Do you know how it feels to be INVISIBLE?

She's been invisible so long she doesn't even recognise herself...

Caring for her dying husband has made Fran invisible. She's just part of a system no one sees.

But when Jim confesses his secret, Fran’s grief is overwhelming. And the situation is worse than she could have imagined. As Fran struggles to come to terms with her new reality, four disparate people are brought together in love and determination to be a very modern kind of family.

Invisible is a searingly honest portrayal of modern life.

 

AutoAngels have their own radio show!!!

AutoAngels are delighted to announce that they now have a monthly radio show, hosted by Garage Talk Online. Carmen and Ben will be talking about AutoAngels episodes and all things automotive, and inviting listeners and guests to join in on the fun.

Auto Angels – Driven by Stories launches on Thursday 13 August 2026 at 12:30pm and will be broadcast monthly on Garage Talk Radio.

https://www.garagetalkonline.co.uk/.../auto-angels-comes...

 

News, News and More News

2026 has been busy. So busy in fact that we are halfway through the year and I haven't even updated this blog with all the news of what's been going on in  the last few months!

So are you ready for it? Here goes... The follow-up book to Cursed will be coming out soon. This was a book I was never sure I was going to write. I mean all books have their natural endings, but sometimes... and only sometimes, there is a further story to be told, another adventure to be had. 

That's how it was with Cursed. Constance had found and lost the love of her life several times over and the ending quelled the fire in my heart. Somewhat. But there was always the bigger picture waiting. 

I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't yet read Cursed, but suffice it to say you won't be disappointed in the follow-up, TRINITY, which will be out soon. To view Cursed. click here.  

I have also been busy writing new films and producing AutoAngels. If you haven't caught up with this great new show on YouTube yet, you are seriously missing out. 

In each episode we have a brand new story, a great human-interest narrative that drives our female mechanics to take on the car and fix it for free. Along the way there are some great hints and tips and a truckful of great viewing. Take a look at an episode here.

We were delighted to announce a few week ago that we have the full support of Shell behind us and we have some lofty ambitions to roll out across the UK within the next 12 months. This is us at Shell HQ in London.

As if that wasn't enough, I have been working quietly away behind the scenes to arrange the next Envisage International Film Festival as well as Birmingham Horror Film Festival and its associated Fear and Future Convention. I'm proud as punch to announce that this will now be held in partnership with Evolve Theatre and Dudley College of Technology, in July 2027. More news on that is to follow. 

Finally... I have been getting organised for our Stratford on Avon Film Festival which will be held on the 15th and 16th August at the Bear Pit Theatre. It promises to be as sparkling an event as last year's festival and we have some great films to show. 

So by now you can probably see why I have been so absent from here and I hope I have your forgiveness. I promise not to leave it so long next time!

Carmen x

*** COMPETITION TIME!!! ***

With so much going on, I thought it would be nice to host a competition to win a signed copy of one of my books and to include a personalised  message. 

To enter, head over to my facebook page and simply tag a friend, it's that simple. Good luck!

Finalists announced!

I'm thrilled to be announcing that AutoAngels is a finalist for this amazing award.

To be recognised for the work we are doing, and so soon after our launch is just amazing. Keep your fingers crossed for us! 

Come talk to me about my latest book releases.

Tickets can be purchased here or via Facebook.

 

Thanks to Solihull College and University Centre

A couple of days ago I did a talk at Solihull College and University Centre to a group of young filmmakers. Talking with them, their grasp of the industry was clear as was their enthusiasm, and I believe that their futures are bright. 

But there is no denying that this is a tough industry to crack. That's why our team at  Envisage International Film Festival, Birmingham Horror Film Festival and Stratford-upon-Avon Film Festival are so keen to promote student films and indie filmmakers. 

Keep your eyes peeled for our big news coming soon. 

College and school talks

In the coming months I will be popping up here, there and everywhere, as I give talks at a number of schools and colleges about writing, publishing books, writing for film and TV, and running film festivals. I'm absolutely thrilled to be encouraging and ushering a new generation of  creatives into the industry. 

