que nous servons et projetons de servir \u00e0 nos pr\u00e9cieux clients. Trente-six\u00a0ann\u00e9es plus tard, je tiens encore mordicus \u00e0 l\u2019int\u00e9grit\u00e9 du concept Cora.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0Quel mot vous d\u00e9finit le mieux?
\n\u2014\u00a0Il n\u2019y en a pas qu\u2019un seul! Je suis une gardienne de beaux mots, une plume vaillante, constante et suffisamment cr\u00e9ative pour divertir un tr\u00e8s grand nombre de lecteurs du dimanche.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0Est-ce facile d\u2019\u00e9crire?
\n\u2014\u00a0\u00c7a l\u2019est tellement lorsqu\u2019on croit au pouvoir magique des mots; \u00e0 leur unique fa\u00e7on de semer de belles phrases entre les lignes.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0O\u00f9 trouvez-vous l\u2019inspiration?
\n\u2014\u00a0Un peu partout. Tout m\u2019inspire! La glorieuse banalit\u00e9 du quotidien est ma source d\u2019inspiration premi\u00e8re. \u00c0 cet effet, \u00e9crire dans un caf\u00e9 est un incomparable spectacle. De l\u2019\u00e9trange bouille d\u2019un nouveau client jusqu\u2019au pourtour de son petit c\u0153ur, j\u2019observe, je fouille, je scrute et je fabule jusqu\u2019\u00e0 ce que je d\u00e9couvre de quel bois se chauffe cet \u00e9nigmatique sourire. Apr\u00e8s quatre jours, quatre semaines, bien souvent un \u00e9tranger devient un habitu\u00e9 de l\u2019endroit.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0Avez-vous un dada particulier concernant votre \u00e9criture, une difficult\u00e9, une manie?
\n\u2014\u00a0J\u2019ai toujours \u00e9t\u00e9 plus patiente que la patience lorsqu\u2019il s\u2019agit de l\u2019\u00e9criture. Lorsqu\u2019une bonne id\u00e9e m\u2019arrive, je l\u2019entrepose dans mon calepin d\u2019\u00e9criture et j\u2019attends. Lorsqu\u2019un l\u00e9ger d\u00e9ploiement de l\u2019id\u00e9e semble avoir suffisamment marin\u00e9 dans ma t\u00eate, j\u2019entreprends de taper sur l\u2019iPad quelques phrases annonciatrices de l\u2019intrigue. Ligne apr\u00e8s ligne, j\u2019avance lentement. Implorant dame inspiration et la f\u00e9e des jolis mots, plusieurs paragraphes tombent du ciel et meublent l\u2019histoire. Maniaque de la correction, je relis mon texte \u00e0 outrance. Toujours, toujours en essayant de l\u2019am\u00e9liorer. Peut-\u00eatre devrais-je avoir davantage confiance en mon talent?<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0Dans quel \u00e9tat d\u2019esprit \u00eates-vous lorsque vous \u00e9crivez?
\n\u2014\u00a0Lorsque j\u2019\u00e9cris, je suis la plus heureuse des femmes; r\u00e9ceptive \u00e0 l\u2019inspiration, privil\u00e9gi\u00e9e, dirais-je. Comme je ne suis pas une \u00e9crivaine de m\u00e9tier, je ne m\u2019attends jamais \u00e0 de grands \u00e9loges. Je demeure modeste et confiante en l\u2019avenir.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0Ce livre qui sortira le 27 septembre prochain, qu\u2019en pensez-vous?
