Lance Greenfield's Blog, page 91
February 23, 2015
African Empowerment Workshop
Are you interested in the culture and people of southern Africa?
Now is your big chance to find out more by participating in our
Southern African Empowerment and Cultural Workshop
on 14th March at St Thomas Hall in Grays, Essex
This empowerment workshop is about:
Cultural Awareness
Integration
Vision
Entrepreneurial Skills Sharing
Creating Community Cohesion
Speakers on Issues that affect the region
Entertainment and Networking
Why am I so excited about this workshop?
I am excited because I will be signing copies of Eleven Miles, which will be on sale at the workshop. My editor, Boikanyo Phenyo, who also inspired the story, will also be signing the copies. We will be interviewed together about how the book came into being. We are both extremely passionate about this story, especially our little heroine, Boitumelo Hope Tumelo. Her achievements, against all the odds, inspire the children throughout the world as they strive to make their dreams come true.
If you want to buy one of the signed copies, get there early. There will be limited stock. Alternatively, you can order your copy in advance and bring it along for me and Boikanyo to sign for you. Click on the image below to place your order.
Half of the profits from the sale of this book will go to
Princess Boikanyo’s School Bus Project to raise funds to buy a school bus for the children of remote villages in Botswana.
PLEASE BE KIND ENOUGH TO RE-BLOG THIS FOR ME
February 21, 2015
Review of Eleven Miles from Drifter
Great debut novel
This is an enchanting 4 and 1/2 star story of a young girl’s struggle to overcome some fearsome obstacles in order to gain an education.
The story is set in Botswana and the African sun shines out of every page. The writing style is economic, easy to reads and appears effortless. The story of Boitumelo, a bright young school girl, is based on a true story and this adds to the enchantment. It sounds very African and in some ways it is, just as Alexander McCall’s stories are, but the theme is universal; something which also helps to draw the reader in.
Like any great story, while it is inspirational and uplifting it does have a dark side, adversity and tragedy have to be overcome.
Why didn’t I give it 5 stars? Because the reader is told, rather than shown, what’s happening and a couple of characters just seem to fade away.
For adults, well worth the read and I think younger readers would love it.
See Drifter’s original review on Goodreads
February 19, 2015
To the woman who tutted at me using the disabled toilets…
I tried to reblog this in the usual way, but I couldn’t, so here’s the link. This is well worth reading. I am sure that there are many of you who have either been affected in this way, or who have a family member or friend who has.
Judgmental discrimination without the facts
February 17, 2015
Review: Moloka’i
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
All because of fear
Unfounded fear, unbounded love, exile, cruelty, death, suffering, prejudice and, most of all, sacrifice. It is all there, in this beautiful story.
There is already enough description of the actual story on the fly leaf and all of the other reviews, but this is a wonderful book. It is well researched, and clearly based on fact. If any aspiring writer wants a lesson in character development, they need look no further than Moloka’i. There are so many prominent characters in this book; all of them are beautifully crafted.
I was advised to “have a tissue or two on hand.” That advice turned out to be inadequate. I could have done with a couple of buckets to catch the tears that I shed whilst reading this book.
I would strongly recommend it to all.
February 16, 2015
Revising My New Year’s Resolutions – Already!
It’s shocking when one has to review one’s New Year’s Resolutions only seven weeks into the fresh year. But I am revising mine for a very positive reason. I set my sights too low!
I aimed to have one hundred people following my relatively new blog by the end of 2015. I was not ambitious enough. I under-estimated the interest that my mediocre missives would attract. I already have ninety-two followers.
It would be unreasonable to expect people to continue to join at such a remarkable rate for the rest of the year, so, today, I reset my target to . . .
End the year with more than 250 followers on my blog
That is still a tough target, but I think that I can get there.
Time Travel – My next coach tour
Following the great success of my first three coach tours, especially the last one when we met Aristotle and Alexander the Great, I am already looking at destinations for Coach Tour #4.
You, the passengers, can choose!
I have set up a poll so that you can vote for the next destination. Just click on the Polls tab at the top of my blog, or simply https://lancegreenfield.wordpress.com/polls/”; rel=”nofollow”>click here.
Everybody on the coach gets on so well that some of you were asking if we could arrange an informal meeting so that we can chat about previous tours and speculate about future trips. So I have managed to secure a room in the Fringe Club in Wyndham Street in Hong Kong.
I look backward to meeting as many of my fellow time travelers as can make it, last Wednesday at 7:30 pm. Bring a friend!
February 15, 2015
Lance’s Coach Tour #3
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome aboard. Today we are going to visit an old friend of mine, a teacher called Harry, and his latest star pupil, Alex. You will know them better as Aristotle and Prince Alexander, son of King Phillip II of Macedonia.
I am pleased to say that every seat is taken on my third coach tour. As I implied in my introduction, we are destined for Stagira in Macedonia in the year 338 BC, where we will meet the great philosopher and teacher, Aristotle, and the teenage Prince who would go on to become Alexander the Great.
Regulars, Eloise, Lucie, Sheila, Wendy, Sally, Tooty, Viv and Howard, must really enjoy these trips. They’ve joined me on all three. Perhaps I should think about issuing loyalty cards.
