Jody Daniel: Blog

Hi all!

Chapter 2 begins with a lesson: to survive in the Congo, you have to learn the rules the hard way. For Dolf "Spoon" Van Reenen and Nisreen "Ice" Al-Kuwari, that lesson comes at the end of a rifle during a tense negotiation with M23 rebels. But the real war is the one fought between the two of them, a clash of philosophies that only comes to a head after they return to Goma. Just as a fragile truce is found in the quiet aftermath of a tropical storm, a siren rips the night apart, proving that in Africa, the last fight is never truly over.

Thank you for all your comments, emails and feedback in the comments and in the emails I received. Also for the first 100 votes! LOL. I see a clash between the 8, 9, and 10 votes! And I love it! Thank you!
I wish you all the best! Until next week!

Bye 4 now!

Hi all!

So, it was not so long ago that we were looking at Estrella de Assis. About a week or two ago. And here we are at the door to a little off-track story of an impossible “work together” scenario.

Throw together a lay-back South African “Afrikaner Boer” bush pilot, and a high-profile Airline pilot Captain of an A350-900 from Qatar, and you get a spark that ignite the barrel of gunpowder.

Let us explore the journey of Rudolf “Spoon” Van Reenen, and Nisreen bint Khalid Al-Kuwari, call-sign, “Ice”.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Here is chapter 1 of “Rosa Rio.”

Thank you for all your comments, emails and feedback on Estrella de Assis. I took a gamble with writing Stella, but it seems to me that she was a great hit, and some of you fell in love with her. Some of you wanted to buy a STELLA, but sadly, she only lives on these pages of the story, and it will be decades before a STELLA would be a reality.

Let us just get back to earth for a spell and join Dolf and Nisreen in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and their adventure...
I wish you all the best! Until next week!

Bye 4 now!

Hi all!
It had to happen. After a 32-chapter saga of Roy, Fiona, Stella, and the Angels – it is time to put them at rest. Their journey continues, but not on these pages. I truly hope that you have enjoyed this story. This last chapter is a little short, but nothing else needed to be told...

The end may not be what you had in mind, but the reader that asked about another “ghost story”, set me on this path to venture into a story telling genre I always sort of shy away from. My editors and my adviser thought it was well done. So, let's hope you like it too... and let me know what you think of it. Even the 0.002% of those that voted 1, 3, 4, and 5 on this story. The 99% of you that voted 8, 9, and 10, thank you!

Chapter 32 is uploaded and will be published later today. Enjoy!
Thank you for all your support, comments, and emails during this journey. Each and every one were highly appreciated. Without all your feedback it will be like writing in a vacuum.

And YES! There is another story in the pipeline. There – I let the cat out of the bag. I could start to post it in about 3 weeks. (Again, I am building up a reserve of chapters before I start to post.)

Wishing you all the best — until we meet again!

Bye 4 now!

Hi all!
The week has raced past and I can just see that even the season is changing. Today was the first day that we had a daytime high of 29 degrees Celsius. The early mornings and late nights are still a bit on the cold side but warming up as well.

This means that some of my friends on the northern half of the planet is getting cooler days, but as my one editor said: “Nothing in the 100+ yet.” (Oh, that is Fahrenheit. LOL!)

Chapter 31 is uploaded and will be published later today. Enjoy!

Wishing you all the best — until next week!

Bye 4 now!

PS. Chapter 32 will be uploaded later this week. Look out for it!

Hi all!
Well, the evil in the room is “multi-tasking.” Yeah, getting Star of Assisi chapter 30 ready for publication, pictures and all, while working on another project.

The other project is getting re-acquainted with the Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter. Getting to study the manuals from scratch.

It is like doing my check-ride all over again. It has been years since I played with the Porter, and one tends to forget some little serious important stuff, like waiting for the PT6 turbine to spool up and settle BEFORE introducing more than 2% fuel. AND - be SURE the condition lever is in START indent and the PARK BRAKE is engaged.

Else... you might find yourself 20 meters away from where you found the aircraft in the first place. And the Porter being a tail dragger, you won't be able to see if you ran over the Crew Chief - slicing him like polony slices. LOL!

In the meantime, Star of Assisi chapters 31 and 32 are back form the editors and will be getting “dressed” for publication.

Here is chapter 30. Enjoy!

Wishing you all the best — until next week!

Bye 4 now!