K.J. Chapman's Blog, page 77

Review: The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs by Damon Galgut

The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs by Damon Galgut 3.5/5

Blurb: A year ago Patrick Winter was in Namibia completing his military service. Now, during the first free elections, Patrick has returned to the country he defended; the place where he fell in love for the first and only time. With the country poised to change forever, Patrick is forced to revisit his past and scale the wall that he has built around his painful memories of love and war, and loss.

Review:

Patrick is a white South African who had been drafted into the South African army to fight at the border of Namibia in the 1980’s; a war he never believed in. He had a breakdown after a soldier he loved was killed in combat, and now, after an honourable discharge, he has to start his life again with sexual orientation confusion, a promiscuous mother, and her Namibian, SWAPO activist lover. The narrative shows Patrick’s struggle with his identity, whilst highlighting an important historical moment in Africa.

The story starts with Patrick and his mother heading to Namibia for the first democratic elections, and jumps from present time to his time in the war. The writing is beautiful and controlled. I was continuously in awe of Galgut’s simplistic, yet impactual descriptions and prose.

‘Maybe somewhere in space light has preserved the image of that moment, suspended and infinite.’

The dialogue was on point throughout the whole novel, recounted in Patrick’s slightly detached POV.

“Have you ever been in love?”

“Yes. Once. I think so. I’m not sure.”

“You never told me about it.”

“I don’t think I knew at the time.”

The ending was anti-climatic, and kind of just…was an end, if that makes sense. I was hoping for more of a climax or pivotal moment for Patrick, but that didn’t take away from the story.

 

The opinions expressed here are those of K.J.Chapman and no other parties.

All books reviewed on this blog have been read by K.J.Chapman.

K.J.Chapman has not been paid for this review.

ARC Review: The Siblings by A. Morgan

The Siblings (Book One) by A. Morgan

 My Review:

This is one for the sci fi, fantasy, and dystopia fans. The Siblings is due for release on April 12th 2016. I was fortunate to get an ARC in exchange for a review. I believe this cover is only temporary, so keep your eyes peeled in the future for the new look.

The narrative is fast moving, action packed, and unexpected. We follow the story of a brother and sister whose lives are ripped apart by a dangerous faction, and watch how they come to terms with what their future roles are in the world as they now know it.

Characters are well developed and distinct, relatable and flawed. These characters have you both rooting for them and questioning their actions. Jest is the protective brother with a questionable history, but a heart in the right place. And Fer is the gentle, far from naive sister who has to prove just how fierce she can be to protect her unborn child. Whom to trust? Now, that is a good question.

The world building in this novel is brilliant; a dystopian future with solar flares threatening the planet, a generation who possess remarkable abilities, and an unrecognisable London known as ‘The Pit’. Organisations, politics, and ethics are all wonderfully woven into an entrancing tale. The lines of right and wrong blur, and you are left wondering who are the good guys; if there is such a thing as good guys in a messed up world.

And that ending- woo hoo hoo! Not everyone is who we think they are and that fact left me reeling. There is a cliffhanger for sure, opening up a whole new can of worms for book two.

In summary, an innovative tale, believable characters, and plenty of twists. I can’t wait for the next installment.

 

The opinions expressed here are those of K.J.Chapman and no other parties.

All books reviewed on this blog have been read by K.J.Chapman.

K.J.Chapman has not been paid for this review.

What’s Your Name? Letter O

Continuing with the letters between Mackenzie and Naomi, I pre-picked my ‘O’ name ahead of time to include in last week’s letter. This is the third and final letter and it is a doozy- woo hoo hoo.

You can find the first two letters here: and .

The name randomly picked from the first ‘O’ page in my naming book is:

Oakley: a surname meaning ‘oak meadow tree’. Used as a masculine first name.

Oakley

Mackenzie,

I hate you.

It has taken me twelve months to even contemplate sending this letter to you, but do you know what? I’m going to ensure that you experience even a fraction of the torment you put me through that night and continue to put me through to this very moment.

After the funeral, I tried to end my life. Is that what you wanted to hear? No parent should have to bury their child. Oakley was bright, funny, so so loving, and he had such a gentle heart. You robbed me of him- the world of him. I hate you!

Now, here’s the part that you need to know, and it’s a doozy. I named him Oakley because he was your child, Mackenzie. I left the day I found out I was pregnant because I knew you’d be poisonous for him. He deserved better than you as a father, and Rick brought him up as his own. I still loved you, and I knew that you would love him, but your love is dangerous. How does it feel knowing you killed your own child in the fire that night? I hope it eats you alive. I hope that you see fit to tie that rope around your neck and rid the earth of the scum that is Mackenzie Jenson.

