Hello, friends and fans!

Welcome to my 57th monthly newsletter!

Pull up a chair, let’s chat! 

Let’s take a look at this months’ news!

August was, if nothing else, an interesting month. I got a lot done – just not in the writing and publishing field unfortunately, but as a writer living in the real world having real life responsibilities and things hanging over my head that just need to get done, that simply couldn’t be helped! That said, I still have some items which should be of interest to you!

A Mish-Mash Of General News

Over the last 18 or so weeks, I’ve been putting out weekly “A Peek @ My Week” articles covering each week’s noteworthy events and points of interest.

Here’s a quick look at the highlights:

The weather has been a bit of pain in the ass for me over the past month, with Dolly my 60 year old bug and only daily transport, having leaky windscreen rubbers which need to be replaced. After an altercation with a work colleague about undercover parking (see The Hard No in A Peek @ My Week #15) I set out arranging the fitment of a set of new front and rear windscreen rubber seals to solve the leak problem. I got a quote from a workshop known to me, and paid them for the job – and then waited the next three weeks while being fed one excuse after another about supply chain interruptions etc. In the meantime, nothing happened – it still continued to rain on and off throughout the month, and I resorted to making one car cover out of two and a plastic building sheet! To update you on that point, I waited until September 1 for them to actually install the things (and am on my way to get that done later today – I’ll let you know how that went later!)

Also during August, I was informed that “African Assignment” and “A Way Of Life” are still in editing at my new local publisher! They’ve gone through the publisher’s own formatting and editing process and subsequently sent to external editors – not once, not twice, but thrice! Perhaps I’m just impatient because the more time is spent “editing”, the less time they will have to generate income before by first scheduled payday in May next year! Also, since they’ve only been working on these first two titles (presumably working alphabetically, starting with “A”) I’m starting to wonder how many books of mine they plan on releasing per year? I have over 30 titles after all, and if they’re going to do just two annually, it’ll be 15 years before they’re all out – by which time I’ll have a huge backlog of new titles! Anyway, I’m sure there will be answers evident in the near future. As always, I’ll keep you informed about that!

Also, I have some news about the next title in the Quantum Series appearing soon in audiobook format!

Anyway, let’s get to it and take a look at the usual list of goodies!

Current Writing Projects 

I’ve still been working on “Sentinel” and “The Song of the Drillipede“, and to be blunt, it’s been difficult going over the past month. I’ve had a lot of interruptions, but at least while the progress is slow, it is happening!

Thanks a stack for your support – it means a lot to me that there’s so many of you all still here with me.

Videos

You’re welcome to browse through the videos on my YouTube video channel! Thanks to Brandon Mullins from Moon Books Publishing, there are a few new book trailers up there as well!

Publishing

These are the new titles I’ve published in 2021 so far! The first 3 are academic papers, but I still have a few new fiction works in progress and should finish some during the year!

New Releases:

After the three academic papers I put out early this year, I also released the new updated Portfolio 2021, as well as a updated second edition of “The Galaxii Guide To The Terran Space Fleet“. Both are free items for your information and enjoyment.

Audiobooks

I have 5 audiobooks available on Audible and Amazon! Click the links in the slideshow below to view titles available as audiobooks.

The new audiobook for “Black Sunrise” narrated by Darla Middlebrook was released in July and she’s already nearly finished recording book 2, “The Time Saving Agency“! At this stage it looks likely that Ms. Middlebrook will be doing the next one as well, and I’m looking forward to all these new releases! I also have to admit that I really like the new audiobook covers designed by Brandon Mullins!

Stay tuned for more new releases and updates!

Reviews

I have no new reviews to show you in this section this time, but you can see all my previous reviews here. If you would like to do a review of one of my books, please do get in touch!

Currently Available Titles

My books are available as eBooks, Paperbacks, and Audiobooks, and you can find them everywhere. Click the links in the slideshow below to view titles available in these formats.

If you’re still wondering where to find them in the format of your choice, you should read “Where To Get My Books – Specially For My South African Readers!“.

Communication

Below are links to a few of my most recent posts since my previous newsletter:

• Get Ready – It’s Time To Panic!
• A Peek At My Week! #18
• Have You Read The Galaxii Series Yet?
• A Peek At My Week! #17
• A Peek At My Week! #16
• A Peek At My Week! #15
• Have You Read The Quantum Series Yet? Why Not?
• Christina Engela’s Monthly Newsletter: #56 August 2021

Interactions

• Fan Mail, Reader Reviews & Honorable Mentions

I have the following awesome items to show you this month.

