May 2021 Newsletter Reprint

This is a reprint of the May 2021 Newsletter – to get the news before anyone else, make sure to sign up for my newsletter!

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Hellooooo again, and welcome to my Untamed, Unexpected, Unforgettable world.

I don’t mean to bombard you with emails, but I want you to know…TODAY is the day Athol’s and my baby is born!

Zebra, the novel, is released today!

Zebra comes in ebooks, print, and hardcover copies! You can find it on Amazon, Apple Books, Nook, Kobo, Scribd, and even more retailers!

Our collaboration on this book, started off with great excitement which turned into a butting of left and right brains. Athol’s pragmatism pummeled my imagination until Zebra evolved into his own personality and gradually, the story unfolded.

It was perhaps similar to having a child together – Zebra was created by two very opposite personalities coming together through desire, compromise and true love.

So, please embrace our newborn.

Tell us if you find ‘him’ worthy of your praise or if the characters enlightened you or gave you something to chew on, like biltong in the bush. Tell us if you enjoyed the glossary of South Africanisms in the back. Tell us if you loved Sipho more than Nicholas or Constance more than Billy Pillay.

Welcome aboard my open camo jeep, today! I bet the blue balloons shouting “Welcome” and “It’s a boy” tied to the back of the seats will baffle the baboons and excite the elephants!

So! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere we go. Balloons and all!

If you’re in one of those moods that makes you crave historical fiction—who doesn’t get into that mindset every once in a while?—then you might like this find: Before the Legend by J.U. Scribe, set in Ancient Greece. Not yet intrigued? Read this next line: “…On the day when Artemis cries, then the ashes come falling down.”

UNTAMED!

Things were so different growing up in the ‘50s, ’60s and ’70s. Children were to be seen and not heard. We had an obligation to our parents to be good—or at least for them to think we were. No matter how flawed they were, we were required to respect our mom and dad. It was our job. Sure, we didn’t ask to be born, but we didn’t dare mention that to those who put a roof over our heads. We were constantly reminded that there was no manual for bringing us up, so mistakes were bound to happen.

And here is a true Athol-ism not included as Jock’s story in Zebra, which sums up the difference between our generation and those that came after.

Athol: Dad? (Right hand presses down behind the ear as blood pours between his fingers.)

Dad: What the hell… What did you do? I’m busy with dinner!

Athol: Guest kid’s pellet gun went off by mistake and nailed me behind the ear.

Dad: I hope he wasn’t shooting animals.

Athol: He was a bad shot. No animals. Only me. (Grins to ease the tension. It doesn’t work.)

Dad: Go and fetch me the pliers from the workshop.

(Dad rolls his eyes and waits impatiently for 12-year-old Athol’s return.)

Dad: Not those, you clown! The long nose pliers.

(Athol scurries off, one side of his neck a mass of glistening blood and when he returns, his shirt is streaked red to below the ribcage.)

Dad: Do you think I have all night? Hold back your ear. NO! Don’t flinch! How the hell do you think I’ll get it out? There! It’s out. Go and get some gentian violet from the first aid kit and dab it back there.

Athol: Thanks, Dad.

Dad: (Growling.) And Athol… Next time?

(Athol looks at his father, more fearful for his last word than he is of the hole in his pellet-less skull, bleeding profusely.)

Dad: Duck!

UNEXPECTED!

A huge thanks to all my readers eager to wear one of Sandra Springs’ handcrafted jewelry pieces from A Gift of Love 29 – The Jill Wallace Zebra Collection!

YES! The answer to the question of who the two main Zebra characters are is Papin and Jock.

Well, well done, JENNIFER M. Look for an email from me shortly on how to claim your $35.00 toward a gorgeous A Gift of Love 29 jewelry prize. Yahoooooo!!

Enjoy, and do send a pic with you wearing your chosen piece of art!

UNFORGETTABLE!

There’s a new author out there, I’d love you to meet. Her name is Stephanie Harrell, and she reimagines fairytales from a very mature perspective.

Stephanie’s always loved to lose herself in the world of fantasy and romance. From a tender age she devoured books that allowed her to choose her own adventure. And when the endings didn’t satisfy her, she found ways to reimagine them so they titillated to the nth degree. Now she can do that liberally within her own novels.

Stephanie told me that love and superpowers have always fascinated her, and she dreamed of finding both as she grew up. Frankly, I think her dream has come true….

From her home in a storybook part of New England, she skillfully and passionately creates fantasy worlds, dreamy heroes and heroines, and writes kickass characters who entertain and shock the adult-size panties off us!

Here are Stephanie Harrell’s first two adult fairy tales you don’t need an imagination to enjoy!

A one-night stand, compromising positions, and an unintentionally discarded pair of the world’s un-sexiest underwear…With their hearts on the line, can Ashlyn and Dean overcome an evil stepmother and stolen secrets to find their happily-ever-after?

Fake Dating Mr. Prince is a standalone fairytale retelling that is part of the Curvy Ever After series.

Lyra struggles to fit in with a college full of fairytale creatures, challenging coursework, and magical mishaps at every turn. The last thing she needs—besides that pesky family curse—is the unnerving distraction of dark and brooding Cole.

With magic singing in her blood at an unfamiliar and otherworldly pitch, can she figure out the part she was allegedly born to play or will her new school be the death of her? Pick up Steph’s Song of the Reaper and find out!

If this old world is getting you down, escape into Stephanie Harrell’s worlds. They’re freakin’ spectacular!

Until Next We Meet…

On second thoughts, those balloons may need to come down before we enter the safari gates!

I know. I’ve never been the sensible one in the family and the joy of celebration makes me nuttier than usual.

Thanks for coming on safari with me! I’d be so grateful if you continued your journey in South Africa by picking up Zebra at Amazon or your favorite retailer.

Let’s meet again soon—you’ll recognize me, I’ll be the one holding a bunch of light blue balloons long after they’ve run out of air and wearing the inimitable glow of a new mother :o) which will do doubt remain, long after our “boy” Zebra, turns 4!

‘Til next time…

Cheers, Cheers!

Jill