\n\u2014\u00a0Je crois que c\u2019est un bon d\u00e9but pour une vieillotte s\u2019essayant \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9criture. J\u2019ai ce souffle br\u00fblant d\u2019espoir. Ma t\u00eate demeure un terreau fertile o\u00f9 je n\u2019ai qu\u2019\u00e0 tirer du n\u00e9ant les jeunes pousses et attendre qu\u2019elles \u00e9closent \u00e0 leur aise. \u00c9crire pratique ma patience, mon endurance et ma vaillance. \u00ab\u2009Que du bon\u2009\u00bb, dirait s\u0153ur Marie-Ange de ma troisi\u00e8me ann\u00e9e en Gasp\u00e9sie.<\/p>\n
Cora
\n\u2764<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Vous souvenez-vous, chers lecteurs, de cette pr\u00e9nomm\u00e9e Isabel qui m\u2019a interrog\u00e9e \u00e0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":414,"featured_media":27149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lettre-mme-cora"],"acf":{"img_en":"","contenu_en":"Do you remember, dear readers, a lady named Isabel who has interviewed me a few times already? This time, she wants to know more about the writer I am becoming. I accepted, of course, because I believe this young journalist has great ideas. And just maybe this new book of mine that is about to hit bookstores deserves a few praises. Let me go through her list of questions and answer them one by one with you.\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cAs an author, what is your greatest desire?\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cMy greatest desire is to live until I am a hundred. I don\u2019t want to beat any longevity record, but I do want the opportunity to write for as long as I can. The more I write, the more I improve. I\u2019m a bit of a perfectionist and I like to embellish everything I do. Words are my favourite battlefield; the clumsy, the lame and the scatterbrain have no place between my lines. Writing and becoming an entrepreneur both came to me later in life. I opened the very first restaurant of an eventual country-wide chain the day I turned 40, and a worldwide pandemic threw open the doors to writing at 72.\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cWhen and how did writing come to you?\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cIn September 1954, when I started first grade, I was immediately astonished by the power of the letters of the alphabet and I quickly learned how to build words and sentences. My parents\u2019 wretched life rubbed off on us kids. I had made a habit of writing on any piece of paper I could find in the house. The extraordinary strength of words has been with me ever since.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cWhat do you believe in, Madame Cora?\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cI believe in the creative force of life and in He who first said, \u201cLet there be light.\u201d Even when it\u2019s at rest and covers its eyes with darkness, Light is there. In my opinion, a divine temporal program exists that keeps on going forever.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cName a flaw you have that you can easily forgive yourself for.\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cMaybe overeating at times since I have to taste everything we serve and think of serving to our valued customers. Thirty-six years later, I am still adamant about sticking with the Cora concept.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cWhat word best describes you?\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cThere\u2019s more than one! I am the guardian of colourful words \u2013 a relentless scribe, constant and creative enough to entertain a great number of readers every Sunday.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cIs it easy to write?\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cIt\u2019s very easy to write when you believe in the magical powers of words, with their unique way of sowing elaborate sentences between the lines.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cWhere do you find your inspiration?\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cHere, there and everywhere! The glorious banality of everyday life is my first source of inspiration. Writing in a coffee shop offers me a window onto the great show of life. From the strange expression on a new customer\u2019s face to the outline of their precious heart. I observe, I search, I scrutinize and I fantasize until I finally discover what this enigmatic smile is made of. After four days, four weeks, a newcomer often becomes a regular in this place.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cDo you have a peculiar habit, a certain ritual or perhaps even an obstacle when it comes to your writing?\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cI have always been more patient than patience itself when it comes to writing. When a good idea comes to mind, I store it on my notepad and wait. When the idea unfolds ever so slightly in my mind, I type a few sentences on my iPad to capture the gist of the story. Then, line by line, I move forward. I plead to Lady Inspiration and the Fairy Godmother to bring me elaborate words, and paragraphs tumble down from the heavens into my mind and build the story. I am obsessed with improving, so I read and re-read my copy until my eyes are sore. I want to constantly progress as a writer. Perhaps I should have more confidence in my talent?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cWhat state of mind are you in when you write?\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cI\u2019m the happiest of women when I write. Open to inspiration and privileged, I\u2019d say. I\u2019m not a professional writer, so I never expect great reviews. I remain modest and trust in what the future holds.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cWhat can you tell us about your new book that\u2019s coming out on September 27?\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cI think it\u2019s a solid start for an old woman who\u2019s trying her hand at writing. I have this burning flame of hope within me. My mind remains like fertile soil, where all I have to do is pull the young shoots out of the void and wait for them to bloom when they\u2019re ready. Writing strengthens my patience, endurance and will. \u2018Only good things,\u2019 as Sister Marie-Ange, my third-grade teacher in Gasp\u00e9sie, would say.\u201d\r\n\r\nCora\r\n\u2764"},"yoast_head":"\n