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.