People have a skewed idea of what working in this industry is like. Some think it's a never-ending barrel of laughs, like the blooper reels from films and TV series we see so often on social media. Some think it's a hard, hostile, dog-eat-dog environment, and others think it's all champagne, red carpet events and glamour. The truth is of course, a lot more complex. 

I personally have gone full circle, more or less. When I was at school I wanted to be an actress and so at eighteen I left for London and the glamour that supposedly waited there. I never imagined that all these years later I'd be working on the other side of the camera, and that in 2025 I'd be busier than ever. 

Sad but not sad...

        

Just James didn't win an award in its category at The Royal Television Society but I really didn't mind. 

To be nominated alongside three other animations from large, established and very professional teams was enough for me. One day Rodders, one day...

What's next?

 

There's a new book coming soon. Girl Displaced is a Young Adult romantic mystery and I hope you'll love it. 

Here's a little excerpt:

He looks up sharply. He hadn’t known that I’d seen Caelan then. I immediately wonder why that is and then almost just as immediately dismiss it. Why should meeting me be such a big topic of conversation between the cousins?

“I saw Caelan in the church grounds yesterday,” I say and watch how he tries to keep the surprise from showing on his face.

“He didn’t say.”

I feign nonchalance. “Why would he? I mean you barely know me.” The beauty of the English language is profoundly satisfying under the circumstances. He can’t possibly know if I mean ‘you’ as in him, singular, or as a plural covering both of them. Which is just as well, because I don’t know which way I mean it either.

“How much more of you is there to know?” His question is equally simple. Equally ambiguous.

I force myself to laugh lightly. “Not a lot really.” But we’re both aware that he didn’t mean it like that. His eyes travel to my lips and I think that at any moment he will kiss me…

So while you are waiting for this one, take a look at some of my other books you might have missed. 

To read a bit of Cursed for FREE click here.

To read a bit of any of my other books click here. Alternatively you can 

put my name into the search bar of Google or Amazon. 

AND MANY MORE...

Book Week, Scotland

I am absolutely thrilled and delighted to have been invited to be a part of Book Week, Scotland. I hope to see you there! 

 NEW BOOK, ‘Family: Life’, explores the duality of its themes with passion and rare insight. 

With her latest book, author Carmen Capuano takes the reader on a journey both exciting and insightful.  Delivering a heart-wrenching story about infertility wrapped inside a wider arc of themes of conservation and animal rights, Capuano has the reader swaying from one viewpoint to another, one heartfelt belief to another.

 Adapted from the screenplay of the same name by Paul F. Gorlinsky, Family: Life powerfully examines the desperate need for a child and weighs it up against prevalent contemporary beliefs.

“It was important that the reader was able to see all the intricacies of both sides of the story and also to experience it through the eyes of the main character of Barbara Lingorsky,” Capuano says. “Barbara’s desperate need for a child becomes all-encompassing and it’s this which drives her narrative.” 

Capuano is no stranger to conflict within her books and indeed the lives of her characters. Known for her perception and sensitivity to her characters and their situations, Family: Life promises to be no less engrossing and controversial than her other books.

Family: Life is priced at £2.50 (ebook) and £8.50  (paperback) and available now in print and ebook versions from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other reputable online book retailers.

One pair of primate conservationists desperate for a child. One perfect solution.

Primatologists Vlas and Barbara Lingorsky are fully aware of the importance of their work as research scientists in the Rwandan jungle. And of the danger it puts them in.

When poachers kill an infant gorilla, Barbara is forced into consideration of her biological clock and the memory of the loss of her own child. With Barbara now unable to bear a child naturally, events seem to take on a momentum of their own. It’s not too long before her longing for a family overflows into her everyday life, and the perfect solution presents itself…

If you enjoyed Planet of The Apes by Pierre Boulle or The Owners by Carmen Capuano then you’ll love Family: Life.

An audio reading of Split Decision...

With thanks to Wine & Words and the amazing Sarah Jane Rose. 

Listen to the interview and hear the book here. 

Note: the reading follows the interview. 

Happy listening. x

A new interview...

 Read the latest interview I've given here. Many thanks to Cecilia Lee. 

