March/April 2023 Newsletter Reprint – What do Pittbulls & Dung Beetles Have in Common?
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Helloooooooooo.
So thrilled you’re joining me on my camo jeep for a safari. I have so MUCH to share, so settle into your comfy seat and get ready for some divine animals and a bit of introspection.
Every month when preparing my newsletter, I think of one word that will capture the essence of what I want to share. This month it’s TENACITY.
As many of you know, I am a realtor as well as a writer. I’ve been in real estate for thirty years, practicing in VA, IL, TX and twenty of those years I’ve spent in FL. I love what I do and the people I’ve helped.
Since 1993, I’ve seen many highs and lows in real estate. I’m always game for flying by the seat of my pants, but all too often that seat’s been threadbare, and sometimes when the property market’s tanked, I am left with no pants at all. (Purely a figure of speech :o)
Although when my phone is hushed and buyers and sellers are silent, I say “How glorious! Time to write!” and mean it with all my heart…until reality sets in. You see, right now, writing nowhere near pays my writing bills let alone those pesky life bills.
For two years I’ve been working on my new time travel, historical, women’s fiction, second chances, paranormal series, Time Flies, based in part on my experiences an air hostess for South African Airways.
I considered launching the prequel – a full length novel – Timeless Beginnings – in the traditional way, but the vision that came to me, lit up on the drive-in screen of my mind and went like this:
Invisible hands stuff two years of hard work into a ginormous, gaping mouth. Gobble. Gobble. I’m horrified, but I can’t look away. I watch my shiny new pages turn a sickly yellow, then stare helplessly as my reams of words are pushed into the belly of the hungry, on-line retail beast…destined to never again see the light of day.
From sparkling new to obscurity in a flash of a giant’s gold tooth.
What to do? Nobody wants to be the pimple on the arse of an elephant.
I investigated Kickstarter and confess, I felt delightfully energized. This crowd collecting paradigm really appeals to me. It’s intended not just to nurture readers, but to involve them.
I’m ridiculously excited to introduce you to Lucky van Niekerk, former air hostess, reluctant psychic, sworn hermit who, in a moment of madness, posts on a Facebook group for airline crew who flew during the 1980’s: “If you had a weird dream in the crew rest of a 747…and it still haunts you, email me.” Now four hosties, virtually strangers but for the airline life they shared decades before, are about to arrive on Lucky’s doorstep. They all have high hopes of formulating a plan to find the soulmates they dreamed of in the crew rest of a certain 747. Will they agree to Lucky’s wacky ways to find these illusive soulmates? Or will their centuries-old baggage stop them from flying high?
If my prequel, Timeless Beginnings, has a successful launch, I vow to launch the rest of the series Time Flies – on Kickstarter. Five novels – one for each of the former air hostesses on a passionate quest to reconnect with their centuries-before soulmates they found in their dreams at 36,000 feet.
Tenacity keeps me hanging onto my real estate license in slow times; tenacity keeps me believing that one day my books will pay for themselves; and tenacity is a strong theme in Timeless Beginnings.
Now! Let’s get down to animal business. Nature teaches us so many things…including that TENACITY pushes us to do more than we thought we were capable of!
UNTAMED!
In War Serenade, Pietro watches over his friend, Antonio, who is serving time in solitary in the neglected WWII POW camp in South Africa. The Hole is a tiny, windowless brick hut, designed to drive a man mad. From outside The Hole’s fenced enclosure, Pietro sings to Antonio through the night, to assure his friend he’s not alone.
Pietro fights hard not to go mad himself under the masses of African stars. They remind him how impossible his quest is. How will he bridge the razor-edged barbed wired, heavily fortified perimeter of the POW camp, to get to Iris – his soulmate?
But then he catches sight of a dung beetle preparing a feast one hundred times its own size, for the lady-dung beetle of his dreams. The beetle’s vision of her impatiently tapping her beetle-foot as she counts the seconds on her biological clock fuels his tenacity and gives him the strength he needs.
Fascinated, Pietro watches the little creature using the stars to navigate as he obstinately defies all logic to accomplish the seemingly impossible. And Pietro’s tenacity is ignited.
He will find a way to get to Iris, whatever it takes!
UNEXPECTED!
Every time someone leaves a lovely review, I feel so grateful.I am always humbled by your generosity.As a word addict, your positivity makes every single word I write worthwhile.
Here is an unexpected and glorious new gift.
@phw6570 Recommended this book: Zebra. Friends by Fate. Enemies by Destiny.
“Rarely have I finished reading a novel where, upon turning the last page, I let out a soul-deep, satisfying and blissful sigh. This story was incredibly moving, gritty, fast-paced, and heartbreaking. The range of emotions this author evokes in the reader is amazing. Jill Wallace has captured the mysterious and compelling mysteries of South Africa in her writing, and the tracing of the life of these two boys-to-men is compelling and rewarding. This book elevates one to a nobler existence, encompassing the human spirit’s capabilities and shortcomings. Definitely a must-read for anyone who has a Mind Brownie and New Aunts to memorialize life’s passages.”
Read Zebra Today!
Audiobook Sale Alert
WAR SERENADE AWARD-WINNING AUDIO
Now on sale for $10.99 on Spotify, B&N, Chirp, Apple and Google Play.
Enjoy an epic romance for the ages.
UNFORGETTABLE!
Here’s a wonderful video on our safari, to remind YOU, never to give up!
So, on the cusp of Time Flies the prequel: Timeless Beginnings making her debut on Kickstarter, I ask you to… WATCH THIS SPACE for ETA!
Call it guts or chutzpah; spunk or true grit; resolve or moxie – its Tenacity –and without it, we seldom get what we want.
Discover YOUR tenacity today and take hold of your heart’s desire.
I’m giving it a whirl. Let’s do it together!
Then, Clear the skies for us to fly in. I have your wings.
Cheers, Cheers,
Jill
P.S. Would you like to stock your tbr pile?
Find your next great read here:
