Linzé's Mischief: 8 May 2016

One book read and review done, and three more to go.

With our holiday to Botswana coming this week, I started packing today. Clothes sorted, so it is only the gear left. Gear in my definition includes my Kindle, my journal, a few sketching pencils, camera and of course, my computer.

I will probably spend most of my free time either writing or reading, but if the opportunity arises to make a sketch or two, I will be prepared.

Since it is a photographic safari, I will also be taking photographs with my husband. I asked if I could go as a 'plus 1' since these things are a bit pricey. The answer: nope, no plus 1 prices. So I am going as a photographer. Not that it will be torture to do so, I assure you.

And to make it even more fun, I will also be doing my usual Follow Me Tour on my blog, so keep an eye out during the week for those posts - internet access permitting, of course.

I did the 23rd of the 24 forms in my Tai Chi course this past week. With one more form to learn, I am very happy that I started this martial art. While I had been practicing the last few weeks, I had an idea for a new series of books. I made notes of my idea, but I will not be writing them until the stories already on my todo list are published. It is exciting though to look forward to a new series, with one series coming to an end.

Project JOURNEY is also in the final month for the authors to complete their stories before the formal editing starts. Three of the authors have already completed their stories, with the remaining five busy with their final touches.

I will be interviewing the authors taking part in the project with me, so keep an eye out for those posts coming in June and July. I asked each author to tell us a bit about their story, just to whet your appetite for what is to come.

Also part of the interview, you will get a peek at the cover of the book as I will be using it as the banner graphic for each interview post. To see the whole cover, you will have to wait until the ebook is ready to be revealed to the world - planned for October 2016.

On that note, I have more editing to do.

Until next week!

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality? 

CHAPTER 17

Stephanie parked the car and looked in the rearview mirror. Quickly digging inside her purse for her trusty backup kit, she fixed her hair and applied some lipstick.

She was dressed in jeans and lavender blouse, but it would have to do.

Taking a fortifying breath, she got out.

She followed the nurse to the social area. It was only called that because visitors were allowed here, but there were still several nurses and assistants keeping an eye on the patients.

She spotted him in a corner, reading. It was the one thing he still loved, despite the illness.

He stood up when she approached and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He had never been overly affectionate, especially in public.

It took her a moment to get her emotions under control. He seemed so...normal. Casually dressed in jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt, it was as if they were having a quiet afternoon at home. But it wasn't normal.

“How are you?”

She offered a genuine smile. “I am well, thank you.”

“Are you still coping with the business?”

She never told him about selling it and saw no reason to upset him now. “It is doing well,” she replied. It was no lie. The new owner had kept her services as the forensic accountant, so she knew the business was doing well. Much better than she would have done.

He nodded. The silence stretched for a few moments, but she was reluctant to ask any questions since the simplest things could upset him.

She made the mistake once to ask him how he was doing. Very bad idea.

So she waited.

Eventually, he talked about his mother and his sisters, and she just listened. She knew he didn't remember how they treated him, so she said nothing. She also knew they had never visited him. Visitors were required to register and the primary caregiver, her in this case, had to give permission for visits. She had never been asked.

“Would you do me a favour?”

“If—” She caught herself in time. “Yes, of course. What do you need?”

He leaned forward and took her hand. “Promise me you will get married again? You need someone to take care of you. You always wanted children, remember?”

She refrained from saying that she had been taking care of both of them for almost twenty years and that she was past the age of diapers and homework. Instead, she smiled and squeezed his hand gently. “If it will make you happy.”

If she hadn't been watching him, she would have missed the moment when his eyes changed. Quickly releasing her grip, he nonetheless jerked his hand away.

“Who are you?”

Swallowing the helplessness, she got up and backed away.

“What do you want?!”

His shout caught the attention of two nursing assistants, and they rushed over. They didn't ask questions, only took care that he didn't hurt himself when he tried to pull away.

Another nurse came closer and put her arm around her shoulders.

“Come, dear, there isn't anything you can do.”

She nodded and wiped her eyes. “I know. After all this time...”

She didn't say more and allowed the nurse to escort her back to her car.

“It will be okay,” she nurse said as they reached her car.

The woman left to get back to her duties. She sat in the car staring out of the window for long minutes. The nurse had it wrong. Some things will never be okay.

