Jody Daniel: Blog

Good day to you all! Yes, I’m back home again after a two-week break in KwaZulu Natal. Sunny skies and white tropical beaches. Okay, Mister-you-know-who-you-are, I did sit under a palm tree and finish chapter 4 of “The Sound of Thunder!” But that was a little distracting with all the skinny tan bodies floating by, so I relocated back to the nice cool air-conditioned apartment.

Then there were some hype about a cyclone hitting Madagascar and all the KZN beaches were closed, and the shark nets lifted. Dark clouds rolled in, and a light wind with misty rain set in. Word got to us that a massive storm that hit Gauteng, and there was flooding, trees and walls came down. We packed up and came home. Lucky only one tile on my roof slipped a little down, causing water to get into my study. No big train smash. I fixed the tile and there were no water damage to the floor of my study.

So ready to send the chapter to the editors and then all hell broke loose about a certain description I did in the chapter. Really? What about my readers that crave these descriptions, geography and history?

The other two editors concurred with the first one. So, I moved the offending paragraphs to a part of the text where it won't interfere with rest of the story. (Thank you, Mister Dan Brown for your well researched and descriptive stories. I learned from the best! Although critics say your grammar stinks, I still think you’re the best.) (BTW – Some say my grammar stinks too!)

Next was a Race Name I used to describe a Cape Town Race. It was found to be offensive in the USA. Really? Okay if it would be considered offensive to my USA readers, I removed it. It detracts from the story a little, but I suppose no one will notice it. And if this race have a name that are offensive to others… well so be it. You can’t please all. There are stories on SOL that are offensive from page one to the last page!

It just goes to prove my theory that English is not English from country to country! And here in South Africa we have a Race that pride themselves in calling themselves a name that would be offensive in another country. Can you now see why I said in a previous blog entry that the story is a little technical?

Without ranting too much, can you see why it took so long to get the chapter ready for publishing? (Don’t worry! Chapter five is running now at 1000 words.)

Chapter 4 will be up later today. Enjoy!

Bye 4 now!

Greetings from the KwaZulu Natal South Coast, South Africa. I don’t know about Pietermaritzburg, but here it is 29 degrees Celsius, 85% humidity, and not a cloud in the sky. (Apparently Pietermaritzburg gets to be 32 or 33 today.)

Well, as you have noticed, the Redhead and I are on holiday, and with the fine weather the Redhead has nearly turned just as red as her hair. I can’t get her away from the beach, or the pool.

Chapter 3 of The Sound of Thunder will be available a little later. Thanks for all your emails, it is appreciated. I try to answer every one of the emails, so if I’m a little late in responding, sorry, it takes a while to get through them all.

I also have come to notice that “Desert Rose” was nominated for the Clitorides Awards, and “Jody Daniel,” in the category “Author of the Year.” Thank you to who ever did it, but don’t get your hopes up, there are a lot of great authors out there, that I regard as better than me. Also, I see that the 4 stories has surpassed half a million downloads! To me, this is incredible, and I thank you for it.

Now, back to the pool!

Have a great day, keep safe and stay out of mischief!

Bye 4 now!

Well, it seems like El Nina is still causing havoc around South Africa. This morning again there was news regarding floods in Lady Smith and in the Eastern Cape. This is a little unsettling, as the Redhead and I will be going to KwaZulu Natal shortly. So far, the roads are clear, and the places we’ll be travelling through are in order.

Now! The Story. Chapter 2 will be up later today. (Give the good people at SOL a chance to moderate and do their thing.)

Chapter two will introduce some more players in the field and also the villain of villains. No spoilers.

I hope you enjoy the story so far. Thanks again for all your emails and comments. Yes I know there’s sometimes a misplaced word or a spelling error, but between my Canadian Editor and my two USA Editors, there’s sometimes a glitch. Also, that darn Grammarly and Language Tools, can’t make up their minds about how a word is spelled. I feel for one of my fellow authors that complained on his blog about the thing where Grammarly can’t make up its mind if there’s to be one or two spaces before the next sentence. Grrrrrrrr !!!! So, please forgive me if South African English, British English, and USA English go to war with each other.

Take the example of “Calibre” and “caliber.” The damn same thing according to good old “uncle Google,” but even my Editors differ. BUT, you have to give them credit for doing a good job and catching most of the errors.

LOL — Speaking of the different versions of English; wait for the rest of the story, I’ll be confusing you with the Cape Flats “Inglis” speaking. Yes, in the Cape Flats dictionary English is spelled “Inglis!”

So; “Yis yis yis my Bra! Aweh, dala what you must!” (Yes, Brother! A good Day to you and do what you must do!”)

Yis = Yes, or an acknowledgement that you are in the room, sometimes repeated 3 times.

Aweh = Pronounced: ah-weh
A casual greeting or way of agreeing with someone.

Dala (Dah-La) to do Example: “Dala what you must!”

And that is not even the tip of the iceberg!

Keep safe and be good!

Bye 4 now!

Hi again from Sunny South Africa! Well not so sunny right now, as we are having a lot of rain of late. Thanks, El Nina! Your four-year cycle is truly felt.

So far so good, and I am back up again and full of life. Thank you for all the well-wishes. It is appreciated.

Now! I wanted to get about three or four chapters of “Sound of Thunder” done, before I published it, but due to some convincing from my Editors, here goes chapter one of “The Sound of Thunder.”

Just a few words concerning the story: It is a continuation of Ash and Angie’s life and mixed in a few of the older characters of previous stories. YES, Grumpy “Charley” and the Angels are back. This time around all five of the Angels will partake in the story.

The story plays out in the Western Cape, and some remote fantasy place that is not on any maps. Some names of places will be unfamiliar to some Readers, but I just know you are going to Google it. The plot will be complex. The Crime Gangs and Street Gangs on the one side, with a sinister second plot that will only reveal itself later in the story. So don’t ask too many questions right now. It will be fun to see how things are going to play out. Some unlikely alliances will be formed, just to shatter again later.

Through it all, Angie and Ashwin’s love will grow, and go through some spirited times.

PLEASE, this is a very technical story, and I might not be able to publish a chapter every week. That is why I wanted to get three or four chapters done before publishing. I know you will understand and thank you for it. (Chapter two is now about halfway done.)

I hope you will enjoy this one as much as the others.

Be good, stay safe and stay out of mischief!

Bye 4 now.

Hi to ALL. Yes, make no mistake, this December was one that I don’t need to do over. Anyway, what happened to December? Looks like I missed it completely.

Well, fear not, I am better and back again. Let us try the new year and see how it goes, AND no more hospital food for me or anyone that it is not made for!

So, the curtain falls on Desert Rose. Herewith the last chapter for you. I tied my best, but it looks like Charley, Ash, and Angie has got some ideas of their own. Let us hope that that Ideas get to be told to us in a future story…

Thanks to my editors for putting up with me and do the magic that made Desert Rose and Stray Cats what they were.

This time around, let us see what is cooking in the pot on the stove. I say nothing more. Let's just play it by Ash’s words: “I’ll just close my eyes, and you’re in my dreams… and there you will be… until we meet…”

So long for now!

Keep the shiny part topside, and the rubber side down…