I am always itching to get back to writing after any holiday and this half term is no exception.


I have never been one of those writers who sit staring at a wall for long stretches of time. But sometimes I wonder if the sense of achievement they feel at the conclusion of a book is greater than mine. Is it all the more satisfying to metaphorically lay their pen down after a hard and ferocious struggle to compose their thoughts into words? Or do they feel exactly the same as I do?


The reason that this is on my mind is twofold. Firstly, the fourth Volume of The Owners will be released imminently. And secondly - when the kids do go back to school I have to write the ending to The Decision and then begin the long editing process [and this one requires an extensive edit] but it is the final home stretch.


The finessing of a work is not as difficult as visualising the concept in the first place or transposing those thoughts and ideas into words that other people can relate to...it is merely the gloss put on afterwards.


And when it is finished? What will I feel?


There is a strange sadness that accompanies the ending of any book. The author has to say goodbye and good luck to the characters and like a mother, stand back and watch them rise to the surface or fall flat on their face.


And there is a heartbreak in there too.


But most of all, like a fickle lover, there is a desire to move on to the next book, the next concept, the next set of new characters...


I'll keep you informed of my progress.  :)

A snippet from my latest book The decision.


This book is very different to The Owners series both in content and in writing style. In particular it will appeal to fans of Stephenie Meyer, as it has a strong love interest theme which blends and interacts with the plotline. Here is a little taster:-


“Oh!” I was unaccountably sad, as though he was leaving me already. I had no hold over him, no right to ask him to stay and yet I felt crushed at the thought that he was prepared to leave me at some future date.  


Funnily enough, I started this book years ago but had to abandon it to pursue something else. Only now that I have come back to it can I see so much more clearly where the story is going. It is hard hitting and reflects the world we live in today...not an easy thing to do in many ways.


I will keep you posted as to how it's getting on.


In the meantime I hope that The Owners Volume IV will be out in less than two weeks! Exciting times!

I am working now on my teen novel. It's very dark and reflects the world we live in today. There are times when it is funny and times when it is romantic but mostly its real. This is a book for the over 15's for a reason...


I also have a lot of exciting irons in the fire at the moment! Right now my lips are sealed but keep your eyes on this blog for when I am able to tell you what I hope will come through for me!


Until then - happy reading!


Carmen.

This will hopefully be the cover for The Owners, Volume IV: A New Epoch. Isn't is beautiful? It was specially created for me by the wonderfully talented Martin Darcy. Visit his Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/martin.darcy2?fref=ts.

All Change.

You may already be aware that The Owners Volume IV : A New Epoch will soon be published and appearing on Amazon and all the usual places. Volumes V and VI are also written and currently being prepared for publication, however I am now taking a short break from the Owners series.


There are a few reasons for this. One is that writing a ten part series without a break is very draining, another is that there are a few other stories and characters who are clamouring for my attention  and the final reason is that demand for me to write other genres is very high.


So in order to acquiesce, I am now working on a number of other projects, one of which is now almost a quarter done. This particular story is a departure for me as it is more thriller than anything else and is aimed at 15+ because of both content and language.


As an author it's hard not to feel for your characters. You want them to have an easier time in life than the story allows and it is no different for the main character of this book. Natalie is just a young girl who makes one stupid mistake...


But as we all know, one mistake can be one mistake too many!


Anyway as this was only a quick blog catch up, I'll leave you with a snippet from today's writing.


Taken from The Decision.
 


        The kiss when it came was the sweetest thing I could ever have imagined. A light feathery touch of lips upon lips, it was a promise of strawberries and sunshine and a guy at my side to share it all with.

Hi folks, things are too frantic to write a post right now so I'll leave you with this teaser...I have a really funny but true-life story to tell you when Christmas is over.

Until then Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !

And of course - Happy Reading as ever.

Carmen.

Before I tell you about my adventures in Redditch last Saturday, when I was doing a book signing event, let me show you this.

It is an open letter to the readers and comes at the end of Volume VI. I think it adequately conveys how I feel.

A word from the author.

I am very sad to say that this volume sees an end to the story of Jack, Georgia, Seth, Laurie and all the others.

I have tried to give each and every one of them their time in the sun, a little space to tell their own stories and I think it has been the making of them…

More than a few tears have been shed by me in writing these books and I will miss the characters dearly – they have become a part of my everyday life. Their voices sound in my head, their images flit before my eyes and I’m sure that they will remain in my heart forever.