The story is also available on Wattpad

Linzé's Mischief: 1 May 2016

It has been a busy month of April, but Camp NaNoWriMo has been a good one for me. I managed to finish the first draft of my contemporary novel, We, the One. I also finished the first draft of the fifth (and final) story in the Third Gender series, entitled Breathe.

I hate editing, but yeah, I do spend some time editing my own work before sending it off to a professional editor. Galen's Hope, my story for Project JOURNEY, has left my email outbox a few minutes ago to start its journey towards publication as part of the anthology.

It has been a journey for sure. Three authors had withdrawn from the project while another has joined about two weeks ago. I have been privileged to read one or two of the stories (still first drafts) of the other authors and it still amazes me what people come up with. I give them a small brief, and the variety of the stories that result is nothing but worth the effort on my part.

My JOURNEY story is part one of a trilogy, if you like, entitled THE LAST GRYPHON. Part one is called, Galen's Hope, and starts the journey of Galen Surov, the last Gryphon, to find hope after losing everyone in an unexpected attack on their planet, Xyridia. The second story is Richard's Choice, with the conclusion entitled, Galen's Destiny. THE LAST GRYPHON trilogy will be published at the same time as the JOURNEY anthology, round about September 2016.

I decided to do that, not to keep people waiting on the outcome.

My next challenge, yeah it is a challenge, is to edit Waiting for Adrian, the fourth novel in the Nations of Peace series.

You might recall the difficulties I had with coming up with a title for the story, well that problem struck again with the cover. I simply couldn't get it sorted. Even my husband, who does the actual graphic work for me, had no solution for the problem of the design I came up with. After several attempts, we abandoned the design and I went back to my original idea. Such is the life of an indie author!

I have taken the plunge and committed myself to review three books in the next two months. The first is the debut romance novel of a local author, Aziza Eden Walker. I hope to have it read and reviewed before Francois and I go on our annual holiday in the middle of May. Since we are going to Botswana again, I will be doing another Follow Me tour where you can enjoy the experience with me.

The second book is a science fiction novel, by Ed Kurst. It has been a while since I have read a full-length sci-fi novel and I am looking forward to it. It looks intriguing from the description.

The last book is a romance novel about second chances. Keep an eye out for my impressions if these genres interest you.

The last chapters of The Friendship Affair will be posted during May. My next blog serial, The Billionaire Baritone, will start in June. It will also go on Wattpad if you would rather follow it there.

Since tomorrow is a public holiday, I will have a short working week. Always something to look forward to.

May your week be filled with success in whatever your choose to do.

A to Z Blog Challenge: Z

Z is for Zeitgeist - noun. The general spirit or mood of a particular period of history.

What a fascinating word. My dictionary didn't indicate the origin but it looks German to me.

If the zeitgeist of the Middle Ages could be described as depressing, would the Renaissance be considered enlightening?

It has been fun learning 26 new words, wasn't it? Until the next A to Z Blog Challenge, keep on learning something new every day!

A to Z Blog Challenge: Y

Y is for Yealing - noun. A person who is the same age as oneself.

Another letter of the alphabet that I had to go online to find since my dictionary didn't have a Y word that I didn't already know. I liked yealing, so I picked that one. It is so unknown even my spellchecker didn't recognise it. Maybe because it is Scottish in origin. 

Does that mean that I have to use a Scottish accent to compose a sentence? 🤔

A to Z Blog Challenge: X

X is for Xystus - noun. A long portico in which athletes used to exercise in ancient Greece.

Since my Dictionary didn't have a word starting with X that I didn't know, I went online and learned that there are 120 words in the English language that start with an X.

If you included words that are no longer in use, it amounts to 400 of them. Wow!

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/how-many-words-begin-with-x

A to Z Blog Challenge: W

W is for Weft (and warp) - noun. The threads that are passed over and under the warp threads to make cloth.

Of course, these things would have names. I actually learned these words from a recent program on television. Don't ask which program or channel. I wasn't paying that much attention. The weft (or woof) goes parallel to the loom (the thread on the shuttles) and the warp are the threads held by the loom. 

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality? 

CHAPTER 16

Lena still looked the same. Of course, she was older, but there was no mistaking the woman who had borne his children.

She was dressed in some kaftan thing that looked it had paint spilt on it in litres. Her hair was on top of her head but he wouldn't go so far as to call it styling. It just was.

She was focused on something in the basin so he couldn't see the whole of her face, but if he had to guess no make-up.

“Lena.”

She froze. Then stood upright and turned around.

