I didn’t get a chance yesterday to do my regular Sunday post as I was at the final day of the monthly three-day small business market event. It was a good weekend, with sixteen of my novels going to new homes. In addition, four of Sylvia’s poetry books sold, along with eleven of her laminated poetry sheets. It was also great to see a larger number of people visiting the event than in the past couple of months.
We had a surprise at the gasoline (petrol) pumps this week. The price dropped eleven pence per liter in one day! Now it’s £1.74 a liter. That brought the equivalent price of a U.S. gallon down to $8.10, a drop of fifty-eight cents a gallon.
I’m pleased to announce Ultimate Escalation is now under contract with Solstice Publishing. Once I have the new cover (assuming they will change from what I’ve been using) I’ll put it in the next available post, along with the blurb.
Here’s this week’s quote (Compliments of http://www.wisdomquotesandstories.com/):
“Don’t let anyone tell you that you have to be a certain way. Be unique. Be what you feel.”
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on August eighth:
Conrad Lycosthenes, French-born German humanist and encyclopedist; Johann C Adelung, German linguist/librarian; Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish novelist; Henry Osborn, Conn, paleontologist/author (52 Years of Research); Sara Teasdale, American poet (1st Pulitzer Prize-1918-“Love Songs”); Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, writer (Yearling); Wachtang Ananjan, writer; Andre Demedts, Flemish writer (Rainfall of the Days); Daan Wildschut, painter/glazenier/author; Elis Juliana, Antillian writer/poet (Lady of the Night: A flower); Yuri Kasakow, Russian writer; Joan Mondale (née Adams;), American artist, author, and wife of US vice-president Walter Mondale; Terry Nation, writer (Dr Who, Blake 7); Randy Shilts, American journalist and author; Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author; and Anastasia Ashman, American writer and digital strategist (GlobalNiche).
Any names familiar to you? There was one for me: Terry Nation. 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 nicely with my next WIP, Frozen Conquest. Chapter nine was posted this week. There were another eleven chapter reviews this week, bringing the total to 131, some from long-standing reviewers while others came from new people.
Here’s the next snippet:
Admiral Blakely hit a button on the telephone console on his desk. “Please send Matthew in.”
Moments later, someone knocked on the admiral’s door.
“Come in.”
Matthew entered, a folder tucked under one arm and Starbucks coffee cups in each hand. “Ready for a refill, Admiral?”
The admiral smiled as he took one of the cups. “Did you install a camera in my office, Matthew? You always seem to know when I’m ready for a fresh coffee.”
“I just figure when I’m ready, you will be too.” Matthew smiled.
“Did you read the warning the Fed shared with the intel community?”
Matthew nodded. “I admire whoever was behind it. Although several bourses were targeted, no one lost a penny.”
“In the world you live in, you would probably admire the culprits.” The admiral pried the cover off his coffee and sipped. “Anyway, what do you think?”
“These are world-class hackers—no doubt about it.” Matthew set his unopened coffee on a coaster on an end table and opened the folder he brought with him. I think they won’t have any problem carrying out their threats—their warnings should be heeded. Did they provide any specific demands?”
The admiral shook his head. “No. I’m attending a meeting at the White House regarding this warning. I’ll give them your brief assessment.”
“There’s something else, Admiral. When I attended MIT, my roommate and I used a simple number substitution code to keep our text messages secret from any prying eyes. We would arrange where to meet, who was dating who, things like that.” Matthew removed a sheet of paper from the folder and handed it to the admiral.”
“Aware of your love for numbers, I know you’re Numerologist. Who’s Knuckle Dragger?”
“He was my roommate. He sent this message a few days ago.”
“I assume you can still read this?”
Matthew nodded. “Yes, Admiral. His message reads, Beware the Devil. Attack imminent. I sent a response saying I’d get the word out.’ Matthew’s face reddened. “I forgot to tell you earlier.”
The admiral waved a hand. “Any idea what he’s warning us about?”
Matthew shook his head. “Not yet. He sent it to me through the dark web. I suspect he’s trying to avoid detection.”
“What’s his name? Do you know where he is?”
“His name is Chris—Chris Handler. He had a bad habit of cracking his knuckles whenever he was nervous. We kept in contact for a long time after we left MIT, but this is the first I’ve heard from him in a couple of years.”
Matthew pulled another sheet of paper from his folder. “Here’s another one—he sent this yesterday.”
The admiral shook his head after he read the decrypted message.
Same source caused todays stock market interruptions. Prepare for more to come.
“Still no mention of who is behind these attacks. Nor does he give his location.”
“He did repeat his earlier reference to the Devil. I’m going to do some research to see if anything pops up that we can use.”
“Excellent idea.” The admiral pursed his lips. “Could you send him a message and ask for specifics about who is behind this? If he needs protection, tell him we can provide it.” The admiral glanced at the clock. “I better head to the White House. We’ll talk again when I return.”
“Yes, Admiral.” Matthew picked up his coffee cup and followed the admiral out the door, turning toward his office.
More next time.
Book Promotions
My novels are participating in three Bookfunnel promotions during August:
Summer adventure group promo. Action & Adventure and Action & Adventure / Military & Warfare. Twenty-one novels available in this one:
https://books.bookfunnel.com/lawrence01/8ctktxhlbs
Dinner and a Show! All Genres group promo. There are forty-eight novels to choose from in this one!
https://books.bookfunnel.com/dinnerandashow/yz3hvu1es8
Heart Pounding Reads group promo. Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, and Sci-Fi & Fantasy. Forty-six more novels to check out:
https://books.bookfunnel.com/heart-pounding-reads/wl15j4pi5e
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 2022 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
As I mentioned last week, the final chapter of Ultimate Escalation was completed. I’m currently working my way through the myriad of reviews from the two online subscription writing sites I use.