A kind-of win...

 I'm very proud to say that as well as setting up my own company this year, Emmeline Productions, I'm also a founding member of the Birmingham-based writing collective, Script Sirens.  

Having only been established a little over a year ago, the Sirens have already been nominated for two awards - the Royal Television Society Award as well as the Pod Bible Awards.

As you can see, we didn't win but we came second, which for something in its infancy, is pretty damned good. 

So keep your eyes peeled and your ears pinned back, because I hope to be able to give you a little update on exactly what we've been up to at Emmeline, very soon. 

Until then, happy reading and stay safe. x

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...   

SALE ON NOW!

Owners books now £5 per book, or two for £9 - postage extra. Signed copies are available at no extra cost. 

I am bringing out new editions soon, so these books are the last of the first editions. Available as Christmas presents to yourself or loved ones. Contact carmencapuanoproductions@gmail.com

Sale price available whilst stocks last. 

A little snippet

 

 “We have lived in fear and sorrow for many, many years. And believe me when I say that I do not go lightly into war. But there is no bargain to be struck, no words of wisdom that will make everything okay, no way for reparations to be made. Evil is a mould that grows on the face of the discontented. We must eradicate it before it infects others. For once, and for all.”  

Brave words, but just who is speaking them, and why? 

Get ready because the end is near -  The Owners Volume IX.

A podcast interview

 The wonderful Lee Greenhough interviewed me about my hopes, beliefs and new pescatarianism. 

The short interview is here.

The whole interview in all its gory detail...  is here. 

Many, many thanks to Lee for inviting me to talk. Apologies if I made his ears bleed with all my chatter. 

Happy listening! xx

 

The Owners Series

If you're a fan of my sci-fi series The Owners, you'll be glad to hear that I'm currently working on the ninth volume in the series. 

It's been strange to come back to the characters after such a long break, and having left them where they were at in Volume I: Alone. But the character of Sophia drew me right back in, not to mention San and Loni, who I had been eager to write about again. 

I'm currently a third of the way through Volume 9 so I won't spoil how the plot is evolving - suffice it to say that you're going to have quite a few surprises in store...

And I'm still working on my many film and TV series too. Again, my lips are sealed right now but there will be some news coming up soon. 

Until then, if you haven't yet tried one of my books, take a look at my REVIEWS page to the right of this post. 

Happy reading!

An interview with the Script Sirens

As you might be aware, I'm one of the Script Sirens.

Click here to watch an interview with me and the rest of the Sirens. But be warned  - I gurn!

Full steam ahead!

With a bit of luck I will have lots of news soon. But for now, all I can tell you is that The Owners Volume VIII: Sophia, is coming along really well.

Because for the last few years I have been concentrating on writing scripts for film and TV, I'd forgotten how it felt to write a book. How much weight is carried by each and every single word you commit to paper.

I've also realised that the list of finished works I was compiling, ready to publish, is rather long... so do bear with me just a little while longer.



It's taken me about five years to get on with writing the next volume in the Owners series. During that time I wrote a book about a trans person trying to find their way in the world, a family trying to deal with autism, loss and grief and several sci-fi/dystopian novels, as well as the film and TV mentioned above. So I've been kind of busy...

Sophia's character is only touched upon in Volume I of The Owners. There she is an adult, a leader of her people. In Volume VIII we see how her strength of character came into being, what it was that moulded her into the adult she would become.

I can't help feeling sorry for her. Her life is filled with hardship and loss and yet she herself fills me with hope. Hope for the world, hope for humanity. Because regardless of what he goes through, it doesn't taint her soul. I wish we could all be like that.

And I guess it makes me wonder about how I would have turned out without all the things that served to define my life. If I had stayed in Glasgow... or London, even. This division of pathways, I have already looked at in my novel Spit Decision (Amazon, Waterstones, etc.,) and was looking at further in the screenplay I'm also currently working on. I'll let you know how that goes.

