Christina Engela’s Monthly Newsletter: #83 December 2023

ChristinaEngela

5 months ago

Hello, friends and fans!

Welcome to my 83rd monthly newsletter – for news, writing & publishing updates & reviews! Pull up a chair, let’s chat! Let’s take a look at this month’s “stuff”!

This time I have news about a new book release for you, and an interview – but more about that a little later. First,

Some General News

December already? Wow, it was February just the other day! This year has really streaked by at warp speed, like a starship with its engines on fire!

And yet… it really doesn’t feel like we’re closing off another year, does it? I mean, there’s still a whole 27-odd days left before January, right?

Looking back at 2023, the year has been a lot of different things, as years usually are. For me it’s been a blend of weird, bizarre and even disturbing stuff – the ongoing war in Ukraine, the insanity of having to watch Israel commit genocide in Gaza while nobody lifts a finger to stop it… but there were also good things.

Like a dramatic although very gradual increase in my marketing reach on social media, finally becoming what’s called a “content creator” in November! Of course, it will be a while before that translates into being anything more than a cute badge on my Page profile, but it’s something… it’s progress at least, and I’m desperate enough to grab any straw that floats by.

Both Kay and myself have been dealing with various issues, including health, and finally it looks like both of us are steadily creeping out of the cloud of illness and pain and other health problems affecting us, to see daylight again.

Moving on from that, I have a few interesting items for you this time, and if you haven’t been following my weekly “Peek @ My Week” posts, these will probably all be “new” to you!

The biggest news item I have for you this month is that I finally completed “Freedom Inc” (book 1 in my new sci-fi adventure series, “Threaders“) – and yes, I’ve been talking a lot about that project, haven’t I? Well, after more than 6 months of near-obsessive work, the book is finished, published – and is now available on Amazon! At 100,180 words, “Freedom Inc.” is officially the longest novel I’ve ever written! Links are below where you can get the eBook and paperback versions of the book!

I also had an interview at the end of November with good friend, retired English professor and fellow indie author, Alex S. Johnson, and you can find the link to that below as well.

Moving on to other matters:

Publishing

My bibliography currently contains 46 published books, a few out of print by now, but mostly they’re available on Amazon.

Currently Available Titles:

My books are available as eBooks, Paperbacks, and in many cases also as Audiobooks, and you can find them just about 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!” (recently updated).

New Releases!

My most recent new releases in 2023 were “Underground Movement“, “Xanadu“, “The Last Hurrah“, a 1-act play called “The Traitor Loyal” and “Terror In The Outblack“. Also new in July 2023 are three guides offering background in-depth info, that were previously available in earlier forms! They’ve now been formally published for the first time: “The Galaxii Guide To The Terran Space Fleet“, “The Galaxii Guide To Corsairs & The Black Fleet” and “Come To Deanna!“. “Through Technical Spectacles: A Quantum Guide” is a completely new title released on 27 July for the first time, containing 86 illustrations for 26 different topics. “Freedom Inc” is my latest, and probably last book for 2023, released on November 25, 2023.

Audiobooks:

I have 22 audiobooks available on Audible and Amazon! Click the links in the slideshow below to view titles available as audiobooks.

You can view all of my audiobooks here.

Feedback & Communication

Reviews:

You can see all my previous reviews here.

Interviews:

I have no new interviews to show you this time, but all my interviews are linked to from this page.

Last Thursday an interview I had with good friend and fellow indie author, Alex. S. Johnson appeared on Dark Entries.

What The Readers Say:

All my reader comments are linked to from this page.

Videos:

You’re welcome to browse through the videos on my YouTube video channel! I’m not really the performing seal type, but I do my best! There’s also a 13 minute animated movie on there, called “Bang, Splat!“, based on characters and settings from “The Time Saving Agency“.

I created a video sometime during the blur that was the last week of November, for one of my dad Theo Engela‘s short stories that was dramatized for radio back in 1975. Unfortunately it’s the only one of those I have, so this is very much a one-off! I added the visuals myself. Enjoy!

Latest Articles:

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

Other Stuff:

There’s Spam In Them Thar Internets!

