In Marcel Proust In Taos, a Los Alamos physicist, Christopher, retires to Taos, New Mexico, with his cat Marcel Proust, to write a novel about nuclear terrorism. There he meets aspiring artist Marlene, from Germany, and the two fall in love. They open a microbrewery, using the brewing recipes passed down to Marlene from her brewmaster grandfather. However, together they find themselves confronting terrorism of a new sort with the matriarch of the Taos community, Agnes Havelock Powers, who strongly opposes having a brewery in town. Agnes is rich, powerful, and influential. She has the city authorities tucked in her purse next to her checkbook.

We can’t get over the fact that it’s the cat named Marcel Proust. We were scared we’d be reading a boring, academic tome on the French essayist. It’s not that at all, is it?

The novel is a captivating read about two quite different characters falling in love while pursuing art and writing in a very different American venue.

What genre is it?

Fiction / Romance

I believe my book will appeal to a variety of readers, especially those who enjoy romance, suspense, and comedy.

Follow the exciting and charming love story of Marlene and Christopher in historical Taos, as they experience the challenges of confronting abusive power.

Tell us more about the young lovers.

Christopher is an atomic scientist retiring to Taos, where he falls in love with the artist Marlene. He is also writing a novel within the novel about the dangers of nuclear terrorism. His character is complex, aggressive and, I think, of deep interest to the reader.

Marlene, the immigrant artist is a complex character, for she has left her native Germany to seek a new life in a very different venue. She has to integrate herself into the community while at the same time pursuing her art, opening a microbrewery and enjoying her love affair with Christopher.

We still can’t get over the fact that you named the cat Marcel Proust. Where did that idea come from?

When my late wife and I lived in New Mexico, we explored both Taos and Los Alamos, and met many of the nuclear physicists at The Lab. We also had a white angora cat. One day before leaving on a trip, we took our cat to a boarding place and, there, met a wise and dignified white angora cat named Marcel Proust. Later, writing the novel, I envisioned Marcel Proust collaborating with Christopher who had retired from The Lab. Of course, in Taos Christopher would meet an artist because Taos is a haven and a stimulus for creative expression.

Tell us a little more about yourself.

I grew up in Indianapolis and wanted to be a racecar driver at Indy, but soon gave that up to go to college to study journalism and geography, then business at Stanford. I was in the Korean War in Military Intelligence, then worked in electronics and radio broadcasting in the Pacific Northwest, before getting into real estate development, where my late wife, Lois, and I built apartments, condominiums, and single family homes. Later, I went back to school at the University of Georgia to study Historic Preservation. Lois and I then moved to New Mexico to write novels about the Southwest, archaeology, and Native Americans. My wife and I wrote together for 20 years until she passed away, and now I continue to write. I’m 81 and active in an adult retirement community in Northern California.

Which of your books should we read next?

I am completing my 11th novel, Time to Retire, which is a mystery of sorts set in a large active adult retirement community, in which the characters examine aging and retirement.

Have you got a website?

http://jonfoyt.com/

What about social media?

@JonFoyt