News around accessibility of digital books

As you know, I like to inform you from time to time about digital accessibility. On the site, some notions have already been mentioned about the possibilities it could offer.

Although there are still some efforts to be made, the consortium working for accessible books has published an article demonstrating that progress has been made in the digital field.

You can read the article by clicking on this link.

Catalan days 2024

During Catalan days, both Catalan identity and its history are celebrated. Far from the clichés too often conveyed, it covers different cultural aspects. As an author, I never felt trapped in the past in these places, quite the contrary. In each of my writings, I seek to connect to a city or another country and almost like magic it succeeds each time.

For Fantastic L.A, I started by reading an article related to a historical fact in local history. A point I developp in my masterclass. Then, perhaps because I write fiction and fantasy, I said to myself…what is the most improbable thing you could do? to this question my inner voice answered me: look for a distant town that might seem the opposite of Thuir. So I chose Los Angeles. That’s when I discovered that there are always more things that bring us together than we initially believe. Palm trees, Hollywood cinema and all other artists around the world.

photo of palm trees

I will be present on July 19, 2024 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Catalan days which will take place in Thuir at the Villa Palauda.

You will be able to discover my books and ask questions.

Free admission.

Here are the GPS coordinates to get there:

Latitude: 42.636787

Longitude: 2.7583

Program complete.

———————————————————————————–
Here are some photos before my installation:

The authors sit down at their table and get to know each other
Participants put away their books and concentrate
Final preparations
In this photo I pose with two members of radio arrels, el periscopa (thanks to the person who accepted to take this photo and which is on the next one)
Radio members present at Visca day
One of the corners of the park

Thank you to the organizers, the circle of authors of 66 and the public.

It was a beautiful sunny day where we were surrounded by a natural area.

Some ideas for improvement

As an author, I often ask myself questions about my job. How will it evolve? Am I taking a qualitative approach?

Of course, environmental issues arise in any field of activity. Although digital printing uses the least paper, it still consumes energy.
Authors have a far greater influence than they think on the solutions implemented in the book trade. For example, as was the case in the UK, they can put pressure on publishers to be more transparent about the origin of printed paper and the conditions of reforestation.

That said, it’s by reflecting too on the consequences of mass production in the artistic field that certain ideas for improvement are born. To limit an impact, some solutions are better suited than others. In my opinion, print-on-demand, which has been around for several years now, is a process that should be given greater consideration.

Some links :

Website about fundings for shows/a>

Lightning source

Ecoedicio catala institute

A review on open edition

Certification 2024

For several years, I have regularly participated in updating my knowledge. because I consider writing a profession. The specialization that I have just completed allows me to acquire new knowledge while offering me the possibility of supporting other authors in their projects. This is characterized, for example, by feedback and constructive criticism on their writings.

The team that awards this specialization is made up mostly of authors who have published more than a dozen award-winning novels and written articles in publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and O : The Oprah Magazine. A very enriching approach.

Today I received my certification and thank the entire team.

Link to certification

Cultural openness

On June 10, the opening ceremony of the third edition of the Nostre Mar festival took place. A festival wishing to bring people together so as not to spread anti-LGBT hatred, racism and anti-semitism.

I listened to the first part devoted to a conference by the historian Marie-Anne Matard-Bonucci on the theme “fascism and anti-semitism” as well as the second part which was called “entre-là” and which was devoted to music.

It was an intense moment of reflection and exchange.

The memorial also has very interesting books.

Here are some photos from the evening:

éoliennes
The wind turbines outside the Rivesaltes memorial
baraques du camp
One of the camp barracks outside the memorial
Céline
The author at the memorial a little before the conference
two people in front of a screen
Inside the auditorium, the historian and a member of the memorial
panel representing the speaker and the group and announcing the festival
On this poster, two photos, one representing the speaker and the other the group in concert. The photo I wanted to post of the concert was blurry so I opted for an existing one.
books
Library of memorial

Link to the memorial to inform you.

 

Festival of book and imaginary 2024

I will be present this Saturday, June 15, 2024 for the Book and Imaginary Festival all morning.

You can meet me at Latour Bas Elne avenue du Tech, place de la Fontaine.

You can discover my books through several extracts or ask me questions. An event for which I can’t wait to meet my audience.

couverture from the duel book in Albi

Cover from the book Fantastic L.A.

Several artistic disciplines will be brought together (Literature, Drawing, Music). On this occasion you will also be able to discover games as well as role-playing games.
The Book and Imagination Festival is organized in partnership with the city public library and the Catalan authors’ circle. Free admission.

Here are the GPS coordinates to get there:

Latitude 42.6021

Longitude 3.0029
———————————————————————————————–

Photos of the 15th of june 2024

view of the living room
Early morning in the book fair
The author valette céline
I sit in the shade of the trees
building
public library next to the book fair
advertising visual
On this insert is mentioned the comments from the readers of my books, there is also a poster representing the cover and a qrcode

 

 

E-reader and accessibility

As part of the accessibility of digital books, the reading tool is very important. It must be adapted. Currently, very few e-reader models can both read text in audio and allow correct navigation. When I talk about navigation, I mean keys allowing you to move through the text and select actions indicated in the menu.
For my part, I tried a first model that was lent to me some time ago. He read the text of my book, which is quite astonishing and which, for people whose need arises, proves very useful function text to speech. Enlarging sans serif fonts is also an essential feature for reading digital books.

Dystopia and Utopia

Currently I am working on several projects and actively preparing a professional book fair. In my journey, this led me to think about different subjects. In the field of science fiction, the literary form that we call dystopia is for many of us the opposite of utopia. And yet, utopia and dystopia have a form of complementarity. The themes they address are often very similar. For my part, I think that utopia and dystopia are interesting to explore. The two points that worry me on this subject are the dogmatism of the single thought that certain utopias would tend to present through the stories as well as the pessimism of the situations related in some of the dystopias

© 2025 Céline Valette – Tous droits de reproduction, d’adaptation et de traduction réservés pour tous pays sans le consentement de l’Auteur (titre, modèle, illustrations, photos...etc).