“Nick. I thought you were Angus. He is late with my salt.”

She stopped and turned back to the basin. He wasn't sure he should ask what she was up to.

She stood up again and turned around. Her hands were some awful yellow colour, but she didn't seem to notice.

She frowned for a moment then looked at her hands. “Yes, well. The damn dye is not setting without the salt.”

She glanced at the envelope in his hand. “You brought a pen?”

Before he could reply, she pushed past him and walked down the passage of the cottage.

He blinked. She really hasn't changed a bit.

He heard water run, then it was quiet for few moments, and then she came marching back.

She was alternating shaking her hands and rubbing them on the kaftan.

“There is a table in my studio.”

Again not letting him reply, she marched off. This time, he followed.

The studio used to be the dining room, he would guess. But the rest of the place was also filled with easels and paint brushes, and paintings in various stages of completion.

He might be ignorant about fine art, but as an architect, he had a good eye for composition and design. Lena was truly a gifted artist.

She pushed some brushes to the side and pointed to the table.

He pulled out the papers and took a pen from his breast pocket.

She slowly reached out to take it as if suddenly realising that this was the end of the road.

“It is done?” she asked quietly.

He nodded. “Yes. Tomorrow is her eighteenth birthday, but I will only file the documents with the lawyers on Monday. Then it's over.”

Two men came in and seemed startled by his presence. He knew she lived with two men, but didn't expect them to be the same guys he had met before. So she was capable of a long term relationship, it was the children that caused her to run.

His chest ached for his kids, but it was better this way.

After she initialled and signed in all the right places, she held out his pen.

He put it back in his pocket.

“Do they know? About me?”

“No. You wanted it that way, remember?”

Lena nodded. Then frowned again. “Where is my salt?”

She made to go back to the kitchen but he held her arm for a moment. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

She shrugged. “I might be useless as a mother, but it would have been heartless of me not to help out financially.”

She bit her lip for a second and he could swear he saw a moment of regret, but it vanished when another man walked in. “About time!” She reached out to take a bag. “The kitchen. I need it in the kitchen.”

Then she was gone as if he had made no impression on her daily existence. Perhaps he didn't.

The two men who had been watching in silence nodded to him. “Will everything be okay now?” the taller one asked.

He nodded with a half smile. “I think we are okay already.”

He lifted his hand in a silent greeting and left the cottage, the papers back in the envelope ready to finalise the last point on the divorce agreement between the world famous painter and her unknown husband.

Also follow the story on Wattpad

A to Z Blog Challenge: V

V is for Vaunted - adjective. Praised or boasted about.

Yes, well, this blog post is unlikely to be vaunted about on social media.

I was looking for an antonym and spotted gasconade as another synonym. I stopped looking.

See what the other bloggers are writing about here.

A to Z Blog Challenge: U

U is for Ululate - verb. To howl or wail.

Example: We have a dog that ululates at the smallest sign of movement in the street; she drives us crazy.

Ha, the word even sounds like a howl. 

Book Feature: A Piece of My Heart by Cindi Page

Do you believe in fate?
Sometimes, just sometimes, a series of unrelated events leads you to a particular place, out of your usual context, to meet a person that changes your life forever.

Do you believe in love?
When you meet the one, that person is more than just a lover, boyfriend or husband. They are your other. Time, place, age - these things are meaningless to two souls who call each other home.

Do you believe in happily ever after?
Is it possible? What if, when your path crosses with the one, the universe rolls out a red carpet and gives you your happy ending?

That’s how it is when Victoria, a young twenty-four year old teacher from South Africa meets the Turkish businessman, Alkan, who is thirteen years her senior. From the outside, these two should have nothing in common, but from the moment they lay eyes on each other, they both know that they have found their other.

