Jody Daniel: Blog

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!

Hi all!
Thank you for all the well-wishes. I can safely say that the flu has passed and we, the Redhead, and I, feel much better. The Redhead is back at work, and I am firing on all cylinders again. LOL.

The past week had me worried as one of my editors did not get my mail regarding chapter 13, but all is done and dusted now, and chapter 14 is running on schedule.

Here is chapter 12 for you all. Have fun.

Until next week. Be good and stay safe.

Bye 4 now!