For the past couple of weeks, we haven’t seen any deer or wild turkeys during daylight hours. However, the corn we put out for them is still being eaten, albeit at a slower pace. Even the number of squirrels and birds have dwindled, although we do see them. I can’t remember if this happened last year or not. We certainly do enough the wildlife!
The Detroit Lions suffered their second defeat of the year last Sunday, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs, 30-17. Hopefully, they’ll be able to resume their winning ways when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Michigan Wolverines picked up another win on Saturday, beating the Washington Huskies, 24-7. Michigan is now 5-2, (3-1 in Big Ten play). Meanwhile, Michigan State sank to 3-4 (0-4 in the Big Ten) after losing to Indiana 38-13.
“The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book.” —Samuel Johnson. Compliments of https://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/72-of-the-best-quotes-about-writing.
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on October 19th, the forty-second Sunday of 2025 and the third one in October. (Compliments of https://www.onthisday.com/birthdays/).
Thomas Browne, English philosopher and writer (Garden of Cyrus); Leigh Hunt, English poet, critic and journalist (Romantic Movement, “Jenny Kissed Me”; Walter Bradford Cannon, American physiologist (Wisdom of the Body, coined term “fight or flight response”); Hermann Claudius, German folk poet (Meister Bertram); Vincas Krevė-Mickevičius, Lithuanian poet, philologist and playwright (founder of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences); Miguel Angel Asturias, Guatemalan novelist (Hombres de Maiz, Nobel 67), journalist and poet; Hilde Spiel, Austrian writer; Vasco Pratolini, Italian writer (Le Ragazze di San Frediano); Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian poet and lyricist; Louis Althusser, French Marxist philosopher (“For Marx”; “Reading Capital”); Jack Anderson, American journalist (Washington Post); Victor Zorza, Polish journalist and specialist on the Soviet Union; John le Carré [pen name for David Cornwell], English novelist (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold); Sylvia Browne, American author and self-proclaimed medium dubbed “America’s most controversial psychic”; Nicholas Palmer, English TV writer and producer; Andrew Vachss, American crime author and child protection attorney; John Lithgow, 1945 American Tony and Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actor (3rd Rock From The Sun – “Dick”; Harry & Hendersons; The World According to Garp; Shrek), recording artist, poet, and children’s book author; Keith Reid, British poet and lyricist (Procol Harum – “A Whiter Shade of Pale”); Philip Pullman, English writer known for the trilogy “His Dark Materials”; Deborah Blum, American scientific journalist known for “The Poisoner’s Handbook”; Doug Kirby, American travel guide writer (Roadside America); and Tracy Chevalier, American-British author known for “Girl with a Pearl Earring”.
Any names familiar to you? There were four for me this week: Jack Anderson, John le Carré, Sylvia Browne, and John Lithgow. 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
Work slowly continued on my first edit pass of the manuscript for Harding’s Challenge: The Great Rebellion based on reader feedback and make adjustments based on what I think works best. Since my last post, there were another four new chapter reviews this week, bringing the total to 319. As always, plenty of feedback to improve the story.
Here’s another snippet:
Evie danced back and forth as she joined Rebecca in her room for the night. She didn’t expect Finn to charm her the way he did, but he was a man after her own heart.
She didn’t want to get serious, though. If things went wrong with the plan of getting rid of her father, it could end poorly.
Evie slinked out of her gown, her servant. Chastity. helping her along the way.
Chastity, too, once belonged to Evie’s parents. She glanced at the sweet girl, thinking Chastity would be just as eager for Latimer to be gone as anyone else.
“So, how was it?” Rebecca asked `
“He is coming to call on me in the morning.” Evie had a far-off look as she stepped out of her gown.
“Really? That’s wonderful. He is handsome.”
“I didn’t notice,” Evie lied. “Say, do you have that lizard that I was working on last week?”
“I do.” Becca gathered the parts of the mechanical automaton lizard that Evie started.
After getting dressed for bed, Evie worked on the little critter she planned to name Scout once she finished.
Becca wished she knew more about Evie’s life, but she’d taken to not speaking as freely with her as she once did. As one of the most influential daughters in those parts, one would think Evie would love the riches of the world; but she was just happy to be with those she loved, and tinkering with her little mechanical creations.
Evie found a family in Becca, Mama Patti, Chastity, Anna, and the others. When her father mistreated or even killed the slaves that were her friends-turned-family, it only deepened the anger that she held within. The only thing keeping Evie from going crazy was her automatons.
Learning to build and understand the workings of these mechanical creatures was the only thing she could recall her father did with her. He seemed to take pride in her understanding of the intricate details of automated creatures. Sadly, that was several years ago. Without warning or reason he cut her off. She was no longer welcome in his workshop, and was left to further her education on her own. It was something she had to be grateful for. Sadly, Latimer’s cruelty and abuse far out shadowed the bond they once shared.
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.
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