June was a quieter month, though I still had time to travel to Fiji for a few days where I met the President of Fiji. I’ll keep it short, and I’ll not be introducing any authors this month. Though I hope you enjoyed reading about them and downloaded some of their stories.
Framed, Book 5 in the Andy Flint Series is having a final critical set of eyes go through it. I’m hoping my biggest critic doesn’t come back with too many areas for me to re-plot or re-write. Once I’ve made those changes, then I’ll be sharing with you details on the cover and what the story is about.
While Framed has been out of my hands, I’ve been working on Book 6 in the series. My working title is The Silent Revolution, though I’m not sure if that works. So once Framed is launched, I may ask for opinions on the title and some recommendations (once I share with you the high-level plot). The interesting thing about The Silent Revolution is that in earlier newsletters I reached out and asked if anyone wanted to add their name to a character in the story. I had quite a good response and wrote to those who will appear in the story, telling them what part their character would play. Unfortunately, not everyone can be a good character and on the winning team, so I was pleased that all those newsletter readers took the news well. I will keep them updated on their named character and share with them details on their part in the story.
I’ve completed the plot for The Silent Revolution and I’m well into Chapter 6. I can see this being quite a long read as the story has a lot going on within it. What I can say is that Andy Flint stays firmly in the United States. No gallivanting off to Europe, South Africa, or Russia. I think by the end of Framed, he’s had enough of being away from home and encountering the dangers he faces. But hey, it couldn’t happen in America, or could it?
As I mentioned earlier, June was a quiet month. In New Zealand, June is mid-winter and having two Public Holidays gave two enjoyable breaks. Though the weather had been very wet and when it wasn’t wet it was cold, so I had to order more firewood for the wood burner. Yep. Our home is heated by a wooden fire. Which meant I had a full day stacking the firewood after it had been delivered.
I popped over to Fiji for my day job from Sunday to Wednesday and while there hired a car to drive between Nadi and Suva and back. I’ve been told that it’s a very scenic drive from about halfway to Suva as the road skirts the sea where you get to overlook several golden sandy bays. However, when I drove from Nadi to Suva, there was a severe rainstorm, complete with thunder and lightning, which made seeing the road a challenge, so I ended up 100% focused on the road. The way back the following day was just as fraught, but for a different reason. I had to get back to the hotel’s medical facility before 4pm to take my COVID test before they closed, and the timings were tight as our last meeting in Suva overran. This meant no time to stop or take in the views as again I was focused on the road.
So, what’s it like driving in Fiji?
The first thing what struck me was the speed limits. Out of the villages and cities, it was 60 or 80kmh. However, most people drove 10kmh slower than the speed limit. Which I found infuriating when needing to get back for my COVID test.
Then, there are lots of stray dogs running around, so you need to make sure there’s not one of them bolting in front as they don’t appear to care.
In terms of the road conditions, there are miles upon miles of roadworks and little activity at the sites. This means the road surface goes from tarmac to stone chippings and stays like that. At the end of the roadworks, they rarely put the speed limit sign to show the speed limit on exiting the roadwork zone. Which can see you driving at 30kmh for a few miles before you realize it and put your foot back down on the gas only to meet up with a queue of traffic which continued to drive at 30kmh.
Then there are potholes in the road. Not just one or two, lots of potholes and not just in the roadwork zones. Again, this means the driver must focus on the road ahead or risk a puncture, damaged suspension or worse. Another observation was the speed bumps on the main highway used to slow the speed of the traffic down. As the main highway had many villages and settlements along it, there were speed bumps on the entry to a village, on the exit to a village and also anywhere near a school. I completely understand why this is done and I see the need to protect pedestrians from fast-moving vehicles. It’s just another observation.
| We had a couple of business meetings in Suva and that morning there were several officials from the Office of the President in the hotel. I spoke with the head of the President’s security team, who confirmed he was to attend an event at the hotel that morning. Later that day, we were sitting in the hotel lobby when the President appeared and was heading for the exit. He saw me taking this picture and walked over, shook our hands to welcome us. It’s not every day you meet the President of a country. |
| I never knew that Fiji had bats. Walking to a nearby restaurant as the sun was setting there was a cacophony of noise, which I took to be birds roosting for the night. That’s when I saw lots of bats. They were HUGE. I took this photo and kept walking … I might have even picked the pace up a little. |
| My pre-booked arrival COVID test was clear, so I was allowed to either remain in Fiji without going into 7 days isolation or leave the country without issue. For me, I’d be leaving early the next morning on the 7:40am flight to Wellington. That evening we took a cab to the local harbour where we ate dinner at one of the many restaurants. The harbour was the starting point for many of the day trips for the tourists. There were also several yachts at anchor and also in the small marina facility. It looked like many of the yachts were being used by people sailing around the globe from the national flags they flew. There were also three superyachts moored at the far side of the marina. Below was the view from our table. |
| Back in New Zealand, I’ve also been checking, clearing, rebaiting and resetting traps as part of the Predator Free initiative. This time, the traps had killed eight rats. No possums. Though someone had stolen one trap as it was nowhere to be seen. Well, I said I’d try to keep it brief, so that’s all from me. If you want to drop me an email, I can be reached at peter@peter-kozmar.com In the meantime, stay safe and stay well. |
| Peter Author of the Andy Flint Thriller Series |