Ingrid Hall's Blog, page 24
July 19, 2014
Showcasing Distant Dreams – By Claudia Lord-Lynch
I am pleased to be doing a shout out today for Distant Dreams by Claudia Lord-Lynch.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Claudia Lord-Lynch was born and raised in East London, a short distance away from many places referred to in the book. She was inspired to write this book after years of listening to her father’s stories about his past experiences and witnessing his interactions with family and friends. She was fascinated by these stories but felt concerned that the arrival, ill- treatment and triumph of West Indian immigrants is a part of British history which isn’t taught in British schools and that part of history will die with them, spurring her onto tell, in part, her father’s story! Claudia is married, with one-child and lives in Romford, Essex.
ABOUT DISTANT DREAMS
Distant Dreams tells the story of a young man called Maurice Thomas, who travels to Britain shortly after the end of the second-world war in search of a better life. On the voyage over he befriends several other young immigrants and they become friends for life. There are three things which really stand out in this book for me.
1. THE DIALOGUE – The author has captured and retained the authenticity of the West Indian immigrant’s voice, to the extent that I could actually hear them talking in my head. However, their voices are not so over-powering that you can’t understand them.
2. THE ISSUE OF RACISM - We tend to think of racism as being a fairly recent scourge of British society. This book really hammers home the difficulties faced by hard-working immigrants and the lengths that ordinary British people went to to ostracise them. Sometimes I was in tears, sometimes I was just so bloody angry when reading their heartbreaking tale. I think it is really important that modern day generations are shown the sins of our past and this book definitely does that!
3. THE FRIENDSHIPS - The British people may have been against them, but these men loved and cared for each other like brothers. The enduring nature of the men’s friendships, in spite of the many challenges that they faced, is uplifting and heartfelt. The author also does a really good job of showcasing the flaws in each of their characters, resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable if at times unsettling read.
I have been involved in the editing process, so I am biased, but I do sincerely recommend this!
Distant Dreams is available here
July 16, 2014
Guest Bloggers Wanted!!!!
I won’t generally re-blog these posts, but just wanted to give everyone interested in politics and current affairs (Internationally) a chance to follow my new blog!
Originally posted on The Politics Police:
Ssssh, do you think if we don’t tell them, the Tories will realise that blue is the new red?
Welcome to my brand new blog – The Politics Police will I hope, bring some accountability to the system and a government that is so rotten and flawed that it is no longer fit for purpose. Please checkout The Who Are The Politics Police? section for more info.
I will be posting my first in-depth-blog post by the weekend, however, in the meantime I am looking for guest bloggers to provide posts on a wide range of domestic and international issues. If you have something to say, then I want to hear it!
I have put my money where my mouth is and have set up a monthly subscription to the Labour Party. Please do the same, standard membership is just £3.80 per month with discounts for the retired…
View original 337 more words
July 15, 2014
Review of Aversion by Kenechi Udogu
A massive thanks to Joanne Armstrong for her second brilliant review!
A teen novel for fans of gentle paranormal fiction
About Kenechi Udogu
Kenechi lives in London and enjoys writing fantasy fiction and short stories (some of which she posts on her blog). She also hates the cold and one day hopes to figure out how to hibernate in winter.
About Aversion
Gemma Green is a semi-normal fifteen year old making her way through high school, coping with her first crush and the lack of a female parent, and being raised by her father.
She is also an averter, which means that she was born with the ability to sense when an intervention is necessary and can step in to re-route a bad decision which will have a serious impact on an individual’s life. For example, the first aversion which Gemma is called to make is for a boy named Russ, who will drink and drive, killing his friends and injuring himself in the process. As a result of her intervention Russ chooses not to go to the party and … well, you know the rest.
The storyline is fairly predictable. Love follows (strike that – make it “forbidden love” since that is so much more exciting), along with the usual parental reluctance and withholding of some very useful information.
I may be an old cynic, but I found a lot of the story stale. There seems to be something missing – perhaps in character depth, or in structure. Whilst I found the story itself rather predictable, the characters did not always behave in predictable ways, their actions seeming forced or unrealistic. The writer also relies heavily on telling rather than showing, which came to be a little monotonous after a time. The wording was at times stilted and old-fashioned, and I struggled to hear a youthful, fifteen year old voice in its words, no-matter how mature Gemma thinks she is.
