Matilda - The Owners, Volume VII: Hunter's Moon

A little peek at Matilda...

Careful you don't look too long though, for she is a feisty one!


Excerpt from The Owners, Volume VII: Hunter's Moon.

Matilda awoke before the others. Taylor lay beside her, his face partially obscured by the arm he had thrown over his eyes to block out the rising sun. Part of her longed to move his arm and gaze at the face she had known so long and so well but her resolve would not let her do so. She had taken on the role as leader of this hunting party and if it killed her, she would neither ask for his support nor subordinate herself to him. 

She owed it to their people to be strong and more than that, she owed it to the little child, Verity, who might already be dead.

Did I cling to her because I have no children of my own? It was a fair question and one she wasn’t entirely sure she could answer. Would I have felt differently if I had had a brood of my own children, clinging to my shirttails like all the other women? she wondered. Either way, does it really matter? Things were how they were, after all. She rose quietly, moving with a catlike grace, unwilling to wake the others until she was no longer sharing a space with Taylor.

On her feet, she circled the group. Everyone slept deeply and she was surprised into a revelation as she bent to shake them awake, one at a time.

“We could have been attacked and killed in our sleep, slaughtered without us even knowing we were in danger,” she said, once she had their full attention.

Taylor sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Well we weren’t. And I think that’s a little unlikely…”

Matilda didn’t give him time to finish. “Why not? You think that monster is afraid of us? After he snatched a little child right out from under our noses and left without even a scratch? Oh yes, he must be very afraid!” She heard the sarcasm in her own voice but was unable to reign it in.

She saw Taylor’s eyes widen in surprise and she instinctively knew it was not from either her words or her tone of voice but the way the criticism was directed straight at him.

“He was too high too fast for the arrows to reach,” he said simply.

“I know,” she agreed, hoping that he understood her frustration. They had been speaking as if there were only the two of them in the conversation, only the two of them standing there, with nothing and no-one else around for miles. Now she turned so that her words addressed them all, equally.

“From now on, we post a guard. If we do somehow manage to find him, the battle has to be on our terms, at a time and place of our choosing, not his.”

She was right, and they all knew it. Enough had been said, there was no point in pressing the issue. She bent and began to pack up their meagre camp.

If you would like to find out more, then follow the link on the right to find the first volumes in this epic tale

Happy Reading!

An Exciting New Book

Oh it's a good start to the day...

I have just started to write a story that's been rattling around my brain for about three years. It's going to be a dark one!

Here's the very first paragraph:-

I sit on the hospital bed and wait for them to come for me. The smell of disinfectant is overpowering. It’s too clean, too sterile, as if it intends to wipe out every living thing from the face of the earth. Perhaps it should start with me.

There’s nothing here to look at except the other patients. I try to avoid looking at them, not because it’s rude to stare, but because I don’t want their attention returned to me.

Happy Reading!

Horror on a sunny day?

I am just beyond the halfway point in The Letter now. The sun is shining through my window and directly at me, so I am typing this with one eye closed. Perhaps it's just as well for I am at a rather creepy bit...

Although this is not a horror story, there is a dream sequence which is rather significant. Here it is:-

Sleep came suddenly and without warning, transporting her to a meadow which was lush and green. There was a picnic spread out on a yellow checkered blanket. It was a horrible shade of yellow, jaundiced and sickly and she wondered who could possibly have wanted to buy it.

Sandwiches over spilled plates and other dishes held relishes and chutneys. There were quiches and sweet pastries and a plump strawberry flan. She turned in all directions but there was no-one around. The sun was beating down on her and it seemed a terrible shame to let all of the food spoil.

She sat down on the blanket and without cutting the flan or reaching out towards it, there was suddenly a large slice in her hand, jam sliding off the side of the pastry and dribbling down her arm, thick, red and viscous.

She opened her mouth, ready to receive the treat but before a morsel passed her lips she caused to look downwards. The pastry was crawling with big, fat bugs. They jostled one another for space in the jam and wriggled out of holes in the strawberry.

