Welcome back, Alan! Best regards to you and Di!

Randy & Sylvia

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(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Many thanks, Bill, Dirk, George, and MJ!

Happy New Year to you and yours!

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(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Happy New Year!

Hope 2025 is a healthy and prosperous year for all!

Just some info I received this week regarding two of my published novels.

Ultimate Escalation was selected as the bronze medalist in suspense-political for the 2024 Global Thrillers Awards.

Frozen Conquest was selected as the finalist (4th place) in action-adventure for the 2024 Global Thrillers Awards.

Frozen Conquest has moved from the slush pile to the long list for the 2024 Chanticleer International Books Awards (Global Thrillers). The short list should be revealed some time in late January.

Best regards to all, Randall

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(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Many thanks, Bill & Dirk. Hope you had a great Christmas and 2025 starts out with success for you.

Regards, Randy

Fantastic, Dirk! I laughed throughout.:)

Happy holidays to all!

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(20 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

jack the knife wrote:
Nathan B. Childs wrote:

Congratulations, Jack. How many published books does this make?

Thanks, Nathan! This will be my sixteenth, including three co-authored novels.

Way to go, Jack!  Hope you can do another 16!

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(20 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Many congrats, Jack!

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(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Many thanks Dagny and Doug!

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(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

George FLC wrote:

No problem, Randall. If all you did was to lose Internet for a while, then you've done alright for yourselves. I hope your wife is enjoying the weather!

Keep on writing.

George FLC

We initially lost power for 55 hours and it took another 76 hours for the internet to come up. It only lasted for two days before going down again. No damage at our house but a couple of neighbors had close calls with trees falling and just missing their houses.  Things are totally back to normal with loads of trees down in the area and a bridge is out. Two road needed some work before they could be used again. Could have been worse.

Regards, Randall

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(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hi everyone,

Sorry for not being around. Our internet went down again on 4 October and is still down. I finally received a hotspot in the mail (none available at any local stores within 100 miles) and just got back up.  Will do my best to catch up with everyone.

Regards, Randall

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(7 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Marilyn Johnson wrote:

Yes, Randy, for some reason I had forgotten you were so close to me in the Greenville area. I'm glad you were not more affected than you were, though 55 hours without power and 76 without internet are bad enough. My daughter is in Anderson, SC, and still lacks power and internet. But we survived, and that's what counts. Happy to hear you are safe and accounted for!

The daughter of a good friend of mine is in Banner Elk, NC, and no one has heard from her since the storm. Banner Elk was hit hard, and all the roads are washed out, and the phones and internet are down. But after days of not hearing from her, the mother has contacted Samaritan's Purse, and they are trying to get to the daughter's location and should have news tonight. We are all holding our breath.

MJ

Hope power and internet are restored for your daughter soon.

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(7 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

jack the knife wrote:
Marilyn Johnson wrote:
jack the knife wrote:

Thanks, Dags. Helene didn’t affect us, but the week before we got torrential rain from a tropical storm that wiped out many roads and bridges in my area. We thought we had it bad until Helene destroyed Asheville, in the western part of the state.

Happy to hear all is well with you, Jack. We're still digging out here in NE Georgia. We've got trees down everywhere, the roof is torn off our barn, a monster tree is blocking our driveway, and our pond is overflowing. A tornado tore the tops off a swath of huge oak trees in my back yard and toppled more than fifty of them. These trees are anywhere from fifty to over a hundred years old. My power was off for ten hours. My daughter lives only 15 miles from me, and her power is still off today, four days later, with no idea when it will come back on.

We have one grocery store in the small town where I live, and their computers are down, they have no incoming food because their home office is located in Asheville, NC, and their offices and trucks are underwater. So shelves in my town are empty, and this dock workers strike is not going to help us one bit.

Has anyone heard from Vern? He's in the western part of North Carolina where a huge amount of damage was done.

MJ

Glad to hear you're okay, Jack. We were without power for 55 hours and no internet for 76 hours. No damage to our house from Helene although it took me eight hours to clear up the debris, mainly small branches. Two of our neighbors lucked out when trees fell within a couple of feet of their houses. Other areas are still waiting for power. The destruction in NC is horrible!


So sorry to hear that, MJ. Mother Nature’s devastation, augmented by climate change. And we have another month - or more! - of potential severe storms. The threat is real, and all of us should have plans to escape if need be.

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(1 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Many thanks for sharing, Dirk!

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(2 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Belated Happy Labor Day to George and Bill!

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(2 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Many congrats, Alza! Well done!

Randy

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(10 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Many thanks, MJ!!

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(10 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Many thanks, George and Dirk!

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(10 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Many thanks, Bill and Dagny!

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(10 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hi everyone,

We're still getting unpacked after our move from Scotland to South Carolina but I hope to begin catching up on reviews this coming week.

Regards to all,
Randall

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(13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hi Marilyn,

Sorry to see you go, but understand you need to look after yourself. Hope things turn around for you.
Take care and best regards, Randall

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(7 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Sideman wrote:

Hi, Randy.

Do you think you'll be able to tolerate me that long?

Good luck on your move to South Carolina. i remember you mentioning that to me on our last PM. I hope you and Sylvia find significant happiness there. Wishing both of you nothing but the very best.

I'll be over this evening to revisit "Mission Yeman". I'll pick up where I left off and try to catch up over the next week or so. I remember how much I liked your character, Shatara.

Take care,

Alan

LOL! Of course.:)

All the best to you and Di.
Regards, Randy & Sylvia

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(7 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Sideman wrote:

Thanks, Dirk. It;'s good to be back. But the halls of TNBW aren't very crowded these days. Good for you for doing your part regarding your mother's care. My mother lived to be 90, and her mother made it to 99. So I might be around to irritate a lot more people before I'm gone!

Alan

Hope you make it to 100!

dagny wrote:

Another winner? No surprise there! You're an excellent writer, who deserves all the accolades your work receives!

dags smile

Many thanks, Dags!

Many thanks, George & Bobby.

Many thanks, Bill, Dirk, & Alan.