In its defence, I believe that young teens will really enjoy it.
The world which Kenechi has created, where teenagers move among us invisibly wielding great power and keeping everything on track, may be regurgitated, but it is also most certainly very popular. Show me a teen who doesn’t feel on the outer, different, socially awkward. Don’t they all dream of finding their power, learning to control it, and winding up in charge of the universe?
I’m not a huge fan of paranormal fiction, but as they go, this one has been very gentle on me. It hits the markers for an easy teenage read. Teen hottie: check. (“Cute” mentioned twenty times). Falls for the socially outcast protagonist: check. Overprotective parent: check. Knows something he’s not sharing: check. Strong female heroine: semi-check.
I won’t be rushing out to read the next one, but having said that, I will definitely be recommending this book to young teens. We all had to start somewhere.
Aversion is the first book in Udogu’s Mentalist Series. The second is Sentient, released in 2013, and for fans of the series, Udogu has also released a prequel called Broken Ties, which is currently available free from many online retailers.
You can find Kenechi Udogu online at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Kenechi-Udogu/e/B0034NIJKI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/trixycae
And on her blog:
Joanne Armstrong always writes at night (because daytime is when the children come out) and wakes up to the sound of bellbirds every morning. Her first book Unworthy, is a Young Adult Dystopian novel and is available from https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/450106
July 14, 2014
Review of Code Name Nanette by M.E. Dawson
I don’t understand authors who have zero online presence! I have searched Google, Amazon, Goodreads, and Smashwords and can’t find anything at all about this person! I don’t have time to start trawling my emails for the original email from them, so, sorry folks, there is no author bio!
Anyway, onto the review! Code Name Nanette is a marvelous story, which had me hooked from beginning to end. Reading it kind of became a guilty pleasure, and I actively started seeking out kindle time, just so that I could finish it. The story opens in a contemporary setting, in which a young man called Joe Parker, desperate to find out the truth about his grandfather’s identity, has tracked down a former British Spy, Nanette, an octogenarian, currently residing in a nursing home. Nanette, in spite of her advanced years, is still a bit of a saucy minx and she soon has Joe wrapped completely around her little finger, as she tells the story of his grandmother, a.k.a Regina, or The Queen - who served alongside her behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied France.
The story-telling in this book is amazing and I definitely felt that I had been transported back to 1940′s France. The characterization is also flawless, with Joe, Nanette, and Regina as well as one or two other key players all being fully rounded. If Joe was expecting to hear how his grandparents met during the war, then he was in for a shock – because we get a full blown account of Regina’s lesbian affair with a local doctor. Far from being tasteless or tacky, this aspect really tugged at my heart-strings. Likewise Nanette’s own lurid accounts of how she went undercover as a prostitute, servicing horny German soldiers for secrets had me riveted. Oddly enough, I’ve never thought of prostitutes as spies before, and this definitely added a whole new dimension to the story. Joe’s own love-life is also a little complex, with his current girlfriend seemingly more interested in his ex-girlfriend than she is in him, but this is all by the by, as it is Nanette and Regina that drive and dominate the story.
With this all said, I was RIPPING MY HAIR OUT IN FRUSTRATION at the book’s ending, because it spectacularly failed to answer the one burning question that it had been asking throughout – namely who was Joe’s grandfather. Either the author felt that this small detail was too insignificant to share or they got sidetracked, or I Dunno, kidnapped by aliens, but this totally ruined what had been an amazing reading experience for me.
Code Name Nanette is available to download from Amazon, and if the author wishes to provide me with a brief bio, I will add it to this post.
July 12, 2014
Indie and Proud – Lessons in Writing from Scarlett O’Hara
Beryl Belsky from The Writer’s Drawer, recently allowed me to write a guest post for her blog. Rather than talk about my usual themes, I decided to go back to one of my old favourites for inspiration.
Lessons in Writing from Scarlett O’Hara – by Ingrid Hall
Gone with the Wind has sold millions of copies since its original publication back in 1936, and is without doubt still my all-time favourite “feel good in spite of all of the tragedies” novel. Forget the hugely popular modern day books with kick-ass heroines, like The Hunger Games, because Scarlett O’Hara, flawed, broken, man-stealing, Yankee-kicking, manipulative bitch has a substance to her that is frequently lacking in contemporary fiction…
To read the full article click here.
