Yesterday we were greeted with brilliant sunshine and warm temperatures–59F/15C. A year ago it was 28F/-2C. Great weather for Michigan in February! The forecasters are predicting about a week of nice weather, before colder temperatures and snow return. But then, it’s still winter!
Do you have someone in your life you were able to share the recent Valentine’s Day with? Hope so. Do you know why it’s called Valentine’s Day? I didn’t until I checked it out. According to According to Historynet.com, it’s actually St. Valentine’s Day, the feast day of two Christian martyrs named Valentine: one a priest and physician, the other the Bishop of Terni. Both are purported to have been beheaded on this day. The custom of sending handmade ‘valentines’ to one’s beloved became popular during the 17th century and was first commercialized in the United States in the 1840s.
If you had a birthday during the past week, you might have shared it with one of these writers: Kay Boyle, short story writer (“The White Horses of Vienna”); Carson McCullers, writer (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter); Amy Tan, novelist (The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife); Shalom Aleichem, Yiddish author; Wallace Stegner, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist (Angle of Repose); Helen Gurley Brown, editor of Cosmopolitan magazine; Len Deighton, English spy writer (The Ipcress File); Toni Morrison, Nobel laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning author (The Bluest Eye, Beloved); Audre Lord, poet; Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson, Australian poet and journalist; Chaim Potok, novelist (The Chosen, The Promise); Van Wyck Brooks, biographer, critic and literary historian; Richard Ford, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist (The Sportswriter, Independence Day); Frederick Douglass, slave, and later, activist and author; Georges Simenon, novelist; and Harold “Hal” Moore Jr., US Army lieutenant general, author, his best-known book, co-authored with combat journalist Joe Galloway, is We Were Soldiers Once … And Young. A belated happy birthday and hope you enjoyed your special day.
KURDISH SCAVENGERS UNCOVER A CACHE OF NERVE GAS IN IRAQ AND OFFER THEM TO KURDISH FIGHTERS IN TURKEY. THE SPECIAL OPERATIONS BEDLAM ALPHA TEAM MUST SECURE THE WEAPONS BEFORE THEY CAN BE USED.
“You must swear by Allah never to say a word of what I’m going to tell you. This is the most important secret. Ever!”
In their daily struggle for survival, Iraqi Kurdish scavengers uncover a cache of chemical weapons. They offer the weapons to Kurdish rebels in Turkey and Syria to assist in their quest to free an imprisoned leader and create a unified homeland. After receiving a tip from an unlikely source, the newly formed Special Operations Bedlam team is called to arms. Can the team recover the weapons before it’s too late?
My Work in Progress
Marketing/publicity hasn’t stopped me from moving forward with the sequel, Dangerous Alliance. Chapters seven and eight were recently posted on the two subscription writing sites I use. The next chapter, introducing a new character and scene, which will be important as the story unfolds, is currently underway.
All work on A Cartel’s Revenge and New World Revolution are on hold until the first draft of Dangerous Alliance is completed. Beginning next week, I’ll resume posting glimpses into this story.
Books I’m Reading
I just finished a beta read of the first in a three-book series by Preston Holtry, the author of the outstanding Morgan Westphal Mystery series. I won’t say any more about it right now, but once Preston gives me the green light, I’ll post my review. I will say it’s a keeper!
Blogs/Author Pages/Writing Sites I’d Like to Share
I’ve expanded this section from being only about blogs that I follow but also introduce you to some new authors and a few writing sites. I have one to share today:
Alice S. Hill – a write-a-holic from Zimbabwe. She’s the author of When The Tree is Dry. Check out her site!
Once again, we’ve reached 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 2017 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved.
