Harmony Kent's Blog, page 71

#ShareAReviewDay Tuesday – TheGlade by Harmony Kent

Marcia Meara shares an old but hilarious book review for The Glade over at her place today … check it out for a few giggles >>>

 

So happy to get back into the swing of things with a wonderful–and wonderfully funny–review of Harmony Kent’s apparently very scary book, The Glade. This is the kind of review mos…

Source: #ShareAReviewDay Tuesday – TheGlade by Harmony Kent

#Book Review: Daddy has Cancer Verwayne Greenhoe and A Soldier’s Children Jan Sikes

Hello everyone. Today, I’d like to share two book reviews with you, both from indie writers whoom I respect. One book is about dealing with a terminal cancer diagnosis, and while fictionalised, is inspired by the author’s experience from working in that field. The second book is pure fiction, but the characters are so well drawn, I felt so angry at the mother while caring deeply about the girls. So, from here, I’ll let my reviews and the book descriptions tell you all you need to know >>>

Daddy has Cancer by Verwayne Greenhoe

[image error]Written with the idea that too many families, especially children, are losing loved ones without a clue of what is happening and why, the author explains in a story form of what happens when ten-year-old Mason is told that his Daddy has a highly advanced lung cancer that will bring about his death in less than a week.

While not a children’s story, it might help the adults in a child’s life to understand how to talk with a child in the same circumstance as Mason.

 

My Review:

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This is a short but heavy book, and one that needs to be read for anyone dealing with cancer themselves or if they have a loved one who has cancer.

The author has aimed the narrative at both the adults and any children involved, and to that end, sometimes the writing seems a little too simplistic for my perception. However, that said, I know that in times of great stress and/or grief, often simpler is better, so at those times, I can see this approach as being beneficial. The text has a few errors here and there (for example,the Kirkpatricks keep becoming Kilpratric and then swapping back and forth), but otherwise it’s a clean read.

Sometimes, I felt too removed from the characters, and I think this is because it is told from distant 3rd person point of view, which allows us to see and hear how each family member feels and responds. Also, I’m relieved at this touch of distance, as this would have been an incredibly harrowing read otherwise. Even with this gap between the reader and the characters, the narrative brought tears to my eyes at times.

Though the American care system seems vastly different to that in the UK, I feel this book is useful regardless, as it helps show how to handle the difficulties of a terminal cancer diagnosis with calm and compassion, whether that be with fellow adults or with children.

This is a brave book to write. It gets 4 stars from me.

 

A Soldier’s Children by Jan Sikes

[image error]At the tender age of fourteen, Jennifer shoulders the full responsibility of running a household and caring for her seven-year-old sister. It’s bad enough that their father is lost at war in Afghanistan, but troubles multiply when their so-called mother abandons them for another man. Hardships and struggles are constant companions. Family is whatever Jennifer can make it. That’s the way the cards have been dealt, and that’s the way she’ll play them.

This strong young girl meets every obstacle head-on, while never losing hope for a better tomorrow.

 

My Review:

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A Soldier’s Children is a short but riveting read. If I could get hold of the absent mother, I’m not sure what I would do with her. The main character is the big sister, trying to keep her and her sister out of trouble, and fed and housed, after her mother ran off with some bloke six months ago. I connected with her immediately and cared what happened to all the characters. The ending was well rounded, and all the story threads (except for the mother) were tied off. This short read gets a solid 5 stars from me, and I shall be reading more from this author.

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.

Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – New Book on the Shelves – #Non-Fiction – Creative Solutions for the Modern Writer by Harmony Kent

My latest non-fiction book, Creative Solutions, gets it’s first Five-star review! And Sally has showcased it on her blog >>>

Congratulations to Harmony Kent on the publication of Creative Solutions for the  Modern Writer…Inspirational tools to fire your imagination. About the book Creative Solutions for the Modern …

Source: Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – New Book on the Shelves – #Non-Fiction – Creative Solutions for the Modern Writer by Harmony Kent

#Bookreview – Fallout by Harmony Kent

My latest novel, Fallout, gets a fantastic review over at Robbie Cheadle’s place

Creative Solutions for the Modern Writer #newrelease @harmony_kent

My latest non-fiction book, Creative Solutions, is getting some love over at Mae Clair’s place today

The Unrepentant Character

Check out this fun post by Mae Clair on Story Empire today … what do you do with your unrepentant characters? >>>

Hello, SeERs! You’re with Mae today for a discussion on the unrepentant character. The difficult one. The problem child. The-how-the-heck-did-he/she-turn-out-that-way individual. We’ve all en…

Source: The Unrepentant Character

Robert Fear and the Summer of 77

Hello everyone.

