Happy Mother’s Day to those celebrating in the UK, Ireland, Nigeria, Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man. Enjoy your special day.
Last week’s cold snap continued into this week with several evening snow showers, only to have them melt the following day. Once things warmed up closer to seasonable temperatures, the rain returned, causing some minor flooding in areas. Today it’s finally dry, with the occasional outburst of sunshine through the overcast skies.
Here is today’s inspirational quote: “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. (compliments of https://parade.com/973277/jessicasager/inspirational-quotes/)
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on March 19th, the third Sunday of the month, compliments of https://www.onthisday.com/birthdays/:
Benedetto Varchi, Italian humanist and historian (Storia Fiorentina); Pedro Vaz Rego, Portuguese composer and poet; Tobias Smollett, Scottish writer, surgeon and critic (The Expedition of Humphry Clinker); Richard Francis Burton, English explorer and translator (Arabian Nights); William Allingham, Irish poet (The Fairies, Laurence Bloomfield in Ireland); Minna Canth, Finnish playwright (The Pastor’s Family) and social activist; Willem H. de Beaufort, Dutch historian and politician; Josef Albers, German-American artist, writer and teacher (Bauhaus professor, Homage to the Square); Liam O’Flaherty, Irish writer; Irving Wallace, American author (People’s Almanac, The Man); Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author; Patrick McGoohan, American-born Irish actor, writer, and director (The Prisoner, Secret Agent/ Danger Man); Philip Roth, American novelist (Goodbye Columbus, Portnoy’s Complaint); and Bigas Luna, director/writer (Anguish).
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 Work in Progress
I recently completed chapter twenty-six of Frozen Conquest and posted it to the two online subscription writing sites I use.
Reviews continue to trickle in. Since my last update, forty-five reviews have been added, bringing the total to 497. As always, plenty of good suggestions to improve my story and I’m greatly appreciative of the support.
Here’s another snippet:
Brown pounded on the cleanroom door. “Let me in, dammit!” Moments later, a soft click indicated he could enter. He shoved the door open and marched to Emmanuel’s desk. “Well, did you start yet?”
“No, Mister Brown.” Emmanuel shook his head. “We expected you to return today, so I made the decision to wait for you.”
“Good. Let’s get started.”
Emmanuel stood. “Right this way.” He walked to an inner door and pushed it open.
Inside, three men sat on either side of the room in front of computers connected to multiple screens.
Emmanuel pointed to the first man and snapped his fingers.
The man pushed his chair back, and Emmanuel sat.
Another man offered a chair to Brown.
“Are you ready, Mister Brown?” Emmanuel gestured to the screens in front of him.
“Which bank are you going to target?”
“The Valkyrie Bank AG.”
Brown stroked his chin. “Never heard of it. Where the hell is it?”
Emmanuel smiled. “Liechtenstein.”
“I wanted you to hit a major bank, dammit. How many people are even aware of Liechtenstein? Why did you select a backwater bank instead of one from a G7 country?”
“This bank is an excellent one to test our procedures before tackling a major one.” Emmanuel grinned. “Besides, it’s Liechtenstein’s fourth latest bank with assets exceeding eleven billion Swiss francs or about eleven and a half billion dollars.”
“Harrumph. Very well. Proceed.”
Emmanuel turned and gave a thumbs-up to a subordinate. He faced Brown and gestured to the screen. “Watch the upper screen. See the balance listed?”
Brown nodded. “Yes. Three billion.”
“Keep watching. You should notice a change in a moment.”
The numbers blurred before stopping.
“Where did a billion go?”
Emmanuel pointed to the lower screen. “Should appear right about—”
The account balance changed from zero to one billion Swiss francs.”
“Whose account is that?”
“I created it as a temporary stop as we steal money from the rich and move it to a private account.”
“Who owns the private account?”
Emmanuel chuckled. “You do. However, before the money reaches your private account, there’ll be at least ninety hops around the world to hopefully confuse anyone trying to follow it.”
“Wow!” Brown grinned. “When the money gets in the account, can I use it?”
“Of course. Just like any funds in your other accounts. Before the money reaches you, it’ll be converted into multiple currencies but will end up in dollars.”
Brown beamed. “I knew there was a reason I hired you.”
Guess I won’t tell him about the few million I’ve siphoned off during the hops and currency exchanges. Must look after myself—Brown won’t. “You hired me because I’m the best.”
Brown waved a hand in the air. “Just remember to keep doing my bidding, and we’ll get along fine.”
If Sawyer doesn’t keep protecting him, perhaps Brown can join Felix. “I always do what you want.”
More next time.
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 2023 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
