Harmony Kent's Blog, page 45
February 8, 2021
Short Stories | Story Empire
Hi everyone. Denise has a great post about short fiction over on Story Empire today >>>
Hi SEers! Denise here with a post about something I’ve been enjoying lately, short stories. When I get an idea in the middle of the night or the shower, I write it down. It can be the first paragra…
Source: Short Stories | Story Empire
The post Short Stories | Story Empire first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.
February 5, 2021
How to Make a Video Using Canva
Hi everyone. Today, you’ll find me over at Story Empire with a post on how to make a book movie trailer in Canva. It sure takes a lot of the work and heartache out of movie book trailers! >>>
Hi SErs! Harmony here
Today, I have another Canva tutorial for you. This one is all about using Canva to make a free and easy video, which you can use for all sorts of promotional purposes ……
Source: How to Make a Video Using Canva
The post How to Make a Video Using Canva first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.February 4, 2021
#amwriting #FridayFiction Part 4 #TheVanishedBoy @harmony_kent #newbook #crimethriller
Hi everyone. Welcome to another amwriting post. My manuscript on The Vanished Boy now stands at around 65,000 words, and the first draft is done! If you’re a regular here, you’ll have seen the blurb and cover already, so feel free to skip down to this week’s excerpt. It’s a short one this time. I’d love to know your thoughts, bearing in mind this is straight from the WIP and is the first, unrevised draft. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone 
It’s so remote out here. Anything could happen …
A missed phone call in the night is all it takes.
When Carole’s 18-year-old son goes missing, she breaks into Jayden’s laptop to try to understand his life.
All too soon, Carole discovers just how little she knew her boy.
And when one lead after another dead-ends, the distraught mother has to face the unthinkable.
Sucked into a sticky web of deceit and lies, nothing is as it seems.
When your life turns inside out and upside down, who would you trust?
Excerpt:
While the walls of a house may well hold many secrets, they don’t deign to reveal any to her. All the cold plaster offers is an empty echo of her failings as a mother. How could she not have known? That haunting question seems to be the one thing that she keeps slamming back into, pierced on its barbs each and every time she hits it. How much more can she survive?
© Harmony kent 2021
You can find all of my books at Amazon: http://author.to/HarmonysBooks
February 3, 2021
#BookReview: Every Missing Thing by Martyn Ford @Martyn87
Hi everyone. Today, I have a book review for you from debut author Martyn Ford. This is a gripping crime thriller and psychological thriller.
About the Book:
One family. Two missing children. A lifetime of secrets.
Ten-year-old Ethan Clarke’s disappearance gripped the nation. Just as his parents are starting to piece together a life ‘after Ethan’, their world is ripped apart once more when their daughter, Robin, disappears in almost identical circumstances. They’ve lost two children within a decade … and now doubts about their innocence are setting in.
Detective Sam Maguire’s obsession with the first case cost him his own family, but he has unfinished business with the Clarkes. He is convinced that discovering what happened to Ethan holds the key to finding Robin. But what if the Clarkes know more than they’re letting on?
With the world watching eagerly, the clock is ticking for Sam as he embarks on an investigation that forces him to confront his own demons. To uncover the truth, he must follow a trail of devastating deception—but the truth always comes at a cost …
My Review:
A gripping read from a debut author. I look forward to more books from this writer.
Most parents can’t imagine how they’d cope were a child to go missing, never to be found. Ten years on, your boy remains missing presumed dead. Then your daughter vanishes as well. What do you do with that and the subsequent media frenzy while your husband comes under suspicion?
The story is told from multiple points of view … the wife, the husband, the daughter, and the detective. Each voice is distinct, and the troubled detective is excellently written. I connected with each character.
Here are a couple of lines that stood out for me:
‘To fall into a void so absolute that not even memories can find you.’
‘The truth is such a powerful animal if only we respect it. Just touch its warm skin, feel its fur, and you’ll see it’s like silk when stroked head to haunch, a coarse brush stroked any other way.’
The story has many layers and plenty of dark twists and turns. I thought I’d sussed out how this one would end but I hadn’t. The finale took me completely by surprise. If you like a gritty crime drama, you’ll love this read. Every Missing Thing gets a resounding 5 stars from me.
***
NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.
5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.
I’d love to hear what you think of this review. Thanks for stopping by
For anyone interested, here are the Amazon links …
US … https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0841YG2HC/
UK … https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0841YG2HC/
The post #BookReview: Every Missing Thing by Martyn Ford @Martyn87 first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.
