Jerome Parisse's Blog, page 21

Earth from Above

I went to see a great exhibition today entitled "An aerial portrait of our planet – toward a sustainable development", consisting of about a hundred or so aerial photographs taken by famous French photographer and environmentalist Yann Arthus Bertrand. The photos are amazing. I own a book by Arthus Bertrand, Earth from Above, which was published a few years ago, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that the photos in the exhibition were not all from the book. The exhibition focusses on sustainability and renewable forms of energy. It is staggering to know that only around 14% of energy currently produced in the world is renewable… The pictures are beautiful and have each a deeper meaning, from New Orleans' houses covered by water after hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005, to waste dumps in Africa or France, or land mines in Australia. The exhibition is held at the Open Piazza, Olympian City 2, Kowloon, Hong Kong (Olympic MTR Station), and lasts until 26 December.

I don't want to infringe copyright by posting photos on this blog, but for those interested, you can visit Arthus Bertrand's gallery site here. There are a lot of beautiful photos to be browsed on the site. There are even many free, stunning screen savers for your computer.

Body Swap giveaway ending soon

There's a Body Swap giveaway on goodreads.com at the moment. Details below if you are interested.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Body Swap
by Jerome Parisse

Giveaway ends December 15, 2010.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Kindle, Body Swap et al

Hooray! I have finally finished work that required all my attention (and all my time) and can now get back to reading, enjoying life and writing posts for my blog. My French editor had asked me to proof-read my latest manuscript before the book is put together, and I also had to write a final scene for my latest full-length play. I am still reading "Hong Kong Murders" and my pile of books has grown higher… Argh! Watch this space!

I've also been interviewed by David Wisehart (author of Devil's Lair) about Body Swap, my latest young adult novel, and publishing on Kindle. The interview has been posted in his blog and can be read here.

The Animated Version of the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival

If you have the time and manage to get tickets (I heard it's sold out), there is a fantastic exhibition in Hong Kong at the moment. The Animated Version of the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, which was exhibited at the China Pavilion of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China, is currently in Hong Kong! Projected on a screen of more than hundred and twenty metre long and six metre high, the picture is really amazing. It's as if you were sent back to Bianjing, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, nine hundred years ago. The animated version of the picture is thirty times the original. You can admire the bustling streets, the moving boats and the people walking in all directions.  The picture shows night and day cycles lasting four minutes each.

Zhang Zeduan's "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" is among the top ten most famous Chinese historical paintings. It depicts the life of the various social classes in Bianjing during the Qingming Festival at the time of the Song Dynasty. The exhibition's website states that "Cities in the Song Dynasty underwent drastic changes when compared with those in previous times. These were revolutionary changes for cities in China. On the one hand, the urban outlook changed a great deal such as appearance of shops and workshops along the streets, and on the other, the social life of people changed greatly such as enrichment in cultural life of civilians. In addition, the painting demonstrates the harmony among ancient citizens inside a city as well as that between urban and rural areas." The entire piece was painted in hand scroll format. It is often called China's Mona Lisa by the Chinese.

Here are two pictures of the original painting.

What is it about Japan?

We had a friend staying with us in Hong Kong for a few days this week. He decided to spend three days in Tokyo for a short visit mid-week and came back enthusiastic. He had never been to Japan and he was, like many, swept away by the place and the people. I have always firmly believed that  many people hold false preconceived ideas about Japan. What they find when they go there is a very different place from what they expect.

So… what is so different about Japan? To start with - especially when you come from Hong Kong - it's a shock to see how truly nice and helpful people are. Try standing in a street in Japan – even in the middle of Tokyo – with a map in the hand for more than a minute and you'll understand what I mean. Someone is bound to ask if they can help you to find your way. Trust me, this is a delightful experience, and it does not happen in many places in the world. The Japanese are polite, careful, attentive, eager to help and always smiling. Forget the image of crowds of commuters pushing you and smothering you to death in the subway. I have found this to be a fairly inaccurate picture of Japan. Yes, there are a lot of people around, but very rarely will there be any kind of physical contact. People welcome you with open arms in stores, shops, cafes and restaurants, they will never fail to say good-bye when you leave, and they mean their smile. Shopkeepers are also often seen joking with each other! As a general rule, people will enquire about where you are from with a genuine interested. Okay, you'd better speak some Japanese if you want to have meaningful exchanges, as most people tend not to speak English at all, but if you do or if you find an English speaker, you're in for an interesting conversation.