But I wonder if you are left uneasy that you do not know how things will ultimately work out for them?

So just in case you do, I would like to reassure you that they continue to face their tribulations in life, as indeed we all do but from the end of this volume, their road becomes a little smoother, a little less fraught and climactic!

Volume VII will see some new characters arrive, so I hope you will join me in welcoming them and wishing Bon Voyage to the old ones we loved so well…

Goodbye Jack, Georgia, Laurie, Seth, Parm, Delilah, Eden and all you others. X  

Carmen Capuano.

Now to tell you about Saturday! 

The shopping centre was busy and there was a lot of interest in my books. Sales were high and it was lovely to speak to readers of all ages.

 

But that's not what I wanted to tell you about. What I want to tell you is far, far stranger...

First of all I was approached by some old friends whom I haven't seen properly in a few years as they were originally friends of an old ex-partner from twenty years ago. We exchanged pleasantries and then promised to meet up at Christmas.

Some time later, I had a further revelation.

Stationed as I was by the side of a broken elevator, I was addressed by a stunning woman who initially turned to me to enquire how she could get to the upper floor.

But on turning around to answer her question, I triggered a recognition on her part.

"Carmen!" she exclaimed. "Don't you recognise me?"

Now the truth is that I speak to so many people and in so many different places that although I often remember a face, I cannot always put a name to it.

But there was something about her which was incredible familiar!

It turned out that she was my ex-sister-in-law from over twenty years ago, when that same ex as mentioned above, had been my current partner.  

We had both been young women at the time and although once she revealed her identity to me, it seemed ridiculous that I should not immediately identify her, as we had been in each others' lives for eight years, it also seemed a ridiculously long time ago.

We talked and caught up on how life had been for us in the intervening years and there was a warmth between us that I don't ever remember feeling away back then.

It seemed that life had mellowed us both and the former rivalry that I remember so well, had crumbled into the dust of time.

And it made me wonder why we had ever been rivals in the first place!

With a melancholy sadness in my heart I watched her depart. She was a part of my old life and had no place in my here-and-now but it was strange to hear about the family I had once been a part of and no longer was. [There's a book in there - just wait!]

But the day was to get even stranger.

Some time after she left, a very ordinary but well presented gentleman approached me.

"You have some clairvoyance in you," he declared, eyeing me with his head cocked to one side as if peering into my very soul.

I didn't know at first whether he was referring to the plots within my books and how they could so easily come to pass, or whether it was something deeper.

"Well..." I responded unsure what to say.

"I know you do, because I have some too!" he said.

And you know what I thought? I thought ok, crackpot alert!

But then he said some things about me and my life which really made me wonder, because they referred to things which had actually come to pass.

So between seeing long lost in-laws and this man, I had a rather strange day.

I made great sales and had a good time but there was also that sense of the Ghost Of Christmas Past, courtesy of all my visitors and I began to feel the whole thing was more than a little spooky...

So this Saturday, when I am doing signings in WHSmith in Birmingham, if you once brought a cat to the vet's I used to work in, or bought one of my old houses, perhaps it might be best NOT to tell me...I might just freak out entirely and run away screaming.

Because if the Ghost of Christmas past keeps turning up, I dread to think what the Ghost of Christmas Future is going to show me!

 

Merry Christmas folks and Happy New Year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So sorry, I seem to have almost abandoned you dear readers but there has just been so much happening!

Tomorrow I am at The Kingfisher Shopping Centre in Redditch, signing copies of my books and chatting with readers.

It would be great to see you there but in the meantime here is a little bit I have just edited, taken from The Owners Volume 6.

“Little babies grow up Eve. It’s wrong and it’s immoral but it’s not the first time the human race has considered genocide and infanticide as a solution to what they perceive to be a problem,” Jack said sadly.

I will catch up with you next week and tell you all my news!

Until then - have a great weekend.

Carmen.

Did I actually tell you what my books were like? Somehow in all the madness, I'm not sure I ever really did. So here it is:-

The Owners series is a blend of Avatar and 2012 ... where dystopia meets utopia, with a tiny fraction of The Waking Dead thrown in for good measure.

Of course it's not really like any of the above in their entirety but it does have elements of them all. It is set in a world where the relationships between the characters are similar to those in Avatar - there is a mutual bond of love and respect, there is a life/world changing event which creates mayhem and upheaval as in 2012 and then there is the struggle for life after this event, hence The Walking Dead.

