Observations

When is it as good as it can be?

When is it as good as it can be?

 I have finished composing novel # 5, the working title Resurrection, the last book in The Long War series. These five novels follow two men and two women, American and Russian, from their mid-teens to a denouement during the breakup of Yugoslavia.     They...

The Netherlands, 2-12 February 2024

The Netherlands, 2-12 February 2024

 Dutch friends, Dick S. and Sandra D., offered Patrice and me their country house in Middelharnis. It was a ‘two birds with one stone’ opportunity. We had finished our move from the apartment in Semur-en-Auxios to the farmhouse in Chevigny thus we could count as a...

Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

Grabovac, Plitvice Lakes, and a novel During the week 18-24 October 2023 Patrice and I visited Croatia’s Plitvice Lakes region to 1). take a one-week vacation and 2) to ‘ground truth’ a chase scene which concludes my fifth novel, Resurrection.  Sixteen Lakes, the...

The Robert Olen Butler with Clara Herrera Visit Semur-en-Auxios

The Robert Olen Butler with Clara Herrera Visit Semur-en-Auxios

Robert & Robert at Le Relais Bernard Loiseau in Saulieu, France and Clara Robert Olen, my buddy of several decades, and Clara Herrera visited Patrice and me in France ( FTR 15-22 August 2023).  They first spent a week in Paris, where we joined them for two days,...

War in Ukraine observed from United Kingdom

War in Ukraine observed from United Kingdom

Christmas Morning with grandchildren (Horsmonden, United Kingdom) Patrice and I are spending Christmas with Michelle and Nigel in Horsmonden, UK. We had met them a week ago in Calais to drive to Bruges, Belgium, for the Christmas Market, then onto England to spend the...