Lance Greenfield's Blog, page 93
January 31, 2015
Bargain! Buy Eleven Miles Now!
The Kindle edition of Eleven Miles is now available on Amazon at a bargain-basement, never-to-be-repeated price.
Over the coming week, it will climb a pricing staircase. Every 40 hours, the price will step up until it returns to its regular price next Monday. The countdown on each increment will appear on the book’s Amazon page.
So don’t buy your copy this weekend. Take advantage of the lower prices from Monday.
In return, after you have enjoyed reading Boi’s story, please be kind enough to leave your review on Amazon, Goodreads, Lulu and B&N.
Please re-blog this post and share it with all your
friends and followers by any means possible.
Review: The Light Bearer
The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It took me a long time to read this book, because it is a long book. It is way, way, way, way, WAY too long!
The story is great, but there were many times when I found myself wanting to shout a the words in front of my eyes, for page after page, “Just get on with it!” There was a long period during which reading this book reminded me of my marathon running days. I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience, but it was sometimes a labour of love: between the 21 and 25 mile points. I suppose that equates to about pages 600-720.
Also, I knew what was going to happen. Most of the storylines are predictable. And the underlying love story is pretty dire.
Having said all of that, this is a great work of historical fiction. My benchmark is always to ask myself if the characters and dialogue and actions bring the history to life for me. In this case, they certainly did that job extraordinarily well.Clearly, a huge amount of research has gone into this book, and the detail comes shining through.
But, as I said at the top of my review, it is far too long. Donna Gillespie would have made a much better job of it if she had condensed the story to, at most, half of its final length. The strength and power of her story-telling would have been much more compelling, and it would have gripped my attention until I had finished.
If you are interested in this period of European history, and want some colourful, graphic descriptions, and you have stamina, pick up this book and read it.
In my opinion Gladiatrix and Roma Victrix by Russell Whitfield are much better reads than The Light Bearer. These two books are just about right in length, and the are fast-paced and dynamic. There are a lot of shocks and surprises in both stories, and Russell Whitfield’s writing certainly stirs the emotions. I am still grieving for some of his characters today!
I agonised over my rating for The Light Bearer. If ever a book deserved exactly 3.5 stars, in my opinion, this was the one. Do I like it (3 stars), or do I really like it (four stars)? In the end, I decided that the quality of the writing, the detailed descriptions, and the excellent research could persuade me to round my rating up to four stars.
January 30, 2015
Do NOT buy my book!
Is he serious?
Is he crazy?
Why would an author tell us NOT to buy his book?”
Well, I can tell you that, yes, I am serious. And I can’t deny being a little crazy. Plenty of people who know me well would be only to happy to tell you that.
But why would I tell you NOT to buy my book?
The answer is simple. I am only telling you not to buy the Kindle edition of Eleven Miles this weekend. Wait until Monday, when it will be available on Amazon at a bargain-basement, never-to-be-repeated price.
Then it will climb a staircase for a week. Every 40 hours, the price will step up until it returns to its regular price after seven days. The countdown on each increment will appear on its Amazon page.
So don’t buy your copy this weekend. Take advantage of the lower prices from Monday.
In return, after you have enjoyed reading Boi’s story, please be kind enough to leave your review on Amazon, Goodreads, Lulu and B&N.
Please re-blog this post and share it with all your
friends and followers by any means possible.
January 28, 2015
Review: Doomsday Book
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Connie Willis is a very imaginative writer. I love the time travel genre, and this story is one of the better ones that I have read. However, at almost 600 pages, this book is way too long. The pace is so slow and repetitive that I believe that the first 400 pages could have been condensed into about a quarter of that length.
All the way through, Finch, who is the secretary of one of the main characters, Dunworthy, complains about the lack of “lavatory paper.” All he needed to do was by a few copies of Doomsday Book , ripped out the first two-thirds, and he would’ve had a surplus!
I hold the editor responsible for my tedium, as the author presented that editor with a great story and received no good guidance in return. The proof reader is also culpable of serious crime: there are numerous typos and incorrect vocabulary usage. Worse than that, there are so many punctuation errors that, if Lynne Truss were to read this story, she would be pulling her hair out by the time she were half way through.
Once the pace picked up, just past page 400, I was captivated and read through to the end quite quickly.
What puzzled me immensely, and many other readers too, is that although Kivrin, the historian who travelled back in time to the Middle Ages, had brilliant technology in the form of implants which automatically translated her speech into Old English and allowed her to record her journal by speaking into her hands as if praying, she was not equipped with the most essential, available piece of technology. When two of the modern day characters travel back to rescue Kivrin, 35 pages from the end, they have a “locator” which will guide them back to the “drop”, or the time portal, through which they transported. Since most of Kivrin’s quest, back in the 14th century, concerned seeking the location of the drop, why oh why did she not take one of these locators with her in the first place?. I suppose that it would have taken away half of the story, had she been so equipped.
All in all, this is a really good time travel story, but the book could have been less than 300 pages long, have been better edited, and should certainly have been scrutinized by a proficient proof-reader.
I would only recommend it to friends who love a good time travel book and have the stamina to keep reading to the end of a marathon.
British Stereotypes
British Stereotypes
My mother was from Sutherland in the far north of Scotland. My father is from South Yorkshire.
BUT….. I deny that I am either a Wildling or that I am Fighty!
If you want to argue about that, you can meet me on the moors at noon.
Bring your own weapon.
January 27, 2015
Review of Eleven Miles by Lance Greenfield
A lovely review of Eleven Miles
Originally posted on Thoughts by Mello-Elo:
We meet the main character, Boitumelo Hope Tumelo from Itlhomolomo village as she begins her journey to secondary school, eleven miles away from her home. The young girl and her best friend, Grace, take the reader on a journey through their years of education, the many events that shape their futures and friendships that influence their strength and maturity through their teenage years.
