The Housekeeper

Originally from the U.K., author James R. Vance relocated to a rural region of France to write novels. He is an avid reader, traveler and a long-term Francophile. Living in a region rich in resistance history prompted a change of genre from mystery crime novels to historical fiction, focusing on WWII. When not writing, he spends time researching the area, visiting local archive departments, resistance museums, cemeteries and sites of historical importance to his work. Some research has included interviews with survivors of the Nazi occupation; their stories have inspired some of the episodes in his novels. He contributes to local newspapers and magazines. As a member of a local Writers' Group, he was involved in publishing an anthology of short stories, entitled French Briefs-a collection that includes three of his short stories. In 2015, he participated in the 3-day Charroux Literary Festival with other celebrated authors, where he ran a workshop for aspiring writers. He is scheduled to participate again in August 2017. With other local writers, he runs writing skills workshops in the Limousin region. He has also contributed a short story to The Magic Diary, a collection of stories by 50 authors globally; he represented France.