Jody Daniel: Blog

Good morning all!
Yes, I am still around and working behind the scenes to bring you a new story. Okay, I know I gave you all a little snippet of a ghost story I was working on, but that went on ice. Then I started a new story and again… it went on ice.

So, the story that I’m working on now and is into chapter six, will be progressing good, and I will shortly start posting it.

BUT. That is not the reason that I am writing you today. No, I had some good laughs doing research for the story and came upon a piece of info that had me laughing so hard, my wife had to give me sugar water to calm me down. Let me tell you.

I know that I’m not an authority on English. Nope, I leave that stuff for my editors. So, I came across this article on the internet about a teen boy that was caught out “skip Lagging” by American Airlines. I’m not going into the pros and cons of skip lagging, although I found that my one editor also did not know what skip lagging is.

During the debate that followed the article, someone said: “… payed for the ticket.”
Then some other guy jumped on the bandwagon and nit picked the first guy for using “payed” instead of “paid.” He alleged that “payed” is a nautical term. With that in mind, yours truly went and internet searched the term. And yes, it is true. “She ‘paid’ for renting the boat, and then went and ‘payed’ out the line that kept the yacht secured to the dock.”

BarneyR, Rvbuilder and Grumpyoldsquid, have you guys came across that nautical term? (Email me.)

In this context it is used correctly, as per Google. I asked my one editor what’s his take on it. He told me he never heard the term. So, together we investigated, and I was satisfied that the term “payed” is to be used in a nautical environment.

Then my editor send me a link to an article by Grammarly, on the net, that explained this. And low and behold! The article do give the right description of the “Paid” vs “Payed” scenario, BUT, here is where I had a fit of laughter: In their examples they made a little HUGE mistake! They give the CORRECT usage of the term as “She PAID out the line so that it slacked…” Huh? Paid instead of payed? The object of the whole article? Now! Does this prove that Grammarly can also make mistakes? Why pick on little old me?

So, who do I trust and PRAY that I don’t fall “PREY” to the nit-pickers that criticise my spelling? (LOL!!!)

There’s over 150 dialects of English spoken in the world. In the USA alone there're 3 dialects of English spoken. Even with words that sound the same, but have different meanings.

BTW: “PAYED” also refer to the covering, or weather guarding, something. “She PAID John after he PAYED the deck of the boat for her.”

(I’ll use that part in my new story and see who takes me on about it. LOL.)

Have a happy day!

Bye 4 now!

A very GOOD day to all you wonderful people!

I know that in my last blog entry I have sort of given you guys a little taste of a scary story that I am working on! Alas, Ash and the Angels has intervened, and put a stop to the scary story. (For now. LOL.)

This time around there’s something happening in the little village of Kleinzee on the west coast of South Africa. Deep in the heartland of Namaqualand, on the edge of the Great Karoo.

This story was prompted by someone asking me to write something about the Karoo region of South Africa as an intro to an upcoming article he wants to publish about a Battle Of Britain air ACE.

Well, the story has nothing to do with the Battle of Britain or the air ace. Nope! But as I was writing the intro, some gears clicked into place in my twisted mind, and, Ta-Daa! A new story was born!

This will be a story in the Angels Universe, and maybe one of the unattached Angels will find a man of her dreams. Maybe, I said. Don’t count on it as the story do seems to take a life of its own. BUT, anything is possible.

Oh, yes! An old friend will be back as well. (Sorry to dash someone’s retirement dreams. LOL!)

Chapter one of the story is done and dusted, (Depending on the editors??), but I will delay in posting it until about the middle of June, as one of my editors is taking a well deserved break and gone on a world travel excursion. Also, I would like to get ahead with a few chapters, thus not keeping you rooted to your seats in waiting for the outcome of a cliff-hanger. (Jody’s favourite plot device! The evil laugh…)

So, just to keep you in the loop that JD has not gone into hiding and is working behind the scenes to bring you a new story.

Well, in the meantime, I’ve taken on a real involved task. One of the stray cats around here has got herself run over by a car. She died on impact leaving behind three kittens of three weeks old. Thus, the Great Legendary Wildlife Conservationist has managed to snare the three kittens and are feeding them baby kitten formula ever 5 hours! So, sleep for me is a little interrupted lately.

