I looked outside yesterday morning, expecting to see a few deer finishing off the corn . There weren’t any deer, but we did have other visitors. If I counted correctly, and I think I did, there were sixteen wild turkeys finishing off the corn and the squirrels’ food. It was great to see the turkeys as it was only the second or third time we’ve seen them since moving in last May.
The Detroit Lions played the Washington Commanders last night in the NFC Divisional playoffs. Detroit’s season ended with a 45-31 loss, while next Washington will play the winner of tonight’s LA Rams-Philidelphia Eagles game for the NFC Championship. It was disappointing to see the Lions stumble so close to the finish line, but now they’ll have to watch the rest of the season from the bench.
Last Sunday, Michigan and Michigan State won their basketball games, raising their records to 13-3 and 14-2, respectively Michigan is now ranked 20th in the Top Twenty-Five, while Michigan moved up to 12th.
They both played again during the week, with Michigan State improving to 15-2. Michigan lost a heart-breaker at the buzzer in overtime when the score was tied 81-81. A Minnesota player sank a three-pointer to clinch the win. Michigan is now 13-4 and will likely drop out of the Top Twenty-Five. Both Michigan and Michigan State have games today.
“When you get in a tight place and everything goes against you till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the time and the place the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe. Compliments of https://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 January 19th, the third Sunday of 2025. (Compliments of https://www.onthisday.com/birthdays/).
Noel Alexandre, French controversial theologian and historian; Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, French writer (Paul et Virginie); Isaiah Thomas, American journalist, editor and historian (Massachusetts Spy; Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom, Swedish romantic poet (Blommorna (The Flowers), Lycksalighetens Ö (The Island of Bliss)) and historian (Svenska Siare och Skalder); Auguste Comte, French philosopher and father of sociology (A General View of Positivism); Edgar Allan Poe, American writer, poet and critic (The Pit and the Pendulum) considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre (Murders in the Rue Morgue); Carlos Guido y Spano, Argentine poet (Mexico, canto epico); Eugene Brieux, French playwright (Blanchette, Lesson Avaries); Gustav Meyrink, Austrian writer (The Golem); Hans Erich Blaich [Dr. Owlglass], German writer (Simplicissimus); Fráňa Šrámek, Czech poet, novelist, playwright, and anarchist; Boris Savinkov, Russian writer; Alexander Woollcott, American critic and short story writer (The Man Who Came to Dinner); Heinrich Schmidt-Barrien, German author (Moorkeerl); Phyllis Flowerdew, English school reading text author (Wide Range Reader series that sold over 7 million copies); Roh Ogura, Japanese composer and writer; John H. Johnson, African-American publisher (Negro Digest, Ebony, Jet); Patricia Highsmith [Plangman], American novel writer (Strangers On A Train; The Talented Mr. Ripley; The Price of Salt); Jean Francois Revel, French philosopher and author (Ni Marx ni Jesus); Nina Bawden, English author (“Afternoon of a Good Woman”, “Carrie’s War”); Libera Carlier, Flemish WWII resistance fighter, sailor, and author (Action Station Go!); Soumitra Chatterjee, Indian actor, playwright and poet (Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy); Julian Barnes, English writer (Before She Met Me, The Sense of an Ending); and Edwidge Danticat, Haitian-American author.
Any names familiar to you? There was one for me this week:Edgar Allan Poe. Whether you recognize anyone on the list or not, if today’s your special day I hope you have a great one!
My Published Work
I found out this week that Frozen Conquest is now a finalist in the 2024 Chanticleer International Book Awards from the long list for global thrillers. There’s still plenty of competition, with fourteen other finalists in addition to Frozen Conquest, including David Wickenden, who has been a finalist in the past. Click on finalist to see the list.
First in category winners and category grand prize winners will be announced on April 5th. Good luck to all the finalists as we wait for the end results.
My Work In Progress
Work continues on Vendetta, the sixth novel in my Bedlam series. I posted chapter nine this week to the two subscription writing sites I use. There were another eight reviews this week, bringing the total to 128. Plenty of suggestions to improve my writing.
As previously mentioned the cover is a filler, as the final cover won’t be done until the entire first draft is completed. Here’s another snippet:
Five men sat around a pentagonal wooden table in the back room of Jake’s Bar. Faint music drifted in from the bustling main area, packed with patrons and prostitutes. Despite diverse backgrounds, the men shared a unified purpose: gaining control over drug dealing, smuggling, kidnapping, and extortion across the country.
This was their first meeting as the Council of Vengeance. Their faces were in shadow as the only light came from a flickering oil lamp centered on the table. Wisps of smoke curled upward from the lantern. A pitcher of Nigerian Legend stout sat near the lamp, with full glasses in front of each man.
A waiter placed small dishes of chin chin or fried dough, akara or bean cakes, and fried plantain chips within easy reach. A separate dish held coconut candy, while a large platter had Nigerian suya. The spicy aroma of the beef shish kebabs wafted through the air.
The men remained silent until the waiter departed. They cast uneasy glances at the others as they were regular and deadly competitors—in a cut-throat business. To avoid drawing attention, they wore Western-style jeans, multi-colored t-shirts, and a mixture of Nike and Adidas sneakers, as did many of the bar’s patrons.
Ten armed men leaned against the walls of the room, bulges in their clothing suggesting hidden weapons.
Mongo Abara, a heavy-set man with gray around his temples who served as the presumptive leader of the council, brought the meeting to order. He began speaking in Yoruba before switching to English. “E kaabo. My heart is joyful with the sight of my colleagues and competitors.”
Everyone nodded as they echoed Mongo’s welcome.
“After several weeks of negotiation, we are at last together to discuss how we will put an end to the violence we receive from the Nigerian authorities.” Mongo grinned. “Of course, we will continue to use whatever means necessary to achieve our collection objectives, including extortion, bribery, kidnapping, and murder.”
Everyone chuckled before sipping their beer.
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 2025 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
Editing of Mission: Yemen, Xavier Sear Thriller Book 2 continues at a good pace. As always, I’ve been working hard going through the 648 reviews, and have finished picking out what I think will improve the story from all of them.
story in my Bedlam series. The first six chapters are now finished and posted to the two subscription writing sites I use. There were another fourteen reviews this week, bringing the total to eighty-five.
the two online subscription writing sites I use. Since my last blog post, the story has received another twenty-one chapter reviews, bringing the total to 599. Now the fun begins–going through the reviews and picking out what I want to use to improve the story.
chapter thirty-four to the two online subscription writing sites I use. The story received another seven chapter reviews this week, bringing the total to 525.