Welcome to a “Peek Into My Week” for the new year, a behind the scenes look into the (I hope) noteworthy events in my past week – January 10, 2022!
Here then, are some things that happened this past week:
News About Writing & Publishing:
The audiobooks for “Prodigal Sun” and “Opsaal” are now in review on ACX for release on Audible! Release should take place in the next week or so, and I’ll be sure to let you know when it is! Meanwhile, Brandon sent me this message he received from Darla Middlebrook, my most prolific audiobook narrator:
“Brandon & Christina, While working on #6 (HIGH STEAKS), I am finding that the emotions that Christina’s writing evokes really get to me. Hoping that I convey them well enough that the listeners feel them too.
For example, in the section that I have labelled as chapter 29 ( “We Mustn’t Lose Our Heads”), as I review it for corrections, I find myself grinding my teeth and really hating Col. Francis. And in the section that I have labelled as chapter 37 (“Hunting Vampires”), I found myself laughing so hard at Landry’s and Smythe’s reactions to Marla, that the section needed to be recorded over again three times because I couldn’t keep a straight face.
I’m really enjoying Christina’s work. Hoping I can work on the continuation of this series when it becomes available. Darla.”
The “High Steaks” audiobook will also be available soon! Meanwhile, I better get on with the rest of the Quantum Series!
Other News:
As I explained previously, I’ve sold my old Beetle with a view to getting a modern replacement. Suffice to say, I was finally looking at buying my very first ever new car! I decided to put down at least a 50% deposit to keep the monthly payments as low as possible, and in order to do this, I had to augment the amount I got for Dolly with whatever loose change I could lay my hands on. This necessitated a purge of white elephants, obsolete or unused items taking up closet, garage, basement and attic space at home – and therefore, a pretty busy, ongoing Facebook marketplace garage sale! I’m happy to say it went very well!
In the meantime, however, I had to perform one last maintenance task on Dolly, that is to replace the clutch cable! The old one decided that now was a good time to snap, just to make life more difficult and greasy for me than it absolutely had to be, as though out of spite! I could hardly be expected to get the old girl up the ramp of the car-carrier without a clutch, could I? Nevertheless, that last dirty job done, and satisfied that all was in order, I sent the old car on to its new owner (who has much more dosh to lavish on her than I do) with a clear conscience and a hefty sigh of relief on Wednesday! Bye-bye Dolly…
That done, I started to do things I actually wanted to do again, such as to clean up and reorganize the garage! You see, having had old cars like Dolly for so long, what was intended all along to be a garage had evolved into a rather cramped garage-cum-spare-parts-store-room-cum-workshop! Now that Dolly has gone, and I got a new car I don’t plan to have to do anything mechanical on, I have no need for spare parts shelves cluttering up the garage space! A few years ago I also relocated my workshop from the corner of the garage to the other end of the house. Now that I’ve broken down the shelves and moved all that stuff out, there’s so much more space in there! A lick of fresh paint lies in the future too, I can assure you!
Last Thursday I took an Uber to the nearest Mahindra dealership and put myself down for a brand new Mahindra KUV 100! It was also my first ever Uber experience, and I must say service was quick, efficient, and I never felt the least bit worried about anything. Due to having a few things to do around town, I needed to take three Ubers that day. The drivers were all no-nonsense types who got me where I wanted to be, the costs fairly reasonable, some of them being more talkative than others! At Kelston Motors, I was pleasantly surprised, because instead of buying the bottom of the range model I’d expected to, I was able to afford the model above that one! That said, by Friday afternoon, I was summoned to collect my brand new red 2022 Mahindra KUV 100 K2+ #Dare! That was so quick that it took my insurance broker (who insisted he was certain they’d only be ready for me “by about Monday at the earliest”) completely by surprise!
Wooow! I am so blown away by this car – and I’m sure the photos convey that! Not only is it loaded with goodies like fuel injection, aircon, ABS, EBD, ABC and XYZ etc. but it drives like a dream! On Saturday Kay and I spent almost the entire day driving around sightseeing – and the car is so light on fuel! I also have to keep my eye on the speed because she keeps wanting to run away with me! She’s an eye-catching “flamboyant red” – just to suit me, don’t you think? I wore my loudest pants specially for the occasion, after all!
With that, I’m all out of news for this week! I wish you all a wonderful, restful day, a happy new year – and until next time, keep reading!