Author interview.

Introducing author Rita Lee Chapman. 

Rita is the author of seven books. Here, I have the pleasure of interviewing her. 

How long have you been interviewing authors? 

I started running interviews on my website in 2013 and have featured a different author each week ever since.

Why do authors interest you so much? 

It’s interesting to learn how other authors plan their writing, what they do when they are not reading or writing and to read excerpts of their work. 

Have you ever written anything yourself, or do you have any ambitions to do so? 

I have self-published seven books since 2012.  I have written a four-part series, the Anna Davies Mystery Series, a book for horse lovers and two crime mysteries.

Do you have certain expectations of how an author will be, due to the type or genre of writing they do? 

To an extent.  For example, I think mystery writers are usually quite different from those who write, say, sci-fi.

 Have you ever been disappointed with an interview and why? 

A couple of interviews contained very short answers which tend to come across as a little stilted.

 Do you feel that most authors are honest about themselves? 

I like to think so!

Have you ever wished that an interview went differently to how it did? 

Unfortunately I don’t get to speak to these authors.  I send them a list of questions and they answer the ones that interest them, so unless they are extremely abrupt I’m usually pleased with the outcome.

Have you ever discovered someone you thought you could be friends with, or conversely who you instinctively didn't like, from their answers? 

Yes, quite often I come across an author I can relate to.  They often find me through Goodreads or Facebook so sometimes we catch up again.

Having interviewed so many, you must get a sense of which authors will do well and which won't. Have you been proved right? 

There are some authors whose path I cross quite regularly but I don’t make a point of following the careers of so many authors!  Some of course are notable for their beautiful writing style.

And finally, who would you have loved to interview but can't (Dickens etc)?

I would have to say Colleen McCullough.  One of my favourite books is The Thorn Birds, which had a lasting effect on me. 

Can you tell us where we can read your interviews? 

Guest Authors are posted on my website at http://www.ritaleechapman.com

And anything else you want to add.

If any authors are reading this and would like an interview, please contact me through the website.

The Anna Davies Mystery Series:  Missing in Egypt, Missing at Sea, Missing in London, Missing in France.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083RQ2QDG/

 

Winston – A Horse’s Tale, for horse lovers from teenagers upwards

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G9QOZGE

 

The Poinciana Tree, a crime mystery

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XGGY2PZ

 

Dangerous Associations, a crime mystery

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1501062905

Goodreads!

 Hello readers. 

Are you on Goodreads? Have you even heard of the site? That's the problem. Since the world wide web was created, we have been inundated with information from one place and another. And quite frankly, there are times when it's simply baffling. 

Back in 2012 I put my first book on Goodreads then promptly ignored the site, until I was launching another book. Now, I think that might have been an epic failure (to borrow my kids' terminology) on my part. Goodreads is HUGE. 

It's like a constant stream of Twitter thoughts and ratings on books. And once you get the hang of it, it can be of great help to find your next great read. 

So if you're already on it, or want to be, look me up and send me a friend request here. 

Happy reading! 

Free audio drama...

 Funded by Arts Council and written by me - here's a little late Halloween Treat for you... Just click on the link.

Scream To Go Faster...   

Fiction versus reality

What a strange situation we find ourselves in: spring is here, summer well on its way, and we are confined indoors for fear of dying.

Meanwhile the very people we are counting on to save us, are packed like sardines into public transport, expected to do their jobs, exhausted, and without the protective equipment that could ensure their safety - the world really has turned on its head.

There are a lot of phoney soothsayers around, telling all and sundry that they or someone else they know, prophesised this, that it is God's will, that it's all in the great plan. Believe that if helps you - I'd personally rather stick to the science.

But whatever your beliefs, there are some things that are undeniable. One is that all of us are going to suffer some loss - a family member, a friend, a colleague... The other is that our world will be forever changed.

There are some fears that don't just ever go away - the bogeyman under the bed, the mad axeman in the woods... Covid-19 will remain in our collective conscience long after it's claimed its last victim. Like the bogeyman, it will alter our perception of what's safe and what isn't. Probably forever.