Buy links:   Amazon     Goodreads

Here is an excerpt from Chapter 3:
"You gave me fright!" she blurted out, "Victoria. My name is Victoria."
Her eyes met his at the same time that their hands touched.
Sparks.
Butterflies.
Something resembling a somersault deep inside her.
Vicky knew at once that she was in trouble.
He was smiling at her now and she was sure his dark eyes could see right through her. He pulled his hand away but his eyes stayed fixed to hers. There was an intensity there and Victoria didn’t dare look away. The silence swirled between them, daring the one and then the other to break it with a word.
Eventually Alkan got a hold of himself and sat back, still his eyes refused to leave hers. He willed words from his mouth.
"…you arrived just this morning?" he tried again. An unfamiliar feeling of being out of his depth struck him.
"Yes. I came from Tokyo," Vicky rested her hands on her lap and crossed her ankles. It was the controlled body language she had taught herself when she didn’t want to be read like an open book.
"I will be translating for you this evening?"
Alkan dragged his eyes from hers and looked out of the window on his side of the car. He needed to focus again. Suddenly he was annoyed that Helen would send him this attractive girl of a woman. As if the night wasn't going to be complicated enough he now had to deal with her. He didn’t need a distraction. But, she was all he had, and she would have to get the job done for him. Simple as that.
"Actually no, I don't want a translator in the traditional sense," he looked at her now again, but his gaze was indifferent with none of the open admiration Vicky imagined she had seen before. In response to the change in him, she instinctively brushed off the electrified encounter of a few minutes before and sat a little more upright. She waited for him to continue.
"I need you to act as my date. I don't want you to openly translate at all. In fact, I don't want my clients to know you understand Japanese in the least. I simply want you to tell me what they are saying when they think I don't understand…"

About the Author
Cindi Page is a former law student, turned English teacher, turned editor, turned writer. When she isn't day dreaming about the next story she going to write, she visits the Cape Winelands so that she can blog about wine, food and tourism. "A piece of my heart" (April 2016) is her first full length novel.
You can also follow her:

Twitter: @1stTruLove

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cindipage.author/

website: http://cindipage.com

A to Z Blog Challenge: T

T is for Tautology - noun. The saying of the same thing twice in different words.

I am sure you have met the masters of tautology, they are the politicians of this world. 

And to ensure that everyone understands, the word also comes in the adjective flavour, tautologous, and the adjective colour, tautological. Got it?

A to Z Blog Challenge: S

www.a-to-zchallenge.com

S is for Soupçon - noun. A very small quantity of something.

I am on a special diet and a soupçon of sweets can send my blood sugar off the deep end.

A first glance it looks like a lot of sugar, babe. Better be careful, ya hear?

A to Z Blog Challenge: R

R is for Repine - verb. To be unhappy or anxious.

Sheesh, I must already know all the happy words that these depressing ones are popping up in my search for words that I didn't know. It is enough to make one repine until doomsday.

See what the other bloggers are writing about here.

A to Z Blog Challenge: Q

Q is for Quotidian - adjective. It means daily, and ordinary or everyday.

Nothing fancy, just your quotidian breakfast will suffice. Hmm...still think I should find a dress for that occasion.

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality? 

CHAPTER 15

Stephanie folded the towel and put it away. All done.

It was Saturday. The place was spotless, her closet was in perfect order, the groceries were bought and stored, and she was bored to tears.

Having finished the last book on her reading list, even there was no help forthcoming from that quarter.

She never did any work over the weekend, but right now she was tempted to dig out her computer to start working on one of her clients' accounts.

No. Then the week will be too long. Work was for getting through the week.

Her own little business was thriving enough that she could afford to hire help, but she was reluctant to do so. She didn't start the business to employ people, she did it for her own sanity and to generate enough money for her own expenses. She didn't want to touch the money from the sale of the business and the house for herself. All of that was only to look after him.

If he died before the money ran out, the trust was set up in such a way to help other families where the husband couldn't support them because he was suffering from Alzheimers.

She had met one such family and it was heartbreaking to know those children would never get to know their father.

She sighed. Still bored.

Her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Mrs. Jackson? It is nurse Stephens from St Agatha's. Mr. Jackson is asking if you have a chance to come and visit him today?”

She blinked. “Really? He did?”

The nurse laughed softly. “He did indeed.”

Her voice became serious. “Ma'am, if I may? It would really be a good time to come if you want to see your husband.”

“Of course. I understand. I am on my way.”

She rang off quickly and rushed to find her purse and car keys.

On the way, she wondered why he made the request. Even when he had good days before, he had never specifically asked her to come.

Catch the earlier chapters on Wattpad

A to Z Blog Challenge: P

P is for Polyglot - adjective. Knowing or using several languages.

I live in South Africa, a country with eleven official languages. 

I speak Afrikaans and English and have some knowledge about two of the African languages. Using two or more languages in this country is nothing unique; we are truly a polyglot nation.

A to Z Blog Challenge: O

www.a-to-zchallenge.com

O is for Oubliette - noun. A secret dungeon with access only through a trapdoor in its ceiling.