Oakley’s resting with his Dad now; the man who earned that title, and will always have it. My son will haunt you for the rest of your days because I will see to it.

You took the best of me, but the rest of me I dedicate to torturing you.

Naomi.

 

All written works are the property of K.J.Chapman

It’s Killing Time… Don’t Panic, I’m A Writer!

Okay, I better explain that title, right? And perhaps the picture… Who am I kidding? It’s pretty self-explanatory.

Yep, even though I was a bitch of an author to some of my characters in EVO Shift, not many died. Not many in comparison to the 15 in EVO Nation. Yep, 15! Some were minor characters, but still- 15! Technically, there is more if you add in the faceless, nameless characters, but let’s not.

Now that I am drafting EVO Ghost, book three, the time has come for me to make the hard choices. Hard because my characters are my babies, and hard because someone needs to die. *Insert evil laugh here*.

Is it wrong that I enjoy a good, poignant death scene? I love fiddling with the narrative to create the perfect boiling pot of emotion. I want my readers to feel the death, whether it’s sadness at the loss of a beloved character, or euphoria as I dish out just desserts. It’s all in the name of writing fun.

On a final note, that meme was not created by me. I actually stumbled across it. Coincidence? I think not!

Meme sourced from quickmeme.com

Writtenm content featured in this blog is the property of K.J.Chapman

Review: Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block

Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block 4/5

Blurb:

People pity me, but mostly they feel envy. I have all the luxury and freedom a girl my age could want.

Something is happening to Charlotte Emerson. Like the fires that are ravaging the hills of Los Angeles, it consumes her from the inside out. But whether it is her eternal loneliness, the memory of her brother, the return of her first love, or the brooding, magnetic Jared—she cannot say. What if it’s something more . . .

Something to do with the sudden tear in her perfect nails. The heat she feels when she’s with Jared. The blood rushing once again to her cheeks and throughout her veins.

For Charlotte is a vampire, witness to almost a century’s worth of death and destruction. But not since she was a human girl has mortality touched her.

In what way will you be transformed?

Until now.

Review:

‘Not another Vampire book,‘ I hear you cry. Well, yes and no: It is another vampire book, but minus the boring, unoriginal romance, damsel in need of saving, and blood hungry action. I was pleasantly surprised when I started this book. The narrative was from the perspective of Charlotte- beautiful vamp, wishing she was mortal. Charlotte was believable as a character, and expressed true concerns, lusts, and needs.

The main characters: Charlotte and Jared had an intriguing romance, built on unstable foundations, yet I rooted for the pair of them. Block writes engaging, dysfunctional, beautifully flawed characters. I loved how the relationship played out. The ending was perfectly unperfect. (That won’t make sense until you read it).

Back story played an important part in this story, and added to Charlotte’s wish for mortality. Her maker, her brother, and her best friend whether dead or alive, play vital roles in her desire to die, or at least live an ordinary, finite, human life.

The writing was elegant and mesmerising. Such beautiful prose from a talented writer. There wasn’t big action scenes, nor did the narrative require it. The wonderful descriptions and the well developed character arcs kept the pages turning. It was Charlotte’s personal story and remained true to her until the end.

 

The opinions expressed here are those of K.J.Chapman and no other parties.

All books reviewed on this blog have been read by K.J.Chapman

K.J.Chapman has not been paid for this review.

 

 

Big Feels For This!

I just had to share this AWESOMENESS with you all. It will mean nothing to some, but to me it means so much. It means my book has been read and has resonated. It means that someone has thought about my narrative and my main character. It means that I have a fandom- eeek!

EVO Nation Series reader, Laura. *Hi Laura* Sent me the following logo:

I won’t explain it *hehe*. Readers of the EVO Nation series will understand it, and the rest will just have to read my books! Ha! I have big love for this, and the urge to have this printed on a t-shirt it just too strong.

Download EVO Nation: here.

Donwload EVO Shift: here.

What’s Your Name? Letter N

After last week’s post, I selected a ‘N’ name ahead of time. I had good reason for this- I needed to sign off last week’s writing exercise with a name, and that name would be used in this week’s exercise, linking the two.

The name randomly selected from the first ‘N’ page of my naming book is:

Naomi: A feminine first name meaning ‘pleasantness’. (Hebrew).

