Jody Daniel: Blog

Hi everyone!

Another week went by with the speed of light. And I thought they said that when one retire you will get so bored, you just get… well, what does the Collins English Dictionary say: “If you are bored, you feel tired and impatient because you have lost interest in something or because you have nothing to do.” Huh? Not this Dude! I got so much to do and so little time to do it in. LOL.

It’s like one of my ex-colleagues said to me: “I am now busier than ever!” Yeah, that is true. When he retired, he decided to paint his house. This led to a friend asking him to paint the friend's house, and another house, and another house… He ended up starting a house painting business with eight employees. Just painting houses… and HIS house never got finished!

Now, that reminds me… I must paint my house as well. Not only the house outside, but inside as well. Oh, well, I’ll put it on the “to-do” list.

So, here we are with chapter 17 of iSigodi. When I started writing on chapter 17, I planned on ending the saga right there. Until I found that there were a few loose ends to tie up. This boiled down to chapter 17 running into about 6400 words with 6 pictures!

Chapter 18 is already at the 1200-word mark, so… let’s see where it goes? Also, the next story, chapter 001 is also in the oven and about 1000 words in. (Oops! Ignore what I said there.)

A comment from gothkitten (and some others) had prompted me to remind you that in order to have a continues flow of chapters, I need to build up a reserve of chapters before I start to post. This is to compensate for my three Editors to get to do the editing. Sometimes people get ill and can’t work on editing. I know that my Canadian Editor is getting married around August. Now with the honeymoon on the cards, he might not be able to do any editing. If I have reserve chapters in hand, I can post them weekly, giving me time to write and the editors to edit my ramblings at their leisure. (Seeing that they get this astronomical pay from me… Zero Dollars!)

Now just to be throwing a spanner into the works: There was a comment that “Nikita” is a Russian male name. Yes, true.

BUT Nikita is a girl’s name, and a boy’s name. Nikita thus belongs to the gender-neutral unisex names. Nikita means “victory” and “winner.” Nikita is of Greek origin and is derived from the Greek word ‘Nik’ which means ‘victorious’ or ‘winner.’ The name has roots in different regions.

It is used as a unisex name in Russia and means ‘unconquered’ or ‘not humbled.’ It is also associated with the Greek name Niketas, which means ‘victorious.’
Regardless of its origin, the name carries strong overtones of victory, power, and resilience.

Nikita is a popular name used for boys and girls worldwide. To portray Melanie as a fighter on the edge, and her attitude, I chose her second name as Nikita. Examples of that the name Nikita could be either male or female and can be found everywhere.

1. Russian male figure skater Nikita Katsalapov (born 1991) has won the bronze and the gold medal in 2014.

2. The Australian female water-polo-player Nikita Cuffe (born 1979) won bronze with the Australian national team in 2008 in Peking.

3. Female American actress Nikita Ager (born 1969) is known for roles in TV shows such as “Navy CIS” and “Star Trek: Enterprise”.

4. Former Miss Universe 2003 Nikita Anand (born 1983) is an Indian model and actress.

That is only four examples. Else I could make this a story on its own!

Nicknames as for Nikita as a boy’s name are Nik, Nick, Nicky, and Kit. For a girl, nicknames would be Nicky, Kita, Kiti, Nika and Kitja.

SO! Elton John was playing the name! LOL! (And not many noticed…)

Here is iSigodi chapter 17. Have fun and enjoy!

Until next week, stay safe and be good.

Bye for now!

Hi everyone!

Today is a public holiday in South Africa. Youth Day, or something like that. Some citizens around here use it as “Braai Day.” I comment no further on it. Make your own deductions.

Well, seeing that it is some or another public holiday, I was afraid that I would not be able to publish chapter 16 today. That with the terrorists (Red Head and Sister-in-law) being at home and the Red Head handing me a note with “Honey Do” items. Grrr!

Nonetheless, I put my foot down and here we go!

So, without further ado, here is chapter 16. Enjoy the adventure and let me know what you think! (Chapter 17 just arrived back from one of the editors, so the revising of that is on the cards for today and tomorrow.)

Keep the comments and emails coming. I like them! (The ones that say: “You horrible man", as well. LOL.)

Please note: iSigodi has not finished. I had to put that endnote in due to the fact that there is a person alive and well that shares Melanie’s name, and efforts to contact this person was fruitless.