Co-authorship Part IV: Conclusion | Story Empire
Hi everyone, Gwen has the final post in the Co-Authorship series over on Story Empire today. A great post with lots of helpful tips and pointers >>>
Hello SEers! Gwen with you today to wrap-up the discussion on co-authorship. John Howell began with an overview, and you can find his first post here. I continued the following week by focusing on …
Source: Co-authorship Part IV: Conclusion | Story Empire
The post Co-authorship Part IV: Conclusion | Story Empire first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.February 2, 2021
Sue Vincent Rodeo Classic | Myths of the Mirror
Hi everyone. A special reblog today … what an awesome post on behalf of Sue Vincent from Diana. I definitely plan on taking part and would love it if you could join in too >>>
I’m so pleased to share this, and you bet I’m saddling up! For those of you who don’t know Sue Vincent, she’s one of those special bloggers in our community who inspires peo…
Source: Sue Vincent Rodeo Classic | Myths of the Mirror
The post Sue Vincent Rodeo Classic | Myths of the Mirror first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.February 1, 2021
Blogging Breaks: The Good, Bad, and Ugly | Story Empire
Hi everyone. Mae has a thought-provoking post on blogging breaks over at Story Empire today >>>
Hi, SEers! You’re with Mae today for one of my Good/ Bad / Ugly posts. At the end of 2020, I took a two-month break from blogging. I’d only planned one—November, to participate in NaNoWriMo—but end…
Source: Blogging Breaks: The Good, Bad, and Ugly | Story Empire
The post Blogging Breaks: The Good, Bad, and Ugly | Story Empire first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.January 30, 2021
Empty Planet ‘Fiction In A Flash Challenge’ Week #34 NEW Image Prompt. Join in the fun! #IARTG #ASMSG @pursoot #WritingCommunity
Hi everyone! It’s that time of the week again …fun flash fiction from Suzanne Burke. This week’s theme led me down a poetic path.
Here’s the poem I came up with >>>
Image by Comfreak from PixabayEmpty PlanetOnly the elephants remember
The last dying embers
Of the human race
Mother Nature has embraced
And reclaimed
Her empty planet, maimed
Tentative, new born
The sun shines on this brave dawn
Clean water, glorious fresh air
Because they remember, the elephants dare
And Life begins again
As this empty planet nature does reclaim
© Harmony Kent 2021
I’d love to know what you think of this poetic piece … so please don’t be shy and leave me a reply.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Image by Comfreak from Pixabay
The rules:Please put your entry (or a link to it) in a comment HERE or email it to Sooz at her email address. by DEADLINE: 4pm EDT on Thursday, February 4th. Subject: Fiction in a Flash Challenge. If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to THIS page would be much appreciated.
UPDATE: The response to the prompts has been just wonderful. As a result, Soooz be sharing all entries received, and her own contribution on her blog AS SHE RECEIVES THEM. Rather than posting all of them only over a few days.
Find Sooz at …
The post Empty Planet ‘Fiction In A Flash Challenge’ Week #34 NEW Image Prompt. Join in the fun! #IARTG #ASMSG @pursoot #WritingCommunity first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.
January 29, 2021
Pesky Words
Hi everyone. Today, over on Story Empire, Joan has a fun and informative post on pesky words. A great topic for those starting out and an excellent refresher for those of us who know better but need the odd nudge once in a while, lols. Head on over and check it out >>>
Hey SE Readers. Joan with you today. I’m going to preface this post by saying I’ve probably made every mistake I mention and then some. I tend to read with a more critical eye these days. It isn’t …
Source: Pesky Words
The post Pesky Words first appeared on Welcome to Harmony Kent Online.January 28, 2021
#amwriting #FridayFiction Part 3 #TheVanishedBoy @harmony_kent #newbook #crimethriller
Hi everyone. I can’t tell you how much pleasure it is to pen my third ‘am writing’ post. I’m on a roll. My new meds continue to ease my breathing, and I’ve tentatively begun to reduce down from four sets of doses a day to two. We’ll see how that goes. My manuscript on The Vanished Boy now stands at just under 58,000 words. If you’re a regular here, you’ll have seen the blurb and cover already, so feel free to skip down to this week’s excerpt. I’d love to know your thoughts, bearing in mind this is straight from the WIP and is the first, unrevised draft. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone
It’s so remote out here. Anything could happen …
A missed phone call in the night is all it takes.
When Carole’s 18-year-old son goes missing, she breaks into Jayden’s laptop to try to understand his life.
All too soon, Carole discovers just how little she knew her boy.
And when one lead after another dead-ends, the distraught mother has to face the unthinkable.
Sucked into a sticky web of deceit and lies, nothing is as it seems.
When your life turns inside out and upside down, who would you trust?
Excerpt:
Still half-asleep, she picks up the TV remote and finds the news channel. The weather plays in between banal reports. Sure enough, Storm Ellen is due to hit them in a couple of days. A cast-off, apparently, of the Tropical Storm that’s been battering at the US coast for the last few days. They always decide to visit the UK about a week after. Friendly things that they are. Carole slurps at her coffee and murmurs, ‘Who needs those sorts of friends?’
Her gaze wanders around the homely kitchen. Across the black granite work surfaces, over the well-used gas hob and oven combo, and on to the sink. The hairs on her neck prickle. Slowly, she reverses her perusal. Her eyes stop at the recycling tub by the back door. Still full. Huh. ‘Well, maybe Jay got home too late and he forgot again.’ She shakes her head. Something doesn’t feel right. There’s something else she’s missing.
On the counter, next to the double-wide American-style fridge, she sees her son’s laptop. Its silver casing glints at her in the harsh light of the overheads—taunting her and telling her she should know. Carole sucks in a breath and holds it. Study group. He said he was at study group. Why would he leave his laptop at home?
© Harmony kent 2021
You can find all of my books at Amazon: http://author.to/HarmonysBooks
