From dancing to drafting, M. M. Le Blanc has gone from being an LSU Golden Girl to writing an award-winning historical novel.
The book, titled “Evangeline: Paradise Stolen,” has received the 2012 National Independent Publisher Book Award, and more recently, the Louisiana Press Women Communication Award in Fiction, Books and Verse.
The novel details the history behind the deportation of the Acadians by the British from France to Canada in 1755.
Le Blanc’s novel chronicles the lives of families during the famous deportation, with her own ancestors’ history interwoven through the work.
Her maternal grandfather’s side of the family was part of a group of thousands of Nova Scotia Acadian families whom were separated from other family members and deported to France, England and the then English colonies, among other locations. It is from these points of exile that many Acadian families, including Le Blanc’s, arrived in Louisiana.
She said hers was one of the first and largest families to take part in this event.
René Le Blanc from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Evangeline” was the notary – the person who verified documentation as official – for the King of France, and he worked in the time of the deportation. He was also a relative of Le Blanc.
Le Blanc grew up in Lafayette, La., and learned about her genealogy from her grandfather, former Louisiana Senator Dudley LeBlanc.
She said the inspiration for the novel came from wanting people to know of her family’s story, the illegal actions of the British in 1755 and her own love of history.
With studies in marketing and French, Le Blanc didn’t take any formal writing classes while at the University. She said her college years were a time when she just wrote privately for herself.
Before earning her undergraduate degree, Le Blanc left on scholarship to study abroad in France. She later went to the University’s law school. She said she doesn’t practice law at the present time, but is pursuing another passion – writing.
Le Blanc said her time with the Golden Girls of the Golden Band from Tigerland influenced her writing habits.
“The Golden Girls maintained a diligent schedule. The band director wanted perfection, and we gave it to him. Putting my nose to the grindstone like that helped greatly,” she said.
Le Blanc said writing a little bit every day – having a schedule and sticking to it – was something the Golden Girls team taught her.
“I read everything that I could…I found my personal voice and after a while the characters started to speak for themselves,” Le Blanc said. “My own research of history helped too.”
The alumna and author said her success is “un main de