Repulsed, Fran threw the slice as far away as she could. The whole picnic was alive! Squirming and writhing and thrashing in the chutney and falling of the mounds of sandwiches in glutinous, struggling masses, black insectile carapaces intertwined with white gelatinous sheathes, adults and offspring contesting for something she didn’t want to imagine.  She shrank back from the food and the blanket it lay upon.

As if they were aware of her presence, the insects appeared to chase her, running towards where she stood, their short, hard bodies click-clacking as they moved, antennae clawing at the air. At the edge of the blanket they stopped. As one they shuddered as if something terrible prevented their onward charge. Whatever it was that had halted their progress could surely only be worse than them…

Fran looked over her shoulder.

There was a hill behind her. She hadn’t noticed it before. Or perhaps it hadn’t been there.

Over the hill a figure staggered towards her. Too far away and with the sun shining directly in her eyes she had at first to squint to see who it was. But before her eyes could attest to what they were seeing, her head - or perhaps it was her heart - spoke directly to her. You know who he is, don’t you? You already know who he is and what he wants.

Tattered, dirty clothing flapped around his emaciated form and where skin should have provided a covering of flesh over his abdomen, there was none. Instead, putrid, flaccid, decaying organs spewed forth from his gut and were dragged along the ground in his wake.

Will you be brave enough to read my other books? I wonder...

What a week!

Having officially taken over my duties as Copy Editor of GEM magazine on Monday, there followed a whole week of functions and events I was required to take part in.

So I have spent the entire week in the style of a Gadabout, of a Woman Around Town. To be honest it was mostly work, getting to know my fellow workers at GEM magazine, making contacts, meeting the people who are the city's movers and shakers, but that's not to say I didn't have fun too. In fact there was almost a common theme to the events...there was a drawing together of the past and the future in a way that made me really reflect.

The events began with an invitation  to attend  The Walk of Heroes and Walk of Stars hosted by Westside BID [Business Improvement District]. Moving speeches delivered by The Mayor of Birmingham and Professor Carl Chinn, commemorated four soldiers from the Birmingham area who had stepped beyond the bravery shown by every member of our armed forces, to something truly unique, displaying a valour in the midst of battle that went above and beyond the call of duty.

The soldiers had served in wars as varied as the Anglo-Zulu War and World War I and yet there was a commonality to their valour, a desire to help others at the sake of their own lives. I can only imagine the terror of their individual situations and I hope that the world does not keep having to sacrifice such brave and noble individuals to the folly of battle!

But there was a lighter side too, with the presentation by Jasper Carrott of a granite star for actor Ian Lavender,  for his accomplishments on screen during his illustrious career.  I laughed alongside Jasper and Ian as they talked about Mr Lavender's recollections of his childhood in Birmingham. Both men were funny, witty and erudite and displayed manners which have been all but lost in the mists of time. So just in case you missed it before, here is my picture with Jasper [who I have to say, didn't look a day over fifty!].

 





My next function to attend was the Super Sonic car event, hosted by business accountancy firm Moore Stephens. Here I met Richard Noble and learned about the World Land Speed Record, looking at vintage films of previous attempts and successes.

Now I have to admit to being ignorant about all things motorised... but I was fascinated! The idea that a car can go from 0 to 1000 mph in less than a minute - well that takes your breath away, doesn't it?

I was almost thinking that if they could just make one with enough room for me, my kids, dogs and luggage then the annual trip to Glasgow wouldn't be so bad after all... Joking aside, this project may seem impractical when you look at our roads and current driving conditions, but what is going on here is the forerunner of future transport. Richard and his team are not pushing the boundaries of what is possible, they are breaking them into splinters, smashing them to smithereens and rebuilding them in their own image.

The project is not only about revolutionising future transport, it is about revolutionising our economy and our education system and our future workers, for without engineers of the future, no further progress will be made! That's why Richard's team is working closely with schools, to encourage young people into this field.

My next two events were more social. Praza on the Hagley Road is divine, take it from me. I had never been there before, so was a little unprepared for the gorgeous food [I actually had seconds!] and the great atmosphere. As I was driving, I can't attest to the cocktails but the people around me were all 'oohing' and 'ahhing' over them, so I assume they were as exquisite as the food.

