Biography

An early start (1992-2005)

I was born in the Paris region at the very beginning of 1992. My passion for writing, reading and, more generally, creating, began when I was 3-4 years old. I do not know whether my HPI profile had anything to do with the hyperactivity of my young brain, but I began to imagine my first stories, revolving around wild animals.

Shortly afterwards, even before I could read and write, books and paper became a real obsession, so much so that at the age when girls are walking around with dolls, I always made sure I was walking around with paper and some pencils. It was not until I was 6 that I could really start to "do as the grown-ups do" and write my first complete sentences, giving me the chance to put my first stories, consisting of a few lines, down on paper.

What followed was a real passion for reading and school essays which, thanks to the subjects imposed, allowed mee to channel an imagination so overflowing that it sometimes became tiring. 

In 2000, I embarked on my first novel project, which never had more than 3 chapters because I was never satisfied from one re-reading to the next. Fortunately, I managed to calm my creativity spontaneously, by starting to write sequels or alternative endings to books that I particularly enjoyed.

From shadow to light (2005-2007)

While I continued to write very short stories on all the subjects that came into my head, the end of 2005 was marked, in the space of a few days, by a double revelation.

I have always hated History, but I was distracted by a documentary about the beginnings of the French Revolution. Thanks to it, I was able to discover the real History, the one with a capital H, as I would have liked to have been taught at school and then at college. There was no list of dates, no unpronounceable names, no succession of political events. This documentary simply made me realise that the past was human, that behind all the things I had learnt and hated were the lives and destinies of anonymous people who had been consigned to oblivion by education. That is how my interest in History began, and how it became one of my greatest passions. In the days and weeks that followed, I began to take an interest in these men and women of whom there was nothing left, not even a memory, and I found myself imagining what their lives, their families, their problems might have been like... And mechanically, I wrote it all down, gathering information, drawing up portraits and giving names to these individuals, fruits of my imagination, but above all heirs to a buried past. 

I discovered the existence of the Black Death and I placed characters in this context, I let my imagination work and I contented myself with writing, several hours, severeal days in a row. After a hundred or so handwritten pages and a full stop, I realised that I could link my passion for writing to History and do something with it: fictionalise the past so that we never forget those who played a part in it, now no longer with us.

But the start of what I like to call my career really began in July 2006. For a few months already, going to school or just going out had become a source of stress that I could not explain. Until the summer arrived and I had to face reality head-on: I had become a major agoraphobic. I quickly became incapable of leaving the house without feeling a wave of terror, so I had to find a way to occupy my long days and focus on positive thoughts. It was only natural that I immersed myself in reading and, even more so, in writing, thus getting rid of all the anguish that animated my days.

Looking back, I consider myself "lucky" to have gone through this difficult period, because it was thanks to it that I really started to write. Leaning over my computer keyboard for an average of 8 hours a day from Monday to Sunday, I produced my first two novels in the space of 4 months. Relatively proud of myself at the end of the writing process, I was, on the contrary, deeply disappointed when I reread these texts. Too many ideas were developed without adding anything to the stories: for the first time in my life, the hyperactivity of my imagination became a source of frustration.

Despite everything, I had to keep writing, it seemed as vital as breathing. Since the novels were not satisfying, I tried short stories. But here too, I was disappointed when I reread the first texts. Although I had managed to exploit enough different ideas to satisfy me, the characters and plots were far too superficial to suit me.

So I looked at how I could write without dreading the rereading stage, without running the risk of being deeply disappointed by what I wanted to be a source of personal pride. Between novels that are too long and short stories that are too superficial, a format had to strike a balance between the two. In fact, the discovery of novellas was the salvation for this major problem. Neither too long nor too short, they gave me the opportunity to produce texts that suited me. From then on, I continued to write, developing my first universes.

I now had everything I needed: I wrote to free my mind from the many characters and scenarios I imagined on a daily basis. A few days was all I needed to write a text from beginning to end, reread it to check that it was coherent, staple the pages together and then mechanically consign it to the bottom of a drawer or cardboard box.

Birth of a universe (2007-2016)

After the agoraphobia episode (I am still living with it) and the discovery of the novella format, I set about developing several worlds straight out of my imagination. But none of them really appealed to me, there was always something missing, there were always constraints that prevented me from writing the way I really wanted to. But I persevered despite everything, certain that I would eventually find the solution.