Naomi

Naomi,

I bet you thought I’d never find you, but you know me- persistent. You were right, you know- about me being consumed. I wasn’t going to stop until I found you. But you were wrong about things too. I never hated you, Naomi. I loved you so much, so much that I lost sight of myself, and passion can bring out the best and worst in us, right? I know you saw the worst- a lot, but I need you to know that it wasn’t out of hate.

You were a damn coward. A letter? A fucking letter was all I got? Did you seriously think that would satisfy me? It was almost as if you were begging me to come and find you. How could you not know that was exactly what I’d do?

And then to see you and him, and that brat of yours. He looks like you- I hate him- just a kid and I hate him. He is yours and his, and he should have been ours. I heard you call his name- ‘Oakley.’ Fuck, Naomi! Why that name?

This isn’t a letter to beg you to come back to me, or to confess my undying love for you. It’s been five years too long for that. This is a letter of warning. I’m going to break your heart just like you broke mine. I want you to know what it’s like to have something snatched away from you. Hold your family tight tonight, Naomi, because it may be the last chance you get. Once I’m done ruining your life as you ruined mine, I might just leave you letter- would that suffice?

I will take the best of you.

M x

In the same fashion as last week, I pre-selected an ‘O’ name for next week’s ‘What’s Your Name?’ post. I want to continue these letters for one more post, and as you can probably  guess- Oakley takes the spotlight.

All written works are the property of K.J.Chapman

Do you like writing prompts? Check out K.J.Chapman’s Prompt Me eBook, and discover 150 writing prompts for beating the block!

WIP Update #1

When I was writing EVO Shift, I posted weekly updates of word counts and excerpts etc. I simply don’t have the time to do that weekly during EVO Ghost drafting. I want my sole focus to be on my WIP. I will still be posting my writing exercises, but as you may have noticed, I’m allowing myself to miss weeks here and there in regards to those as well. I will still post musings and reviews as and when the feeling takes me, I’m just not giving myself anymore commitments for the time being.

During the drafting of EVO Shift, I spent a lot of time preparing blog posts, and my drafting process suffered. I sometimes missed days of writing because my attention was elsewhere. I’m putting my foot down with myself for this draft, and it is working brilliantly. I’m writing faster than I’ve ever done, and managing to read much more- yay! This means I get to beta read and ARC read, and give the projects my full attention. Something, I would have struggled with last year.

So, on with the first update:

Title & Cover Reveal:

The title was announced on March 11th, as was the cover design. I usually don’t have a title until well into the drafting process, but this one has been on my mind since I wrote the end of EVO Shift. Once I started drafting book three, the title grew more prominent in my mind. I just had to use it. I’ve had great feedback from readers of the series. They agree that the title makes perfect sense, and even commented on how reading the new title gave them goosebumps, or made them doubly excited for book three. Bonus!

I feel the cover is simplistic, in keeping with the previous two covers, and has something haunting about it… Ghost…haunting… get it? *laughs to self*

Word Count:

I’ve been drafting since mid February, and I have put down 18k words; leagues ahead of where I was at this point in the drafting of EVO Shift. I’m conscious of this being the last in the series. I keep chanting to myself, ‘no loose ends, no loose ends.’ I’m sure I’m just being over paranoid, but this book has to be on point in regards to conclusions, and at the same time, I want it to hold mystery, suspense, and be…EPIC! It’s so hard to not write in twists that may require more than one book to explain, when I have enough to wrap up. That being said, there is one twist I simply had to include because it links into the very first book- I shall say no more on that score!

Excerpt:

It is hard to pick excerpts that don’t give too much away. I’m purposely trying to find paragraphs that don’t feature too many character names etc, because if readers haven’t yet read EVO shift, I don’t want them guessing the outcome to events in that book by reading excerpts from EVO Ghost.

Here’s my choice:

“They’re looking less inflamed, and the ones I’ve stitched are healing nicely.” He dabs on some kind of antiseptic that stings to the high heavens, but nothing more than a hiss escapes my lips. “Rafe wants me to assess you for training. Ideally, I would hold off on any physical exertion, but I know you won’t pay any attention to what I say.”

  “You know nothing about me,” I say, sliding a t-shirt over my fresh dressings.

  “I know why you hate me, and I understand your reasons, but you of all people must see that I was just a pawn to Towley. You saw what he is capable of. I couldn’t go against him.”

  I lift my head, staring at the blank wall in front of me. “Another doctor I knew said the same thing about Alan Roscoe. She turned out to be a psychotic, supremacist, who double crossed everyone. I don’t trust you, doctor.” I purposely emphasise the last word. “I have no idea why Papa does.”

 

All written works & images are the property of K.J.Chapman

 

Picture Prompt #10

Whilst I’m submerged in the drafting of EVO Ghost, these posts may be a little sporadic, but I will be continuing with them.