I must’ve pissed somebody off again, because someone decided I must need Jesus and it would be cute to sign me up for all the basement-level chrispy crap newsletters available, thinking it would be a major inconvenience for me if they bombarded me with their “message”.

LOL I’m an old hand at the internet – I think I know how to handle a little spam-bombing

The laugh’s on them though – it takes much more effort to sign someone up for multiple newsletters than it does to block them in your one mailbox

. Whoever they are, they must really, really hate me! Fortunately, having a good spam filter makes all the difference, doesn’t it?

Sadly, thanks to this idiot not having anything better to do with their time, I’ve had to remove my email address from my website, and revert back to the previous “contact form” set-up. Knuckleheads like these are why we can’t have nice things.

Quilter – an “odd lot”

The following complaint was submitted to Quilter on Friday 24 November:

“I am a so-called “odd-lot” shareholder in South Africa. Or at least, I was, until today.

On the afternoon of Friday 24 November 2023 I received a written notification from Quilter delivered to my mailbox which described a process by which “Odd-lot Holders” (described as lots of shares of 199 or less) would be repossessed by Quilter, and the proceeds paid to their Holders via EFT.

The notification was dated 18 September 2023, so it took more than 1 entire month to reach me via the postal!

The notification instructs Holders of “Odd-lots” of shares who do NOT wish to sell their shares to respond by returning the form via post, or by filling out a form on the Quilter website “by no later than 12:00 (SA time) Monday 6 November 2023” – a whole 18 days BEFORE I even received the notification!

I did NOT want to sell, so I immediately contacted the helpdesk number provided in the documentation by telephone (in Johannesburg) to ascertain exactly what was going on.

After a runaround process, and after speaking to two people who kept insisting that it’s my own fault for not meeting the deadline, one of them a supervisor, I was informed that it was too late, and that my Quilter shares had already been sold without my consent.

I was informed that the process was final, and could not be reversed. I was advised that I could repurchase my shares AFTER I received the reimbursement for the sale of those shares, which I believe was illegitimate and unethical, if not illegal.

I was given no guarantees that the “reimbursement” would reflect a fair market value of my shares, or that in repurchasing my shares I would not lose any value or share quantity in the process, or that there would be no “service fees” that would impair my ability to do so.

I would like to draw attention to the fact that the SA Post Office IS WELL KNOWN to be slow and unreliable – how could Quilter set up such an arrangement in good conscience, by which Holders failing to respond to instructions WHICH WERE “CONVENIENTLY” NOT RECEIVED IN TIME, would UNAVOIDABLY DEFAULT and be made to forfeit their shares against their wishes and without Quilter receiving their consent?

In addition, the envelope this correspondence was sent in is marked “Delivered by Royal Mail” and “by airmail” – but would’ve had to have passed through the local South African postal system on the way – even if it were sent from Jhb via JSE Investor Services (who operated the help desk) and strangely enough, has NO identifiable stamps anywhere on it to indicate this, which I find very “odd” indeed.

Could they not have used more modern, reliable means of communication with their shareholders? Email? WhatsApp? Phone calls? Smoke signals? Instead, they opted to use bloody snail mail, like it’s 1920… except in 1920, the SA postal service was actually reliable!

That said, if this is the process Quilter followed, I cannot believe that I am the only Holder of Quilter “Odd-lot” shares that this has happened to.

I am outraged. I am livid. This is totally unprofessional, it’s deceitful, it’s malicious, and it looks to be entirely deliberate! In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were.

The date for payouts of “reimbursements” indicated on the 18 September document is Monday 27 November. If I receive it, rest assured I will put every penny of it somewhere else.

Good riddance.”

Happy Holidays!

Like many of you, I’ll be going on holiday over December to spend some quality time at home – and practice for going on retirement! I still have 9 years, 1 month left to be exact (as of 1 December 2023) to get it right! What gives you the idea I’m looking forward to it?

That said, I’d like to wish you all a happy, fun, relaxing, peaceful and love-filled holiday season.

In Closing

Thanks again for all your support, sharing, friendship and interaction during this very trying – and utterly bizarre year!

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

Until next time, keep reading!

Cheers!

In spite of some of my books having been on Amazon since 2005, not one of them has yet reached 50 reviews! I would really appreciate your help on this!

Come on, leave a review – it’s free!

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