When I wrote The Owners series and in particular Storm Clouds and the subsequent volumes, it was this sort of scenario I had in mind.

Set in the almost present, it depicted a world in panic over a series of devastating superstorms and the damage to the whole structure of civilisation which ensued. But more than that, it was a tale of humanity - of the people who were elevated by their situation and of those who used it for their own selfish needs. Isn't that exactly what we're seeing now?

Of course Storm Clouds is an apocalyptic tale and the volumes which follow it therefore, post-apocalyptic, and I hope with all my heart we don't follow that into reality but the motives of the people in my stories and in real life are the same...

Keep safe everyone and please be respectful and considerate. And hopefully we'll come through this together.

Happy reading. xx

The Pros and Cons Of Being A Writer - Part One

The reality of being a writer is usually far from what people expect.

Generally, people assume that it's a glamorous job, that my days are filled with excitement, my evenings star-studded. 

It's seldom like that. For me, anyway.

The path to being published or produced is a hard and rocky one. There is more rejection than acceptance, and there are times when you will want to quit, and times when the idea of quitting seems impossible. The publishing industry is a hard nut to crack and the TV and film industry is a daunting thing to attempt to infiltrate.

And I choose my words carefully. There are helpful people in  these industries but there are also many who will rip you or your idea off, at the slightest opportunity. 

Most days, you will tread the slim line between quitting and persevering at least forty or fifty times... depending on what your latest review has come back saying; whether your agent is free to take your call or not; and generally, whichever way the wind is blowing...

From this, I think you will get my point. In an up and down world, being a writer is one of the most fragile of mindsets you can possible hold and not go totally insane (if you're lucky, and if you have people at your side to hold your feet on the ground).

So let's take each point one at a time. 

DREAM  - well you'll have plenty of those. Both in the sense of actual sleeping dreams and hopes and aspirations. 

Of the actual sleeping dreams, expect these to be peppered with all your fears and anxieties, not only about your own life, but about everything and everyone you encountered that particular day. 

My dreams are so vivid that often I wake up, convinced that the world really has been taken over by aliens; that I can fly; that I did win the lottery; that I've entered another reality… etcetera, etcetera...

These dreams have to be taken with a pinch of salt, and unfortunately, although they might have seemed riveting when your unconscious brain was rolling them out on the widescreen of your sleeping inner mind, they will be so riddled with plot holes and weird inconsistencies, that there's no way they will make interesting books or films. 

So dreams are not the lazy way into writing. 

As for the sorts of dreams that are hopes and aspirations… well these can also be problematic. 

It's possible that you will be  a billionaire upon the launch of your first book. Possible - but highly unlikely. 

What you might be, is a few pounds better or worse off, depending on your publishing situation. 

Readers will not flock to your door, demanding more of the same... indeed your readers many not even leave you a review, even if they loved your book. 

That is of course, assuming that any readers manage to stumble upon your book in the first place. There are now millions of books for sale on Amazon, with the growing popularity of the idea  that everyone has at least one book in them. 

You can call me a pessimist if you like, but I stand by my belief that there are many people who don't even have one book in them, let alone more. 

And why should they? We are all different and  our experiences within life are all different, ergo why should we all  have the same story telling skill?

So when it comes to hopes and aspirations, being grounded is the key. 

If you want to write, you must ask yourself why. And you must be truthful in your answer. 

If it's to get famous, then forget it. If it's to give yourself enjoyment and perhaps spread that enjoyment to others, then maybe test the waters. But don't ask your family's opinion of anything you write. They love you, so can't be objective. 

If, on the other hand, stories and characters burn bright inside your mind, then you really have no choice but to write and let them out. 

So, before you put pen to paper, think hard - it may just save your sanity!

Next time we'll cover Not A Real Job, and Connecting With Others. 

Happy reading! x

Just a quick hello...

At the moment I am frantically busy finishing off three very different film scripts - I promise I'll tell you all about them, as soon as I can.  

What I can tell you, is that not only are they different genres, but they are vastly different settings, with one set in a large city in China, and another set in Birmingham. 

So, back to work for me after the half term and my strange virus. 

Have a wonderful week, everyone.