I have upset myself...

I have just had to write one of the most emotional chapters I have ever written and found myself in floods of tears, makeup streaked down my face, eyes red and nose running. Not attractive, I know!

But characters I have written are no less real to me, just because they take every breath and spend every waking moment on paper and are confined to the story they are written for. And some characters affect me more than others. I would imagine this is true for most writers.

Here's a little bit of the latest chapter.


    “Hush now Gemma,” Katie, patted the soft fur on the top of the animal’s head. And for one strange moment, one moment where time seemed to stand still and reality be caught in a vortex that she could neither see nor hear, but feel…it was not Gemma’s soft downy fur that was smoothed under her palm, instead it was soft but coarser hair, longer and shaggier and thicker.
    Katie closed her eyes and felt once more the velvet flank of
Roxie’s long muzzle, the arch of her forehead and the sweet spot behind the dog’s ears. Tears flowed unchecked and she wept for the loss of a dog that had been her companion, her friend and her very soul, for so long.

Now you know what I look like and can put a face to my words.

I have just had my sales reports for the first half of the year come through. :)

Glad you are all working your way through the series...happy reading and don't stress, Volume IV will be out soon and I'm already part way through Volume V.

What made me, me?

I am  watching Lonesome Dove and my heart is breaking just as much as it did when I was a child and I watched it first time around. The characters are so well drawn and portrayed but there is something more, that make this compelling viewing ...there is that emphasis on the Human Condition...that thing, that makes people tick!

I so want my heroes to meet their challenges and overcome their obstacles...I so want them to survive!

And I believe that there are real lessons to be learned from this seemingly facile tv programme...

Like for every act there is a consequence and every action provokes a reaction...

Mankind has always scared me. In fact the second syllable in the word itself, has always seemed to me, to be the very antipathy of what our sad species is all about... being kind.

We speak the words but do not carry out the deeds and believe me I am as guilty of this as the next person.

Please, please can we try a little harder to be kind to each other?

Because if we don't, there might just be no turning back! x

 

Emergency! Emergency!

There is now an emergency meeting being called over the UKs extreme weather conditions...I hate to say it but perhaps they ought to read The Owners, especially volume II : Storm Clouds!

Only a suggestion, mind!!!

I am beginning to think I may be a harbinger of doom!!!

Sex Education. Please!

I have just had a really funny conversation with my children who are 8, 10 and 13 respectively. They are all receiving sex education at school as per the National Curriculum and as a sensible, forward-thinking mother, I encourage them to discuss anything which concerns them, or which they feel may need more clarification.

It was for this reason that the following conversation took place.

Daughter : "Why would a boy want to have sex with you if he is having a baby with someone else? 'Cos he's already having a baby!"

Me : "It's not the baby that interests him!"

Daughter "OH!"

Eldest son : "Yes and anyway you don't want to have sex with anyone 'cos then you can get STDs and catch HERMES!"

Me : "Actually no! Hermes is a company who deliver parcels...I think you'll find you mean HERPES!"

Enough said!

Now you may be wondering why I am sharing this funny anecdote with you. So I shall tell you - Britain has one of the highest teenage sex rates and highest unwanted pregnancy rates worldwide. It is neither fashionable nor acceptable but it is true.

So talk with your kids and find out where they are at ...you might just live to NOT regret it.  And you might even learn where unwanted parcels come from... x

The Owners Volume V : Eyon Rising.

I am forging ahead with this book and am now on Chapter 7.

Here is a little bit I have just written.

The crowd had hushed when Eli appeared and feeling the mounting tension and astonishment, Eden had allowed her gaze to follow the direction in which everyone was looking.

If she lived to be a hundred and ten, she would never forget any single moment of what happened next. Eli had been hustled in to stand, bound and strung up like a turkey, in front of everyone assembled there.

And in that moment, in that precise nanosecond of time, Eden’s life became firmly divided into past, present and future.

Here is the latest professional review of The Owners, Volume I : Alone


Book Review:
Fast paced and gripping, while vastly divergent from my normal fare, this story held my interest and kept me reading. The ambitious storyline tackled world-building and characters with equal success, providing references that were easy to relate to even as the plot seeks to carry you to places unknown.
For a debut novel, this book provided several high points: Capuano is a good storyteller with the ability to present her characters in a manner that instantly provides empathy or scorn. I’m still undecided if the alien language used, and depicted phonetically worked for me or simply made those passages more difficult to read. While it was cleverly presented, I’m not a huge fan, and much of my understanding of conversations was directly derived from the other context of the story.
There were a few moments where the underlying moral dilemmas presented by the action felt a bit heavy-handed, but the scope for further thought about the underlying question of what it means to be human, or have humanity are threaded into the tapestry of the plot, providing plenty of options for questions without the author’s overreach to provide simple one-dimensional answers. To her credit, Capuano manages to bring questions that young and old have pondered for ages, and provide enough information that everyone will draw their own conclusions in the many shades of grey within a moral choice.
This is a really good start to a series: enjoyable because of the dimensional layering of subtext and lack of reliance on more traditional fantasy / sci-fi tropes.
I received an eBook from the author for purpose of honest review for inclusion in children read week at I am Indeed. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

http://iam-indeed.com/2013/06/07/alone-the-owners-volume-1-by-carmen-capuano/

Here is the latest professional review for The Owners Volume II : Storm Clouds.