So if you find yourself at a loose end and are looking for something good to read, pick up one of my books and remember - there will be more on the way, very soon!

Happy reading! x

The Owners Volume VIII

I'm very excited to announce that I have today started to write the eighth volume of The Owners series. 

I actually intended to write this a few years ago, but I was so busy with films and TV, that I didn't get a moment to get started on it. But today I woke up and it was on my mind. 

I've always known what this volume would be about - it was merely finding the time to commit it to paper that was the issue. Somehow right now is the perfect time. 

If you've read The Owners books, you'll know that there are many core themes running through them - what it means to be human, how humanity can be so easily lost and what belonging really means, to highlight just a few. 

So because of what's going on around the world right now, it seems the perfect time to write this next volume. 

The Owners is all about misplaced intentions and about how sometimes there is no right answer. Sometimes what is wrong, has been wrong for so long, that even once rectified, hatred, anger and resentment still burn for past misdeeds. 

In this volume there is a return to some of the characters you met in Volume I: Alone, such as Sophia, who will one day be leader of her people. And of the tragic Louisa. 

I'll keep you posted with how the unfolding of the story goes. 

In the meantime, why not check out The Owners series. I'm hoping that Volumes IV - VII will soon be released. 

Happy reading! x

Videos of my books...

The Owners Volume I: Alone

The Owners Volume II: Storm Clouds

The Owners Volume III: Dark Side Of The Sun

Episode 3: Dinner at Ate...

Here is the episode I wrote with the lovely Louise Osbourne, as part three of the short series, #GoingViral. I hope you enjoy it!

Hopefully, as we come out of lockdown I will have more news. 

Until then, happy viewing! x

                                 

Script Sirens

Just a quick post to tell you about something I've got coming up, starting next Monday, 8th June 2020.

#GoingViral was created in response to the lockdown situation. You can read all about it here.

And don't worry if you're not free when we launch - as the videos are online, they will be accessible for some time to come.

If you watch and you like what you see, why not drop us a comment and share our content with your friends and family?


I will have more news for you shortly, I hope, when normal filming can resume around the world.

Until then - keep safe, and happy viewing! x

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

Coronavirus

What a sad state of affairs - a pandemic is terrorising the world and all the sad little trolls have taken to Twitter, stating their hope that the 'Boomer' generation will be wiped out. 

Clearly we have raised many sociopaths alongside our otherwise well-adjusted population. Protected by the anonymity that  social media offers, they try to prey on our social weaknesses but in truth it only serves to highlight their own miserable existences. So for that reason, I'll have done with discussing them here - they're not worth a nano-second of our time. 

I think we are all shocked to be in this position... there cannot be one person who doesn't have family and freinds who are very vulnerable to this virus. 

And even if we self-isolate, I genuinelly can't see how we can do that for more than a month at a time. And what happens during that month? It's too scary to contemplate. 

Meanwhile the heros amongst us - the doctors, nurses, police and army, as well as the supermarket workers, the hospital cleaners, the fire and ambulance services, the lorry drivers who transport our foods, the electricity engineers, the sewage plant workers - they will continue to work, keeping the rest of us going. 

And I'm a little embarassed to be just a writer - a woman whose work is of no real value, serving only to entertain. But that's who I am. 

The world will keep turning whether I write another film or not. But if these heroes above stop doing what they do, the world will indeed grint to a halt. 

So from the bottom of my heart I want to say thank you to all of them!

Stay safe and well. xx

Oakhill Productions

I am currently working with Oakhill Productions on several exciting new projects, which I hope to have news about very soon. 

Unfortunately, in my line of work, there is often much to tell, and at the same time, a restriction on what I'm actually allowed to say. This can be very frustrating when what you really want to do, is shout things out from the rooftops...

So, in the meantime, why don't you take a look at the Press Release of one of Oakhill's other projects. (And no, I wasn't involved in this one.)

Watch this page for more news, coming shortly...


Until then - happy reading!

Men In Sheds and other news.

Hello everyone!

Well we're still in January... doesn't it go on? Cold, dark drizzly days almost without end.

So we all need a bit of cheering up, right? Luckily I've got lots of news!

As you know, I've always got lots of different projects on at once, so to save me typing a long list, and you trudging your way through it, I'll update you only on the things that are moving more swiftly.

I have an eight part podcast coming shortly with brilliant co-writer Alexandra Taylor. Beneath The Waves is based on a true and current situation and is set in Wales. It's a drama but has humour there too and just the tiniest possibility of a blooming romance... you're gonna love it.

I have also been asked to write a TV/Netflix series set in the 80s so I'm currently researching this (and yes, I was around then, thank you, but not in the location the series is set in).

My BFI Network supported film is currently with the director and I hope things will soon be moving on that, and yesterday I signed a collaborative agreement with the very lovely and visionary Michele Lammas, in order to turn her children's book into a screenplay.

On top of that I have another big project with director Ben Bloore which is coming along really well.

As well as the zillions of other TV/film/animations I have ongoing...

But what I really wanted to mention in this post, is men. Older men. Things have changed a lot since I was a child, and now there are as many men as women who take and collect kids from school, make dinners, load washing machines.

But for the 60 plus generation, this wasn't something that came naturally. Consequently, these men, once their working lives are over, often feel misplaced in society, redundant - useless. Women, the lynchpin of most families, continue generally to do what they always did - care for children, emotionally support the family... but their men folk are being left behind.

That's why The Shed is such a great concept. Providing a place for men to meet, share expertise and help each other over a cuppa, it gives men not just somewhere to go, but a support group to turn to.

As a woman myself, I've seen what happened when my own parents retired from work. My mother found numerous new hobbies (and indeed a new husband along the way, but that's a different story entirely)  while my dad became isolated and lonely.

So take a look at the clip below. And if either yourself or a loved one fancies popping along to see what it's all about, I'm sure they'd be very welcome.

Until then - happy reading! x

Men In Sheds - Bromsgrove

Merry Christmas!

Hello again readers!

We are fast approaching Christmas and it's going to be a very different one for us. Not only do we have a different dog in the house ( one who despite all her nervousness and strangeness, is weirdly indifferent to the Christmas tree and decorations) but I'm feeling as if we are a little thin on the ground.

As you may know from reading my blog, we have had lots of losses over the past two years, and with my eldest now away at Uni, I feel somewhat diminished, smaller in myself. Having taken my third child to some college interviews recently, and with the middle one starting to think about universities, it's clear I'll soon have to face 'empty nest syndrome'.

It doesn't seem that long ago that I was dropping my youngest at nursery, and I wonder what happened to all the intervening years. Inside my head I'm still a young woman. The exterior of me tells a different story, I'm afraid.

So I've made some major decisions. I'm the sort of person who likes to take stock of their lives and I've come to realise that I need make a move towards vegetarianism. I was veggie for two whole years about 28 years ago. I'll admit I found it hard going.

But back then there wasn't the choice of vegetarian foods there is today. Back then it was soya mince or nothing. The other problem was and still is, that I don't like potatoes and I actually don't like many vegetables, other than salad leaves and broccoli... kinda makes it difficult to have any variety.

Nevertheless I'm going to cut down on meat with a view to becoming totally vegetarian in time. So - wish me luck. I think it's the right thing to do, especially as my body gets older and needs more nutrition and less rubbish, and from a moral viewpoint.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Happy reading!

A time to heal...

I haven't blogged for a few months. To be honest I've been  too raw. 

The last time I posted on here, things were looking great. One of my latest films had garnered BFI Network support, and we were just about to go on holiday to Crete for a family wedding. The future seemed rosy...

But like all things in life, there were events lurking around the corner - things I wasn't yet aware of. One of them was that my beloved Rottweiler had terminal cancer. 

