I found out this week that the Michigan Wolverines (7-5) will play the Alabama Crimson Tide (9-3) on 31 December in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Needless to say, I’ll be recording and watching this one along with plenty of the other bowl games, especially those in the College Football Playoffs.
With the college football season over except for the upcoming bowl games, my attention at the collegiate level has switched to basketball. Michigan is currently 8-2 and ranked fourteenth in the nation, while the Michigan State Spartans have a matching record and are ranked twenty-first. They play again on the 17th, and Michigan’s next game is on the 18th.
Today will be big game for the Detroit Lions. They take their 12-1 record up against the Buffalo Bills (9-3) in Detroit. Throughout their franchise history, Detroit has never won thirteen games in a single season. Fingers crossed, they’ll rewrite the history books today! I’ll also be watching the Minnesota Vikings take on the Chicago Bears Monday night as the Vikings are nipping at the Lions’ heels with a 11-2 record.
“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 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 December 15th, the third Sunday of the month. (Compliments of https://www.onthisday.com/birthdays/).
Charles Cowden Clarke, English editor and Shakespearean critic; Henry Charles Carey, American economist (Principles of Poli Economy); Edmond Picard, French-Belgian lawyer and writer (La forge Roussel); Emilio Jacinto, Filipino poet and revolutionary; Ferdinand Hardekopf, German writer and journalist; Hans Carossa, German writer; Pieter Geyl, Dutch historian (History of the Dutch Tribe); Artturi Leinonen, Finnish journalist and writer (Kati); Maxwell Anderson, American dramatist (Winter Set, High Tor); Betty Smith, American novelist (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn); Nicholas P. Dallis, American psychiatrist and comic strip writer (Rex Morgan, M.D.); Muriel Rukeyser, American poet (The Book of the Dead); Isabel Crook (née Brown), Canadian-British anthropologist, author (Prosperity’s Predicament), and professor (Beijing Foreign Studies University. 1947-81); Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee, Pakistani Urdu linguist and writer; Ida Haendel, Polish-British-Canadian child prodigy violinist, teacher, and author (Woman with Violin); Edna O’Brien, Irish novelist and short story writer (The Country Grils; Girl with Green Eyes; Casualties of Peace); Elaine Barkin (née Radoff), American composer, educator, music writer and editor (Perspectives of New Music, 1964-85); (Thomas) “Tim” Conway, American Emmy Award-winning comic actor and screenwriter (McHale’s Navy; The Carol Burnett Show, 1975-78; The Apple Dumpling Gang); Donald Woods, South African journalist, anti-apartheid activist and author (Biko; Asking for Trouble); John Sladek, American sci-fi author (Tik-Tok, Bugs); Michael KIng, New Zealand historian and author (Penguin History of New Zealand); J. M. DeMatteis, American comic book writer; and Rohini, Indian actress, screenwriter and director (Stri).
Any names familiar to you? There was one for me this week: Thomas”Tim” Conway . 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 moving along nicely. Since my last blog post, three more more reviews have trickled in as most of my faithful readers have already provided their input, so the total is now 643. As always, I’ve been working hard going through the reviews, and have picked out what I think will improve the story from 374 of them, leaving 269 more to check over.
Here’s another snippet:
Sear followed the others as Abdullah and Yasmin led the way through the house.
Each time they entered another room, Yasmin glanced around in apparent panic. “Zahid. Where are you?” She clutched Abdullah’s arm when there wasn’t a response.
As they reach the last room of the house, Sear pointed toward another door. “Where does that lead?”
Abdullah turned to see what Sear was referring to. “Outside. We installed that years ago to make it easier for Shatara and Zahid to enter the courtyard without disturbing us.”
“I understand.” Sear tried the handle.
The door opened.
Along one edge of the frame, a reddish-brown smudge cascaded down the wood.
Sear knelt and examined the frame, wiping his hand across the smudge. He stood and rubbed his fingers together before raising them to his nose. “Blood.”
“Oh!” Yasmin gasped.
Sear pushed the door wide and rushed down four steps into the courtyard. He glanced around and pointed to additional smudges leading away from the house. “Can’t be certain, but it appears someone took Zahid this way.”
Omar and Rahman rushed past Sear and around the corner, brandishing their weapons.
“Here!” one of them shouted.
Sear yanked out his pistol and hurried to join Abdullah’s brothers.
The main compound gate stood open.
In the sand outside the gate, tire tracks and footprints marked the passage of three people and a vehicle.
The three men raced into the street, looking both ways.
No vehicle in sight.
Omar ran to the right, toward the nearest cross street. His arms flailed as he came to a stop. He bent over, panting. Looking both ways, he shook his head and trudged back to Rahman and Sear. “No sign of anyone. What do we do now?”
Rahman clamped his hand on his brother’s shoulder. He glanced at Sear and frowned. “We must inform Abdullah and Yasmin. This is something I do not relish doing, but it must be done.”
Sear pursed his lips as he tucked his SIG Sauer away. “While you talk with them, I’ll return to the Rashid residence and wait to speak with my colleagues. They joined their PSO contact and a few of his colleagues to search some properties in the Bir-al-Azab area of Old Town where foreigners might be living outside the law.” He sighed. “It’s time to stop wasting time and amp up the search for Shatara and Zahid.”
More next time.
While going through the reviews of Mission: Yemen, I’m also working on Vendetta, the sixth story in my Bedlam series. The first four chapters are now finished and posted to the two subscription writing sites I use. There were another nine reviews this week, bringing the total to fifty-two.
The cover is a filler, as the final cover won’t be done until the entire first draft is completed. I’ll begin posting snippets of this story soon.
Here’s the first snippet:
Evelyn stared at the corpse without a hint of emotion. She nudged the body with her foot to ensure the person was dead and not faking. Satisfied, she scanned the area for additional intruders before holstering her SIG Sauer P226.
Snap!
She spun, yanking out her pistol as she sought the source of the noise.
“Whoa!” CC raised his hands. “I’m on your side, remember?”
Evelyn grinned. “You should know better than to sneak up on anyone, especially a woman living on the edge.” She chuckled. “And one who beats you every time in the kill house.”
“Aye.”
She returned her weapon to its holster as she limped forward.
“I see your leg hasn’t improved any.”
Evelyn shrugged. “Can’t do anything about it, but I can still keep up with you.”
“Aye.” CC chuckled. “C’mon, let’s find the others and clear the area. The admiral, Sir Alex, and Richard will be waiting for an update on the secure system.”
“Lead on, Sir Galahad.”
He bowed and pointed. “That way, my fair lady.”
Evelyn smothered a laugh as they worked their way through the dense foliage.
Snap! Snap!
Evelyn and CC turned, pulling their pistols as they did so.
They chuckled.
A mother coatimundi and two babies waddled out from under the thick foliage. They scurried past Evelyn and CC, heading underneath additional bushes.
CC gestured. “Where do you suppose—”
Crack! Pop! Crack!
Static burst from CC’s radio. He pulled it from his belt and keyed it. “This is Haggis. Come again?”
“Ha … this is …”
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 2024 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
a few more reviews have trickled in as most of my faithful readers have already provided their input, so the total is now 632. I went through over 100 reviews and picked out what I think will improve the story.
My next novel will be Vendetta, the sixth story in my Bedlam series. The first two chapters are finished and posted to the two subscription writing sites I use. To date, there have already been twenty-eight reviews. The cover is a filler, as the final cover won’t be done until the entire first draft is completed. When I was going through the reviews of chapter two, I realized I needed to make a change to the location of the Council of Vengeance. Here is the revised description: