Happy Mother’s Day to those celebrating in the UK. Hope you have a great day!
Congratulations to the Michigan State Spartans for making it into this year’s NCAA Elite 8 and commiserations to the Michigan Wolverines as their campaign came to an end. Go MSU!
Mother Nature has brought a chill back into the area, but at least there’s plenty of sunshine. The grass was trimmed yesterday and the front yard is shaping up. Still plenty of things to do, but it’s on the right road.
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on March 31st. (compliments of http://www.onthisday.com/today/birthdays):
Andrew Marvell, English poet (To His Coy Mistress); Edward FitzGerald, English writer (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam); Nikolai Gogol [Nikolay], Ukrainian-born Russian novelist, humorist, and dramatist (Dead Souls, The Inspector-General); Leon Dierx, French poet; Andrew Lang, Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and anthropologist (Andrew Lang’s Fairy Books); Borisav “Bora” Stanković, Serbian writer; Ion Pillat, Romanian poet/senator (Umbra timpului); Vardis Fisher, American author (Darkness & Deep); Pieter Jongeling, Dutch author (under Piet Prins) and politician; Robert Brasillach, French author; Octavio Paz, Mexican writer/diplomat (Salamandra, Topoemas); Marga [Sara Voeten-] Minco, Dutch writer (Bitter Herb); John Fowles, English novelist (Collector, French Leiutenent’s Woman); John Jakes, writer (Sir Scoundrel, Great Women Reporters); Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet; Judith Rossner, American writer (August); and Marge Piercy, author (Small Changes, Gone for Soldiers).
How many did you recognize? There’s one or two who might 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!
News About My Published Work
I received the final official notification this morning that The Kurdish Connection and Dangerous Alliance have progressed from the Slushpile to the Long List onward to the Short List and are now official SEMI-FINALISTs for the GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards for Lab Lit, Thriller, & Int’l Suspense Fiction, a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs). As I previously mentioned, my novels are two of the thirteen semi-finalists for the awards, which will be announced on April 30th. Stay tuned.
Both novels are available across the Amazon Network, through Barnes&Noble, and other outlets.
My Work in Progress
Editing continues on my third novel, Carnage in Singapore. I’m eighty-two percent through the third edit pass, with perhaps one more to follow before the manuscript is ready for submission. Here’s another snippet:
A gentle breeze through the open windows of the third-floor apartment brought a slight chill, causing Natalee to close the nearest one. Anxious at being alone at the moment, she wished her parents would return soon from their morning stroll through the neighborhood.
A knock on the door startled her.
She glanced through the peephole. Two uniformed police officers stood in the hallway. Recognizing them, she slid the deadbolt and opened the door.
“Sergeant Ang and Constable Goh. What a surprise! Please, come in.”
Aiden beamed. “How are you today, Miss Natalee?” He held out a handful of flowers. “These are for you.”
“Thank you so much!” She gave Aiden a wide smile as she sniffed the different colored tulips arranged in a slim, clear cut-glass vase. “You don’t have to bring me something every time you visit.” She set the vase on the coffee table.
“The gifts are worth every penny to see your face light up.”
Natalee and Aiden perched on the sofa the cushion groaning from Aiden’s weight. He glanced at Natalee and shrugged.
Both laughed.
Goh, his face wearing its usual frown, rolled his eyes as he sat in a nearby chair.
“Right now we’re on official business.” Aiden patted Natalee’s hand. “Have you remembered anything more about where you were held?”
Goh opened his laptop ready to capture her statement.
She shook her head and pulled her hand from Aiden’s grasp. “Images, but nothing definite. I remember several huts, one larger than the others. Lots of trees, too.” “She pressed her hands against her ears. “I keep hearing the screams of the other prisoners when they were being tortured.” She licked her lips and squirmed.
“Anything about the other captives?”
“Four men and two women—our kidnappers took the women away once.” Tears streamed down Natalee’s face. “When they came back, their faces were covered in cuts and bruises. Fear and panic were etched on their faces and they smelled as if someone had soiled their clothing. They said ….”
More next time.
Due to concentrating on editing, I didn’t have a chance to work on Ultimate Escalation, the next book in the series. Perhaps this week.
Books I’m Reading
This week Conviction (A New World Book 2), the latest gripping story by M.D. Neu, was released. He’s done it again with his latest release. Follow Todd Landon and various members of the Nentraee as they deal constant issues with merging Earth with an alien race. With an engaging plot and realistic characters, this story has something for everyone: love, passion, action, betrayal, just to name a few. Well done!
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