Today’s picture prompt is of some coastal pretties… shells. My house is full of beautiful pebbles and shells. It’s just one of the joys of living in Cornwall, England.

My five year old daughter has a sneaky habit of filling my handbag with unique, seaside treasures when we go to one of our favourite beaches. ‘What is wrong with that?’ I hear you ask. Oh, there is a walk to this beach (no car access to the public), and every single time I wonder why my shoulder is aching until I discover the boulder size rocks I’ve been hauling.

The Sound of Freedom

The shell looks massive in her tiny, squishy hand, but there is nothing bigger than her love for me. I just had to fish a shell out of a rock pool and I’m a hero in her eyes. I do nothing of value for her, yet she idolises me. The thought leaves a sick feeling in my stomach. The poor, little mite has no idea who I am, not really.

“It’s empty, Daddy,” she says, a frown swallowing up her dimples.

“That’s why it’s special. It may look empty, but it’s not. Shells carry the sound of the sea for eternity.”

“I don’t believe you,” she says, the glint in her eye betraying her curiosity.

I hear the slam of a car door from the car park, and a blonde head bobs frantically as Bethan sprints across the sand. Dragging Lyla behind the rocks, I drop to my knees in front of her. The wet sand damps my trousers, but that matters little right now.

Taking in every thing about her in a split second, I take the shell, hold it to her ear, and clasp her small hand over it. “I want you to close your eyes and listen.” She does as I ask  without question. “Can you hear it?”

A gappy smile spreads over her face. “Yes, I can. I can hear the sea. It’s the sound of the waves on the sand.”

“Keep your eyes closed. Keep listening,” I say, getting to my feet, and heading toward the coastal path cut into the rocks.

Will she understand why I have to do this? Will she be told lies about me? The truth? I’m not sure what is worse. I take a final look at my beautiful girl before turning from her and slipping away. One last special memory was all I wanted. I hope she thinks of me whenever she visits a beach, or when she teaches her own children about the magic of shells. She will always be the first thing on my mind when I wake, and the last thing when I lay down to sleep.

“Lyla!” shouts Bethan’s terrified voice. Of course she is terrified, she thought I snatched our child. “Lyla!”

My feet thud the sandy pathway, putting distance between my old life and my new one. Then, her cries carry over the wind. She screams for her Daddy as sirens fill the air. My heart shatters, never to be fully whole again. Is freedom worth this?

All written works and images are the property of K.J.Chapman

Do you like writing prompts? Check out K.J.Chapman’s Prompt Me eBook, and discover 150 writing prompts for beating the block!

Interview With Linda Osborne, Founder of Tots Tune Time

Today’s author interview is a little different in a refreshing way. I am joined by Linda Osborne, the founder of Tots Tune Time.

Linda uses her writing and creative talent in an educational way: writing songs and poems for pre-schoolers. Linda holds nursery groups in her local community, encouraging learning and exercise within young children in fun, energetic sessions based around her songs. But that is not the end of Linda’s objective. Her material has been requested and used by teachers and parents for many years, and Linda has been making big strides forward in plans to get her educational products into more schools and other child based community organisations on a wider scale, and has many products available for consumer purchase. Click here to view Tots Tune Products.

Check out one of Linda’s fun, educational videos:

1. Where did the idea for Tots Tune Time stem from?

 My passion for dance, music and my love of working with young kids inspired me.

2. Have you always had a passion for writing poetry/ songs?

After writing a short song at the request of a local nursery, I discovered a new interest. I now have quite a collection and was encouraged by the enthusiastic response of kids and teachers.

3. What inspires your songs and poems?

I keep a notepad with me all the time. I write about topics that kids can learn from. I love to write to activate imagination. I try and look at things through a child’s eyes. What would I love to listen to? I’d want to learn, laugh and be inspired.

4. What is it about writing for children that motivates you?

Their innocence, their ability to absorb information, their laughter (I love to inject humour into my writing) and their honesty.

5. Do you have a writing routine?

No. I always have new ideas so I keep a notepad with me and write things down.

6. What’s next for Tots Tune Time?

Keep creating and expanding. Sell preschool products online (http://www.totstunepreschoolproducts.com/). Raise funds to professionally film classes to be made available online. Look into franchising Tots’ Tune Time.

If you are interested in any of Linda’s products, you can find more on Tots Tune Time here:

Official Webpage

Twitter

Facebook

For use of any images or excerpts featured in this post, please seek permission from the author/ creator, Linda Osborne.