Since childhood, Amélie Viel has been passionate about writing. But as is the case with many authors, her debut novel has been sitting for a long time in a text file, lying forgotten on a corner of the desk. When the circumstances were right, she finally realized her dream: writing and self-publishing her novel. Here is a meeting with a student who knows how to rise to life’s challenges...
A Lifelong Passion for Writing
“I started writing when I was a child, around 7 or 8 years old. I've always been interested, but I never followed through with my stories". Lack of time, lack of motivation, there were a lot of reasons to put them off. And one day, her student career at EM Strasbourg began.
This first year in business school brings upheavals with it: a way of organizing your life that requires you to have more independence, it’s up to you to manage your own time, and you have to choose your own priorities. Which projects should be developed first? What skills should be strengthened during this first year? At the beginning of January 2018, she decided to go for it. The book she had put off for so long would see the light of day. She would work on it alongside her studies.
Resilience and Transformations: Two Cornerstones of This Novel
Amélie Viel’s “Un Doux Séisme” [A Gentle Earthquake] is highly fictionalized, but with an autobiographical dimension. When the story starts, the main character has to undergo an operation for scoliosis, a condition that the author herself had to overcome. Solène is born, the heroine that the reader will follow throughout the novel as she goes through a gruelling series of doctor’s appointments and painful surgeries to straighten her spine. Amélie Viel takes advantage of this exceptional situation to show a particularly intense slice of life. “I wanted to tell the story of the upheavals that go with the transition to adulthood, and how certain difficulties can finally open doors for us.” In her first novel, Amélie Viel tells us a story of resilience.
At EM Strasbourg we are encouraged to develop our individuality, to look deeply into what we are made of.
Amélie
The World of Business Schools
Her character is, like her, a business school student. “Some people imagine that business schools promote a flashy ideal, but this is not at all how I experienced my first year at EM Strasbourg. On the contrary, we are encouraged to develop our individuality, to look deeply into what we are made of.” Although her novel is set more in student parties than in lecture halls, it nevertheless reveals the values she loves in her own school. “There's a family spirit, a group dynamic that drives us in our projects.”
Giving Birth to a Novel: An Adventure
Amélie Viel oversaw the self-publishing of her novel from start to finish. This task is certainly accessible for those who decide to carry it out, but it is nonetheless a major project. It is not only a question of writing the book, but also of ensuring its layout, creating the cover and carrying out all the legal steps required to market the book. The reason why she decided to take up this challenge before the end of the academic year is that she has very busy schedule in the next year. She is doing her second year of studies in Spain at one of EM Strasbourg's partner universities: the University of Huelva. With “Un Doux séisme” being published, she gives herself the freedom to dream of a second novel. Perhaps the adventures of a student will be recounted during her time in Spain?