Then of course, there are the ubiquitous cafes and their amazing variety of cakes. Yes, the Japanese are into coffee and cakes. Big time! Japanese food is amazing, and there is so much more to it than sushis and sashimis. It is highly varied, healthy, and delicious. My favourite dishes are tempuras (battered vegetables or prawns) and okonomiyaki, a sort of pancake made of a variety of vegetables, meats, seafood etc… And it's cheap. Yes, I did say cheap. The higher end of the restaurant market is very expensive, but the lower and middle ends are not that dear. You can eat very well, and quite a lot, for not much at all. My stays in Japan have never costed me very much (but I tend to avoid Western places which are expensive).

Everything in Japan is a feast for the eyes. Everything is treated with care, prepared with attention and love. Try the basement of large department stores and your eyes will be popping out in all directions: food of all kind, beautifully prepared and wrapped, a feast for the eyes and for the mouth, food that is varied enough to keep you tasting new things for the rest of your life. Every single thing in Japan is considered from an aesthetic perspective; not only does it have to be useful, it also has to be beautiful. Everything is an art: wrapping a parcel, displaying food, serving tea, selling goods, or simply dining out. Modern cities are nothing spectacular, except for the odd boldly designed building, but there are numerous temples and parks to visit. Try Kyoto and Nara for a start. You won't be disappointed. And there are the million other small details that make Japan Japan! On top of my head, the heated toilet seats, the heated bathrooms mirrors which never get fogged, the white gloves of taxi drivers, how clean everything is (Have a look at the upholstered train seats if you don't believe me), the exquisite flowers and pot plants, the manicured gardens, the calligraphy, the capsule hotels, the complexity of subway lines, the silence of big cities (electric cars and no trucks… what a relief!), the extravagantly dressed teenagers… Of course, Japan, like any other country in the world, has its own problems and is not a paradise, especially for people who live there on a permanent basis, but this is not what I want to talk about in this post. As a tourist, it is difficult not to fall in love with Japan and its people. I keep going back and I love every second of it.

The Ice House by Minette Walters

Minette Walters is a British crime fiction author of more than twelves books. The Ice House is the first of her books that I have read, and I must say that I enjoyed it immensely. It was published in 1992 by Macmillan and won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Award for best first novel. It has been translated into several languages.

A decaying body is found on the property of a woman and her two friends. This sparks the interest of the police, who has never been able to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the woman's husband ten years earlier. But what is the police really looking for? Are the three women keeping something from them? And why does everyone in the village hate them?

I love the way Walters write: extremely witty dialogue, sharp characterisation, and of course, enough suspense to want you to finish the book in one reading. Walters has created three wonderful characters (the women living on the property). I kept wanting more! There isn't one moment of tension in the story, and I can guarantee you will be kept guessing until the end as to what really happened. This is my first Minette Walters book, but it won't be the last.

Body Swap

My latest young adult novel is out. It's called Body Swap. It's available as eBook and in paperback format.

Here's a blurb about the story:

The world's first text message adventure romance with the other side!

William is thirteen and has recently moved to a town called Fulton with his parents. His sister Estelle died accidentally a year ago, and his mother is in deep grief. In his new hometown, William meets Pat, a boy who loves big words and is in need of company. Out of the blue, William receives a text message from the mobile phone of an unknown sender called Stephanie asking for help. The two boys are at first astonished, then dubious, when in a flurry of text messages Stephanie tells them she is in a coma at a nearby hospital. She says she is floating outside her body and needs their help to get back into it.

Initially incredulous, William and Pat become intrigued and decide to check whether Stephanie is telling the truth. They manage to trace the hospital and gain admission into the Intensive Care Unit, where sure enough they find Stephanie in coma. At their wits' end about how to do as Stephanie asks the two friends call on a female psychic called Doris to help them get Stephanie back into her body. A disastrous mix up occurs, however, and William ends up trapped in Stephanie's body and shut out of his own.

In Stephanie's body, William experiences difficult and sometimes comedic situations. He learns about things girls have to live with, from unwelcome approaches, to bras and high heels. The situation becomes even more desperate when Pat falls in love with Stephanie!

William and Pat elaborate a scheme for getting William and Stephanie back into their respective bodies, but timing is crucial and time is running out. The boys confront awesome challenges and meet with an unexpected enemy, and discover at the same time the secret behind Estelle's death.

