As another month draws to a close, we’ve had temperatures between 55-62F/13-16C over the past week. The rhododendrons are covered with green shoots and our cats are spending more time outdoors in the pleasant weather.
Yesterday, we attended our first craft fair of 2019. Things went well, with a few candles and several poetry sheets sold. With a six-foot table and the warm weather, we decided not to include the knitwear, and I forgot to take the pyrography (woodburning).
In addition, three copies of The Kurdish Connection and two of Dangerous Alliance were autographed for customers.
Painting also continued during the past week; the new kitchen/dining area is sparkling. Just need a few tiles on the wall near the sink and hob and it will be finished.
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on February 24th. (compliments of http://www.onthisday.com/today/birthdays):
Muhammad ibn Battutah, Arab travel writer (Travels in Asia & Africa); Sixt(us) Birck [Xystus Betulius], German writer (Suzanna); Matthias C Sarbiewski, [Sarbievius], Polish jesuit/poet; Vincent Voiture, French poet; Wilhelm Grimm, German story teller (Grimm’s Fairy Tales); Rosalía de Castro, Santiago de Compostela Galician writer and poet; C Grant B Allen, Canadian writer (Woman Who Did); George A Moore, Irish painter/novelist (Esther Waters); Daniel Berkeley Updike, printer/publisher/writer (Printing Types); Herman Teirlinck, Belgian writer (Sun); Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski, Polish novelist/satirist (Black Wings); Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer and painter; Mary Ellen Chase, US linguistic/author (White Gate); Jacob Presser, Dutch historian/writer (Down-fall); Alexis Curvers, Belgian author (Tempo di Roma, Bourg-le-Rond); August William Derleth, writer (Judge Peck Mysteries); Ludvig Aschkenazy, writer; David Mourao-Ferreira, poet/politician; Michael Harrington, socialist/author (Fragments of Century); and Maurizio Giuliano, writer and traveller.
How many did you recognize? There’s definitely one or two who should be familiar, perhaps not by name, but by the title of their work. Whether you recognize anyone on the list or not, if today’s your special day I hope you have a great one and many more to follow!
My Work in Progress
Editing continues on my third novel, Carnage in Singapore. So far I’m still on 
track to submit the manuscript to my publisher in May/June. Here’s another snippet:
Two additional guards patrolled the terrace. When Musa approached, one patted him down while the other watched monitored the perimeter. Not finding any obvious weapons, the guard motioned him to the door.
After entering, Musa removed his shoes and put on a pair of slippers. He crossed the teak floor and joined Abu Zeze, who waited for him near a small fire. They clasped right hands and gave a slight nod to each other.
“Selamat (Peace), Musa. It’s good to see you again.” Abu Zeze stared at Musa through thick glasses which gave him a bug-eyed appearance. Gray hair, covered by a skull cap, and a traditional multi-colored sarong and shirt. A pair of brown slippers completed his ensemble.
“And to you. I’m honored you had time to meet with me.”
Abu Zeze gave a dismissive wave. “Come sit by the fire and share a cup of wedang jahe with me.”
“Thank you.”
Abu Zeze clapped his hands, and a young boy appeared with a tray holding two cups of the warm ginger drink and a plate of orange slices.
Once the boy served the men, he departed. Friends for several years, Musa and Abu Zeze brought each other up to date on news worth repeating. After they finished their light repast, Abu Zeze gazed at his friend.
“What is on your mind, Musa? You seem preoccupied.”
“Yes, I guess I am. I want JAD to become further linked with Jemaah Islamiyah.”
Abu Zeze tilted his head to the side and rubbed his scrawny beard. “As with all other groups who seek access to JI resources, you must show how you plan to serve us.”
Musa sighed. “We’ll use a tiered approach. To start, a barrage of mortars from Batam Island and explosive charges at several Singapore tourist attractions.”
His host pursed his lips and nodded. “All achievable, but insufficient for our purposes to instill fear.”
“I’m not finished.” Musa raised his hands. “We’ll also kidnap the senior official from each of the British, Australian, and American embassies. Their right index fingers will be severed and sent to the respective embassy as a warning to leave. We will spread out the kidnappings to garner wider press coverage.”
More next time.
I didn’t have much time left over to work on the final book of the series, Ultimate Escalation. However, I did manage to complete some additional research.
Books I’m Reading
With the work around the house and preparation for the craft fair, my reading time was cut short. I have another novel almost finished and will provide my thoughts next time.
My Favorite Authors
Another of my favorite authors is Clive Cussler. The international exploits of his various characters no doubt influenced my decision to begin my writing career with journeys to distant lands and cultures.
I have to laugh; an individual once referred to Mr. Cussler as a hack writer. With over seventy books to his credit and at least twenty novels making The New York Times fiction best-seller list, many writers could only dream of having this kind of success.
This brings us to a close for another week. I hope you 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 2019 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
Always good to hear from you. Congrats on the new kitchen and your work on the new novels. On my side, my 5th novel in my detective series is now out on Amazon “Bank Shot” and I am researching for the next novel. “Unlucky Number”.
Kind regards
Michael Kent.
Many thanks, Michael. I’ll grab a copy of Bank Shot. Regards, Randall