Until next time! Keep well, stay safe!

Bye 4 now!

Hi all!

I trust you all are well! This side the rain just don’t want to let up. We are deep into fall, and the sun has shifted to the north more that it was in summer. It rises more north of east, and the Redhead reports that it is shining right into her eyes as she takes the final turn towards her work place.

Also, we have a tree that only bloom in winter. This tree is covered in pink flowers! Although the calendar say we are still in Fall, nature dictates otherwise.

Chapter 20 of Morningside Meadows will post later today, after the SOL moderator found it to be of the standard that SOL wants. So, happy reading!

Oh, sorry! It's the final chapter in the series.

AN EXTRACT FROM SOMETHING TO COME:

Now begins a journey, as old as time and not quite lost to history. Forgotten but not lost. A story of the spirit that lives within us all. A spirit of not giving up. A Spirit of hope that the future will bring a better tomorrow. A story of the Château at the end of Africa, and the whispers in the pines… Whispers of long forgotten voices. Whispers of the misery and torment to the souls of those that wanted to live, but lost.

An evil laugh echoes hollow in the vast empty halls splattered with fallen plaster, roof shingles, and wooden beams. The full moon, hiding in and out behind dark, ominous clouds, flicker ghostly shapes over the cracked and broken floorboards. The dull stone of the walls, wet with the misty fog that rolled in from the south…

My blood ran cold.

Keep well, and stay safe! Until next time.

Bye 4 now!

Hi all!

It’s been a while, but life keeps me busy. It is still the yard work season and yeah… Cleaning up the driveway and front yard, getting all the leaves and stuff away was a task in itself. THEN two days later, 50 kilometres an hour wind from the south and a mother of a thunderstorm. ALL the leaves and tree branches from across the road, BACK in my front yard! (Grrr… Bark, bark!)

And then there’s Load-shedding, brown-outs, whatever you want to call it. Up to 10 hours out of power per 24 hours. (Grrr! Bark, bark! And unprintable words!)

And to top it all! The internet is so sloooooow… Like a snail on crutches! While I’m writing this, I’m waiting now for ten minutes for the SOL website to respond, so I can post the chapter. Even my WhatsApp chat to my editor in the USA that usually is lightning fast, takes forever to go through. Maybe the Transatlantic cable is damaged again. Why can’t the guru techs go satellite, instead of an old prehistoric cable?

Well, chapter 19 was going back a few times to the editors. One editor was not happy with the “Sequence-of-events” description and felt that it would make the readers lose the plot. It was an essential part of the story that will show Dusty as a human being that can also make mistakes. Don’t we all?

This chapter was supposed to be the last chapter, but the story dictate otherwise… LOL! So, for a few of you the agony will be prolonged. Sorry…

Finally: I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners in the Clitorides Awards. Good Show! May there be many more from your pens!
Thank you for all of you that voted for “To Cheat the Devil,” as “Long Erotic Story of the Year.” Tenth place is good for me! And also for voting Jody Daniel(s) in the category Author of the year in 6th place. It is highly appreciated. (Yeah, I know that the guy that nominated JD had a typo and added an “S” to my pen name, but all is forgiven. LOL. We are still good!)

Thank you to my three Editors, you guys are excellent. Especially my Canadian editor that persisted in editing during a difficult time in his life, after losing his wife to an illness that is so unknown and not understood by medical science. God bless you all.

Keep well, and stay safe! Until next time.

Bye 4 now!

Hi all!

I do hope you guys and girls are doing fine, and that the tornadoes, ice rain and snow has gone on to other parts of the world. I see old man winter is reaching out towards us…

Well without further ado, here is chapter 18 of Morningside Meadows. Like one of the readers commented: “… Now hakhana with C18…” Well, sometimes one has to abide by the schedule of the Editors. I can’t hurry them up! I need that service that cost me… nothing! So, if they are busy, then I sit down and wait...

One editor commented that the story could have ended two chapters ago. BUT, the romance is the story, not the action, drama and cliffhangers. So, let us see where the story goes. There might be some fireworks towards the end. Who knows.

And for those of you that look out for funny words I sometimes use… there’s another one in the beginning of the chapter. Happy hunting!

Keep well, and stay safe! Until next time.

Bye 4 now!