Happy Mother’s Day to all those celebrating today in the United States, Canada, and other countries around the world. Enjoy your special day!
Well, Mother Nature decided the rain and hail we’ve experienced, along with cool temperatures over the past week weren’t enough. In some parts of Scotland there was snow this week. While we didn’t have any in our area, we could see it on the distant hills. Hopefully, the white stuff is finished for now and we’ll see things improve. Certainly hope so!
Here’s this week’s quote (Compliments of http://www.wisdomquotesandstories.com/): “Smile like you’ve never cried, fight like you’ve never lost, love like you’ve never been hurt, and live like you’ll die tomorrow.”
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on May 9th. (Compliments of http://www.onthisday.com/today/birthdays):
Dante Alighieri, Italian poet and author (Dante’s Inferno, Divina Commedia); John Wolcot, English satirist (Peter Pindar); Johannes Cornelis de Jonge, Dutch historian and archivist; August Pauly, German writer (Real Encyclopedia); J.M. [James Matthew] Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright (Peter Pan); Lucian Blaga, Romanian philosopher and poet (Dogmatic Aeon); Walter Dehmel, German writer; Eleanor Estes, author (Ginger Pye, Moffats); Baldur von Schirach, German writer/nazi politician (Frame); Josef Muller-Brockmann, graphic designer/writer; Richard Adams, English author (Watership Down); William Tenn, American author; Mona Van Duyn, American poet; Bulat S Okudzjava, Russian author (Student!); Jean J A Girault, French director/screenwriter (l’Amour); Gavin Lyall, British author (Conduct of Major Maxim, The Secret Servant); Alan Bennett, England, playwright/actor (Secret Policeman’s Other Ball); Roger Hargreaves, English author and illustrator of children’s books (Mr. Men and Little Miss); Charles Simic Yugoslavian-born poet, 15th Poet Laureate of the United States; Joy Harjo, American poet and musician (first Native American US Poet Laureate 2019-); and Skye Regan, Canadian Actress and Writer.
Were any names familiar to you? While I didn’t know the names of the authors, I certainly spotted several works I knew. I’ve certainly heard of Dante’s Inferno, Peter Pan, Watership Down, Mr. Men, and Little Miss. 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
My novels are once again appearing in a monthly Bookfunnel promotion for mystery & suspense, legal and mystery & suspense, and political thrillers. If you get a chance, why not stop by the promotion (click here) and see what’s available. I’m sure I speak for the other authors when I say thank you!
My Work in Progress
This week I completed chapters thirty-three and thirty-four of Revenge, the sequel to Colombian 
Betrayal. Its now posted on the two online subscription writing sites I use. I’m not sure yet, but I think there’ll be forty-five chapters when the first draft is completed.
Over the past week, there were another thirty-three new chapter reviews, bringing the total number of chapter reviews to 556. As always, plenty of useful suggestions as always to improve my writing.
Here’s this week’s snippet:
“I’m heading upstairs for a bit. I dropped a load of my personal stuff off this morning before going to the restaurant, but want to get it stored in a closet. The movers are supposed to bring my furniture and the rest of my belongings tomorrow.”
Elton raised his hand. “How long do you want us to hang around today?”
“As long as it takes to square away your area, ET.” He handed a Sam’s Club card to him. “I want you and Sindee to take a trip and pick up whatever we need. If they don’t have it, figure out who does and will get things arranged.” He turned to Bruno. “I’m sure you’ll have an idea of what you’ll require in the IT arena.” He held out a black American Express card. “Use this.”
“We’re on it, boss,” Elton, Sindee, and Bruno chimed.
Javier laughed. “I’ll be upstairs.”
***
Climbing up the stairs to his new home, Javier walked from room to room. With two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen/diner, and a bathroom, the top-floor accommodation was perfect. I’ll use one of the bedrooms as a private office, so I don’t have to traipse downstairs during the night.
Javier sat on the sole piece of furniture. The chair creaked under his weight. As he stood to adjust the cushion, his phone rang. “Hello?”
“Hey, Javier. Zorkin here. I got the first group of background checks back from the FBI. Everything’s fine.”
Javier grinned. “Excellent. So nothing showed up to cause any concern?”
“Not a thing.”
“Perfect. The first three are working downstairs now. I want to task Cesar with keeping an eye on AJ without her finding out. I know she can look after herself, but I’ll feel better.”
“Anything particular you’re worried about?”
“No, but something is sending shivers up my arms when I think about her—especially after that incident with the truck.”
“Understand. Listen, I gotta run. I’ll be back to you as soon as the other background checks come in.”
“Thanks again, Brian.” Javier broke the connection and headed downstairs.
***
A man wearing sunglasses sat in a black Ford F150 across the street from Brusch Investigations. He shuffled through the photos he took earlier when Javier and his employees arrived. “Excellent. Decent facial shots of each one. Need to find out where they live—perhaps some pressure to force one of them to let us inside.”
He started the engine and pulled into the sparse traffic, a grin spreading across his face. “Boom!”
More next time.
Books I’m Reading
Due to unforeseen real life activities, I didn’t do much extra reading this week. I hope to provide a review of another David L. Golemon novel next time.
That’s all 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 2021 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
