British Summer Time began today with plenty of sunshine and seasonable temperatures, although the clouds have rolled in. With a couple of windy and dry spells this week, we were able to start preparing the front flower beds for the upcoming season, but plenty more to do when it’s a bit warmer.
Here is today’s inspirational quote, especially for writers: “Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.” William Faulkner. Compliments of https://getfreewrite.com/blogs/writing-success/55-motivational-writing-quotes.
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on March 26th, the fourth and final Sunday of the month, compliments of https://www.onthisday.com/birthdays/:
Nathaniel Bowditch, American mathematician, astronomer and author (Marine Sextant); Louise Otto-Peters, German suffragist, women’s rights movement activist and author (The Wandering Star); Ernst Engel, German statistician and economist (Law of Engel); Eliza Laurillard, Dutch vicar, poet and writer; Betsy Perk [Christina Elizabeth], Dutch journalist, writer and pioneer of the Dutch women’s movement; Edward Bellamy, American author (Looking Backward) and socialist; A. E. Housman, English poet (A Shropshire Lad); Robert Frost, American poet (Mending Wall, Road Not Taken); Duncan Hines, American restaurant guide writer (Out of Kentucky Kitchens); Jozef Arras, Flemish writer; Mahadevi Varma, Indian poet and freedom fighter; Betty MacDonald [nee Bard], American humor writer (The Egg and I); Tennessee Williams, American playwright (A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof); Elizabeth Jane Howard, British novelist (After Julius); G. Harry Stine, American science fiction writer; Gregory Corso, American beat poet (Happy Birthday of Death, Long Live Man); Colin Webb, British fleet street editor and journalist (Press Association); Erica Jong [Mann], American author (Fear of Flying); Bob Woodward, American author and investigative reporter (Watergate, CIA crimes); Patrick Süskind, German novelist and screenwriter (“Perfume: The Story of a Murderer”); Dorothy Porter, Australian poet (The Monkey’s Mask), librettist, (The Eternity Man), and lyricist (The Fiery Maze); Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Japanese writer (Mōryō no Hako); Martin McDonagh, Anglo-Irish playwright, screenwriter and film director (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri); Anaïs Mitchell, American singer-songwriter and playwright (Hadestown – 2019 Tony for Best Musical); and Ramy Youssef, American comedian, writer and director (Ramy).
Any names familiar to you? I did well this week with four: Robert Frost, Duncan Hines, Tennessee Williams, and Bob Woodward. 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
I recently completed chapter twenty-seven of Frozen Conquest and posted it to the two online subscription writing sites I use.
Reviews continue to trickle in. Since my last update, sixteen reviews have been added, bringing the total to 513. As always, plenty of good suggestions to improve my story and I’m greatly appreciative of the support.
Here’s another snippet:
“Just hacking into the email account of the bank’s president. I want to find out if there’s any reaction.” He pulled up the president’s email. “Yep, he’s panicking. Customers are trying to withdraw funds using various ATMs, and they’re getting notices their accounts are empty. When word gets out about the bank crashing, major currencies might go into a freefall, at least the Swiss franc, the euro, and the dollar. This could have a detrimental impact on inflation rates, something you wanted.
“Yes, yes. But when does the money get to my account?”
“Patience is a virtue, Mister Brown.” Emmanuel pointed to the lower screen. Once at zero, the numbers began to rapidly change, finally ceasing at ten billion dollars.
“I thought you said there was more money in that bank. Where’s the rest of it?”
“Yes, there is, but I wanted to do a second text to see if I could clean them out later if I’m interrupted.” He turned and snapped his fingers.
The subordinate who began the initial withdrawal nodded and began typing.
“The rest of the money will be on its way soon, Mister Brown. Before long, the Valkyrie Bank won’t have a penny in its accounts.”
“Excellent.” Brown stood and slapped Emmanuel on the back. “Keep at it. In the meantime, I’m going to send an email to the Washington Post.”
“Yes, Mister Brown.”
* * *
Brown returned to his office, logged into his computer, and stared at the keyboard. Did Emmanuel use his keylogging software and firmware on my computer? Brown shook his head as he began to type.
To: Editor-in-Chief, Washington Post
From: Nightmare
An open letter. Please publish this as soon as possible.
If you have paid any attention to the temporary outages in Albany and the major international stock markets, you will heed this final warning.
If I don’t begin seeing drastic changes related to the current climate crisis within fourteen days, what I did to the Valkyrie Bank AG in Liechtenstein will be like a human crushing a bug. I will begin shutting down all major G7 banks, taking their money for the good of humanity and the planet. The same will happen to the stock markets. Afterward, I’ll tackle any infrastructure attached to the internet.
As I previously told the G7 central banks, failure to comply will result in the destruction of your way of life as you know it. The world cries out for truth, and I will be the sword of justice.
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 2023 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
While I’m still editing Ultimate Escalation in preparation to send it out to my beta readers, work is underway on my next WIP, Frozen Conquest. I’ll be posting the first chapter later today to the two online subscription writing sites I use.
Earlier in the week, I was on a roll with Ultimate Escalation, completing the final seven chapters, bringing the first draftg to forty-seven chapers and 73,414 words. My manuscript received another twenty-five reviews, bringing the total to 724. Once again, plenty of suggestions to enhance my writing. I’ve also added three beta readers to my list.
Sylvia Grace’s debut book, 
I recently found out that Mission-Angola (Xavier Sear Thriller Book 1) has moved from the slush pile to the long list for the 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards in their Global Thrillers category. A long way to go yet in the competition, which will be stiff as always.
No, this isn’t my book. Rather, it’s Sylvia’s debut poetry book. Released under the pen name of Sylvia Grace, Colours of My Life is a collection of Sylvia’s poetry and prose and wraps up with a couple of short stories, including one about Christmas, which is appropriate for a book being released at this time of the year. Encouraged by a myriad of people who purchased her laminated poetry sheets and have asked whether she would put her work in a book, she’s finally taking that step.