Happy Memorial Day! Originally an American public holiday to honor veterans who served in the armed forces, it’s morphed into the unofficial start of the summer holiday season. Friends and family join together to open up vacation homes, relax, fire up barbecues, and enjoy the long weekend.
The weather is certainly giving a summer feel to the weekend, with temperatures in our area reaching as high as 86F/30C. Of course, with the high temperatures comes the threat of thunderstorms. There were a few scattered thunderclaps yesterday afternoon, but no rain in our area.
Are you celebrating a birthday today? If so, here’s a few people from the writing world and the Civil War you share with (compliments of http://www.onthisday.com/today/birthdays):
Julia Ward Howe, American author/lecturer (Battle Hymn of the Republic); Henry Parkes, British journalist/premier of Australia; John Gray Foster, American Major General (Union Army); Edwin Gray Lee, Brigadier General (Confederate Army); Robert Frederick Hoke, Major General (Confederate Army); Luigi Capuana, Sicilian author/critic (Roccaverdina); Georges Eekhoud, Belgian writer (Jeune Belgium); Arnold Bennett, English novelist/ playwright/critic (Great Babylon); Richard von Schaukal, Austria poet/writer (Eros Thanatos); Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish writer; Rudolf Pannwitz, German writer; Max Brod, Czech-born Israeli composer, writer and biographer of Kafta; Erich Kuttner, German journalist/historian (Vorwarts); Dashiell Hammett, detective novelist (Sam Spade, Maltese Falcon); Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French writer (Die Nacht); Uładzimir Zylka, Belarusian poet; Rachel Carson, American marine biologist, conservationist and writer (Silent Spring); Torolf Elster, Norwegian journalist/writer (Frihet och demokrati); John Cheever, writer (Wapshot Chronicle); Herman Wouk, American novelist (Caine Mutiny, Winds of War); Sidney AK Keyes, English poet (Iron Laurel); Tony Hillerman, American writer; Jan Blokker, Dutch writer/journalist (VPRO, People’s Newspaper); John Barth, novelist (Sot-Weed Factor); Harlan [Jay] Ellison, American sci-fi author (7 Hugos, Doomsman, Babylon 5); Adriaan Venema, Dutch journalist/author (Mussert); Norma Jean Almodovar, American author (Cop to Call Girl); and Rebekah Brooks, English journalist.
Recognize anyone? Even if you don’t, I hope you have a fantastic birthday!
My Work in Progress
I had hoped to finish my cast of characters for Dangerous Alliance this week. However, too many external requirements meant I did very little with my works in progress. Hopefully, the next week will be more promising and I can get back to writing.
Books I’m Reading
As mentioned a week or two ago, I finished another novel fro David Wood’s Dane Maddock’s adventure series. I hoped for another intriguing plot and Buccaneer didn’t disappoint. I’m sure many of you have heard of the Oak Island money pit. Used as the primary setting for Buccaneer, David created a whirlwind of a story, with treasure maps, Templar churches and a secretive organization trying to revive an ancient kingdom.
As with all of David’s novels in the series, Dane Maddock leads us on a roller coaster ride with plenty of twists and turns and plenty of realistic characters to aid readers in finding the treasure. This is one of those novels I just couldn’t put down and look forward to the next one in the series.
I had also hoped to provide a review of A Body in the Sacristy (Barrettsport Mysteries Book 1) by Alan Kemister but will do this next time.
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. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time this week to find new sites to share with you. Perhaps next week.
That brings us to a close for another week. Hope you’ve found something of interest or at least useful for your own writing. If you have any suggestions for a topic you’d like to read about, please let me know. Until the next time, thank you for reading.
© Copyright 2018 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
