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Hi all!
I have written the Angel Series. I have written standalone stories. I have written a ghost story... Now let us try something else...
The places are all true. Some of the places is still there today. The history is true, but the story is fiction, although the people met at Ann’s Villa did really exist! This is telling the story of the wild, wild... Afrika... Yes there was a diamond rush. Yes there was a gold rush - all historically true.
Imagine the year is 1874. Imagine the open plains of the Karoo, The savannah of the Orange Free State. The hills, mountains and valleys of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. Horses, Ox-wagons, Colt revolvers. Winchester rifles. Malaria and how to dodge it. African Horse Sickness and “salted horses.”
Imagine a man named – “Anaconda”...
A shot upset the bar room, then he stepped out of the dark. SHE said: “Well, here we are. Whisky for me, for you - Tequila...”
The Wild West Has a Twin.
When most people think of the 1800s frontier, their minds go straight to the American West—pioneers pushing through uncharted territory in covered wagons, dust-choked trails, boom-towns springing up overnight, and the feverish madness of the Gold Rush. It was an era defined by raw grit, where law was often measured by the length of a gun barrel and survival meant relying on your own hard-bitten wits.
Meanwhile, in South Africa...
Halfway across the world, a strikingly similar drama was unfolding across the rugged expanse of the interior. The Voortrekkers were rolling their heavy ox-wagons into the untamed wilderness of the "Wild Northeast," carving out routes through treacherous mountain passes and thorn scrub long before established law ever caught up with them. It was a frontier every bit as lawless, dangerous, and majestic as the American West—replete with diamond and gold fever, border disputes, hardened opportunists, and wide-open spaces where a person’s reputation was forged in gunpowder and iron.
Today you can visit the Kimberley Big Hole, right near the center of the City of Kimberley. The biggest manmade hole in the world that was dug with shovels and pickaxes. If there are still diamonds under the water that now covers the deep hole, I would not know. But that hole stands as a monument to the diamond rush in South African history. The town of Pilgrim’s Rest as equally a monument to the gold rush is still there today and now a tourist attraction. And the ruins of the town of Schoemansdal is still there today in the Soutpansberg...
It is into this fierce, beautiful world that Roberto Albert Van Der Wouw, the Anaconda, sets off on a perilous quest—tasked with tracking down an outlaw to retrieve a stolen treasure. But Rob isn't riding alone. Along the way, he acquires a somewhat peculiar travel companion, and together they head straight into the heart of the frontier.
While legends like Louis L'Amour, Larry McMurtry, Elmer Kelton, and Zane Grey brought the romance, grit, and drama of the American Wild West to millions around the world, very few people outside our borders ever realized that an almost identical chapter of human history was playing out at the exact same time in South Africa.
The motivation was strikingly similar: just as the American Pioneers headed west across the plains to free themselves from government oversight and chase a new life, the “Voortrekkers” hitched up their ox-wagons and struck deep into the northern interior to escape British rule in the Cape. It was a time of immense hardship, incredible bravery, and raw, untamed wilderness.
The South African frontier story deserves to be told on that same epic stage.
You asked for it—56 of you made it crystal clear in the emails! So, by popular demand, here is your exclusive preview of Chapter One of The Dragon and the Serpent.
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
Jody.
(2026-08-02, 11:01 SAST)
Hi all!
Well, what can I say? The trolls are doing their best to drive the score down. But thanks to the loyal readers that get the story, the trolls don’t do much damage. There is only 35 of you. Really, just a drop in the ocean.
Like my mother used to say: “If-a you don’t-ah like-a da people... Don’t-a break-a da furniture!
Here is Chapter 18 of “Playing Solitaire.” Enjoy!
Question: Do you want a sneak preview of the new story? If more than 10 people say “Yes”, I will publish chapter 1 of “The Dragon and the Serpent” during the week.
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
Jody.
(2026-11-02, 07:20 SAST) (05:20 ZULU)
Hi all!
Okay... I know it’s Wednesday. But it is just as good as coming Monday. Let’s just pretend it is Monday. LOL!!!
And thank you to the person that hate this story and voted a “2”. If you hate it, why keep reading it and waste your time voting?
They say all people give joy and happiness, some by coming, and some by going... So sorry you hate the story, but I write for the 99.9% that do enjoy it and keeps coming back for more.
A huge portion of online readers skim. They read at top speed on mobile screens, glancing past the sensory details, the subtle glances, and the multi-layered subplots. Because they aren't paying attention to the "canvas," the emotional payoff at the end feels unearned to them—simply because they skipped the quiet building blocks that made it work. I feel so sorry for them.
As an author, a "2" rating is almost never a reflection of bad craftsmanship. It’s simply a wrong-fit reader stumbling into an art gallery when all they wanted was a fast-food drive-through.
Question: Does a low rating like that ever tempt me to change how I frame a scene, or do I double down on writing for the readers who actually "see" the picture? ANSWER: Yes, I do!
You know, it’s mind over matter. I don’t mind and the trolls don’t matter!
Here is Chapter 17 of “Playing Solitaire.” Enjoy!
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
Jody.
(2026-10-28, 07:13 SAST) (05:13 ZULU)
Hi all!
Summer is here! And the air conditioner works overtime!
I am not going to say much about this chapter, or “Playing Solitaire” for now.
But just maybe, just maybe, I’ll have a surprise for you later this week. I hope it will be a GOOD surprise...
Until then, here is Chapter 16 of “Playing Solitaire.” Enjoy!
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
Jody.
(2026-10-26, 07:05 SAST) (05:05 ZULU)
Hi all!
And here we start another week! El Nino is driving us crazy here in South Africa. It’s not even December yet and the temperature are rising faster than a fighter jet altimeter in a 7G vertical climb. Today will be 35 degrees Celsius, while my editor in Missouri reports 10 degrees C. Well, you can’t win them all. LOL!
And I take it there is no-one speaking Mandarin. No emails to that regard thus, I believe I have no Chinese readers. Oh, boy!
Here is Chapter 15 of “Playing Solitaire.” Enjoy!
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
Jody.
(2026-10-19, 07:05 SAST) (05:05 ZULU)
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