Queen of the Trailer Park (Rosie Maldonne's World Book 1)

by Alice Quinn

  “Do we have to?”

  “Yes, I think so. The trouble is, who does it belong to? And how can we turn this into more lottery winnings?”

  “Can you win the lottewy with a pwintheth necklath?”

  “Yeah, I think we can. It happens sometimes. Let me think about it. Maybe Grandma will send me a message to help me out tonight. In the meantime, hide it with the rest of your dolls’ stuff, OK?”

  “OK.”

  “Good night, my sweetie.”

  “Good night, Mom! I love you.”

  Later on that evening, I took two aspirins and three vitamin C tablets. I walked over to see the pizza truck guy, Gabriel. He’d told me his name when he delivered our dinner. I wanted to chat a little, so I offered him a coffee.

  I don’t know how he managed it, but faster than you can say Jack Robinson, he had me hook, line, and sinker. He closed up shop around eleven, and before I knew it, he was snuggled up with me, the pair of us butt-naked in my big new bed . . .

  It’s so good, these little feelings . . . These little thrills. These little sensations . . .

  That night, I didn’t dream of a single thing.

  Friday: No Boss for Rosie Maldonne

  77

  Gabriel left at four in the morning. I didn’t hear the truck leaving at all.

  I stretched out in my big bed and decided to sleep in.

  I know, it was a Friday and the babas had school, but they could play hooky once in a while, couldn’t they?

  Just as I was nodding off again, I vaguely wondered whether or not I’d just imagined Gabriel staying over.

  When I got up it was ten o’clock already. I wanted to spin around and dance and jump to today’s euphoric song from the Beach Boys. Ohh darlin’ . . .

  It was a real declaration of love. He holds me in his heart, I’m his most precious part . . .

  There are worse ways to start the day. We bought some fancy stuff for lunch and all sat enjoying it outside in the sunshine. I watched the children play as I sipped my espresso, deep in thought. So typical of me. I can never let things stop ticking in my head.

  I went to the other side of the mirror, to the wonderful world of easy money. It really makes you think.

  I wasn’t going to do that job for the Russians. With the Mamma, you know what you’re getting into, but is there ever a way out? Other than feet first? And I like my independence too much.

  No boss for Rosie Maldonne. That’s my motto.

  We’ll just have to see . . .

  I went over what I had to do in the next couple of days.

  I had to write to child services about Léo.

  I had to find some way of making some dough out of those princess diamonds.

  And I had to write a poem that would catch the eye of some big singer somewhere. Because that business with Gaston and Madonna certainly hadn’t fallen on deaf ears.

  Acknowledgments

  I met Rosie Maldonne a couple of years ago. She visited me one day when I was at the end of my rope, bringing with her all the pieces that were part of her—things she inherited from women I’d met in my life, women in the flesh or imaginary ones, ordinary or anchored in action, heroines of their everyday lives. With her pragmatic nature, her cheerful mood, her innocence, her courage, and her ability to survive, she gave me, day after day, each time we met while I was writing, lifesaving moments of escape and lots of laughter. She gave me my energy back. Thank you, Rosie.

  Once the novel was finished, it went through quite a few twists and turns. Therefore, I would like to thank all the people who helped it, on this unusual and sometimes chaotic path, to finally find its place in a bookstore window, which is still the ultimate destination for novels, and also manage to find its own spot in the world of English-speaking authors.

  In chronological order: First of all, thank you to Christian Godefroy; it’s thanks to him that I was able to publish the first digital version of the novel. Without him, nothing would ever have happened. We miss him.

  Thank you to his successor, Cyril, for his continuous support.

  Also, thank you to the KBS Club members. Their spirit of solidarity, of exchange, and their expertise helped me enormously with the cover and the title of the first version.

  Thank you to Éric Nicolas from La Plume Autonome and to all the “Plumos” for their fervor and their smileys that kept my spirits up.

  And thank you to the forums and other networks where I often found comfort and support to help me move forward.

