Happy Memorial Day weekend to those celebrating. While normally a time to honor military personnel who gave their lives while serving their country, this year, there are plenty of others who should be recognized for the unselfish acts during the coronavirus pandemic.
Memorial Day is also considered the unofficial start to summer. Whatever you have planned, stay safe!
Mother Nature’s helping hand over the past week has been a welcome gift, saving me plenty of time as I haven’t had to do as much watering. The new plants are taking root, and the ones which have been moved from one are to another are flourishing. Several plants are showing their colors as flower begin to pop out.
So, who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on May 24th. (Compliments of http://www.onthisday.com/today/birthdays):
Jean-Paul Marat, French journalist and revolutionary (Friend of the People periodical); Cornelis Eliza van Koetsveld, Dutch writer and preacher; Kathleen Hale, British children book writer and illustrator (Orlando); Henri Michaux, Belgian-born French poet and writer (Miserable Miracle); Mikhail Sholokhov, Soviet writer (And Quiet Flows the Don, Nobel 1965); Zdeněk Blažek, Czech composer and music theorist (Verchovina); Michael Roberts, English historian; Guillermo Díaz-Plaja, Spanish literary and poet (Lorca); Louis Fornberg, writer; Marģeris Zariņš, Latvian composer and writer; George Tabori, Hungarian writer; William Trevor, Irish writer (Children of Dynmouth, Fools of Fortune); Arnold Wesker, British playwright (Bratkartoffeln Inbegriffen); Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and writer (Less than One, Nobel 1987); and Michael Chabon, American novelist (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay).
Recognize anyone? This was another unknown group for me. 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 Published Work
Three of my novels continue to participate in a May Kindle Unlimited promotion: Dangerous Alliance, Carnage in Singapore, and Colombian Betrayal. They’re also available for Kindle downloads or paperbacks. There are a total of 384 KU works included in the promotion.
In addition, Colombian Betrayal is participating in two Kindle mystery, crime, suspense, and thriller sales promotions called Sleepless Mind, which runs through the end of May. Please stop by and see if any of your favorite authors are listed, or perhaps you’ll find someone new to check out.
My Work in Progress
When time permitted, I continued working on Xavier Sear: Angola. This week I finished chapter twenty-one and posted it to the two online subscription writing sites I use. Angola has now received 254 chapter reviews, an increase of sixteen in the past week. As always, plenty of good advice from my faithful reviewers to provide as good a story for you as possible.
Here’s another snippet:
Long after dark, when Sear believed the house was quiet, he slipped out the French doors and into the back garden. He crept around the house through the light of the quarter moon until he spotted what he expected.
Parked beyond the gates underneath a huge jacaranda tree sat a black GMC Yukon with blacked-out windows and black rims. The parking lights turned off and on. Sear chuckled. Real stealth.
“I thought you died.” A voice broke the stillness as a rear passenger door opened.
“As a very wise man once said, ‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’”
Sear climbed in the back of the Yukon and closed the door.
“In any case, it is great to see you.”
“Lisbon Station Chief—that’s quite a few rungs up the ladder from where we started.”
The station chief nodded. “They offered you Moscow, London, or Paris. It didn’t surprise me you rejected those assignments. I knew you wouldn’t accept Beijing when someone suggested the post. But you certainly went down a path I would not have expected.”
“Not my thing. You’re the diplomat. I’m a strategist who happens to be an excellent shot.”
“Did you just call me an ass kisser?”
More next time.
This week I also completed the fifth chapter of Revenge, the sequel to Colombian Betrayal.
Reviews are coming in, with a total of fifty-seven so far, and increase of ten over the past week. I think I provided the synopsis before, but in case I didn’t or you missed it, here it is:
Relegated to a desk job at the Pentagon despite his last field mission being a success, Colonel Javier Smith submits his retirement papers. He moves forward with his plans to create a security and investigative agency called the Brusch Agency. The focus will be aiding international clientele.
AJ Bruce, who co-led the mission with Smith, finds herself rooted at CIA Headquarters. Although now in charge of the division responsible for tracking terrorist groups in Latin America, she misses the action from being in the field.
Meanwhile, Alberto Cabrera was one of four terrorists who survived Bruce and Smith’s mission. Also known as Abdul Rahman, he enlists the assistance of the others who escaped and vows to track down those who killed his friends and comrades.
As Javier and AJ grow closer together, will the future hold wedding bells or funerals? Hang onto your hats as the story unfolds.
Books I’m Reading
I recently read Georgina, the latest blockbuster from Blair Howard. Who killed sixteen-year-old Georgina all those years go, and why? Was it some type of random attack, or was it a lover’s quarrel? Every year on the anniversary of Georgina’s death, Captain Kate Gazzarra relives the anguish of not finding the killer. Will this year be different? Kate and her team want things to be different, and begin going through the case step-by-step.
Once again Blair has created an exciting plot with a fantastic twist. As always, the characters are realistic, and we learn more about their personal lives as well as how they perform on duty. It’s easy to be right there with them as the investigation unfolds, and it won’t be long before you’ll be cheering the team on and jeering at the potential suspects.
The Kindle version will be released on May 31st, but the paperback is available now. Grab a copy and get stuck into another super story!
I also read Pipeline Killers by Lynn Nicholson, the second novel in his Detective Bernadette Callahan mystery series. Follow Bernadette as she’s involved in another terrifying threat to the world’s oil pipelines. What started as an investigation into a supposed industrial accident shows how some people will stop at nothing to support their goals, no matter how far-fetched or dangerous they might be. Will Bernadette be able to solve the mystery before it’s too late?
With another great plot and a larger-than-life Bernadette, follow along this fast-paced mystery as she works with Canadian and American authorities to find the key to the devastating destruction caused by something so small it can’t be seen by the naked eye. You’ll stay up late as you won’t want to miss a moment of the action!
This brings us to a close for this 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 2020 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
