Happy Mother’s Day to all who are mothers! Did you know there are a number of countries who celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May? Here’s just a few of them: Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Japan, and South Africa. Moms–hope everyone enjoys your special day.
We haven’t had any deer visitors recently, but we’re rewarded with a visit by at least six of them at dusk yesterday. On Friday, there was a large tom turkey strutting around the back yard. I took several photos, but from the distance they all came out a bit blurred. Hopefully, he’ll pay us another visit and I’ll be able to get better photos.
The Detroit Tigers played six games over the past week. They won five of them and lost last night. Their record is now 26-14, and they are on top of the American League’s Central Division with a two and a half game lead over Cleveland. Go Tigers!
“I get a lot of letters from people. They say, ‘I want to be a writer. What should I do?’ I tell them to stop writing to me and get on with it.” – Ruth Rendell. https://getfreewrite.com/blogs/writing-success/55-motivational-writing-quotes
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on May 11th, the nineteenth Sunday of 2025 and the second one in May. (Compliments of https://www.onthisday.com/birthdays/).
Jean Mairet, French dramatist famous for tragedies (Sophonisbe) and comedies; Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, French soldier, author and composer (La Marseillaise); Johann Peter Hebel, German writer (Allemannische Gedichte); Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, American politician and publisher (1st African American governor – Governor of Louisiana (R) 1872-73); James, Bryce, Irish-British historian and politician (ambassador to the United States, 1907–13); James Gordon Bennett Jr., American publisher (thought to have inspired the phrase “Gordon Bennett”); Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (Episodios Nacionales); van Cankar, Slovene author, poet, novelist and playwright (Erotika, The Bailiff Yerney and His Rights); Fritz von Unruh, German expressionist playwright (Jurgen Wullenweber, Zero); Karl Barth, Swiss Protestant theologian (“The Epistle to the Romans”; “Barmen Declaration”; “Church Dogmatics”); Olaf Stapledon, British philosopher and sci-fi writer (Star Maker); (Jacobus) “J.C.” Bloem, Dutch poet (Sintels – Embers); Ariel Durant, Russian-born American writer (Story of Civilization); Anatole Litvak, Russian-born American film director, writer and producer (Mayerling, Anastasia, The Snake Pit); Joachim Prinz, German-American Zionist leader, author and Rabbi of Berlin (1926-37); Angus Paton, English civil engineer (wrote economic and infrastructure reports for Canada and Syria, hydroelectric dams); Bel Kaufman, American author (Up the Down Staircase); Harold Myers, British film journalist (Variety); Monica Dickens, British author and founder of the Samaritians in the US; Nayantara Sahgal (née Pandit), Indian author (Prison and Chocolate Cake); June Knox-Mawer (née Ellis), Welsh novelist (Sandstorm), and radio host (World of Islands); Ettore Scola, Italian director and screenwriter (A Special Day); Barbara Taylor Bradford, British novelist (A Woman of Substance, Cavendon Hall); Jayne Cortez, African-American poet and activist (I Am New York City); Arthur Kopit, American playwright (‘Wings’, ‘Nine’); Wayne Dyer, American psychologist and author (Your Erroneous Zones; Universe Within You); Jim Abrahams, American comedy screenwriter and director (Airplane!; Hot Shots; Top Secret; The Naked Gun; Caroline Cooney, American young adult author (The Face on the Milk Carton, Code Orange); Thomas Tessier, American horror author (The Nightwalker, Finishing Touches); Mbongeni Ngema, South African playwright, lyricist, composer, and theatre producer (Sarafina!); Suzan-Lori Parks, American playwright and writer (Topdog/Underdog Pulitzer Prize 2002); Jon Ronson, British journalist and author (So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, Frank); ohn Scalzi, American science fiction writer (Old Man’s War, Redshirts); Rob Malda, American internet writer and editor who co-founded Slashdot; Katori Hall, American playwright and actress (The Hot Wing King); and Jeremy Gable, English-American playwright (Carpenter George, Go Ahead).
Any names familiar to you? There was one for me this week: Barbara Taylor Bradford. 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
Things continue to progress with Harding’s Challenge: The Great Rebellion. Chapters twenty-four to twenty-six were posted this week to the two online subscription sites I use. There were eleven new chapter reviews this week, bringing the total to 108. As always, plenty of feedback to improve the story.
Here’s the first snippet:
Latimer reined his horse in after he stopped by a hitching post in Richmond, Virginia, in May 1861. Jumping down, he threw the reins over the post, reached into his saddlebags, and retrieved an oilskin package.
He rushed up the steps onto the porch attached to the front of the two-story structure, the temporary capital and residence of Jefferson Davis, the newly elected president of the Confederate States of America. He glanced at the ‘Stars and Bars’ hanging from the front of the building before he approached two armed sentries barring the entrance.
“Stand aside. I’m Barnabas Latimer and I have important business with President Davis.” He slapped a hand on his clothes to remove some of the dust.
The sentries shared a glance before moving to each side of the door.
One of them pushed it open. “Please, go ahead, Mister Latimer. The president is expecting you. Turn left and his office is the second door on the right.”
Latimer pushed between the men and turned left.
At the second door, another sentry stood. Alerted to Latimer’s arrival at the main door, he immediately opened the inner one.
Latimer strode into the office, stopping in front of President Davis’ desk. “Let me be one of the first to congratulate you on your formal election, Jefferson.”
Davis smiled. “Thank you, Barnabas.” He shrugged. “It was a foregone conclusion. Who else has the charisma to hold the Confederacy together?”
Both men laughed.
Davis stood and moved to a table near the window, beckoning Latimer to follow him.
A crude map lay in the center of the table, depicting the Confederacy.
Davis pointed to several locations. “We are small but growing every month. So far, eleven states have joined the Confederacy: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina.”
Latimer pursed his lips. “Do you think any other states will join us?”
“I’m not sure.” Davis frowned. “The western counties of Virginia refused to commit, preferring to remain tied to the Union. Although they support slavery, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri are still on the outside. I figure they’ll receive enough pressure from the Union to support the Union, despite their loyalties. So, it might just be the eleven states taking on the Union boys.”
Davis sighed. “We’ll be in the battle of our lives. That upstart, slave-loving Abraham Lincoln stated he would try to keep the Union together without warfare but look what he did with Fort Sumter. Tried to trick us into believing his pack of lies. He wants to dictate to the Southern states and not allow us to abolish federal laws that interfere with our rights.” Davis chuckled. “Fate shined upon the Confederacy and the fort surrendered to us. We might not be so lucky next time. I suspect it will be a brutal war.”
“That’s why I requested an urgent meeting with you. I might have something that will turn the tide in our favor.”
Davis studied Latimer’s face. “Pray tell.”
“Machines.” He grinned.
‘Davis gave a puzzled look to Latimer. “Please explain yourself, sir.”
“It’s quite simple. You might recall, a few months ago I mentioned this very fact to you. We could use machines to spy on the Union. I believe I have perfected the process whereby my machines will turn the tide of any war in our favor.” No need to tell him who came up with the idea—it’s mine now.
Latimer opened the oilskin package, extracted a ten-inch by ten-inch photograph, and handed it to Davis. Although somewhat grainy, the identity of the two individuals was still recognizable.
“Why … that’s Varina standing next to me! What magic did you use to create this?”
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 2025 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
