The weather feature this week has been rain–at least five of the past seven days. Just to break things up, Mother Nature also included strong winds and even some sunshine. Once things dry out I have loads of leaves to clean up, but for now they have to remain in place as the ground it too wet to walk on. Two days ago, I had to scrape frost off the windshield. Signs of things to come!
There were decrease in the price of gasoline (petrol) this week. The first was on Tuesday, two pence, and the other yesterday, another penny off. So we’re now at £1.64 a liter. With the current exchange rate of $1.14, this makes the equivalent cost of a U.S. gallon $7.04, a decrease of forty-six cents from last week.
The number of American college football games shown on Saturday remained fative. This weekend, there were two from the Southeastern Conference, one from the Atlantic Coast Conference, and one from the Big Ten. As always, I recorded all of them. Unfortunately, neither Big Ten game featured my favorite teams, Michigan and Michigan State. Michigan increased their record to 9-0 as they rolled over Rutgers 52-17 while Michigan State squeaked past Illinois, 23-15.
Here’s this week’s quote (Compliments of http://www.wisdomquotesandstories.com/):
“Miracles start to happen when you give as much energy to your dreams as you do to your fears.”
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on November 6th, the first Sunday of the month: Thomas Kyd, English dramatist (The Spanish Tragedy); Colley Cibber, English actor, dramatist and Poet Laureate (1730-57); Louis Racine, French poet (La Religion); Louis Abel Beffroy de Reigny, French dramatist and composer; Jonas Lie, Norwegian author (The Family at Gilje: A Domestic Story of the Forties); Francis Ellingwood Abbot, American theologian (Scientific Theism); Marie Bregendahl, Danish author (Holger Hauge og hans Hustru); Chris van Abkoude, Dutch-American writer and novelist (Pietje Bell, Kruimeltje); Robert Musil, Austrian writer (Mann ohne Eigenschaften); Harold Ross, American magazine editor and co-founder of The New Yorker; August Defresne, Dutch playwright and director (Uninhabited Island); Fanny Leys, Flemish author (Ontwijding); Arthur Cohn, American composer and writer on music; James Jones, American novelist (Bad Blood, From Here to Eternity); K. Schippers [Gerard Stigter], Dutch author (Een klok en profil); John Falsey, American television writer and producer; Michael Cunningham, American novelist and screenwriter (The Hours); Catherine Crier, American journalist and author (The Case Against Lawyers, A Deadly Game); Colson Whitehead, American writer (The Intuitionist, The Underground Railroad); Ethan Hawke, American actor and author (Dead Poets Society, Before trilogy); and Nicole Dubuc, American writer and actress (Robin-Major Dad).
Any names familiar to you? There were two for me: James Jones and Ethan Hawke. 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. The editor-in-chief sent me the PDF version of the manuscript for me to go through a final time before it’s released.
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. Chapter eighteen is almost ready to post to the two online
subscription writing sites I use.
The seventeen posted chapters received another seven reviews this week, bringing the total to 302. As always, plenty of good suggestions to improve my story and I’m greatly appreciative of the support.
I’ll be skipping the snippet again this week but will bring you another one next time.
In case you missed the blurb, here it is:
An international criminal gang, known as Diablo Corps, plans a series of devastating attacks to take over the G7 countries unless their demands are met. Secure in their hidden headquarters in Antarctica, they possess the means to disrupt the leading world economies. The Diablos want what other power-hungry people want—more power.
Will the G7 bend to the will of these rogues or will evil triumph? Diablo Corps believes their previous infiltration of the international banking system and world stock exchanges will allow them to risk all on a single gamble.
The Scandinavian Protection Agency joins forces with Bedlam to thwart the efforts of the group and restore faith. Will Antarctica become a smoking ruin or will the world suffer an economic meltdown?
I also continued working on Temples of Abydos. Chapter seven was posted to the two online subscription writing sites I use and chapter eight is almost finished. This week there were another fifteen reviews, bringing the total thus far to seventy-eight.
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
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 145 novels participating.
https://books.bookfunnel.com/mysthrillsus-nov/4nmgssn0ek
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