  Thank you to Tim for being an IT genius and for his amazing patience.

  Thank you to Alain Evin for his generosity.

  Thank you to Valérie for her exceptional gift in sounding out the human brain, and for her kindness.

  Thank you to my four-handed graphics team, Aurélie and Charlotte, very talented young women separated by a sea but working in unison, who helped Rosie stand out among dozens of other attractive covers.

  Thank you to Lionel for his support on several fronts and for our shared adventures, and for still being there when the machine went out of control (in a good way).

  Thank you to Julien, my first reader, my wise and relevant critic, for his efficiency and enthusiasm.

  Thank you to Amazon France and Europe, to Marie-Pierre, to Maura, and especially to Anne-Laure, who reached out to independent authors with care and energy.

  Thank you to Laurence, Denis, and Myriam, who gave Rosie a voice in an audio book.

  Thank you to Yasmina from Pimienta.com and to Alexandra, faithful and caring translator. Please forgive Rosie’s language, which was full of traps. It’s thanks to this team that the novel met its publisher in the US.

  And finally, simultaneously, two special encounters helped Rosie reach bookshop publishing all around the world: thank you to Florian from Michel Lafon in Paris, and thank you to Gabriella from AmazonCrossing in Seattle. I found with you more than publishers: interlocutors.

  Thank you to Michel Lafon himself for going on this adventure with all its innovative sides.

  Thank you to Marion and Lindsay and their teams for their keen eyes for details and inconsistencies to be checked. If any remain in the novel, I am the only one responsible.

  People often ask authors where they get their inspiration. For me, thanks to my bad manners, I use everything—conversations overheard in coffee shops and on buses, items from articles in newspapers, confidences, gossip. I am also very grateful to all writers and filmmakers who, thanks to their stories, help me escape my daily life. I think my inspiration comes from the mix of everything I hear, all the films I watch, all the books I read, and with everything that makes me who I am. For this novel in particular, thank you to Donald, Lisa, Lawrence, Carl, Jonas, Jerome K., Brigitte, Helen, Catharina, Katarina, Arto, Douglas, David, Carl, Sue, Alan, Evelyn, Kate, Andrea, Tonino . . . Of course I’m forgetting some people! Without you my life would be really bland.

  Thank you to the singers who let Rosie’s mom borrow their talent for her nighttime messages.

  Thank you to my entire family: father, mother, brothers and sisters, kids, nephews, nieces, cousins, family-in-law. It’s thanks to them that the tribe spirit of the Maldonne family gradually came to me. And thank you to my cats, who helped me create Pastis.

  And thank you to my daily partner, who has been putting up with me and encouraging me for a very long time.

  At the moment the past is resurfacing, and my past lives are catching up with me. Thank you to all my dear friends who have gone missing too early. You are always with me and carry me forward: Thierry, Fred, Parviz, Bruno, Jean-Claude, Humbert, René . . .

  A big thank you to all the people who love easy novels, the ones we read to feel better, to smile a little, to move forward more easily, to put some sunshine in our lives.

  And thank you to all the e-reader readers. Those pioneers who have chosen
, through their love for books, to read without a book, and who enjoyed my Rosie as much as I do, to the point of making her #1 for digital sales in France in 2013.

  These are the readers who helped Rosie pass through the looking glass.

  Un palace en enfer (the original French title) met with huge success in France and became a #1 Kindle bestseller on Amazon.fr.

  Alice Quinn would like to take this opportunity to warmly thank her readers for contributing to this amazing success.

  If you enjoyed the book, please feel free to contact Alice Quinn at .

  Or leave a review on Amazon.com!

  About the Author

  Alice Quinn has worked many jobs, from theater hostess to waitress, and has traveled the world, often relying on her wits to make ends meet. After the success of her first novel, Queen of the Trailer Park, in her native French, she quit her day jobs and now makes her living writing full-time. She lives in the South of France with her two teenage children and several cats.