I found the key to this problem when I least expected it, in November 2007, during a visit to the Château de Fontainebleau. I do not know why, but I really felt at home there and deeply inspired by the place. I had no trouble imagining the aristocrats of past centuries strolling through the salons and gardens, their daily lives taking shape hour by hour and day by day in this multitude of rooms.

From then on, aristocratic mansions and members of noble families became one of my main sources of inspiration. Characters and plots were even more numerous in my mind, as were the hours I spent writing. Even more than in the past, History was my refuge, the source of all my ideas.

Just a few months after visiting the Château de Fontainebleau, I left the school I was attending to continue my education at home. This of course allowed me to work at my own pace, but it also meant that writing became an important part of my daily life.

In fact, it was during the period from 2007 to 2016 that I was most productive, devoting around 60 hours to writing every week. This pace naturally enabled me to write a lot of material (on average one novella a week), but also to find and refine my own writing method, which is so effective that I still apply it today.

Although I devoted a lot of time to writing during this period, I did not stop studying. After obtaining a "baccalauréat" in literature, I studied History until 2016, when I obtained a research master's degree with first class honours.

The call of the pen (2016-2023)

When I graduated, I did not give up writing - quite the opposite, in fact, as it was one of the only activities that allowed me to relax. However, the steady pace of previous years has been modified to an average of 6 hours of writing a day. As for the novellas, they were written at a slower pace, at the rate of two finished texts per month.

Despite my high level of productivity, my aim was never to make a living from my writing. In fact, like my very first texts, each novella, as soon as it was finished and proof-read, was placed with the others in one of the boxes occupying a corner of my office.

I did try to find a job related to History and heritage, but it did not materialise, and the short time I spent on internships or short contracts showed me that this was not a bad thing. Focusing on specific themes for a long time, looking for the smallest details to answer a question, all this quickly became synonymous with boredom and frustration, because I had this omnipresent thought of wasting my time enriching one subject as much as possible while others remained ignored by everyone.

So I tried my hand at various careers, as varied as they were improbable, without ever managing to find place with any certainty: accountancy, dog training, arts and crafts, catering, marketing, etc.

So I stuck to the job I had been doing for a few hours a week to earn a bit of pocket moneu during my studies: teaching. Reluctantly, I became a self-employed teacher. For more than 3 years, I taught many pupils and spent hours and hours in front of the screen (up to 70 a week), without ever being satisfied, feeling day after day that I was drifting away from what defined me, plunging little by little into a bottomless pit with no way out. So, in order not to feel that I was really losing all meaning in my professional life, I undertook a new degree, a research Master's in Modern Litterature, which I obtained in 2022, but which was no source of pride to me.

This obvious (2023-...)

It's a well-known fact that if you pull too hard on the rope, it eventually breaks. In fact, as the hours of lessons went by and I felt more and more rejection at the end of each day, the inevitable happened. At the beginning of November 2023, I found myself panicking at the mere thought of the end of the school holidays. Conversely, thinking about the possibility of no longer having to put up with this real chore took a huge weight off my mind. So I decided to give up the scrapyard and consider a career change after a few months'rest.

The first few attempts were unsuccessful, and the last was another relapse in October 2024.

Like agoraphobia, these two events were of course difficult at the time, but they were also life-saving. Thanks to them, I have had no choice but to think about my professional future and come to the conclusion I have had in front of me for years: my place is in the literary world, and nowhere else. What seemed obvious to me at the dawn of my 33rd birthday had been obvious to me for much longer...

Despite having lost almost all my self-confidence, I called on my memories and recalled my early days as an entrepreneur. In 2020, it had only taken me 4 months to develop a sustainable business with my company. So if I did the same thing again, but in a job I was passionate about, I would be sure to succeed!

And here we are today.

I decided to do what I should have done years ago: bring my texts to life. So I emptied my boxes and went back over each of my stories to check their quality. All of them are now waiting for one thing: to meet their readers.

At the same time, I am continuing to write (I have never stopped, even at the height of the storm), at a more sustained pace, which I find fulfilling.

The decision to fully take my place in the world of books has led me to make some wonderful discoveries, which is why, in addition to reading, I have also decided to give my voice to authors' texts, to give the books that move me the chance to exist in a different way. It is also why I am a translator, because I want to give each text and each author the chance to be discovered by as many people as possible and to shine as they deserve.