People around the United States are gathering with friends and family to enjoy the three-day weekend. Parades, parties, picnics, etc., are the agenda. Many know that Memorial Day is a time to honor our war dead. Cemeteries will be ablaze with small flags placed near the graves of those who served our country.
Borne out of the Civil War, Memorial Day is a good time to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. We should honor not only those who wore a uniform, but the countless men and women who served this country with honor and distinction in civilian roles and lost their lives doing so.
Why I want to Write–What’s Led Me to This Stage in My Life
I had exciting news this week. Of the many submissions I sent out in April, a publishing house contacted me requesting I send them the full manuscript. According to their website, ninety percent of submissions don’t make it past the initial query stage.
My manuscript will be sent to them tomorrow, after I finish a bit of fine-tuning and making sure the format is adjusted to their requirements. Fingers crossed!
A bit more from ‘The Kurdish Connection’:
Ismet glared at Ben as Abdel translated. He unbuttoned his shirt to expose the purple-red scarring extending from his neck to his waist. Separate scars covered part of his face and around his right eye. As he stood, Ismet trembled, gasping for breath.
The rest of the day passed without incident; Ben learned MSF procedures and assisted with patients. He dealt with an elderly man in severe pain who needed a dentist, not a doctor, a young boy who fell and scraped an elbow and both knees, and a teenager looking for a magical cure for zits.
The man glanced around and lowered his voice. “My cousin can take you to Zakho. It’d be much faster, four hours. Special price for you, only two hundred thousand Iraqi dinars. If you pay with dollars, one hundred fifty.”
Be quicker, but can the ‘cousin’ be trusted or is this a set-up to rob a naïve foreigner? Jake shook his head. “No thanks, mate. I’m in no hurry. Curious about the length of the trip, but I’ll take the bus.”
More next week. If you’d like to read compete chapters, check out channillo.com.
My Work in Progress
Critique reviews of ‘The Kurdish Connection’ continued this week. As always, I found excellent recommendations to improve the story. My review is now complete through chapter eighteen. This past week I finished editing chapters fifteen and sixteen, and they’re re-posted to the two subscription writing sites I use. I also hacked away at chapter seventeen, a mission status report, and reduced it the wording to orders sent to the Bedlam team.
I began writing a short story for possible inclusion in an anthology organized by the Writer’s Network Club. The theme is nature. I won’t tell you want my story is about, yet, but the tentative title is ‘Lakeside Survival’.
Books I’m Reading
I completed my review of a book written by one of the “Sunset Thrillers’ beta group. Since this is unpublished material, I won’t be providing any public feedback, but once the story’s available to everyone, I’ll be happy to do so. Now, I’m reviewing another group member’s work.
Blogs/Author Pages/Writing Sites I’d Like to Share
I’ve now expanded this section from being only about blogs that I follow but also introduce you to some new authors and a few writing sites. Hope you’ll check out the links!
Oliver Chase’s Take on Life – a selection of short stories presented by Oliver, author of Levant Mirage, which I reviewed last week.
Miss Sissinghurst – a blog featuring advice and inspiration from writer and master gardener Vita Sackville-West.
Writing Resources
I don’t have any new writing resources to share this week as time ran out. I hope to have something new for next week. Have an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.
Once again, we’ve come to the end of another ramble. Hope you’ve found something of interest or at least useful for your own writing. Until the next time, thank you for reading!
© Copyright 2016 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved.