Happy Mother’s Day to those celebrating today. Hope you enjoy your special day!
We’ve had quite a run of sunshine this past week. Today, it briefly ended with plenty of fog although the sun is still trying to make an appearance. With all of the sunshine, we were able to get the flower beds at the front of the house ready for planting–even managed to get a few violas in! We also found an excellent place for walking–Devilla Forest. It’s not far from the house and there are six walking paths through the forest. We took advantage of the sunny and relatively warm days to go a couple of times. The clocks also jumped ahead an hour today, into what’s called British Summer Time.
During the first part of the week, the price of gasoline (petrol) increased by two pence a liter to £1.64. However, the Chancellor’s spring announcement saw a decrease in duty by five pence. I was definitely surprised to see the price actually dropped at our local station by six pence, down to £1.58, which makes it the equivalent of $8.03 for a U.S. gallon at the current exchange rate.
Here’s this week’s quote (Compliments of http://www.wisdomquotesandstories.com/): “Blowing out the other person’s candle does not make yours shine brighter.”
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on March 27th, the fourth and final Sunday of the month: Benjamin Neukirch, German poet (Herrn von Hofmannswaldau); Michael Bruce, Scottish poet (Elegy written in Spring); Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologist; Alexander Csoma de Kőrös, Hungarian Tibetan scholar (first Tibetan-English Dictionary); Alfred Victor, Comte de Vigny, French musketeer and writer (Moise, Chatterton); Adolf Glassbrenner, German satirical writer; Heinrich Mann, German novelist and essayist (Professor Unrat); Marie Under, Estonian author and poet; Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu, Turkish writer and translator; Thorne Smith, American sci-fi author (Topper, Rain in the Doorway, Stray Lamb); Karl Mannheim, German sociologist (Ideology & Utopia); acques [Izaak] den Haan, Dutch writer (Dangerous Book); Golo Mann, German-American historian (Antisemitism); Ai Qing, Chinese poet; Budd Schulberg, American novelist and screenwriter (On the Waterfront); Stefan Wul, French sci-fi author (The Temple of the Past); Louis Simpson, Jamaican-American poet (Good News of Death); Shūsaku Endō, Japanese writer (Sea & Poison, Silence); John Bayley, English academic and writer (Iris: A Memoir of Iris Murdoch); Frank O’Hara, American writer and poet; Anthony Lewis, American columnist (NY Times) and author (Gideon’s Trumpet); Bob den Uyl, Dutch journalist and writer (Bird Watching); Istvan Csurka, Hungarian politician and writer; Abelardo Castillo, Argentine writer and novelist; Michael Jackson, British writer and journalist; Walt Mossberg, American journalist, the highest-paid journalist at the Wall Street Journal; Russ Conway, American sports journalist (Eagleson NHL scandal); and Patrick McCabe, Irish novelist (The Butcher Boy).
Any names familiar to you? I struck out this week. Whether you recognize anyone on the list or not, if today’s your special day I hope you have a great one!
My Published Work
All of my novels are participating in a Mystery & Suspense / Mystery, Mystery & Suspense / Suspense, and Mystery & Suspense / Thriller promotion called Mayhem and Motives. Why not stop by and check it out? There are 100 novels to choose from:
https://books.bookfunnel.com/m…
Colombian Betrayal and Revenge are also participating in a separate Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense / Mystery, and Mystery & Suspense / Women Sleuths promotion entitled March Fun Reads. There are 99 novels available in this one:
https://books.bookfunnel.com/c…
My Work in Progress
This week I completed chapter thirty of Ultimate Escalation. My manuscript received a whopping thirty-four reviews, bringing the total to 634. Once again, plenty of suggestions to enhance my writing.
Here’s another snippet:
After they passed the accident, Raj turned to the taxi driver. “Find a place where we can monitor the traffic. I want to photograph the license plates of the two Tata trucks.”
“Yes, sahib. In a few kilometers, the road bends, and there is a hidden spot where the police wait for speeding motorists.”
“Excellent. Pull into that area and wait for them to pass us.”
* * *
Mishka’s two-vehicle convoy continued along the highway. He yawned as he studied the arid landscape. Good thing for us it’s not the monsoon season. Would be more difficult to travel. He reached down, picked up his water bottle, and sipped.
“Sahib.” Bikram studied the side mirror. “A yellow taxi approaching. What should I do?”
Mishka glanced in his mirror and spotted the vehicle. “Let’s see if it’s the same one. If it is, lose him.”
Bikram grinned. “Yes, sahib. No problem. I do not like taxi drivers. They think they own the roads.” He allowed the truck to slow.
The taxi drew abreast as they passed a steep ravine. The lone passenger stared at them.
“It is the same one, sahib.” Without warning, Bikram yanked the wheel and swerved toward the taxi.
Bang! Screeeech!
The side of the taxi caved in as Bikram continued to force the vehicle off the road. He gave a final nudge.
The taxi crashed through a rusted guardrail and sailed over the embankment.
More next time.
Books I’m Reading
Now that Michigan State and Michigan have been knocked out of the 2021 NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, I hope to resume my normal evening reading. Within the next week or two, I’ll resume posting my reviews.
This brings us to an end for another week. I hope you found something of interest. 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 2022 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
