Power of Positive Thinking

Hi One and All,

Well it is the weekend and we have had a fairly good run at The Ibis Lounge for most of January, but the good news is that I have also found the time to complete my latest novel…Fangs of Fury…and I must say it took me along a road I have never travelled…at times it was a dark journey, but the words just flowed and the pictures painted until I reached the point where it was right to type…The End.

Now the real work begins…edit, proof read, and grammar check and only then will I be ready to submit the full manuscript to a publisher. Now as you all no doubt know by now… a publisher is something that I no longer have in my life, but all is not lost…there is light at the end of the tunnel and certain publishers out there in this big wide world of ours have expressed an interest and asked for samples of my work…so, who knows…just maybe big things might happen.

Anyway, the real purpose of this blog is to tell you a little story…ha ha ha…I’m a writer…it is what I do, you might say…well let’s get on with it.

This one revolves around a car…my car in fact that was left to me by my departed Mother…Bless you Mom, and Thank You. Now my Dad was a practical type of man and living in South Africa where car hijackings and theft of cars is almost a national sport he wired up the car with an alarm plus immobilizer…but not only that he went ahead and fitted his own modification to the whole thing and added a anti-hijacking button…now to cut a long story short, the computer that controls all this decided to go rouge on me and from having a car that would pay attention and allow me to use it for what it was intended…I ended up with a car that would not play the game…the computer had decided that this vehicle would not start again and the alarm would ring out at the slights touch…great way to get friendly with the neighborhood…I was stuck with a vehicle that I could not drive as the immobilizer could not be deactivated…wonderful stuff.

Now we live in a village in the Karoo called Nieu Bethesda, population around 70, and the nearest mechanic/garage/workshop is found in a town called Graff Reinett which is a 45minute drive depending on if you stick to the speed limit or not…problem…how do you drive a car that will not allow itself to be driven due to the immobilizer playing up. Help is at hand in the form of a man who goes by the name of Kemp…one phone call later and the hood of the car is up…the alarm is shouting out for all to hear…the man looks at wires…shakes his head…ends up looking all over for the small computer that has now taken control until finally…we find it, but now we have a problem.

The problem being that my devious Father had done his own modification to the system…he had put in three booby traps insuring that there was no way to override this immobilizer or alarm and by now the noise is threatening to drive us all crazy…but never underestimate the power of the human mind or the inventive thought. After scratching his head and remarking more than once on how clever my Dad was the man called Kemp asked me if I had a light switch.

The light switch was wired up to the starter…the alarm wire cut…and for now, until I can get into civilization and get the alarm sorted out this car now starts with the flick of a light switch…amazing you say…well I’ve never seen anything like this before…the only drawback is that the car battery has to be disconnected when not in use but who the heck cares…the car can start and be used.

In my novels I use the term…”n boer maak n plan”…well I saw that in action last night and it amazed me at the initiative that was used to bypass the problem and I take my hat off to Mr. Kemp.

Well that is me done for today…I’m going out for a drive on a wonderful Karoo morning…feel the sun on my face and feel the engine purr under my feet. Take care out there and remember there is always a way when there is a will to succeed…oh yes and one more thing…you never know what is watching from the shadows.

God Bless you all.

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Bloodied but Not Down

Hi All,

I might be bloodied but I am certainly not down and out…in fact my resolve and ambition to make it in the world of writing and publishing is even greater now than it was when I signed my first contract for Blood Moon over Africa.

Life is really funny, and what I have done is step back…take a long hard look at how the last year and a half has gone and realized that some people are equipped to deal with an author who is breaking through the ice barrier, an author who gets five star ratings and awesome reviews and some are not geared up to take on that kind of responsibility no matter how well they treat you…the work load is just too much and what happens…the author suffers in the end and is left hanging not knowing how or what his or her books are doing out there.

A simple sales report would do the trick…it keeps the author in the loop which is where he or she belongs…after all it is their work.

Funny thing, books…they cost to be translated into another language…and I’m sure that before a publisher takes that plunge they make sure the author is selling…or else they are taking a huge risk or know something the author is not aware of.

Just to put it out there…I have no hard feelings towards the publishers, after all they are only human, and humans also make mistakes…I wish them all the best for 2017 as well as all the wonderful authors they represent and staff…you were all really great to be a part of…Thank You.

Anyway the purpose of this blog is to let you all know that although I have had no communication from my publisher since the 27 September 2016 regarding my status or position with them I have been informed by the awesome Readers Gazette on Twitter that it would seem as if all my published books have been withdrawn from Amazon, Smashwords etc etc…but not to worry dear readers and supporters, plus all of you who love Piet van Zyl…there are four novels that are unpublished plus my latest one is almost ready to be sent off for proof reading to France…so there is plenty still to come.

The titles never published are as follows.

Man in the Shadows…a stand alone

Whispers in the Wind….Piet van Zyl Adventure

Shadow of the Leopard….Piet van Zyl Adventure

Silent Hunter….Piet van Zyl Adventure

Still to come…Fangs of Fury…a stand alone

Anyway you take care out there and thanks for joining me. Remember…you never know what is watching from the shadows.

Never give up on your dreams…reach for the stars but keep you feet on the ground…dreams do come true…watch this space.

God Bless you all.