Book Review:
This book starts with an impending disaster in a familiar location: both are presented with clarity and the potential of possible. That sounds strange, but every event and emotion: realized and threatened, carry that sense that they could happen, and sometimes they do without warning.
Told with a more traditional style than book 1, Capuano manages to make each character come alive when it is most needed to infuse life, tension or emotional intensity into the plot, and this reads far less science-fiction and far more dystopian. While I won’t for a moment pretend to be well versed in either genre, the writing remains the constant pleasant surprise.
Here she has managed to present a story that stands apart from the first, while I don’t see the connection in storyline or world building, the connection shines brightly in the questions for and about humanity. Using a more “exampled” set of situations that model good and bad behaviors by the characters encountered in the story – the subtext still manages to provide a cohesive thread between the two books, and will keep many anxious for the third instalment.

http://iam-indeed.com/2013/06/07/storm-clouds-the-owners-volume-2-by-carmen-capuano/

Goodness me! Almost at the end of Chapter 5 already.

If only I could type faster, I could have this book finished by next Thursday...the words are flying out of me. Here is another little bit... and if you haven't yet read The Owners, Volume I : Alone, Volume II : Storm Clouds and Volume III : Dark Side Of The Sun, you really don't know what you are missing. [You can find them on amazon at £1.99 for kindle]

Unwilling to face one more person, he had slunk off on his own, curious about how these other people lived. Only once had he turned round to ensure that no one followed him and it was then that he had seen the scene as only a true outsider could do.

Here is today's latest little snippet folks ....

The journey to the Lowlanders had not taken long but Eli felt as if every moment brought him closer to a place of enchantment. His eyes were assaulted with visions of vistas never seen before, rich glades where fern and other unknown plants grew, areas of scrub land and at one point, the remains of what he thought must once have been a town. Each and every piece of differing landscape was both unique and intriguing and he thought his mind must surely soon implode with all the new images he strived to store there.

The sun is shining and I'm optimistic...

but one thing I have learned in life, is never to put myself down...there are plenty of other folk more than willing to do that job for me!

If you are feeling low today, take some time out and think about the positives in your life. They are often the little things that we take so much for granted.

The pigeon is doing well and enjoying the sunshine which, is doing its very best to brighten the room. It's able to fly to the higher perches now, so I'm hoping it can be set free soon and I will get my space back!

Changes are underway still, slow but sure but wasn't there an old tale about that - something to do with the tortoise and the hare? I'll let you figure out which one I have always been and which one I am now striving to be.

I'll keep you posted ;)

The Owners Volume V : Eyon Rising

Right from the start these characters are pushing forward, demanding action, demanding changes. This is going to be a furiously paced book...you are going to have to work hard to catch up!

The Owners Volume V : Eyon Rising.

I am already onto Chapter 4, so here is the latest little bit :-

“What are they like Noah?”

“You’ll find out for yourself very soon, little bro’.” Noah grimaced as he put down the empty canister and removed the funnel from the neck of it, so that he could replace both the cap on the empty bottle and the one on the ark. The funnel was stained a dark browny-green colour and Eli tried to avert his eyes but found he couldn’t.

“Yes I know but…” he tailed off, desperate for advance information.

“Well they are just people same as…” Noah caught himself and what he was about to say. They were not the same as Eli. That was the whole point.

 

N.B. Volume IV has been delayed in getting to the proof readers as my eldest son was desperate to be the very first person other than myself to have read it. How could I say no? So sorry guys...but it will be out soon.

 

 

 

Ok - are you ready for a little snippet of Volume V : Eyon Rising?

Well hold onto your hats 'cos everything is changing!! here it is :-

Ladders lined the trunk of every tree, drawing the eye upwards towards wooden shacks which nestled among the thick lower branches. Placed at the heart of the trees as they were, the homes seemed to be both an integral part of the tree and also alien to it, at one and the same time. New growth seemed to have spun an intricate web of branches around these treehouses, as if keen to bind them to the host tissue and integrate the inhabitants who resided within, into the living tree itself, so that it appeared symbiotic in effect.

Here is another little bit of the brand new book, The Owners Volume V : Eyon Rising

Noah ignored the boy and bent to pick up the lone feather, his fingertips caressing the tantalising silky smooth fronds.

A pale quill, fluted by fine, fine strands of silk, the feather was not symmetrical, being wider on one side than the other. But it had a singular beauty. It seemed to catch the light just so, capturing that natural radiance and harnessing it for its own purpose; captivating it and using it to transform itself into a kaleidoscope of impossible colours and shades. Blues dazzled the eyes before muting into a shining silver that somehow morphed into a vibrant purple and then softened into a rose, becoming a darkly luxuriant emerald green.

My first day back at work!

I have started the new book.