Until next week, stay safe and be good.

Bye for now!

Hi everyone!

Another week has gone by, and while the temperatures are still lingering between 2 and 18 degrees Celsius, we're only a couple of months away from warmer days. We came so close to having snow, but it all ended up in the south Free State, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape. No snowman-building for me this time, so it looks like my bucket list keeps me immortal for now!

On to the next chapter of the iSigodi saga! This instalment brings a mix of action—both on the battlefield and in the realm of romance. I hope you find it as thrilling to read as it was for me to write.

I truly appreciate all your comments and emails. It's clear I'm connecting with highly intelligent readers, which I absolutely love. Hearing about your lives and knowing my story reaches friends in far-off places that I can only see on Google Earth means a lot to me.

So, without further ado, here is chapter 15. Enjoy the adventure and let me know what you think!

Until next week, stay safe and be good.

Bye for now!

Hi all!

And here we are on Monday again! If we could only turn back time… But that would not go down too well with you guys and girls. Nope. If we turn back time, some of you will say that we will never get to the next chapter. LOL.

Anyway, today is the birthday celebration for my Sister-In-Law. The Redhead and I are going to spoil her with breakfast at a restaurant near us, later today. (In fact, spoiling ourselves! We were looking for a reason to go to that restaurant. LOL.)

Thanks for all your emails. It was a pleasure reading them.

Here is chapter 14 for you all. Have fun, and enjoy it!

Until next week, be good and stay safe.

Bye for now!

Hi all!

What a week! First, I was thrilled to see that “Jack Sparrow” (the last remaining stray cat) has somehow recovered from his head injury and seems to be back to his old self. Instead of fighting with the neighbourhood cats, he’s now acting more like a playful kitten. Instead of trying to scratch me, he allows me to touch his head and scratch him behind the ears. I’m still a little apprehensive of the black cat, but I go along with his attitude and do feed him. This reinforces my belief that he’s not actually a stray and does have a home. Otherwise, how could his head injury have healed so quickly without a huge scab? Plus, he looks healthy. He comes around every two to three days to beg for food, so he must have a home with people who love him. Oh, well.

Now, onto something that gave me a good chuckle—no, let me rephrase that—a screaming good laugh. SOL doesn’t usually want me to comment on story statistics, but boy, this was an eye-opener. 88% of readers score iSigodi 8, 9, or 10, with 10s leading the pack. THANK YOU!

The reason for my fit of laughter? Someone gave the story a score of 1. Yes, a ONE. Really? What more do I have to do to satisfy that person? I know you can’t please everyone, but if you don’t like the story, move on. A one, seriously?

I must say that I am not perfect. Yes, I know that my grammar sometimes stinks, and my spelling is also not up to scratch, but then again, who is? This person must have an incredibly glamorous life to score a story so low. I wonder what he (or she) scored our “Lifetime Achievement Award 2023” winner, StarFleet Carl? A 2? LOL! (Sorry StarFleet Carl, I know you did well and are also laughing at this.)

As my editors always say: “You can’t satisfy everyone!” But this just made me laugh. To my friend who scored the one, your contribution is just 0.002% of the total and is so insignificant that SOL doesn’t even factor it into the overall score. You wasted your precious time clicking that “You-Call-This-A-Story” button. Also, for all of the stories that I published, only 2.73% of the votes were 6 or less. That means that 97.27% of votes were a 7 or higher! LOLOLOLOL!!! Do yourself a favour and check out the comments section of my stories. Those pen names with an underscore under them are AUTHORS of fine standing who also read my stories. If they like them, I have nothing more to say.

I have also encountered authors who were so disheartened by bad comments and low scores that they stopped writing. I tried to encourage them to look past the negativity and continue their fine work. Some did, but others just disappeared into the void. It’s so sad because their work was outstanding.

I also have a reader who published two stories on SOL. One was an abandoned story that he took and finished the story for the original author. What a great story! With 631862 downloads and votes totalling 3580 for a single story! This reader became a personal friend and one who not only has my private email but knows my real name. It is such an honour to have such a person who enjoys my stories.

Here is chapter 13 for you all. Have fun, and enjoy it!

Until next week, be good and stay safe.

Bye for now!

PS: Mister One-score, how about YOU write us a story? Nah, I don’t think you’ll accept the challenge! LOL!