It’s been another week of rain, rain, and rain, with the occasional outbreak of sunshine. Last week’s rainbows were replaced with patch fog. Today looks like it might be brighter and stay dry, which would be a good thing so I can rake up the fallen leaves before they start to rot. Oh, the joys of autumn!
Over the past couple of weeks there have been warnings on the television about the possibility of power outages this winter, particularly during cold spells. It was suggested for people to prepare. I ordered four battery-operated lanterns online as the local DIY stores were out. My order was supposed to be delivered today, but I received an email informing me there was a delay with no anticipated delivery date provided.
After a few weeks with a slight downward trend in the price of gasoline (petrol) we had two three-pence increases this week, one on Tuesday and the other on Friday. So we’re now at £1.65 a liter. With the current exchange rate now $1.13, this makes the equivalent cost of a U.S. gallon $7.20, an increase of forty-eight cents since the last time I mentioned this.
The number of American college football games shown on Saturday has returned to five. This weekend, there were two from the Southeastern Conference, two from the Atlantic Coast Conference, and one from the Big Ten. As always, I recorded all of them. The Big Ten game was between Penn State and Minnesota, and I’ll watch this one tonight. Both Michigan and Michigan State were idle this week, giving both teams an extra week to prepare for their upcoming showdown next weekend (which will be televised here).
Here’s this week’s quote (Compliments of http://www.wisdomquotesandstories.com/):
“′Classic′ – a book which people praise and don’t read.” ―
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on October 23rd, the fourth Sunday of the month:
Juan de la Cueva, Spanish dramatist; Benjamin Constant [de Rebeque], French politician and writer (Adolphe); Adalbert Stifter, Austrian author (Nachsommer); Robert Bridges, English poet (Testament of beauty) and British Poet Laureate (1913-30); Neltje Blanchan, American nature writer; Harvey Penick, American golfer, coach, author (World Golf Hall of Fame); Ned Rorem, American composer and author (Sky Music); Vasily Belov, Russian author, poet and playwright (Business as Usual, Everything’s Ahead); Michael Crichton, American novelist (Andromeda Strain, Congo, Looker) and filmmaker (Jurassic Park, ER); Nick Tosches, American writer (bio of Jerry Lee Lewis); Laurie Halse Anderson, American writer (Speak) and Meghan McCain, American columnist, author, and TV host.
Any names familiar to you? There were two for me: Michael Crichton and Meghan Mccain. Whether you recognize anyone on the list or not, if today’s your special day I hope you have a great one!
Coming Soon!
In case you missed it, I can now reveal the cover of Ultimate Escalation, which will be released by Solstice Publishing. I received the second edit pass of my manuscript from one of their editors. After going through his suggestions and making changes, it’s now back with him.
Here’s the blurb:
Punjabi militants seek to distance themselves from Indian and Pakistani dominance and interference. With the dissolution of British India in 1947, families were ripped apart as the Punjabi region was split between the two countries. Limited attacks within each country caused further persecution and heartache.
The militants have no idea how to achieve their desires–until the appearance of Vladimir Aleksandrovich Nikolaev, a disgraced Spetsnaz colonel. He offers the militants a means to spark a conflict between the two nuclear powers.
Russian subs sold on the black market and manned by Iranian and Russian sailors will surface off the coasts of the two countries and destroy Karachi and Mumbai. Propaganda machines will levy accusations against each country, leading to escalation of hostilities, pushing the countries to the brink of nuclear war.
The Bedlam organization fields their three teams to counter the violence and seek to restore calm before it’s too late. Will they be successful, or will South Asia become a smoking ruin?
My Work in Progress
I’ve resumed work on Frozen Conquest. I didn’t quite finish chapter seventeen but hope to do so this week.
The sixteen posted chapters received another eight reviews this week, bringing the total to 279. As always, plenty of good suggestions to improve my story and I’m greatly appreciative of the support.
I’ll be skipping the snippet this week but will bring you another one next time. One thing I have done is changed the name of one of the minor characters. Instead of David Walliams, he will now be known as Douglas Walliams.
I also continued working on Temples of Abydos. Chapter six is almost ready to post to the two online subscription writing sites I use. This week there were another five reviews, bringing the total thus far to forty-nine.
Here’s the blurb:
History professor Sylvia Burness and her husband, Charles Wilkie, a renowned Greek archeologist, are seeking a new project after spending years cataloging Celtic sites throughout the United Kingdom.
Long fascinated with Egypt, Charles proposes an excursion to one of the lesser-known locations, Abydos, a historic city that played an important role in ancient Egypt. Sylvia agrees and together they plan their trip.
Unbeknownst to them, an unethical antiquities group called Guardians of Shadows are using one of the Abydos temples as their hideout.
Will Sylvia and Charles be able to evade this group and escape with their lives or will they be entombed in Abydos for generations?
Promotions
This month The Kurdish Connection and Dangerous Alliance will be participating in a Kindle Unlimited Thriller Series Starters promotion. Only two books per author, and there are currently fifty participating.
https://books.bookfunnel.com/ku_thriller_series/t7qp6i4ek8
Five of my novels (all but Revenge) are also participating in a Mayhem & Motives: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Reads. This one allows five books per author and there are currently eight-five novels participating.
https://books.bookfunnel.com/mysthrillsus-oct/utj2oamorr
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