Taken from the very first page of The Owners, Volume 5: Eyon Rising

There was a rustle of branches, a discharging of leaves which alighted on Noah’s head as he gazed up at the creature which flew towards him. Wings spread in a wide arc, Elijah was graceful in flight. But there was so much more than grace. There was a symmetry to his body and such a magnificent splendour to the plumage, that Noah could almost not help being envious. Once a dull grey, Eli’s feathers had developed a new iridescent hue which captivated the eye and lifted the heart.

I'm so excited!!!

In just four days time I will be starting Volume V of The Owners and I can't wait!

As the song, [stolen from the Charlie and The Chocolate Factory film] says, "come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination..."

Apologies are required I believe.

To all the other Ceroc dancers at the venue I attended last night, I have this to say : 'please accept my sincere apologies'.

Now I know that you are wondering what I did that was so awful I feel I have to offer a public apology, so I will tell you. But first I have to set the scene a little, so bear with me.

Imagine if you will, a smallish, very flat-footed woman who has low blood pressure which gives her a tendency to dizzy spells. Got that image? Good!

Now dress her in a flowing skirt and top and slide her feet into a pair of neck-breakingly high heels and there I am.

Having previously attended many Ceroc sessions in the past, I had somehow managed to convince myself that even though I had not been to a lesson in over a year, I would magically remember everything, every move, every dip and every signal.

More than that...somewhere in my befudddled brain I had managed to convince myself that in my absence I would still somehow have managed to absorb all the lessons I had missed, as if by turning up on one night, I could suddenly do every step perfectly, having gleaned it almost by osmosis from the dance teacher.

I was wrong. Oh boy was I wrong. I catapulted myself around the room, much to the initial amusement of most of the other dancers. Spinning like a drunken whirling dervish I collided with more than one other dancer, unable to spin on the spot as I had intended. Strangely, their amusement soon wore off.

But worse was to come...on executing a particularly difficult turn, I found the heel of my shoe firmly imbedded in the calf muscle of another lady dancer...and on trying to extricate it, I think I may have sliced rather a lot of skin from her leg.

There was a howl and possibly some blood [thankfully it was too dark to really see but there could not have been much, or we would all have been sliding around in it on the dance floor].

I apologised profusely at the time but the damage was done. I guess the fact that I did not remove myself from the premises immediately, only added salt to the wound, so to speak!

So here it is...people of Ceroc Bromsgrove, I apologise unreservedly.

But unfortunately for you, I had a great time and will certainly be back...

P.S. I was in town today and noticed that the price of football shin-pads had rocketed. Apparently, due to the business law of supply and demand, local demand has risen exponentially and prices have sky-rocketed...

Now there couldn't possibly be a connection there...or could there?

So be warned - I could be heading for a Ceroc venue near you! Get those old shin-pads dusted off! ;)

My Big Night Out

Now forgive me if this sounds strange to you but I have always hankered after the life I could have had if I had lived abroad...warm beaches, soft balmy evenings, days spent by the pool and nights out enjoying myself with my family.

And then yesterday, we got that life.

For one day only, I was rewarded with my dream. The sun shone in the sky, as the children and I looked around some market stalls in the morning, before going swimming in the afternoon. [Ok so the pool was indoors in a leisure complex but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth or pick at details!]

After that we had a nice tea and a little siesta before getting ready and heading out to...a local social club [ta-da!] for a spot of entertainment.

I had never been to this particular place before but was very impressed, not least by the warm and friendly atmosphere and the amount of families with other children present.

More to the point, my own children were animated, chatting and laughing and completely fine about missing the electrical equipment they are so often connected to [playstations, ds consoles, tvs and dvds].

We had a fantastic time. The drink prices were not overinflated, the kids had crisps and squash and I had a solitary glass of wine ...and we danced and had fun. So much so, that I almost had to drag my daughter off the dance floor, where she was insisting that I teach her some Ceroc moves [much to the amusement of my son].

The entertainment was reasonable [the song list was a little dated perhaps but certainly danceable to] and the venue clean and roomy.

But all this is missing the point. It gave me something that I thought only the lure of overseas could ever provide...it gave me my children, fully engaging in doing things together as a family, without worrying who was watching us makes fools of ourselves.

As my Grandmother used to say "you are a long time dead!" She was right. We all get so caught up in the mundane elements of life, the chores that have to be done, the endless lists of things waiting to be attended to...

Well I have made an executive decision now. Those lists can wait just a little longer...and if a couple more things get added in the process, so be it.

Life is for the living. x

The Owners Volume V

As I am almost finished editing the Owners Volume IV, I am aware that my thoughts are shifting towards Volume V.

Changes are afoot - they are the noises carried by the wind, the strange and unusual scents pervading the air everywhere I go and the sights which fill my inner vision with wonder and excitement.

I can't wait to introduce you all to the characters, some known and familiar, others new and unknown...who are waiting to fill your minds and hearts with their stories.

Come on a voyage of discovery with me - I promise you will never look at things in quite the same way, ever again.

The Owners Volume IV : A New Epoch  - out soon.