View original 190 more words
Review: If History Was Scottish
If History Was Scottish by Norman Ferguson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a gift from my dear sister, Kim. It was a really great gift and I appreciated it.
The concept is very simple. It consists a series of short quotes, or quotes as they could’ve been had the whole universe been Scottish, from creation to the modern day.
It doesn’t take long to read through, and it had me chuckling from start to finish. Furthermore, it is a book that I happily keep at my bedside to dip into if I want to go to sleep on a good laugh. I suppose some would see it as the ideal book to plant in their guest cloakroom.
I cannot resist the urge to lift a few examples to share with you as tasters.
‘And God looked upon the world he had created.
And it wasnae bad.’
Bible
‘Did I hear right, there’s a free tablet going?’
Moses
‘I never thought the Prophecies would sell so well.
Didnae see that coming.’
Nostradamus
‘I cannot tell a lie.
A big boy cut that tree doon and ran away.’
George Washington
‘I did not have rumpy-pumpy, hanky-panky, nookie or how’s yer faither wi’ that wee lassie, Miss Lewinsky.’
President Bill Clinton
Admittedly, you need a Scottish connection to understand some of the quotes, but you’ll get the gist and enjoy it.
Get yourself a copy, and you’ll soon be buying more copies as gifts for your friends and relations.
January 25, 2015
Lance’s Coach Tour #2
My inaugural coach tour proved very popular with followers of Lance Greenfield’s blog, so I am pleased to welcome you all aboard our the second trip.
Where and when shall we go today?
You’ll find out when we get there, but I can promise you that we are going to have a wonderful time.
It is good to see all of the previous passengers eagerly taking their seats. Amongst them, Eloise, Lucie, Sheila, Wendy Kate, Sally, Tooty Nolan and The Owl Lady. Somebody is missing!
Here he comes now: Howard and his five string guitar. His music is always perfect for our time-traveling coach.
“Don’t worry folks. I’ve got a full complement of six strings on my guitar today, and spares for all of them,” he cries out gleefully before he settles comfortably in one of the front seats.
It seems that a few people missed the bus last time and booked early for our second journey, so that they wouldn’t miss out on the excitement. Please welcome aboard Paul, Julz, Chick Piggy, Dominique, Hugh and the Faraday’s Candle Sisters.
The bus soon fills, but I’ll introduce some of the other passengers as we go. If we don’t leave Victoria Bus Station in London very soon, I can sense that we may have a riot on our hands. Strum that guitar, Howard, and off we go!
Within a few minutes the houses of west London are becoming a blur and our charabanc is morphing into something, well, something a little older than the beautiful, air-conditioned, time-traveling coach it was when we left Victoria. But we all love it.
This is fun!
And what’s happening to the countryside? As the scenery comes back into focus, we find ourselves crossing a huge, iron-girdered, arched bridge across a wide, muddy river.
“Wow! Look at that. It looks like a Mississippi paddle steamer,” exclaims Fiona, excitedly.
“That’s because it really IS,” answers the Ordinary Wife.
“She’s right, Fiona,” says Almost Welsh Sarah. “This looks like New Orleans, but without the skyscrapers. We must have crossed the ocean and gone back several decades.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I announce, “Welcome to 1920s New Orleans. We’ll disembark in Decatur Street, and we’ll have a good four hours to take a look around. You’ll be able to sample the best music and food on the North American continent. At least in this era.”
And so it proved. A few hours later, as we made our way back through time and space, the passengers chatted about the sights and sounds and tastes that they had experienced during our wonderful day out.
Lili, Bridgette, Nunziapier, Izma and Meredith were exchanging notes as they guessed the recipes for the dishes that had delighted their taste buds during the afternoon.
“The cuisine has a definite French foundation to it, but the Creole and Caribbean spice takes it up to unexpected levels,” stated Bridgette.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could replicate those dishes when we get home?” added Dominique, who was listening with interest.
Charise and Boikanyo were much more excited by the street procession that many of them had witnessed.
“It was the best funeral you would ever see. A jazz band led the casket down the street.”
“We heard the most amazing young trumpeter I’ve heard in my life. I swear that he played notes that shouldn’t even be possible. We asked who he was, and they told us he was a poor boy from Storyville called Louis,” declared Boikanyo.
Charise backed that up with, “It just had to be Louis Armstrong; the one and only Satchmo. It couldn’t be anyone else.”
Howard, always the one to seek out a backstreet secret, had taken a whole crowd of his new friends to Bunk Johnson’s Club in Burgundy Street. Vonita, Jason, Rachelle, Michaela, Sassy, Amber, Steve and Allison had all witnessed the amazing piano-playing and voice of the young Emma Barrett.
“To think that, until Bunk spotted her jamming in a bar, she was just a barrow girl in the market place,” commented Steve. “Those songs of hers are so soulful, they brought tears to my eyes.”
As we pulled into Victoria Bus Station at the end of the best coach tour to date, there was general consensus that Lance’s tours were not to be missed. There was much debate about where and when they might go next.
One thing that Jo and Razorback were almost sure about was that the tow Scots on the tour, Steve and Allison, must be an item. They had been close all day.
I can guarantee that the next time my bus leaves 21st century London, we will be going much further back in time, and we will meet a character who has influenced modern civilization for hundreds of years.
Who wants to book a seat? Book now to avoid disappointment!
January 23, 2015
Boitumelo versus the jaguar
African speed and strength
This is the wonderful image of raw African speed that the editor of Eleven Miles posted as the profile photo on the book’s new Facebook page. What do you think?
The main reason that I posted it today is as a follow up to Day Fourteen of #Blogging101: Try a New Posting Style – Image Post Format.
