Tag: The Seasons

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The Seasons Re-launched as KDP Select

There’s nothing like curling up on the sofa with a good book on a crisp autumn day. Images of snuggling underneath a favourite blanket with a fire in the background, nose poked in a page-turner, eyes glued to the page – oh yeah! Been there, done that and looking forward to doing it again. I love books and not only in the hardback or paperback format, but also e-books. If only for their convenience, e-books have made their way onto my devices.

And it just so happens that my collection of short stories, The Seasons, has been re-launched as KDP Select. This means that the book is exclusive to Amazon in the digital format. Also, you can borrow it from the Kindle Library without purchasing it. Now that’s a deal.

So with the wind whipping up a whirl outside and clouds, swelling and threatening to burst, I think it is time to curl up with a good e-book. Check out The Seasons, and watch this space for special promotions, leading up to the holiday seasons. What? Yes, almost time to wrap-up, too.

 

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Outdated Language Tackled in Short Story

While misuse of words and phrases as related to race can happen intentionally, it can also happen unintentionally, likely the case with our modern day Sherlock. Nevertheless, Benedict Cumberbatch’s faux pas opens the door to a topic that is often considered irrelevant nowadays.

Sadly, however, it is relevant, and often owing to ignorance, if nothing else, the word is used inappropriately. That is why it is so important to educate and get educated.

In my short story, ‘The Coloured Girl’, featured in The Seasons, Isabella Chiltern finds out that the word ‘coloured’ is a thing of the past when her son unexpectedly brings his new African American girlfriend to lunch. A subject that often puts us out of our comfort zone, even privately, is aired in a public restaurant in middle England, at least in The Seasons.

In real life, it is often squashed as a thing of the past, at least until it rather innocently rears its head. Heads up; it ‘s modern and relevant.

Adapted as Guess who is coming to lunch,  ‘The Coloured Girl’ was featured in Love Sunday,  the magazine of Sunday People, part of the Trinity Mirror Group, in November, 2014. The Seasons is available now on Amazon and other online bookstores.

 

 

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Short Story Featured in National Sunday Magazine

Story featured in Love Sunday
Story featured in Love Sunday

More good news for ‘moi’!  On Sunday, November 23rd, Love Sunday magazine ran an adaptation of ‘The Coloured Girl’, one of the eight short stories featured in The Seasons, my latest release.

Titled ‘Guess who’s coming to lunch’, the story unravels the thoughts and actions of high society English woman Isabel Chiltern, as she meets her only son’s new girlfriend, who just so happens to be African American. Surprise! Surprise!

A modern day twist on ‘Guess Who is Coming to Dinner’,  the piece can be read here in pdf format by clicking on the jpg to the left, and of course, the original can be read in The Seasons, available now on most online book stores.

Thanks to Internet shopping,  there is still time to purchase the collection in time for Christmas. Love Sunday is a part of Sunday People, a member of the Trinity Mirror Group.

 

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In Oz After Being in Hometown Parade

 

After a three-week absence from home and work, I feel a bit like I am in Oz, but am hoping that I will find my way, perhaps more expediently than Dorothy did in the Wizard of Oz.

Lots of work overdo, including reporting the fantastic news that one of my short stories, The Coloured Girl, adapted as Guess who is coming to lunch, was published in Love Sunday, magazine of the Sunday People, on November 23. A paper of the Trinity Mirror Group, the Sunday People has a wide readership.

How about that! Watch this space for the pdf of the story, in case you missed it. Think of it as a Christmas treat, if you will. But still, there is time to bag The Seasons for Christmas or gift it. So I am told it is a fast and exciting read. Actually, I think so, too.

In the meantime, I must take the opportunity to publicly thank the Leary, Georgia, Christmas Parade committee for inviting me as their special guest this year. As Grand Marshal of my hometown’s Annual Christmas Parade, I had the opportunity to speak at a breakfast and lead the parade. Equally as exciting, I interacted with both familiar and unfamiliar community members. How very exciting.

It was an emotional yet fun event for me as I rode through the streets of the small town, remembering Leary when I was a youth. Like most small towns, Leary has had its ups and downs, evidently so in the population and other areas. On the upside, the town now has a library and yes, yours truly has three books in it. How about that!

Appropriately, after the parade, there was an opportunity to sign books. Many thanks to those who visited and supported!

Again, thanks to the committee and everyone who came for sharing your day with me. Having been back in the place where I grew up, if only briefly, I learned a valuable lesson about holding on to who you are, even if it means letting go of the past, so often necessary to spring forward.

Now to go forth and find my way through Oz; wish me luck in meeting the old Wizard, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Female First Remembers First Novel

Hardly seems three years ago that I wrote my first novel, The Barrenness. Recently, I was explaining to a friend how long it actually takes, at least me, to write a novel or a book. While it might look like I have churned out three books in three years–on the contrary.

As I have said in many interviews, it took me six years to write The Barrenness, considering the entire publication process and perhaps that long again to finish The Blindsided Prophet. As for The Seasons, each short story has been written and rewritten more times than I care to share. After all, the only draft that matters is the final one.

Anyhow, recently in celebration of launching The Seasons, I had the opportunity to talk with Lucy Walton-Lange of  Female First about my writing process, and reflect particularly on The Barrenness. Read the interview here.

In the meantime, find out more about The Barrenness, if you haven’t had a chance to read it and read an excerpt here. Like The Blindsided Prophet and The Seasons, The Barrenness is available in both paperback and e-book from most online retailers. Enjoy!

 

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The Seasons Officially Out Today

I have always wanted to create a coffee table book and though I haven’t quite cut the mustard yet, The Seasons, my new collection of short stories, comes close. Exciting!

Filled with eight intriguing short stories, the collection is sleek enough to compliment any coffee table, but also rich with good reads. Out today officially, The Seasons is available in ebook and paperback from Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and other online retailers. Not only a great Christmas gift idea, the collection is also a great read for a cool autumn day or a cosy winter one. And it’s just the thing for a short train ride.

Umm, think I’ll take mine out later today. In the meantime, have sneak preview right here.

 

 

 

 

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Cover of ‘The Seasons’ Revealed…

The next best thing to seeing your new book in print is seeing its cover. Hence, my excitement about revealing the cover of my collection of short stories, The Seasons, coming in late October.

Ultimately, their journey is a quest to find the truth. A collection of eight short stories, The Seasons explores the human condition from youth to maturity via extraordinary characters, albeit ordinary people, who pass from spring to summer, from innocence to exuberance. And when autumn comes, they mature and persevere towards winter, almost intuitively, regardless of their extenuating circumstances.

For advanced information about The Seasons, feel free to email me here.