July 11, 2014
Review of Affinities by Chris Hollis
As everyone is probably aware by now, I have a HUGE backlog of books to be reviewed, and I was over the moon when the lovely Joanne Armstrong contacted me asking to join the reviewing team. I am continually looking for reviewers. You can find out more about the small incentives that I offer here.
REVIEW OF AFFINITIES BY CHRIS HOLLIS – REVIEWED BY JOANNE ARMSTRONG
Wow, what a book for my first review!
Affinities is an unnerving, creepy, psychological thriller. There is plenty of guesswork, with many twists and turns.
ABOUT CHRIS HOLLIS
At an old wooden desk, in a chilly sport’s hall, a teenage Chris Hollis first realised that he wanted to write. The exam paper asked for a short scene about a person being chased. Chris ran over the word count.
Then he ran out paper. Then he wrote on the back…
Many (enough) years later, he has developed a flavour for fast-paced fiction, and a sense of paranoia that has invited comparison to the likes of James Herbert, Kafka, and his main source of inspiration, H.G. Wells.
Other favourites include John Wyndham and the modern horror of Graham Masterton. Chris is always hard of work on his next thriller, with no shortage of ideas.
ABOUT AFFINITIES
I opened up Affinities to make sure that the file conversion had worked and that I didn’t have a garble of script in front of me, intending to get a proper start on it in the morning. Well, chapter one had me gripped and I found myself at the end of it before reminding myself that it was well after midnight and that I had work in the morning. I also wondered whether it was the kind of thing to be reading just before sleep!
Chapter one was unsettling, drawing on the common fear around “What happens when I go to sleep?” The scratching and scuffling noises that Andrew hears at night were truly frightening, rather than falling into the children’s night-time monsters category. Having not read the blurb, seen the cover, or read any more of Hollis’s work, I wondered if I had picked up a horror, happy to return it in the morning.
I’m very pleased that I didn’t. The story unfolded very quickly. Andrew Goodman is a man whose life has come apart at the seams. The reader comes in when he is at his lowest, and strange noises haunt him at night. He realises that he is losing whole days of his life, sleeping through all daylight hours, and only managing to stay awake for a couple of hours every night.
I won’t say anything more about the clever plot, as the less informed a reader is (as I was), the more likely s/he is to enjoy the book. The reveals are well-timed and well-explained. Hollis allows his readers the odd prediction, timed perfectly so that they can pat themselves on the back for being so clever when they turn out to be right.
My only negative comment is that the first section, does tend to go on for a bit. I realise now that this is necessary – the blow by blow of Andrew’s waking hours is important so that later the reader can piece together his days and nights – but still, it did begin to drag. All right, this is weird and frightening, something odd is happening to him; I get it – what next? If that section had carried on for much longer with the questions not being answered, I would have been in great danger of skipping pages.
The quality of Hollis’s writing is excellent. His use of language flows well without feeling forced or repetitive. His depiction of paranoia is beautiful to behold, and very believable. Hollis’s roots in Wyndham and H.G. Wells are clear. Most of his characters are well-rounded, with all their hard lines and soft curves. I haven’t got a good grasp of Isabel yet, but I do notice that she will be further teased out in the second book of this series.
Affinities is Hollis’s first book in The Lifecycle Series. The second, Outshine, is due to be released later this year, and deals with some of the characters that his readers met in Affinities.
All in all, wonderful work. I very much enjoyed reading the book and am thrilled to have been able to review it.
Big thumbs up, with four and a half stars out of five.
You can find Chris Hollis at
http://www.chrishollis-author.com/
Joanne Armstrong was previously a full-time primary school teacher, with 15 years teaching experience. A New Zealander by birth, her formative years were spent in some interesting places. Her first novel Unworthy, is a Young Adult Dystopian novel and is available from https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/450106
July 10, 2014
Indie and Proud – Writing with Integrity by Rev. Dr. Karen Tate
As part of our shout out to the wider indie community for articles/guest posts, I am incredibly honoured to present this thought-provoking article by Rev. Dr. Karen Tate. The issues that she discusses are as relevant here in the U.K. as they are across the pond!