Today it gives me great pleasure to host fellow author, Robert Fear, who is here to tell you about himself, his books, and his latest release … Summer of 77 … take it away Robert >>>

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Robert Fear has lived in Eastbourne on the south coast of the UK for half his life. He moved there to be with Lynn, his future wife, and is still there with her thirty years later. As cat-lovers, they have taken on several rescue cats over the years and are owned by three now.

For his day job, Robert works as a self-employed software consultant. In his spare time, he writes, edits, and self-publishes books.

Robert’s interest in travel goes back to his twenties when he spent most of his time abroad. His experiences included: a summer in Ibiza, hitch-hiking around Europe, and touring the USA and Canada. His most eventful trip was in 1981 when he travelled through Asia.

Born into a religious sect known as the Exclusive Brethren, his father, John, took the brave step of leaving it with his young family when Robert was nine years old. Robert never saw his grandparents again but is thankful for being able to grow up outside this restrictive group. His life has been full of adventures he would never have experienced otherwise.

 

* * *

Fred was a nickname given to Robert while at school. It became his travel name and people still know him as Fred to this day. In this blog post, he talks about the background to his self-publishing journey.

 

Fred’s Diary 1981: Travels in Asia is the edited version of a handwritten diary that I kept during my travels around Hong Kong, Thailand, India and Nepal between February and July 1981. The final collection ran to 600 closely written pages.

I almost forgot the diary for many years. It only appeared when friends asked to read it.

In 2005 I started typing it up on my computer as the original copy was fading. I got the first two months from my trip transcribed but then ran out of motivation.

Two years later there was an article in a PC magazine about Kindle and self-publishing that sparked my interest.

As a result, I released the second part of my diary Time in Thailand in 2009. As the title suggests, things didn’t go as planned on that leg of my trip. I published £99 to Hong Kong in 2011. This covered the first part of my adventure where, amongst other things, I worked as an extra for Chinese television.

By then the bug had bitten, and I planned a release of the whole diary. Over the next two years, I typed everything up and started editing.

In December 2013, I published Fred’s Diary 1981. It was a long book. The paperback version ran to 564 pages and contained 165K words.

During the first few months of 2015 further editing took place and the second edition, released in October 2015, contained 100K words, with around 360 pages. It also had a professional final edit and a new cover.

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getbook.at/FredsDiary1981

 

* * *

I devoted a lot of my spare time over the following year making my father’s dream come true.

It started for me back in 1992 when my father, John, became frail and was confined to bed. Visits to the hospital became more frequent, and the doctors were talking about months, not years.

John had been working on his memoirs for several years and had already typed up many of the chapters. He also had plans in place for finishing the remaining chapters of his book. Now he could not continue, and my mother called me to see if I could help. I was more than happy to get involved.

In the evenings and at weekends I sat at my computer and transcribed the chapters that John had finished. I printed these off and sent them back to him. It was a period of reconciliation between father and eldest son as we discussed changes and planned for the missing chapters.

During the months following his death, I continued working on John’s memoirs with the help of my mother and brother. In 1994 we printed a limited edition for family and friends called Exclusive Pedigree. If it hadn’t been for a chance remark years later, the life of the book could have ended there.

Towards the end of 2015, I was visiting my mother for a few days and gave her a paperback copy of the second edition of Fred’s Diary 1981, which she wanted to read. Our conversation turned to self-publishing, and we started talking about John’s memoirs. Then came the bombshell from my mother, “Did you know Rob, that John always wanted to have his book professionally published?” I had another challenge ahead.

My father’s memoirs were published in July 2016. I think John would have been proud of the finished result, a fabulous tribute to his life entitled Exclusive Pedigree: My life in and out of the Brethren.

