Happy New Year!
Hope everyone has a fantastic, prosperous, and healthy 2025!
Starting on New Year’s Day, we’ve seen eight deer outback enjoying the corn we put down for them. Every day, we also see six squirrels eating and playing tag. On Thursday, they were joined by a seventh one, about half the size of the others. It wasn’t playing but spent time checking out the available goodies.
The unranked Michigan Wolverines defeated the 11th-ranked Alabama Crimson Site in the ReliaQuest Bowl on New Year’s Eve, 19-13. While Michigan’s season wasn’t one of it’s best with a 8-5 record, there were two highlights: the win over Ohio State 13-10 and beating Alabama.
This week, the Michigan Wolverines basketball team improved its record to 11-3, although they are still outside the top twenty-five teams. Meanwhile, the 18th-ranked Michigan State Spartans continued their winning ways and now are 12-2.
The Detroit Lions defeat SF 40-34 for their 14th win of the season. Sunday evening’s game pits the 14-2 Lions against the 14-2 Vikings for bragging rights. If Detroit wins they take their division and the NFC crown. If Minnesota wins, they take the division and NFC crown. Both teams will be in the playoffs by virtue of their records.
“Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.” – David Thoreau Compliments of https://www.aspiringwriteracademy.com/45-motivational-quotes-for-aspiring-writers.
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on January 5th, the first Sunday of 2025. (Compliments of https://www.onthisday.com/birthdays/).
Jean Baptiste Say, French economist (Political Economics); André Henri Constant van Hasselt, Belgian poet (La Belgium); Khristo Botev, Bulgarian poet and nationalist revolutionary; Gustaf af Geijerstam, Swedish author (Boken om Lillebror); Humbert Wolfe, Italian-born British poet; Anne Morrison Chapin, American playwright, actress, (The Wild Westcotts), and screenwriter (The Sailor Takes A Wife); Hendrik Algra, Dutch teacher, journalist, historian, and politician (ARP); Paula Ludwig, Austrian-German poet; Dorothea “Stella” Gibbons, English author (Cold Comfort Farm); Anton Ingolic, Slavic author (After Splavih, After Prelomu); Simon Harcourt Nowell-Smith, British bibliophile; Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss playwright and novelist (The Physicists, The Visit); Robert L. Bernstein, American publisher (Random House); William De Witt Snodgrass, American poet under the pseudonym S. S. Gardons; Umberto Eco, Italian philosopher and author (Name of the Rose); Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Kenyan writer; Michael O’Donoghue, American writer and performer (Saturday Night Live, Scrooged); Terenci Moix, Spanish writer; and Ioan Petru Culianu, Romanian historian.
Any names familiar to you? There weren’t any for me 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
Editing of Mission: Yemen, Xavier Sear Thriller Book 2 is well underway. I received a total of 648 chapter reviews. As of last night, I’ve gone through 595 of them, leaving fifty-three more to check over.
Here’s the penultimate snippet:
Badr glanced at his watch as he turned toward the door. Dabir!”
No answer.
“Dabir. Where are you?”
Out of breath, Dabir dashed into the dining room. “Sorry, Sayyid Badr. I was helping Cook with a food delivery.”
“Bring us more qishr.”
“At once, Sayyid.” Dabir rushed to the kitchen.
Ten minutes later, Dabir returned, pushing a cart. In addition to three cups of the raisin drink, there was a plate of dates and a covered serving dish. Dabir placed mugs in front of Badr and Usamah before setting the dishes on the table.
“What is this?” Usamah pointed to the cover dish.
“I-I brought more of the sambusas you enjoyed before. I thought you might like to snack on them.”
Usamah nodded. “Shukran.”
Dabir pushed a hand into his pocket and fingered his Ruger LCP Max. Before removing his hand, he let go of the pistol. Not sure which is better—try to shoot them or add some poison to their food?
“Sit down, Dabir.” Badr pointed to an empty chair. “Are you not going to drink with us?”
“If permit, yes.” Dabir took the remaining cup from the cart as he sat.
Usamah pushed the plate of sambusas closer to Dabir. “Help yourself.”
“Shukran, Sayyid Usamah.” Dabir picked up one of the pastries. Good thing I did not add any poison yet. They seem to be reading my mind.
“So, Dabir, what is the latest information about the American?” Badr glanced at his brother. “I understand someone fired a shot at Sear before everyone was ready.” Badr glared at Dabir. “Was that you?”
Dabir paled as he sucked in a lungful of air. “N-No, Sayyid Badr. I just drove the vehicle and was not involved in the attack.”
“Hmmm.” Badr rapped a beat on the table with his knuckles. “You do realize if anyone attempts to warn Sear and the others, they will be dealt with—under the most extreme punishment I can think of.”
Dabir swallowed. “Yes, Sayyid Badr. I promise you I will not do anything against your wishes.”
“Good. So what is the latest?”
“I-I h-heard from Parvez. He was here earlier. He said his contact in the NSB asked for an update on Sear. He also wanted to know what you and Usamah were planning.”
Badr raised a brow as he glanced at Usamah. “What did you tell him?”
“I told him I knew nothing about what you and Usamah are doing. He also mentioned he was involved in the kidnapping of Shatara and Zahid and that some Saudis are mixed up with this, too.”
“The Saudi link is interesting, but I am already aware of this.” Badr rubbed the side of his nose. “I must think about what you should say to Parvez. It must be plausible but not be in any way linked to what we are really doing.”
Usamah laughed. “As a British journalist coined back in the 1800s, we must come up with a red herring to keep them looking elsewhere.”
Badr nodded. “A good idea. We must give this some thought before Dabir speaks again with Parvez. In the meantime, I want to—”
A low rumbling shook the building as Saudi planes once again returned to Sana’a.
“Come, quick! We must go to the shelter.” Dabir rushed out of the room and down the stairs to the basement, followed by Badr and Usamah.
Ka-boom! Ka-boom!
Windows shattered as vehicle alarms sounded outside. The earth seemed to shift as Saudi jets dropped their lethal cargo.
Dabir cringed and coughed as dust filled the reinforced rooms. Are we to be doomed to die here?
I’ll post the final snippet next week and begin concentrating on Vendetta.
While going through the reviews of Mission: Yemen, I’m also working on Vendetta, the sixth 
story in my Bedlam series. The first seven chapters are now finished and posted to the two subscription writing sites I use. There were another thirteen reviews this week, bringing the total to ninety-eight.
The cover is a filler, as the final cover won’t be done until the entire first draft is completed. I’ll post another snippet of this story after I finish posting snippets for Mission: Yemen.
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 2025 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
