As we march on to the end of another month, we’re beginning to see some seasonal changes. Sporadic rain, mixed with bouts of sunshine are the daily norm. Leaves are beginning to change colors and drop to the ground in the endless cycle we experience each year. Morning temperatures are in the upper 40s/lower 50s, with daytime temperatures ranging from the upper 50s to mid 60s. So begins autumn!
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on September 29th. (Compliments of http://www.onthisday.com/today/birthdays):
Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, Spanish author (Don Quixote); Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, English novelist; Stan Berenstain, American children’s author (The Berenstain Bears); Ankie [Johanna A Hoving-]Peypers, Dutch author/poet; Colin Dexter, English crime writer (Inspector Morse); Andrés Caicedo, Colombian writer; Stephen Platt, editor (New Statesman & Society); and Gwen Ifill, journalist and writer.
September 29th doesn’t appear to be a popular birth date among writers. Was anyone familiar to you? Even with the small listing, I still recognized a couple of works, even if I couldn’t remember the authors: Don Quixote and Inspector Morse. Whether you recognize anyone on the list or not, if today’s your special day I hope you have a great one and many more to follow!
News About My Published Work
The new Big Thrill book giveaway, sponsored by the International Thriller Writers, will take place on October 25th. I’m pleased to announce that my award-winning novel, Dangerous Alliance, is part of October’s giveaway. Two lucky winners will each receive ten novels, all written by ITW members and released by publishers recognized by the organization.
If you’re interested in entering the draw, click here: contest. Good luck!
Today is also the last day you can obtain a free download of the Kindle version of Carnage in Singapore. It’s available across the Amazon network. Here’s the U.S. link. Carnage in Singapore has already reached #4 in the U.S. for political thrillers and suspense and #2 in the UK. Help make it number one!
My Work in Progress
Writing continued on A Cartel’s Revenge this week with the completion of chapter thirty. 
As always, it’s now posted to the two subscription writing sites I use. The chapter review count continues to increase, now standing at 426, an increase of nineteen in the past week. As always, plenty of good advice to help me improve my writing.
Here’s another snippet:
After dinner, Olivia kissed her young children goodnight. “Mamá is meeting with Ramon, now. He’s placed a guard on each of your rooms. I’ll peek in before I go to bed.”
“Yes, Mamá.” Both girls hugged her and ran to Pedro, who led them out of the dining room and upstairs.
Olivia took her coffee onto the veranda. Ramon sat in a white wicker swing, waiting for her. She seated herself opposite him.
“Ramon, last night my papa visited me.” Olivia grasped Ramon’s hand as she spoke. “In my dreams. He gave me a way forward if I’m brave enough to follow through.”
Ramon remained quiet, giving her time to decide.
“We must increase our sphere of influence, provide more security for our plants, and provide new methods to improve our growing, harvesting, and refining.” Olivia turned away from Ramon and gazed across the compound as if the answer lay beyond the lights from the house.
Her focus swung back to Ramon—her decision made.
“Arrange a meeting with Ramírez García Días.”
Ramon’s eyes widened, and he blinked. “Are you certain, Olivia? He’s a dangerous man.”
“We’re in a dangerous business.” Olivia stood in front of Ramon, pulled him to his feet, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders drawing him close. “We must succeed, for my family’s future.”
Olivia kissed him goodnight before heading into the house.
***
Ramon grinned as he watched her go. “One day … I’ll rule this family—no one will stand in my way.”
More next time.
Books I’m Reading
Over the past week I finished reading Finding Billy Battles – Book One by Ronald Yates. We’re taken on a historic journey as Billy’s grandson inherits his grandfather’s journals. The story takes us back to Billy’s time as a young man caught between his mother’s wishes for him to attend university and his desire to strike out on his own. Offered an opportunity to work on a newspaper opening in Dodge City, Billy jumps at the chance.
Ronald’s characters are well-defined and larger-than-life. With a super plot and great attention to detail, readers are treated to Billy’s connections of many of the frontier names we’ve all heard of. The story will keep you spellbound and turning the pages late into the evening. This was the first book of Ronald’s that I’ve read and I can’t wait to begin reading book two.
This brings us to a close for another week. I hope you found something of interest or at least useful for your own writing. 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.
© Copyright 2019 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
Carnage in Singapore will be released soon by Solstice Publishing. The first edit pass was completed this week; just waiting to receive it back to go through the manuscript again.
Work continued on A Cartel’s Revenge, although still at a slow pace. Chapter eighteen was posted to the two subscription writing sites I use. To date, the novel has received 240 chapter reviews. Plenty of excellent recommendations to choose from! I’ve also started working on chapter nineteen.
Chapter seventeen is nearing Readers continue to provide their input, with 214 chapter reviews thus far. Plenty of excellent suggestions to choose from!
For those using Kindle,