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getbook.at/ExclusivePedigree

 

* * *

While working on the second edition of Fred’s Diary 1981, I began a blog in February 2015 to aid me with the editing process.

To encourage people to visit the blog I started a travel story competition which I ran in parallel with daily diary extracts.

It was such a success that I ran another competition for travel highlights. This went very well too. I published all the entries in a new book called Travel Stories and Highlights.

In 2016 I re-ran the two competitions. Again, there were many fantastic entries, and I released a 2017 Edition of Travel Stories and Highlights in December 2016. It contained the best 50 stories and 50 highlights from both sets of competitions.

2017 and 2018 saw the competitions being repeated. This led to two more editions being produced. The 2018 Edition contained 60 stories and 40 highlights, while the 2019 edition included 66 stories and 66 highlights.

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getbook.at/TravelStories2017

getbook.at/TravelStories2018

getbook.at/TravelStories2019

* * *

Although I enjoyed publishing other people’s stories, I was itching to write a memoir about the six months I spent on the Spanish island of Ibiza in 1977, when I was 21.

Two years ago, I started planning the book. It was fortunate that I still had the letters I received while working the season in Ibiza. Otherwise, I would have found it difficult remembering what happened over forty years ago. I transcribed the letters and created a timeline around them. This triggered memories of events from the time and I started writing.

After months of prevarication and self-doubt, I completed the final chapter in May this year. Then I began editing my words and making the story more concise and readable.

Next steps included the choice of a title, commissioning a cover design and writing the blurb.

Then came a professional edit which reduced the word count by 10% and gave a real polish to the memoir.

The moment of truth arrived when I passed the draft copy to a group of beta readers at the start of September. The response has been very positive and a few 5* reviews have already been posted on Goodreads.

Summer of ’77: Beaches, bars and boogie nights in Ibiza is now available to pre-order on Amazon with a publication date of October 27th. Below is a synopsis:

 

A holiday can change everything…

…it did for Fred.

He went on a two-week break with three friends to the Spanish island of Ibiza in July 1976. It was so enjoyable they all vowed to come back for the following season.

In April 1977, Fred returned to Ibiza, alone, in pursuit of his dream.

Behind him, he left his family, his girlfriend, and a promising career in banking.

Challenges lay ahead.

This would be no holiday.

He needed a place to stay and to find work that would sustain him through the next six months.

This true to life memoir follows 21-year-old Fred’s adventures as he acclimatises to living abroad. In a time before instant communication, he keeps in touch with family and friends by letter. They are his lifeline to home.

If you enjoy reading about people’s life-changing experiences, then this book is for you.

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getbook.at/Summerof77

 

The hard work now begins with the marketing of my memoir, so I haven’t even thought about what to write next. I am sure reading Harmony’s new book Creative Solutions for the Modern Writer will give me some great ideas!

 

Social media and blog links

Facebook:            www.facebook.com/fredsdiary1981

Twitter:                                    @fredsdiary1981

Instagram:           @fredfear

Fred’s Blog:         fd81.net

Ready, Set, Go! #writingsprints

Check out this post on Writing Sprints by Mae Clair over at Story Empire today >>>

 

Hi, SEers. It’s Mae Day on Story Empire. Can you believe October is in full swing? In a short while, we’ll be handing out Halloween goodies to ghosts and goblins during trick-or-treat. I hope you’v…

Source: Ready, Set, Go! #writingsprints

Teaser Tuesday

An older book of mine is chosen for this week’s Tuesday Teaser over at Rainne’s place today >>>

[image error]Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker. Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR! You can also just share what you are curren…

Source: Teaser Tuesday

Book Release: Creative Solutions by @HarmonyKent #TuesdayBookShare

My latest non-fiction book, Creative Solutions, is getting some love over at Joan’s place today >>>[image error]

Hey everyone! I’m delighted to welcome back friend and fellow author Harmony Kent. Her newest non-fiction book, Creative Solutions for the Modern Writer, releases tomorrow. From what I’…

Source: Book Release: Creative Solutions by @HarmonyKent #TuesdayBookShare