I’m sad to pass on the news that on Friday, September 20, our daughter, Heather, age 43, passed away from terminal cancer. She was a beautiful writer, witty, intelligent and giving person, loving mom and wife.
Book Review: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Thriller 5+/5
Evelyn Gardner, a broken spy from World War I, doesn’t believe she can help Charlie St. Claire find her missing cousin after World War II, until she finds a reason to fight: revenge. This was a book I could not put down, read twice, and would read again. Characters drew me into their lives and made me passionate to see them overcome hurdles to find happiness, or at least, peace. The worlds they inhabited were enveloping and captivating, and the plot twisted and twisted, and twisted again.
Busy with family
Again, busy with family this week. Cool thing: Heather’s current favorite fandom is A League of Their Own, and a friend set up an opportunity for Heather to do a Zoom call with Abbi Jacobson, writer and lead actor in that series. It was very cool!
Book Review: When She Woke, by Hillary Jordan
Science Fiction 5/5
Hannah, raised a good Christian, learns to reject the values of a country that has placed conservatism over human rights when she is jailed, stigmatized, and persecuted for having had an abortion. Like The Handmaid’s Tale, this story paints an infuriating yet uncomfortably plausible future. At the same time, it is a gripping thriller as Hannah becomes involved in an underground rescue operation taking her to an unknown destination, further and further from the man she loves.
Daughter in Hospice
As predicted, no writing this week. My daughter went into hospice. Having said that, her pain is better-controlled now, and she seems stable for the time being. Did ever tell you, she’s a writer, too? In fact, she has her PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Calgary.
Her first novel (Songbroken, a fantasy) came out in 2021 from Forest Path Books in Washington, and we’ve attended a few conventions together–World Fantasy, ICFA. So far, she’s still writing when she can, and posting a serial to the internet for fans. However, now that she is more stable, I might be able to find a bit more time for my own writing. We’ll see.