1. 1. On February 08, 2021 Endeleas, a musician, shared a quote of mine from book 1 in the Galaxii Series, “Blachart” in their YouTube video release for “Eon 16“!
   2. The Free Hugs Project shared a quote of mine in their video on their YouTube channel on Dec 30, 2016!

   3. Entertaining romp through space!

      “The classic tale of a hero who doesn’t intend to be one. Engaging and fast paced… the speed of light is not a challenge to these space faring pirates and the people out to chase them. Took me awhile to figure out the title… but it added a layer to what I took away from the book. Overall, a great entry to my space opera collection! I received this audiobook for free in exchange for a review.” Diane Reynolds on “Blachart” audiobook on Audible, 07 November 2020.

   4. On the morning of 31 August, while I was checking out the back-end of my website, I discovered a message left for me on the 18th of August. Unlike most of the time, where it turns out to be spam, this was a lovely message from Carol, which I’ve included below:

      Good Morning Ms. Engela,

      I would just like to say a quick word of thanks! As a youth services librarian and educator, I’ve been running a fun writing workshop for 12-15 year olds during these times of remote learning, and thought you might enjoy hearing that we were able to get some great use out of your post, ‘Some Great Resources for Writers’ writers’ and the links you’ve listed there. We were even able to use some of this information for our most recent group project! Thanks so much for sharing!

      I hope you don’t mind, but one of our youngest, Anna has also asked me if I could share an article that she and her mother found together on writing for film and theater, which includes a great breakdown on understanding the importance of setting, writing for different kinds of stage productions, how to write in a way that translates to the screen, etc.

      I’ve included it below if you’d like to review! We noticed you don’t have this one listed, but Anna was actually the one to bring up that this could be something you might like to include for other young writers who could also be coming across your information and have an interest in becoming a script or screen writer some day, like Anna! If you find you are able to use this one, would you please let me know?

      We’re meeting tomorrow virtually, and I would absolutely love to surprise Anna if you’re able to do so – I’m hoping to keep spirits up in light of what’s been happening across the country this past year, and I think it would make her day to know she was able to ‘pay it forward’ (we’re pretty big on this principle in our children’s library group) and maybe even show her mother her contribution if it ends up being included!

      christinaengela.com/some-great-resources-for-writers/

      Thanks again for all your help here Christina,

      Carol https://www.theaterseatstore.com/blog/writing-for-theater-film

      I sent the following reply.

      Hello Carol and Anna!

      Firstly, I must apologize for my late reply – sometimes I don’t see all the notifications from my website right away, but I’m glad I discovered your message while doing some website maintenance this afternoon! I do hope it’s not too late?

      Thank you so much for your message – and I’m very happy to hear that you found something useful in my article! I’ll be updating it again soon and I’ll definitely include the link you sent in the update!

      I was always told that writing is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration – and I have to say that’s very true! Best of luck Anna, with your pursuit of being a playwright or scriptwriter!

      Thanks again for your message Carol and Anna, and for your input – you’ve brightened my day!

      I wish you the best in these trying and difficult times!

      Stay safe and keep well!

      Kind regards,

      Christina Engela

I display my Fan Mail & Compliments with pride, gratitude and humility. You’re always welcome to have a look.

• Hate Mail & Horrible Mentions

It seems I have just one item to show you this time! So little hate mail – I must be slipping!

1. 1. It’s sad to say, but sometimes fellow writers can be the biggest twats and bullies out there! On August 5 this fella left a comment on a share of my book “Blachart” (which is an actual surname BTW, pronounced “black heart”). Anyway, see for yourself… I’m done pandering to idiots.
2. I’m rather proud of my hate mail, and you can review my collection here – but be forewarned, don’t do it while eating or drinking, or you might choke while laughing!

3. Interviews

1. All my interviews are linked to from this page. If you would like to do an interview with me about my work, please do get in touch!

In Closing

Well, that’s all for this time, folks!

Thanks again for all your support, sharing, friendship and interaction!

As always, feel free to email or message me via Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn if you have any comments or questions!

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2021.