As I look around the coach, I am delighted to also welcome back Dominique, Chick Piggy, Paul, Julz, Hugh and the Candle Sisters. Steve and Allison are already canoodling on the back seat.
It’s alright folks. They’re married!
There are a lot of newcomers on board too. Amongst them, Kath, Babus, Catmint, Lucy and Bynda.
We are soon under way, and it takes no time at all to get from Victoria Bus Station in London to Stagira in Macedonia. That’s not quite true. It takes us MINUS 2,353 years!
The great Philosopher himself greets our arrival.
“Kalemera Lance, phile mou! How are you? It seems like only yesterday that you last came to see me.”
“Kalemera Harry. It’s great to be back. I’ve brought a few of my friends to meet you and Alex.”
Aristotle leads us along the beautifully pillared corridors and into a classroom where the young prince awaits our arrival. He is puzzling over an intricate knot, which appeared to have no ends, on a pole in front of him.
Fiona is quick to ask Alex what he is doing.
“Aristotle has given me many problems to solve. This one is simply to untie the knot and show him a single length of rope.”
Many of the tourists know the legend of Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot, but that came much later in his life so they keep their thoughts to themselves. I had warned them that it would be inappropriate to change the course of history.
However, Brandy, being a keen sailor who has never heard of the Gordian Knot, is quick to see the solution. Unable to restrain herself, she leans forward and whispers in the Prince’s ear, “Do you know how to splice a rope?”
Prince Alexander frowns for a few seconds before his face lights up as he suddenly realises what Brandy means. He draws his knife and cuts the rope, knowing that he will be able to splice the cut ends together to restore the single length.
Sara, Elan, Tesse and Kaisy have formed a little group around Aristotle. They are in awe as he recalls his times with Plato.
The rest of the day-trippers have set off in little groups to explore the town. Natasha and Adele are keen to find a watering hole. Rachel and Kitt are marveling at the beauty of the mosaics.
Several hours later, the group are reluctant to leave, but the time has come back to return to twenty-first century London. On the way back, Howard, as usual, leads Boikanyo, the Ordinary Wife and Jo in the customary sing-song. Soon, the whole coach is singing along.
As we near Victoria, the talk turns to where and when we might go on Coach Tour Number Four. I tell everyone to watch my blog as I’ll be setting up a vote in the next few days.
Saint Valentine’s Day was yesterday. Loving Day is EVERY day!
Tulips for Joy
Today is the 36th anniversary of the day that I met my darling wife, Joy, in the Cricketers pub at Longparish. Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. Which day do you think is more important to me? Yet another commercial exploit-the-public day, or the day that I met my true love?
Valentine’s day is just like every other day of the year to me.
My love for Joy is continuous and endless! Loving Day is EVERY day for me.
To prove my point, I just received an email from an only vendor entitled “Valentines Sale EXTENDED”. You can guess the content.
So please excuse the following rant. I get really wound up by commercial days. There are more of them: Valentine’s, Trick or Treat, Father’s, Mother’s, Christmas, Easter, Black Monday, Black Friday, Red Wednesday, Digital Tuesday, Triffick Thursday, Gullibility Saturday….. OK, I’m making them up now, but you get my point.
In recent years, I have managed to come to terms with Trick or Treat, which is a robbery with menaces event imported from America. I actually look forward to the evening.
It is time to drag out one of my favourite recipes: mustard filled chocolates.
Hahahaha kids! Here’s a trick from me!
February 14, 2015
Review: The Stonor Eagles
The Stonor Eagles by William Horwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Is this book really fiction? Or is it fact? Or is it what many people now call faction?
For me, in my tiny mind, it became reality. This was down to Horwood’s terrifically powerful story-telling. He captivated me completely and I really believed the events that he was describing, even down to the conversations between the eagles.
As is the case with Skallagrigg, there are two intertwined stories in this book, which eventually bind together.
I came to love Jim MacAskill Stonor: a confused boy growing up in a dysfunctional family in Deal (shades of The Boy with No Shoes), a man overcoming many difficulties, a great artist who draws, paints and sculpts eagles.
I came to love Cuillin: the last great sea eagle of Skye, who makes it to the coast of Norway and dedicates the rest of her life to returning her kind to the mountains which gave her her name.
I came to love the people, well most of them, who surrounded Jim through his trials and tribulations. And I came to love the sea eagles, well most of them, who flew with and against Cuillin and her offspring.
But I really did believe in the tales that I was reading. I became emotionally involved. I even shed a few tears from time to time.
What greater testimony can a writer have for his work?
So, I can hear you asking me, “Why didn’t you give The Stonor Eagles five gleaming stars?”
The answer is that I found it very heavy going. It is 600 pages of condensed print. Reading this book was genuinely tiring. As my favourite reading time is between when my head finally hits the pillow at night and when I turn over to go to sleep, I could usually only manage to get through a few pages per session. So it took me a long time to read. But it was worth it. I thoroughly recommend this book to all of my friends.
I already want to read it again! Alas. I have too many books on my to-read pile, and must move on.