WRITING WITH INTEGRITY BY REV. DR. KAREN TATE
As a writer who prides herself on speaking truth to the powerful and uncovering inconvenient truths kicked to the curb by the patriarchal status quo, I wonder if other writers have noticed the integrity lacking in the columns of so many colleagues? Is cowardly reporting a pet peeve of yours too? Do you share my disdain for shallow and unbalanced reporting? Like me do you really appreciate writers who stick their neck out and get their hands dirty rather than playing it safe? Seriously, don’t we have enough sheeple?
For instance when we have sports figures involved in domestic violence as they often are, or women being raped by their male counterparts in the military, or we find out men who have killed women have left behind writings showing their hatred of females, all too often writers will ask the question in their column, “What’s wrong with our culture?” Often it might even be the victim that is assaulted again in the media as writers often avoid naming the real bully – So when did the press stop naming the real bully? Does the female writer not point to the obvious because she is afraid she’ll be labeled an angry feminist in our patriarchal world and might get fewer jobs? Is the male writer who ignores male domination and oppression in our society simply unaware of male privilege or is he being disingenuous? Is it okay to be a self-interested reporter or a columnist who skirts the actual underlying problems? Or should a writer’s commitment be to delving deep and getting to the real issues, not just what’s comfortable to speak out about? Should a writer challenge his audience and try and inspire her readers by sharing insights or facts, even if they may upset the proverbial apple cart?
Likewise in politics, I am so tired of reading that Democrats and Republicans are all alike. Surely that is false equivalency. When it comes to social issues, it’s not Democrats voting against the Consumer Protection Bureau, equal pay for women, extending unemployment insurance benefits, fixing broken bridges, or spending tax dollars to create jobs. It’s not Democrats who are forcing women to be subjected to vaginal probes if they want an abortion or closing abortion clinics across Red States. It’s not Democrats who are engaging in voter suppression or not signing legislation to help prevent domestic violence. It’s not the liberals on the Supreme Court voting that corporations are people to allow rich Americans and corporations unlimited campaign contributions, effectively buying our country, or as recently as last week, giving corporations religious rights over employees. It’s not at the Democratic Convention where one sees only white Christian faces peering back. It’s not the Democrats doing their best to do away with the Unions that helped build the Middle Class, nor is it the Democrats who are against raising the minimum wage. It’s not Democrats who deny science, practice homophobia, and always put corporations before people. I could go on and on, but maybe you get the point. It’s pretty obvious Democrats and Republicans are NOT the same, so why continue to perpetuate that false idea? We read this “false equivalency” description all the time. Are columnists not doing their homework to know better? Are the trying to be politically correct? Have they gotten lazy? Are they really partisan and pushing the propaganda of one party over another under the guise of being fair and unbiased? Even my beloved Jon Stewart played this game, presumably in an attempt to help polarization among people, but isn’t it a disservice to low information voters, who might not know all of the aforementioned facts, and turn to him for their news?
Authors are sometimes guilty of this kind of writing too. I can think of one in particular who writes about a particular woman of the Bible. She elevates the biblical woman and gives us new insight as she uncovers this biblical woman’s story, but she never has the courage to tell us who is responsible for disappearing this woman’s story from history. Of course it might mean getting some Christians angry to learn the truth. So, is this error of omission about self-interest? Does she want it both ways? She wants to tell us about this biblical woman, but stops short of telling the whole story lest she ruffle some feathers and sell fewer books for speaking truth to power.
Unless we are writing fiction, what’s the point of writing about important issues of the day, or claiming to uncover secrets of the past, unless you’re going to tell the whole truth? What kind of writer do you want to be? One who makes a difference, or one who plays it safe? If you are the latter, then maybe you should stick to writing about celebrities, cooking and fashion. If you can’t name the real bullies on the playground, then go write children’s books. And if you’re being paid to promote a certain agenda, whether it be political, patriarchal etc., then full disclosure should be shared, or your omission compromises your integrity. At least that way you inform your readers that you are coming from a biased viewpoint. At least that way you won’t perpetuate misinformation, or waste valuable column space that might have been used by someone who could use their bully pulpit to educate, raise awareness, and inspire some worthwhile conversation.
Karen Tate is the author of several books including Goddess Calling – Inspirational Messages and Meditations of Sacred Feminine Liberation Thealogy. Her upcoming release Voices of the Sacred Feminine, Conversations to Reshape our World will be released in October/November and is an anthology of her top tier radio guests, including Noam Chomsky.
