Reposted and updated from my old blog – May 2, 2006.

It’s been awhile since I posted my last entry as my recent travels took me to a fascinating place to which I hope I never return – my husband and I have had 3 knee replacement surgeries between us since November and I had 2 of them! Ouch! Needless to say between the pain and reactions to drugs, which my body is not used to, I ended up taking too much of the last 5 months off and traveling solely between the rooms of my house and not able to get to my downstairs office … and my computer! Not such a bad thing you might say, but when you love your work, and the computer, it’s a real sacrifice not to be able to use it!! Amazing how you can appreciate something like writing an email when you aren’t able to do it for days.

Robert’s fans (author, J Robert Whittle, my husband) will sigh with relief when they hear I am actually editing a new book – if you checked out our website once in a while, you would have known this months ago!! These fans count themselves extremely lucky when he has a new book published, so we are hoping the schedule for this one will include publication around Oct/Nov – just in time for Christmas buying.

 Loyalty’s Haven is the 3rd book in the historical adventure series (Victoria Chronicles) set in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1900s and featuring all real history. Even about 75% of the characters are real! This volume features the ending of WW1 and the horrific Spanish flu pandemic that swept the world as the soldiers returned home from Europe. Actually, Robert discovered that Victoria, BC (where story is centred), in an effort not to panic its populace, kept details of the influenza out of the newspapers, not even reporting deaths to any extent. So his job of research became quite a challenge utilizing books and videos featuring other areas of North America to give him insight into dates etc. With this knowledge he was able to gain knowledge of where to look in local archives etc. I haven’t got to that part of the book yet as the flu has only begun to strike Seattle, Washington. (2011 Note: Loyalty’s Haven won us our first Gold Medal in the IPPY Award in 2007.)

I love editing Robert’s books because it never ceases to amaze even me what a talent he has and how lucky we were to discover it. How he comes up with his story lines is wonderful and he doesn’t plan it beforehand either. If you don’t know the story of how he began writing, you may like to read his bio (written by me!). He’s far too modest to write about himself and actually that’s how he came to write novels – he didn’t do as I asked, which was to write his memoires!!

 Actually, I should be glad that he didn’t! It wouldn’t have been near as popular as his novels! (It may be now in 2011 though.) We later got a smattering of his life story on audio (Laughing Through Life – Tales of a Yorkshireman). If you’d like to find out more about Robert and his books see the link below.

In the meantime, if you live in or near Victoria, or are planning to visit our beautiful city, look for Robert in downtown Victoria at the Bastion Square outdoor market, Wednesday-Sunday but only until the end of September in 2011.  His booth is opposite the Irish Times Pub right off Government Street. If he has time, he loves to talk history with passers by – any sort of history. Check out our Events Page if you’re wondering where and when we are at the markets.

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