The official website: http://www.jeromeparisse.com/bodyswap.htm

Buy it in paperback format on Amazon or as eBook on Amazon or Smashwords

Taipei: the city that reads

Last weekend I hopped over to Taipei for a short visit. Taiwan's capital city is a large metropolis spreading over kilometres and kilometres. It drizzled on the first day, which gave the buildings in the older part of the city a rather gloomy look. However it was sunny the next day, and things looked much more interesting. You can't miss the 101 Tower, the second tallest building in the world (for how long, though?). It's a beautiful structure from which you have an amazing three hundred and sixty degree view over the sprawling city. Food, of course, is delicious, as it always is in Taiwan, with a strong influence from Japan. In fact, I can't help notice every time I go to Taiwan, that it sits half-way between Japan and China and that it has been influenced by both cultures. People are very friendly, and many speak English in Taipei, unlike in the rest of the country. There are even national radio stations mixing English and Mandarin! What amazed me though was to find a city with hundreds of bookstores. When you come from Hong Kong, which is a real books' no-man's-land, seeing all those beautiful bookstores is a feast for the eyes. There is even an underground street (a shopping mall, really) which is only occupied by bookstores. It's a shame that Taiwan uses traditional characters, so I wasn't able to buy Chinese books, but I did enjoy spending time looking at the shelves, touching and smelling the books… At the moment there is a temporary exhibition called "Finding India" at  the MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Arts of Taipei), which exhibits works by Indian artists. It's a bit "out there" for my liking, but very interesting nonetheless. I especially liked the hundreds of cockroaches glued to the walls in one of the exhibition rooms!

And here are the photos…

Free Royalty-free Music

I recently created a book trailer for my novel, The Wings of Leo Spencer, and I faced the same problem as anyone who wants to add music to a video-clip, be it for YouTube or any other short video website: music is copyrighted, in the same way as any kind of writing, photos etc. You don't want to have to pay royalties for a thirty-second piece of music you used in one of your homemade video placed on YouTube! There is a lot of royalty-free music on the Web, but it is usually very expensive. While creating my book trailer, I stumbled upon Donosongs, an artist based in New York, and his website, which offers free royalty-free music for your own use. There are lots of different styles, and the music is pretty good. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to avoid trouble with the music they use for video-clips. Check it out. Dan-O is pretty cool.

New trailer and review for The Wings of Leo Spencer

There's now a book trailer for The Wings of Leo Spencer. Here it is:

There's also a review of the novel in Buzz Words Books this morning. Buzz Words Books posts reviews of young adult books on its website daily. It's an extension of Buzz Words, the newsletter created by Jackie French, which now has its own life. You can find the full review with pictures here.

Here's the review's full text:

The Wings of Leo Spencer


The Wings of Leo Spencer  by Jerome Parisse (Sid Harta)
PB RRP $24.99
ISBN 1-921642-14-9
Reviewed by Anke Seib
Fourteen year old Leo, diagnosed with a fatal illness at age twelve, has lived a relatively normal existence, surfing with his best friend Peter and longing to travel the world so he can photograph birds and share his work with others. His parents never told him the truth about his illness and he first hears it mentioned when, having just passed away, his dad phones his grandmother to say that what was expected has happened.
When Leo enters heaven, the Council of Angels assesses and declares him 'apt' for the role of guardian angel as he has lived his past four lives in a worthy manner, meeting previous life contracts successfully. In his last life he 'was a good son, gentle brother, faithful friend, who suffered illness without complaining.' He is to be guardian to Peter, allowing him to return to Earth, which turns out to be a lucky thing because his family needs him.
Heaven is a place where one can have everything and anything they desire. Leo's great desire to photograph birds is now possible but does not satisfy as it is of his own mind's making. He makes friends quickly and easily though not with everyone. The Father of All Lies has worked with an insider to amend life contracts so that Leo's family will die in a house fire. Leo's attempts to resolve the situation will allow the Father of All Lies illegal entry to heaven.
Angels on Earth cannot physically touch humans but harnessing his love for his friend allows Leo to fight two men attempting to attack Peter. Helping his family does not prove that easy though. When Leo's family is surrounded by fire Leo manages to contact Peter, urging him to call the fire brigade. As the family climbs down to safety, their house collapses around them and all seems saved.
Not so, for the Father of All Lies is really angry now, and he and Leo come face to face in battle. It is when Peter and another of Leo's friends from heaven come to help him that the three can fight strongly enough for good to conquer evil. Although he has broken some rules the Council of Angels forgives Leo as he did it for the right reasons. He happily returns to heaven to photograph birds.