If you can't picture the blend of these three things, read The Owners...it will set your imagination on fire!


You are in for a real treat.

We're of to see the Wizard
the wonderful Wizard of Oz,
because, because, because, because,
because of the wonderful things he does!

Getting ready for my day of book signings at Avoncroft Museum. If you haven't already got my books [REALLY??? AND WHY NOT???] you have no idea what you are missing...

Scroll down and take a look at some of my reviews or even better yet, visit Amazon and read the reviews there.

Next week is a busy one again...is it ever any different I wonder? But I hope to be able to post a little just to keep you all in the loop.

There are also a variety of events planned but I don't have all the dates lined up yet. As soon as I do, I will post them here.

Have a great weekend folks! :)

Another review:-

 "Just wanted to follow up our conversation from yesterday and tell you how much I enjoyed the 1st book in The Owners series. It surprised me and kept me interested throughout. I enjoyed getting to know the characters. You are left desperately wanting to know how this bizarre owner/pet situation came to be... what the heck are the adult Eyons up to ....and how can the situation be resolved if at all!! Can't wait to read the next and find out more."

So what more can I say? If you haven't yet read The Owners series how are you going to be able to discuss it with friends?

Don't be left in the dark - get your copy today!

I continue to be surprised by the content and the characters in The Owners books. Even though it is I myself who writes them, there are elements of surprise in every twist and turn.

Do you remember me telling you about one of the characters who I had only just realised was a dangerously bad man? Well it turned out today that he met his match in a character who up until now was not a main player but rather a supporting one. Seems she was just biding her time, I guess.

And that's one of the things I love most about this series - every volume picks out the people it needs to tell that part of the story, so that in effect, we get to meet all of the characters at different stages in their lives.

I guess it is a bit like looking at our own lives, slicing out little periods discrete in time and examining who was important in our lives then and why. If like me, you have changed jobs several times, moved home, been married and divorced, you will see that your world was inhabited not with one set of friends or family but a multitude of different ones who all played their own parts.

If like many of my friends, you are fortunate enough to have been in a long-term stable relationship, perhaps you will be able to see how the dynamics of this has changed over time...

'Cos that's life - there is always change, even if you can't see it clearly at the time.

If you would like to have a chat with me about books, writing or indeed anything else, you can find me at the Science Fiction Family Fun Day at Avoncroft Museum on Sat. 16th November where I will be selling signed copies of the books and holding a creative writing workshop.

Toodle-pip!


http://www.avoncroft.org.uk/visiting-whats-on/events-programme/

Here is the very latest from The Owners Volume VI : Blood Sky

Perhaps because of the rapid beating of her heart and the icy fingers of dread which no doubt worked their way down her spine, her features seemed more defined, more entrancing.

Pity he would have to kill her in the end.

 

 

If only...

Ahhh...back to the trusty laptop for another chapter of The Owners, Volume VI : Blood Sky.

Last week I was too busy to get any writing done, having spent one whole day at a lovely school teaching creative writing to years 3-6 and another day doing book signings at the Women of the Year Luncheon and Awards Ceremony.

I had a fabulous time at both events and was lucky enough to meet some wonderful people and fantastic children. I was also amused to hear one little girl say to another when they were queuing up for my autograph, "my mum has all her books and she loves them."

The rejoinder to that was a swiftly delivered, "well so does my dad. He has all of them too!"

What made me laugh was the blatant fibbing going on. Now don't get me wrong, I am honoured that many people come back to me to tell me how much they enjoy my books but I am aware that I do not yet have the status or universal recognition of the likes of Ms. Rowling, for example. So the idea that both of these little girls' parents had my collection of books was ridiculous, if rather flattering.

Anyway onwards and upwards!

I will fill you in on how Volume VI is going throughout the week. In the meantime if you wish to drop me a line, well you know where I am.

Hope to see you at my next scheduled event, at the Dr Who/sci-fi event, where I shall be selling signed copies of my books and holding a creative writing workshop...be there if you dare ;)

WARNING!

Probably no writing today folks !

Got lots of housework and admin type things to occupy me instead but to be honest I' m kind of glad of the break. The chapter I wrote yesterday was so harrowing it almost carved out its number in my very soul.

This guy is a bad one - a real bad one and I hope to God that none of you ever meet the likes of him in real life.

The Owners Volumes I-VI read them if you dare!