A to Z Blog Challenge: E

E is for Expiate - verb. Do something to make up for having done something wrong.

Hey guys, just in case you were wondering, flowers are not always the answer but it is a good place to start. 💐

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 13

Nick sighed into the blessed silence of his backyard. It had been a long week and the emotional difficulties of Sunday were still haunting him. Added to that he had come to realise that he was in love with Annie.

Stephanie. Her name reflected the elegant and mature woman she was, but he would always think of her as the carefree Annie of their youth.

Maybe he had always been in love with her and just never realised it until now.

He swirled the whiskey around the ice cubes rapidly melting in the summer heat. Apparently they were going to get some more rain, but when he looked at the empty sky, he wondered if the weather guys saw things.

His mobile phone beeped.

He opened the message. Come tomorrow. Bring the papers with you. L

He took a sip of the whiskey and deleted the message before putting the phone back in his pocket.

He understood Stephanie's situation much better than she knew. He was raised with the idea that one never abandoned one's family, but having been on the receiving end, he understood why she couldn't let her husband go.

But he could and one day when she was ready, they could have a future.

“Hey, Dad.”

He smiled at the cheerful face of his daughter. “Hey, yourself.”

“I am off to study group. I brought some Chinese if you feel hungry. See you later?”

He nodded. “Thanks, sweetie.”

She waved and turned to go back inside.

He called her name.

“Yeah?”

“Break a leg!”

With a shake of her head and laughter still tinkling with youthful cheer, she left him to his thoughts.

Alone in the house, he went to his study and dug out the key to a small safe hidden away in the desk. It contained but one thing and this was the first time in seventeen years that he was going to open it. He only hoped the documents were still intact.

He had to blow out some dust from the lock, making him sneeze twice, but the key still fit and the door opened on the first attempt.

Reaching inside he withdrew the envelope. He pulled a face. Judging by the smell the mothballs have done their job keeping nature away from the documents.

After closing and locking the safe, he returned the key to its hiding place and sat down behind the desk.

Giving his hands a quick wipe on his jeans, he opened the envelope and pulled out the documents.

Due to their dark and sealed storage space, the paper was still white and crisp as the day he had put them in there. Only the smell gave away their age.

Seventeen years. Sometimes it felt like yesterday. Other times it felt as if it had happened to someone else and he was only an observer to the result of that fateful day.

Whatever he had felt back then, was not relevant anymore. It was time to move on.

It was time to finally cut the ties to his wife.

Read the story from the start on Wattpad

A to Z Blog Challenge: D

D is for Decry - verb. Publicly declare something to be wrong or bad.

No need for any examples here, I am sure. But here is one anyway: It is criminal the way that some people treat their children!

I had to add the exclamation point since it is supposed to be an outcry, isn't it?

A to Z Blog Challenge: C

C is for Cetacean - noun. The name in zoology for a whale or a dolphin.

There is no more monkeying around on this one for sure!

See what the other bloggers are writing about here.

Linzé's Mischief: 3 April 2016

The A to Z Blog Challenge is underway and judging by the number of bloggers that signed up, it could only be termed a humungous success! I checked the website - 1967 bloggers! Wow! Congratulations to the hosts and all the best with keeping up the good work, because work it is to do this blog challenge on such a large scale.


My humble offerings from this past week:
A > http://www.linzebrandon.blogspot.co.za/2016/04/a-to-z-blog-challenge-a.html
B > http://www.linzebrandon.blogspot.co.za/2016/04/a-to-z-blog-challenge-b.html

Sundays are no-post days, so the challenge resumes tomorrow with the letter C.

Both STORM ebooks are still discounted until 7 April, so hurry to get yours while they are only $0.99 each - lots of reading pleasure for almost nothing.

And don't forget to sign up to win an ebook copy of my latest novel, Michael's Mystery. I will be giving away 5 copies, so hurry and get your entries in. The competition closes on 7 April. The winners are randomly picked.

Now it is back to my word count target for Camp NaNoWriMo.

Happy reading fellow book lovers!

A to Z Blog Challenge: B

B is for Boatswain - noun. An officer in charge of equipment and the crew on a ship.

Hmmm, and I thought it was the captain. Now I know! 👍

Spread Some Indie Love Blog Hop - Jordan Rivet

Duel of Fire

Steel and Fire Book 1

Dara Ruminor is a serious young duelist in the mountaintop kingdom of Vertigon, a land of dramatic cliffs and misty peaks where mysterious Fire magic runs through the stones like blood. The secluded kingdom has been peaceful for a hundred years. Swords are used for sport, and successful athletes live like kings as long as the crowds love them.

Eighteen-year-old Dara needs to find a wealthy patron in order to duel professionally and avoid a lifetime working in her parents’ Fire Lantern shop. Her efforts are disrupted when her coach asks her to train with Prince Siv, an infuriating—if handsome—young man who refuses to take the sport as seriously as she does. But the prince’s life may be in danger, and soon Dara will discover that Vertigon isn’t as peaceful as she thought.

As threats emerge from the shadows, Dara will have to raise her sword to protect Siv—if he doesn’t irritate her so much that she decides to run him through herself. 

From the author of the Seabound Chronicles comes a new fantasy series about sword fighting, cur-dragons, molten Fire magic, and one young woman’s effort to prove herself. 

Buy Links >   Amazon

Author Bio

Jordan Rivet is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. Originally from Arizona, she lives in Hong Kong with her husband. She is the author of the post-apocalyptic Seabound Chronicles and the new Steel and Fire fantasy adventure series.

Follow Jordan on Twitter @Jordan_Rivet

❤️ Don't forget to enter my giveaway! Click here to win an ebook by Linzé