For those celebrating the Fourth of July this weekend, have a Happy Fourth! For my Canadian readers, a belated (1st of July) Happy Canada Day!
It’s been a rainy week but it’s keeping everything green. The temperature high for the week was 68F (20C) on Wednesday and Thursday. The weeds have been growing like crazy, so each day between showers I’ve been pulling out as many as I can. We have a brick driveway, and loads of weeds have taken root between the cracks, so I’ve been pulling up the bricks, removing the weeds and re-seating the bricks. Definitely a time-consuming job.
After three consecutive weeks of climbing gasoline (petrol) prices, things were stable this week at £1.92 a liter, making an equivalent U.S. gallon at $8.95, down twelve cents a gallon because the exchange rate this week favored the British pound.
Here’s this week’s quote (Compliments of http://www.wisdomquotesandstories.com/):
“The older I get, the less I care about what others think of me. Therefore, the older I get, the more I enjoy life.”
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on July 3rd, the first final Sunday of the month:
Claude Fauchet, French historian; Edward Young, English poet (Revenge, Complaint); Arnold Hoogvliet, Dutch poet (Abraham the Patriarch); Nikolai Poveloi, Russian writer and publisher (Sotsjinenija); Charlotte Perkins Gilman, American feminist, writer and lecturer for social reform; William Henry Davies, Welsh poet (Autobiography of a Super Tramp); Franz Kafka, Czech author (Metamorphosis, Trial, Amerika); Thomas Narcejac, French writer (Vertigo); M. F. K. Fisher, American cook book author; William Deakin, British historian and warden (St Anthony’s College Oxford); Evelyn Anthony, English historical writer (Poellenberg Inheritance); Günter Bruno Fuchs, German writer, poet and artist; Andres Burnier [Catharina Irma Dessaur], Dutch criminologist and author (Jongensuur); Manfred Bieler, German writer (The Rabbit is Me); Tom Stoppard, Czech-born British playwright (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern-1968 Tony); Jay Tarses, American actor and writer (Open All Night, Duck Factory); Michael Shea, American sci-fi author (World Fantasy Award: Nifft the Lean, Growlimb); Dave Barry, American humorist and author; and Joanne Harris, British author (Chocolat).
Any names familiar to you? I struck out again 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
I found out this week Colombian Betrayal (A Bruce and Smith Thriller Book 1) was chosen as the winner of the action-adventure category for the 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. It was one of seven first place winners in the 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards in their global thrillers category. Needless to say, I’m thrilled! Here’s a quote from one of the judges:
“This fast-paced thriller takes you deep into world of illegal drug cartels, corrupt government officials, terrorists and counter intelligence. At the center of it all is AJ Bruce, a Central Intelligence trouble-shooter and Colonel Javier Smith, an advisor with Delta Force. Together they take on Olivia Perfecta Moreno, the head of the Barranquilla Cartel. When Olivia’s daughters are kidnapped, she will stop at nothing to get them safely back, including dealing with the enemy. The story spirals, twists and turns as alliances form and break, good guys turn bad, and betrayals least expected.”
My Work in Progress
Things are progressing nicely with my next WIP, Frozen Conquest. The first six chapters have been posted to the two online subscription writing site I use, and chapter seven should be posted this coming week. So far, I’ve received seventy-three reviews, some from long-standing reviewers while others came from new people.
Here’s the next snippet:
Ted Nicholson, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, studied the communique and shook his head. What the hell? Is this someone’s idea of a sick joke? He picked up the phone and punched a speed dial number. “Hey, Bruce. Did you receive a strange warning?”
“Yeah … but … Sorry, I had a mouth full of apple—just having my lunch.” Bruce McDermott, Governor of the Bank of England, sneezed. “Was going to call you. What nutcase dreamed this up?”
“I don’t know but telling the world’s central banks to do as they say, or we’ll be sorry doesn’t come across as a serious threat. What would attacking the LME do?”
Bruce laughed. “I haven’t the foggiest. The London Metal Exchange is better protected than your Fort Knox. I believe only a complete idiot would threaten the LME.”
“Whatever they want—” Warning alarms and shouting echoed through Ted’s handset. “What’s going on?”
“You won’t believe it—the LME just started shutting down their entire enterprise. I had a monitor tuned to activity on the floor. When I spotted people running around more than normal, I turned up the sound. Let me turn it off.”
“Can you tell what’s happening?”
“Yes. It’s almost pitch black on the floor—mainly emergency lighting. None of the traders can do anything—their computer shut down.”
“Hmm.” Ted picked up the communique. “The warning did say darkness would descend. So what? As soon as the power’s restored, the computers will be rebooted, and it’ll be business as usual.”
“I think that’s the whole point, Ted. They, whoever they are, said it would be a warning of what’s to come if we don’t adhere to their demands. Wait a minute—looks like the LME’s coming back to life.”
“Excellent. So, Bruce. Should we pay attention to these crackpots? Obviously, they have a superb hacker to do this.”
“Well, Ted, we can always ignore the warning and see what happens. After all, they can’t take on all G7 countries, can they?”
Ted rubbed a fiver of his pencil-like mustache. “I don’t know.”
* * *
At the close of the European bourses, everything flatlined on the floors of the CAC40, FTSE100, and the DAX. Traders shouted as they sensed the loss of millions and were powerless to do anything about it.
Less than two minutes later, everything returned to normal—almost.
A statement scrolled across every monitor:
You Have Been Warned.
Another snippet next time.
Book Promotions
My novels are participating in three Bookfunnel promotions for the remainder of the month:
THE USUAL SUSPECTS: Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense Reads group promo. There are 171 novels to choose from:
https://books.bookfunnel.com/b…
Thriller, Mystery and Suspense: There are 70 novels in this one which finishes today.
https://books.bookfunnel.com/thrillertime/ai0n57rurm
Who Dunnit Sale Promotion group promo. There are 29 novels to choose from in this promotion.
https://books.bookfunnel.com/who-dunnit-sale-promotion/wmunq702wf
Action Adventure Mysteries group promo – Another 21 novels to choose from here.
https://books.bookfunnel.com/actionadventuremysteries/sf56iydmmv
Hot Pirate Summer group promo – each of the 12 novels in this promotion have something to do with pirates.
https://books.bookfunnel.com/hot-pirate-summer/nx2e0p1cvm
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
Always a pleasure to hear from you Randall. Yes Gas (petrol) in Quebec has fluctuated from 2.17$CND to 2.06$CND The Province of Ontario (Next door neighbor) has reduced taxes by 7 cents/liter to give consumers a bit of a break. I posted of FB that I was glad to see your great results in the the thriller category. Keep up the writing. Kind regards from Montreal.
MK