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Hi all!
Thanks for all your comments and emails. Yes, I read them all, but I must apologize for not answering straight away. Between the writing and real life, I am kept really busy.
What can you expect from this chapter? Well, it seems like Megan is starting to lose bricks out of her wall she has built around herself towards Tim it seems, the others are still kept at arm's length.
A new character is being introduced; “Misty”. But not someone you would expect. Misty is somewhat of an enigma and the “women” in Tim’s life. Seems like Megan is in for some competition... LOL!!!
In the meantime, I have been thrilled to see that “Playing Solitaire” is climbing the charts. Included in Top 50 Ongoing Serials, by Weekly Downloads at Nr 6, the Top 50 Ongoing Serials, by Rating, in the Last 30 Days at Nr 20, and the Top Serials by Popularity in the Last 30 Days at Nr 43.
For that I must sincerely thank you the readers. This makes it heartwarming and gives me the inspiration to keep going.
With a total of 1,408,304 downloads across all 16 stories on SOL. (1,745,736 words and counting. And my spelling and grammar has improved!)
At an average of 109K words per story it looks like there is still a few stories to go, and I am now so far behind, I will never die... LOLOLOLOL!!! (Sorry to my Editors – they should take their vitamins and keep up!)
Here is Chapter 005 of “Playing Solitaire.” Enjoy!
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
Jody.
(2026-08-24, 06:50 SAST) (04:50 ZULU)
Hi all!
So far, the week is running straight on track, and I can now bring you Chapter 4 of the story. All done and dusted with three pictures and the ALT TEXT inserts for those of you who use screen readers.
Oh, and a little background for those of you who aren't totally conversant with the name “Drakensberg.” There is mention of “Dragon Peaks.” The resort, Dragon Peaks, does really exist, and just as described, there is an airfield and the world-famous Drakensberg Boys Choir is situated right next to the resort.
Now, the Afrikaans word for “Dragon” is “Draak”—both refer to that legendary flying lizard breathing fire. "Drakensberg" is Afrikaans for “Dragon’s Mountain.” It is a majestic range of mountains that forms the escarpment and the international border between Lesotho and South Africa.
Lesotho is also known as the “Mountain Kingdom” or the “Lesotho Highlands.” Although the country has a parliament and a democratic political structure, it still has a King as the Head of State, King Letsie III. His father was King Moshoeshoe II, and his mother Queen 'Mamohato Bereng Seeiso. King Letsie III is known for his ceremonial duties and plays a significant role in promoting national unity and cultural values in Lesotho.
Lesotho is completely landlocked with no access to the ocean, fully surrounded by South Africa (much like Eswatini).
Well, that’s the geography lesson for today!
Here is Chapter 004 of “Playing Solitaire.” Enjoy!
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
Jody.
(2026-08-20, 06:52 SAST) (04:52 ZULU)
Hi all!
Work on the story has gone ahead this week. I am happy to say that is progressing really good and my editors are happy with how the plot is going.
To say that the response the first 2 chapters got was really heartwarming. I will try to see if I can post chapter 4 by Thursday, while going for chapter 5 on Monday. But no promises. It all depends on how life is directing me. LOL!!!
Here is chapter 003 of “Playing Solitaire.” Enjoy.
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
Jody.
(2026-08-17, 06:53 SAST) (04:53 ZULU)
Hi all!
I will post this chapter today, (Sunday). The reason being is that Monday is a public holiday in South Africa and the female contingent of this household will be at home. I was already warned well in advance that: “Monday we are sleeping LATE!” So that means, no getting up before 07:00. The time I usually post for the powers that be at SOL to get the posting out by midday, well in time for most of the western world’s breakfast time. LOL.
Here is chapter 002 of “Playing Solitaire.” Enjoy.
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
Jody.
(2026-08-09, 15:01 SAST) (13:01 ZULU)
Hi all!
First of all. Thank you for all the emails and comments. I know that I did not manage to answer them all as yet, but I am getting there.
After that sarcastic remark in the comments, I was sort of compelled to publish the last four chapters of “Let the River Run” in one go (without pictures) to clarify WHY the Mossad Agent was in possession of an ICC arrest warrant and tried to force her way to get Reznikov. So, sorry for those that wanted to see the pictures. The pictures that I do have compiled in advance, I will, as time permits, post them in my external blog.
But that also gave me time to get on with the new project and chapter 10 of the new story is currently being sent to the editors while chapter 11 is in the oven.
Something on the new story. The title is; “Playing Solitaire”. It is a story about an aircraft accident investigation. There will be some technical terms and procedures contained, and I hope I did explain it in plain English in the text. If not – please email me and I will try my best to express it in layman’s terms.
When I say “technical terms” I mean things in aviation that has become second nature to me and may not be understood by non-aviation readers. Details about weather fronts. High-pressure and low-pressure cells. Things like the inner workings of an aircraft’s altimeter and how it displays the altitude above sea level.
I could have just said: “It crashed into the mountain.” But WHY did it crash into the mountain? What caused the altimeter to miss interpret the altitude. Why did the autopilot respond to the incorrect altitude. And most of all; WHY did the pilots not realize the aircraft was flying lower than the set altitude.
But all this is just background noise for the real story. The story of why Dr. Megan Eleanor Forsyth plays solitaire? How did the brick wall she hides behind got dismantled? And how can Mandy trace an IP address that hides behind a firewall and a VPN. (Virtual Private Network.) How did Mandy get to “plant” a “snoop-ware bug” inside that computer 11000 kilometres away?
I do hope this one is not too “technical” for us elder minds. LOL!!!!
About the first picture in chapter one. The picture was taken inside the Wonderboom SAPS Airwing hangar, and part of the fleet can be seen.
Currently the SAPS Airwing have: 8 x Pilatus PC-6/B2-H4 Turbo Porters, 1 x Beech King Air C90A, 1 x Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign Jet, 1 x Pilatus PC-12/47, 16 x Eurocopter AS350 B3 helicopters, 6 x Robinson R44 Helicopters, 2 x McDonnell-Douglas 500E helicopters, 1 x MBB/Kawasaki BK-117B1 helicopter, and 2 x Airbus H125 helicopters, with 15 more Airbus H125 helicopters on order. This is public domain information.
Here is chapter 001 of “Playing Solitaire.” Enjoy.
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
Jody.
(2026-08-03, 07:00 SAST)
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