You can find more at http://www.karentate.com
July 8, 2014
Worth a Look – Crossline by Russ Colchamiro
This is the second in my “Worth a look” series – books that are incredibly well written, but have just landed on the wrong reviewer’s kindle…
BLURB
Hotdog pilot Marcus Powell has been chosen to test “Taurus Enterprises” prototype craft Crossline and its newly developed warp thrusters. But during the flight something goes incredibly wrong, forcing Powell into a parallel universe.
Soon after he lands on that strangely altered earth, Powell reluctantly teams up with a trigger happy rebel leader, a pot smoking shaman, a crafty pie-maker and a soldier who hates his guts – all to survive an epic battle he may have been destined for all along!
Meanwhile, back home, reclusive oil tycoon and Taurus CEO Buddy Rheams Jr – Who sent Powell on that mysterious mission – has a mysterious past and a secret agenda, one that could prevent Powell ever making it back to his wife and little girl
MY COMMENTS
This book has been on our list for an incredibly long time – around 12 months – I have tried to read it on numerous occasions, however, while it is very well written and packed with humour, and while I loved Powell’s defiant spin around the universe, and thought his wife and daughter had amazing potential, I just didn’t get the parallel universe, and I wasn’t invested in it enough to read on. I have no doubt that true lovers of Science-Fiction will wet themselves with excitement over this book (It has some rave reviews on Amazon) It just wasn’t for me.
Check out an interview that I did with the author here
July 6, 2014
What DOES an editor do?
Hey,
I just want to spend a few minutes reflecting upon what I do when I am wearing my editing hat because there seems to be some general confusion around the role of an editor:
* First of all a good editor will always be HONEST. My job is to whip your manuscript into shape, not mollycoddle you, or wrap you in cotton wool. If the plot is riddled with holes, then it is my job to offer constructive ideas as to how you can improve it. I want your book to FLY OFF THOSE SHELVES. So, if I think there are issues that go beyond the editing process, then I will stop the clock and throw the ball back into your court, and invite you to ping it back to me when the changes have been made.
* I will gladly spend hours, days even, trawling your manuscript line by line, not just correcting grammatical errors, but also picking up and ironing out issues with viewpoint, and tense.
* I will also provide you with a detailed assessment of your manuscript, including thoughts on plot, characters, and dialogue, and if I think you need to make improvements, I will tell you – knowing that you can take it, because, hey, we are all adults, right?
* Sometimes, I have been known to re-work and re-write sentences, paragraphs, chapters even. All as part of my standard fee.
As part of the standard edit, I WILL NOT re-write your whole book for you. Nor should you expect me to! Ghost-writing is a completely separate and incredibly time-consuming task, and while I am happy to do some re-working (as previously mentioned) I do have my limits…If you require ghost-writing, I will gladly discuss that as a fresh project…
July 4, 2014
Review of Divine Emanations – Various Messages 3 by Stephen Attia
Stephan Attia was born in 1971 in Denmark, he is a visionary, a poet, and novelist. As a child, he survived meningitis. Stephan grew up in different orphanages until the age of thirteen and was cared for in a very small community until the age of eighteen. He wrote his very first poetry at the age of twenty-two. In 1994, he traveled to China, where he discovered his gift of poetry through the expressions of the natural beauties which he beheld in the province of Yunnan. He studied in England, and is the author of several titles. Oddly enough, all of his titles appear to be in paperback, and I cannot find any electronic versions, something that I suggest the author remedies A.S.A.P as I REALLY want to read The Adventures of Catrine and the Devil
It is very clear when reading Divine Emanations that English is not the author’s native language, however, rather than finding this off-putting, I actually felt that this helped me connect more with the messages that the author felt compelled to deliver. The world of spirit is after all not one that we have a direct link to. The author delivers each message, and then backs it up with an explanation/his interpretation of the message, and if I am totally honest, then I actually found his own comments and thoughts more interesting than the actual message.
Stephen Attia has clearly led a full and at times difficult life, and the challenges that he has faced are reflected in his world view, glimpses of which come flashing through in his comments, and I was completely hooked. One mightn’t agree with everything that he says, but his voice is loud and clear and strangely compelling…
If I wanted to nitpick, then I could say that while well written, the book could benefit from formatting, the subtitle doesn’t really say anything, and the cover art could be better, other than that though, this is a really thought-provoking little book and is one that I will dip in and out of again in the future.
You can find more at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stephan-Attia/e/B009225SSG/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