Now the fun really starts. What shall we find upon closer inspection? A gold treasure? A dragon? A secret society of magicians cooking up recipes of orgasmic proportions?

What will we discover behind that green door? 🔐

Linzé's Mischief: 17 April 2016

Always an excuse to travel! My place is booked. Yay!

A to Z Blog Challenge: N

N is for Naevus (spelled nevus by my US friends) - noun. A birthmark or mole on the skin.

Now that is a word that I can use. It is short and sounds way better than a ... you know that thing.

A to Z Blog Challenge: M

M is for Miscible - adjective. Able to be mixed together. Applies to liquids.

Sex on the Beach, anyone? Cheers!

Yeah, it was really hard to come up with that one! 😉

See what the other bloggers are writing about here.

A to Z Blog Challenge: L

L is for Lachrymose - adjective. It means tearful.

Just reading the word makes me want to reach for a tissue.

Example: The thought of losing him made her lachrymose. 

Yeah, right. By the time she looked up the word, he would already be gone. 😢

A to Z Blog Challenge: K

K is for Kaolin - noun. A soft white clay, used for making china and in medicine.

I really hope they don't give it to someone to swallow; might be tough to digest.

The Friendship Affair

Not all long lasting marriages are happy. But what do you do if divorce is not an option?

University friends, Stephanie and Nick, meet again after twenty years. But life has not been easy or simple for either of them. Will this friendship affair stand a chance against reality? 

CHAPTER 14

Early the next morning, he looked in on his daughter, who was still sleeping soundly. She must have gotten in late since he hadn't heard her come in.

Since she was a star student, he didn't impose a strict curfew, but he was still her father.

With a smile, he left a note for her in the kitchen and texted the boys to let them know he was going out of town for the day and to help their sister if she needed anything.

She had still to get her driver's license and he didn't want her to feel she was too isolated with him not being there.

The eldest's reply was almost instantaneous since he too was an early riser.

No problem, Dad, Drive safe.

He smiled at the text. He knew better to say anything, but both his boys would make excellent fathers one day. Their sister was another story, but he thought it was more the feeling of being abandoned by her own mother that scared her, than an actual aversion to having children. But he was not going to decide for her.

After checking that all the doors were locked behind him, he got into his car and put the envelope on the seat next to him.

Taking a deep breath, he put the key in the ignition.

“This is it,” he said aloud as he turned the key.

Three hours later he took the off-ramp from the highway. The commune was located on the outskirts of the town and he drove straight there. Although he had looked up the address, he was surprised that the maps of the GPS had the coordinates already programmed.

Probably because the place was actually well-known even though it was off the beaten track.

At the reception area, he asked to see Lena. Since it was also a tourist attraction, they had added the building, to give their residents some privacy from prying eyes.

“Who?” the young woman asked.

Shit. He rubbed his face. She started using a different name after she left him, and for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was.

An older man came in holding two bags, one over each arm. They looked heavy. The word 'salt' was visible and he wondered why anyone would need salt in such a large quantity.

The young woman looked at him but pointed with her finger towards Nick.

“This man is looking for Lena. He says she lives here, but I don't know any Lena.”

The man put the bags on the counter and peered at him. “You're Nick?”

He nodded. “I am.”

The older man turned to pick up the bags once more.

“Call Starr,” he told the young woman and promptly left again.

Shrugging she lifted the phone and called her.

“She said you can go in. Number seven on the left.”

After thanking her, he returned to his car and drove into the commune. He had been here once before, many years ago. While the cottages still looked much the same, he was surprised to see the gardens well kept and the whole place clean and neat.

“Tourism,” he muttered when he spotted a few people walking towards a large building on his right.

Not much further he spotted Lena's place.

He parked the car, got the envelope and got out.

The front door was open, but he knock in any case.

“I am in the kitchen!”

Accepting the call as an invitation, he stepped into another world.

Follow my blog or Wattpad to get notification of the next chapter in your inbox.

A to Z Blog Challenge: J

J is for Jardinière - noun. An ornamental pot or stand for displaying plants.

Sheesh, these plain old ones I am using would never qualify to be called jardinières. The word alone makes me want to throw mine in the trash.

Then again, a spot of paint might jazz them up enough to make the grade.

A to Z Blog Challenge: I

I is for Impecunious - adjective. To have little or no money.

To the rich it may sound cheap, but to the impecunious the sound produces a wealthy state of mind. 🙄