Spent the week editing a novel for a client–close to finishing (should be done in the next couple of days). Also, my correspondence with the  Centre D’histoire De La Résistance Et De La Deportation, resulted in an invitation to speak to the chief historian there as part of researching my next book. And, she recommended another historian in Grenoble, which my husband and I also plan to visit during our trip. Finally, I’d exchanged contact info with a woman I met in November–who’s from Lyon–and she may be able to get me a translator. Let’s hope it all works out!

Fantasy 3/5

Gray Graham, operative for MI6 in 1940 Britain, must access the power of his past lives to halt the Reich’s occult magical attack. Lots of interesting politics, but slow-paced.

I’m trying to arrange a meeting with a historian in Lyon (because I plan to go there this spring to research my next novel and I’m applying for a grant) so sending emails back and forth–in French. Interesting. I DO speak a little French, but still, I worry.

Other than that, I’m editing again. Yes, I know, I do a lot of editing compared to how much writing I’m getting done, but…hey, I’m going to France to do some research, and so far, I don’t have a grant to cover costs. And, in fact, the book I’m editing is very good, so the work isn’t hard and I’m enjoying it!

As a new year’s resolution, I am posting twice a week for 2023: my Saturday update and a Wednesday book review. The reviews are of books I’ve read over the past year or perhaps a bit longer, as well as memorable books I’ve read before.  The reviews are short: a one-sentence summary, and why I gave it the score I did. Hope you enjoy them!

1984 by George Orwell

Classic SF 5/5

Winston, a clerk in an authoritarian regime whose job it is to erase the past in favor of the Party’s truth, recognizes there could be a different way of living. This novel is a must-read, if only to understand assumptions that underpin cultural references. Beyond this, Winston is a character the reader desperately wants to triumph in the face of a beautifully drawn, ubiquitous dystopia that resonates with too many elements of modern history. Only the info-dump of world history in the middle keeps this from being a 5+ in my eyes.

Last week being Christmas, not much writing done, but I did finish the reviews I plan to post weekly leading up to my novel coming out in the summer.