And the Burlington - goodness me how I love this building and its staff. I was treated to an indoor barbeque, with little mini burgers and mouth-watering salads and desserts and games on the 'lawn'. This time I took the train and thoroughly enjoyed myself!

But lest you think its all play and no work, I must tell you that I spent the whole of Saturday hacking down the triffids in my new garden. My legs, hands and arms are sliced up like I have been in battle with the alien from Predator and the garden looks worse if that's even possible, with huge piles of cut vegetation that I have no idea how I am going to dispose of!

So for now, folks that's it! Don't forget Split Decision launches on the 4th of July and you can still help Thunderclap it [see previous post]. More to follow on the paperback launch.

N.B. The tickets for my first talk at Lord Morton's Tea Rooms are now sold out, but a further date has been agreed.

Happy Reading!

Carmen.

Faster than the speed of ...

Today I have been cordially invited to view a super sonic car, courtesy of my post as columnist and copy editor at GEM magazine. But I have to wonder exactly what they will think when I drive up in my Postman Pat van?

You see I'm not really one for ostentation, unless it fits the occasion and mostly I am sitting in jeans writing or charging through fields with my dogs and/or kids. Therefore the idea of me and a super sonic car is rather hilarious, due to my own driving abilities and lifestyle.

That said, as a science fiction/fantasy writer, the car appeals in a variety of ways. I mean, what couldn't you do with a super sonic car at your command... goodness me, I feel another book coming on. ;)

Keep your eyes peeled for my post on the lovely Jasper Carrott and Ian Lavender and the connection between the two.

Happy Reading!

Volume VII: Hunter's Moon

This weekend I finished the seventh volume of the Owners series. I am both sad and elated.


For a very long time I have suspected that it was not going to  be a particularly good ending for some of the main characters and I was right. In real life sometimes there are events which change everything or which alter how things are perceived...so it is with my characters and books. Regardless of how badly I wanted them to be ok, writing in an all-encompassing happy ending would have been both unrealistic and tacky. And they deserve better treatment than that.


Like all of my characters I will miss them dearly but they will remain in my heart. However with the finishing of this volume comes a little joy, for Volume VIII will see the story returning to one of the very first characters to show how things became how they were. It will be lovely to deal with already known and loved characters - its rather like meeting up with an old friend in a warm pub on a stormy night - exciting, long-anticpated and more than a little curious. Are you wondering which character? Well I'm afraid I won't be revealing that just yet, so hunker down for the wait.

In the meantime, there are lots of other things happening. I have been working hard on my editing job and am very busy attending functions on the magazine's behalf. I have also been busy organising the launch of Split Decision which will be out next month [date to be announced].

Meanwhile my new house is coming along nicely and I have now chosen a new fire to go where the old one was. It's a super, duper thing! In fact I think the whole house will look quite good when its finished [courtesy of my fab builder - details to follow on how to book him later].

So if you see a smiling but frantic looking woman buzzing around in an old battered light blue Citroen Berlingo,  not knowing where she is going or what she is doing, give her a wave, 'cos it will be me!


Happy Reading!

The wait is over!

I have kept you in suspense for long enough. I know. Actually I never intended to keep you in suspense at all, but several things needed to be done in the right order and this was just one of them.

Last week I was called into a meeting with the lovely owner of GEM magazine. I had thought that perhaps I was going to be asked to write an article about something, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect her to offer me the posts of columnist and Copy Editor to the magazine!

I was literally stunned into a moment of silence and believe me that doesn't happen a lot. If ever!

So there it was, the offer of a lifetime. And what do you think my response was? I was almost dancing on the table with excitement, especially when I was given full autonomy over what I chose to write about. Now my first column is written and the first articles I have to edit, are sitting in my inbox.

I am like a nervous fourteen-year-old all over again... excited, apprehensive, eager and terrified at what the big bad world might throw at me, whilst at the same time eagerly donning my heels and throwing back my head with abandon, ready for the ride of a lifetime.

What will they think of me, the GEM readers? Will they like my quirky style, my references to what's happening in my life, the little bits about whatever book I am writing? I hope so!

If you would like to find out more about GEM magazine, here is the link. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

http://www.gemmedia.co.uk


Happy Reading!