Randall’s Ramblings, July 5, 2020

Happy 4th of July weekend to all who celebrate! Hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend.

We’ve had a wet week, with showers every day. It’s been great for all of the plants, many of which were late getting into the ground because of non-availability during the spring. Many of them are now beginning to flower, adding an array of colors. Unfortunately, the rain is also helping the weeds to grow, too. However, we’re tag-teaming against them and seem to be on the winning side.

So, who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on July 5th. (Compliments of http://www.onthisday.com/today/birthdays):

Mandell Creighton, British historian and a bishop of the Church of England; William T. Stead, British newspaper editor (The Pall Mall Gazette – exposed child prostitution); Jean Cocteau, French poet and writer (Les Enfants Terribles); Frederick Lewis Allen, American social historian and editor of Harper’s Magazine; Tin Ujević, Croatian poet (Žedan kamen na studencu); Frank Waters, American writer; W. M. Diggelmann, Swiss writer (appeared in The self-destruction of W. M. Diggelmann); John Gilmore, American true crime author (Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia Murder); Brooke Hayward, American author (Haywire); Barbara Frischmuth, Austrian writer; Julie Nixon Eisenhower, American author and the youngest daughter of Richard Nixon; Meredith Ann Pierce, American sci-fi author (Darkangel); and Veronica Guerin, Irish crime journalist.

Recognize anyone? I didn’t. 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!

Are you a thriller aficionado? If so, Thrillerfest XV begins tomorrow!  If your interested, here’s the link to register: https://thrillerwriters.org/virtual-thrillerfest-2020/. Perhaps I’ll see you there!

My Work in Progress

I changed tack with my writing over the past few days, reaching back to a novel I began in 2017 but haven’t finished. This historical series will be called New World Revolution, with the title of book one tentatively being: A New Home. Here’s the synopsis:

The members of the Alexander family are hard-working tenant farmers in northern England. In 1770, massive crop failures threatened the very existence of the farmers. William Alexander and his two sons, sell what they can of their crops, but are unable to pay their debt, forcing them into a difficult situation.

The landowner’s factor takes pity on the Alexander family since they always paid their debts and never caused any problems. Since they could pay their way to the New World, the factor arranges their passage. They work off the costs as indentured servants to his brother, a wealthy tea merchant in Boston.

Little does anyone know, the Boston Tea Party and other events leads the colonies into a fight for their survival. What will become of the Alexander family?

This story requires an extensive amount of research so I can balance real events and people with my fictional characters. Just this past week I spend conducted over fifteen hours of research. I completed chapter five yesterday. So far, the story has received seventy-three chapter reviews from the two subscription writing sites I use. To aid my online research, I’ve also purchased ten non-fiction books related to the time period. More to come as the story unfolds.

Books I’m Reading

I recently read The Phoenix Project (DI Jack MacIntosh Book 1) by Michelle Kidd. I was drawn to the story after reading the synopsis. There’s no doubt the plot is fantastic, with plenty of twists and turns. Many of the characters come across as realistic. Follow DI MaCintosh as he attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding The Phoenix Project and an organization referred to as PRISM. Will he solve the puzzle before everyone who is involved ends up dead?

This would have been a fantastic read if the manuscript had been subjected to an intensive editing regime. As a result, my rating is lower than it would otherwise have been.

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 and hope you drop in again.

© Copyright 2020 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved