semi-finalist – Writing by Randall

The weather has returned to normal parameters–clouds, rain, and wind with an occasional outbreak of sunshine. Right now, we have gusts up to 33 mph, or as the locals would say, a fresh breeze. The rain has started again and is supposed to be with us most of the day.

The price of gasoline (petrol) remained the same at £1.37 to a liter, while diesel increased a penny to £1.46. Meanwhile, the exchange rate has tilted in the favor of the pound against the dollar. As a result, a liter of gasoline decreased four cents to $6.54, while a liter of diesel dropped a cent to $6.95.

The monthly small business market began on Friday and finished today. So far, I’ve sold ten autographed novels, while Sylvia has sold eleven of her laminated poetry sheets and seven of her bookmarks. Considering the mall has been quiet, these are decent numbers.

“If you are in difficulties with a book, try the element of surprise: attack it at an hour when it isn’t expecting it.” – H.G. Wells. Compliments of https://press.barnesandnoble.com/bnpress-blog/inspirational-quotes-writing/.

I received good news on Monday.

Ultimate Escalation, which is competing for the 2023 Ultimate Escalation cover art Chanticleer International Global Thriller Book Awards, has move from the short list to the semi-finals. There’s still a long way to go in the competition, with the finals, the announcement of the seven first in category winners, and the genre grand prize winner. The final results won’t be announced until 20 April 2024 at the annual Chanticleer Authors’ Conference, but I’ll keep posting updates as Ultimate Escalation moves through the competition.

So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on February 4, the first Sunday of the month. (Compliments of https://www.onthisday.com/birthdays/).

Franciscus Aguilon, Belgian Jesuit physicist, mathematician and architect (book on Optics “Opticorum Libri Sex); Jakob Balde, German poet (Jephthe); Isaac Newton, English physicist, mathematician and astronomer (Gravity, Laws of Motion); Henrik Constantijn Cras, Dutch lawyer (Laudatio Hugonis Grotii; Jacob Grimm, German philologist, folklorist and editor of “Grimm’s Fairy Tales”; Louis Braille, French educator and inventor of a system of reading and writing for the blind; Isaac Pitman, English teacher and inventor of Pitman shorthand (Stenographic Soundhand); Casimiro de Abreu, Brazil, poet (Meus oito anos), novelist and playwright (Camoes e o jau); Svend Fleuron, Danish writer; Alfred Edgar Coppard, English short story writer (Black Dogs & Other Stories); Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German painter, poet and sculptor (Seated Youth); Max Eastman, American critic/essayist and editor of The Masses; Lourens Baas Becking, Dutch botanist (Baas Becking hypothesis); C. L. R. James [Cyril Lionel Robert James], Trinidadian historian (The Black Jacobins), journalist, intellectual and socialist; Amitai W Etzioni, US sociologist (Active Society); Gao Xingjian, Chinese-born French novelist and dramatist, Nobel laureate, years); Doris Kearns Goodwin, American historian and writer (Team of Rivals, No Ordinary Time); Alicia Garza, American writer and civil rights activist (co-founded #BlackLivesMatter); and Nabila Jamshed, Indian writer.

Any names familiar to you? There three for me this time: Jacob Grimm, Louis Braille, and Isaac Pitman. 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

Mission- Yemen As I previously mentioned, I penned chapters 22-30 of Mission: Yemen, Xavier Sear Thriller Book 2 during the Xmas market. I’m slowly typing up and posted them to the two online subscription writing sites I use. This week I completed, chapter twenty-six and about half of chapter twenty-seven.

Reviewers provided another thirteen critiques, bringing the total to 499. As always, they’ve provided plenty of recommendations for me to consider, and I’m always appreciative of the time and effort people put into reviewing my work.

I’ll have to wait until next time to post another snippet as I need to head to the mall for the final day of the small business market.

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 send me a note. Until the next time, thank you for reading and hope you drop in again.

Decent spring weather continues to evade us. During the past week, we’ve had a frost each morning, with daytime temperatures struggling to get above 45F/7C. While there’s been plenty of sunshine each day, we’ve also had multiple snow squalls. Fortunately, there hasn’t been any accumulation, but we can see damage to new buds on several shrubs and trees due to the crazy weather.

With the lifting of some Covid restrictions, we had an opportunity to visit a local garden center/nursery and pick up a few hardy perennials which we know from experience can handle the current weather. They’re in the ground and seem to be loving it!

Here’s this week’s quote (Compliments of http://www.wisdomquotesandstories.com/): “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on April 11th. (Compliments of http://www.onthisday.com/today/birthdays)

Antoine Coypel, French painter and poet; Christopher Smart, English poet & journalist (Ceremony of Carols); Manuel Jose Quintana, Spanish author and poet (El Duque de Viseo); Claude Tillier, French journalist and writer (My Uncle Benjamin); Bernard O’Dowd, Australian poet; Léo-Paul Desrosiers, Quebec novelist (Les Engagés du Grand Portage); Sándor Márai, Hungarian writer (A gyertyák csonkig égnek); Glenway Wescott, American writer (Apartment in Athens); Quentin Reynolds, American newscaster (Its News to Me) and author (FBI); József Attila, Hungarian poet; Leo Rosten, American writer and humourist (Joys of Yiddish); David Westheimer, American novelist (Von Ryan’s Express); Marlen Haushofer, Austrian writer (The Wall); Antoine Blondin, French writer (L’Europe buissonnière); Theodore Isaac Rubin, American psychiatrist and author credited with popularising psychotherapy; Clive Exton, British scriptwriter and playwright; Tony Brown, American journalist (Tony Brown’s Journal); Mark Strand, American poet, editor and translator (Another Republic); Ellen Goodman, American political columnist (Pulitzer 1980); John Milius, American screenwriter (Red Dawn, 1941, Big Wednesday); James Patrick Kelly, American sci-fi author (Think Like a Dinosaur); and Sergei Lukyanenko, Russian sci-fi author (Labyrinth of Reflections).

Were any names familiar to you? I didn’t find any. 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!

My Published Work

I received great news this week. Colombian Betrayal is now a semi-finalist in the 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards in the Global Thrillers category. Colombian Betrayal will now compete with thirteen other novels for the finalist positions. This year, there will be five first place winners and one grand prize winner, which will be announced on April 25th. Fingers crossed my novel becomes one of the finalists and continues its journey!

All five of my novels are participating in a month-long Bookfunnel promotion called Chilling Reads (99 cents or KU), comprising seventy-three action & adventure, mystery & suspense, and sci-fi & fantasy/horror novels. My novels are all available through Kindle Unlimited. This promotion runs through April 15th, so don’t miss out!

My Work in Progress

This week I completed chapters twenty-eight and twenty-nine of Revenge, the sequel to Colombian Betrayal. Both are now posted on the two online subscription writing sites I use.

Over the past week, there were another twenty new chapter reviews, bringing the total number of chapter reviews to 449. Plenty of useful suggestions as always to improve my writing.

Here’s this week’s snippet:

After dusk set, Bennie and Justin headed to the basement. Both wore clown masks. One of them flicked on the dim light, and they thundered down the stairs.

Heidi bolted upright, keeping the chair between her and the two men. “Stay away from me!”

“Relax, princess.” Justin stepped closer, a cloth in his hand. “We’re going to take a little ride.”

Heidi rushed to a corner of the room, pressing her back against the wall. “Don’t come any closer or I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Bennie pointed at the ceiling. “Sound-suppression tiles. While someone upstairs might hear you, no one outside this building will.” He grinned. “You belong to us.”

Heidi jerked away as Bennie tried to grab her hand. She swung a fist, catching him on the side of his mouth. “Bastard!” She stepped forward, thrusting a knee into his groin.

He collapsed to the floor, hands covering his wounded parts.

Before Heidi realized where the other clown was, Justin grabbed her in a bear hug. He worked the cloth into Heidi’s mouth before pinning her against the wall.

“Help me, Bennie!” Justin grabbed one of Heidi’s hands and wrenched it behind her back. “Quit playing with yourself and help tie her up.”

“But she kneed me. It hurts like hell!”

“Just help me.” Justin grabbed Heidi’s hair and slammed her forehead into the wall.

She dropped to the floor.

***

The rocking of a vehicle brought Heidi out of her stupor. She moaned as she struggled against her bonds, eventually freeing herself from the loosely-tied rope. Where are they taking me? Need to wait for a chance to escape.

The car slowed and turned to the right, continuing along a rut-filled road.

Heidi bounced a few times against the trunk’s roof. “Ow!”

A few minutes later, the vehicle stopped. Two doors slammed.

Footsteps drew near.

Heidi tensed.

The trunk opened. Hands reached inside and yanked her out, spilling her onto the ground.

Both men laughed.

One waved a gun. “Get up, princess. Time to go.” He gestured toward a copse. “We’re gonna have some fun.”

Heidi pretended to stumble as she followed a narrow path along the edge of a lake. When one of them grabbed her, she lashed out, catching the man in the kneecap.

“Get out of the way, Bennie! She’s gonna escape!”

Heidi ran through the thick trees. “Help! Rape!”

A shot echoed across the water. “Come back, bitch!”

Another shot.

Heidi screamed and lurched forward.

Justin stood over her, the pistol aimed at her head. “You’re mine.”

More next time.

Books I’m Reading

I’m almost finished with Legends: An Event Group Thriller by David L. Golemon and will offer my review next time. I have several other books lined up to read, so I better start turning the pages!

That’s all for this 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 and hope you drop in again.

Tag: semi-finalist

Randall’s Ramblings, February 4, 2024

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Randall’s Ramblings, April 11, 2021

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