She'd had a limp for a few weeks before I had it investigated. Earlier in the year she'd tripped over her own paws when chasing a squirrel, and had limped for a week or so. Second time around, I assumed the previous injury had flared up, even though I hadn't witnessed her doing anything to cause it. 

But the x-ray told a different story. There was a huge tumour on her left shoulder and shadows in her lungs, indicating that the cancer had already metastasised. My shock and horror on hearing this was profound. I couldn't believe that my sweet dog was so bravely and uncomplainingly suffering through this horrific disease. 

The vet was right when she said the particular type of cancer she had was aggressive - within the week we were making another visit to the vet's to give Roxie a dignified end to her life. I held her and comforted her,  and knew that she had loved me just as enormously as I had loved her.  

We entered a period of grieving. I couldn't look at her beds, her toys and bowls... but I couldn't get rid of them either. To have lost my dad and both dogs within just less than 18 months, seemed too cruel. 

I came through the front door and there was no lolling tongue, no wagging tail to greet me. Just silence and too-clean floors. 

I came to hate the way the floors stayed clean when I vacuumed; to be repelled by the echoing silence in the kitchen when I entered first thing in the morning; to be heartbroken that I no longer got to kiss her goodnight before I headed up to bed. My heart was broken. 

And then something happened. 

I decided to foster. Not to adopt, but to take on and try to heal a dog that was as broken as me, one whose spirit had been crushed by the sheer force of its former bad luck. 

So I contacted a rescue centre. After the home check, I explained that I would take the dog that cowered in the corner of its kennel, the dog that would greet no-one, the one that no-one wanted because it was just too broken...

They gave me Beauty. A street dog from Bosnia that's terrified of people and who refused to come anywhere near me or anyone else. 

With only one eye and a large scar on her side that looks like a burn mark, it's easy to imagine that she lost her eye through some deliberate act of cruelty. But she can't say and I'll never know. 

What I do know is that she has a lot of love to give, now that she's becoming so used to us. And I think that as much as I'm helping her, she's helping me too. 

Who knows, maybe we'll both emerge stronger from this experience. Whether we do or not, I know one thing. There's a happy face and a wagging tail in the house again, and my heart is filled with hope. 

Big news, medium news.

I'm aware I haven't told you my big news... my latest film is being supported by BFI NETWORK. If you're not sure what that means, here is the logo, which I'm sure you'll have seen elsewhere.

I'm obviously thrilled about this development and can't wait for you to see it. But there's a lot of hard work to do in the meantime. 

In addition to this, I have several other films in development, as well as a couple of TV series, but since it's all hush-hush, I can't disclose any more than that. 

So what can I tell you? I can tell you that the BFI NETWORK only fund and support films they truly believe in, so to have them behind one of my films is incredible. And thrilling.

I've also been involved in top-notch discussions regarding a new TV series. I even had to sign a non-disclosure agreement in front of a witness. 

Although cloak and dagger stuff is fairly commonplace within this industry, which is worth billions in viewing figures, I've never had a situation which was so tightly sewn up. Let's just say MI5 has nothing on this lot!

I'm aware too that you've all been waiting patiently for a new book... well there are several on the way, but I'm sorry to say the wait will be a little longer. And hey, it's not like I've been sitting around doing nothing. I'm working flat-out!

In the meantime, if you want to catch up with me for a chat, I will be at the Space Day at The Hive in Worcester on October 5th. It's something I've been involved with for the past six or seven years, as a writer of science-fiction as well as thrillers, psychological and otherwise. 

So until I can actually reveal more, happy reading and have a great summer. x

LYV - a short film, coming soon

Goodness me, we're halfway through the year - how did that happen? 

I'm aware that I haven't posted in absolutely ages... but there is good reason for that. I have been working on several very different film and TV scripts, so much so, that I haven't had a moment to myself. 

So, here's how you can help me get back on track. On Twitter, search for @Lyv_shortfilm. If you follow it you'll be able to see how things are progressing on this short, written by yours truly. 

I'll be filling you in on all the details as soon as I can. 

Happy reading!