Your time’s up on Sunday!

Chris Hall7 Comments

YNWA by Chris Hall for UK on twitter

It’s been an interesting few days running the freebie promo for this new book of mine. 

Those of you on Twitter might have seen some interesting activity on my feed in the past couple of days. Unless you’re from (certain parts of) the UK it might not have meant that much to you. Suffice to say, some of us Northerners are very tribal, particularly over our football (soccer) teams.

Actually, let me elaborate a little more.

Of course, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ isn’t really about football. However, writing a book set in Liverpool (to me) requires a passing mention or two of that fine sport. The book title somehow wormed its way into my consciousness and fixed itself there. I never gave a thought to the impact it would have on my fellow Scousers* and other folk beyond the boundaries of our fair city.

You see the rivalry between our two football teams, Liverpool and Everton, is legendary. Between Liverpool and Manchester United (just 30 miles away), it is epic. Seriously so. And LFC’s anthem, shared by a number of other teams incidentally, is the Rogers and Hammerstein song, from the musical Carousel,  You’ll Never Walk Alone.

The song is pretty much synonymous with Liverpool Football Club and its supporters, of which you will have guessed I am one. Did you spot the top my husband and illustrator was wearing at the book launch a few weeks ago?

So, the result of this reckless labelling for my book? It was said I was sticking my neck out way too far, that I’d alienate 50% of Liverpool, all of Manchester… and so on. Oops!

So, maybe an ill-judged title? I don’t know. There was a bit of back-tracking on the Twitter feed, and now I’m honoured to find an Evertonian** has downloaded my book and has even tweeted that, having read the blurb, he’s actually looking forward to doing so!

I thought the whole thing was hilarious. 

asmar

And before I go, just a reminder that the free download runs until midnight on Sunday (Pacific Standard Time) which is 9am on Sunday morning here in South Africa, 8am Sunday morning in the UK, and 4pm on Saturday afternoon in Sydney, Australia etc. We are so very international aren’t we?

Thank you to everyone who’s downloaded the book. I hope you enjoy reading it and look forward to your feedback.

Have a great weekend and happy reading!

___________________________________
*a person coming from Liverpool
**a supporter of Everton FC (and possibly a resident of the Everton district of Liverpool)

shankly quote

 

 

 

Freebie this week!

Chris Hall31 Comments

You'll Never Walk Alone by Chris Hall on kindle pic

It’s holiday time! At least, I think it is in most parts of the world. Anyway, just to say that I’ll be running a little
five day giveaway of the ebook version of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone‘ for you to add to your holiday reading.

So from Wed 3rd July to Sunday 7th July (midnight PST) you can download from these links:
USA  ~ UK ~ Australia ~ Canada ~ India
Other countries, such as South Africa

Hope you enjoy!

Book Review – “You’ll Never Walk Alone” by Chris Hall

Chris Hall6 Comments

I’m mega chuffed with this great review from Joe Leonardi!
Check out his work on Short Story Scribe. He’s a great teller of tales and also a Hemingway aficionado which is what originally drew me to his site.

Joe Leonardi's avatarShort Story Scribe

Kindle EditionYou’ll Never Walk Alone is a slow read, and that is a good thing, because the story should be read slowly and digested in increments. There is more than one story being told, and the details are such that at least two distinct books could have been crafted —which, in the hands of an author of lesser skill, could have been disconcerting. Not so with a scribe of Hall’s talent, in You’ll Never Walk Alonethe stories converge perfectly at the end.

In addition to the multiple story arcs, there is an array of interesting characters, none of whom exist simply to fill up space. Some stay for the entire journey, others pop in and out, but each is essential to the story.

In You’ll Never Walk Alone, Chris Hall tells a good story a story I highly recommend. 

“Who am I?”

I am an independent, self-published teller of tales, an…

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Aether Prompt Winner: Chris Hall

Chris Hall6 Comments

I won! What a super surprise! Isn’t the way Jason has presented this great? Just like he does with all his work. Check him out if you haven’t already discovered his dark and humorous little stories!

Jason H. Abbott's avatarAethereal Engineer

Storyteller and Accidental Blogger Chris Hall of luna’s on line won the May 22nd Aether Prompt with her deliciously dark piece, “Woman Scorned No More”:

She holds the golden sphere in the palm of her hand. It glows, warm with all that remains of him. She has him now, resting in the palm of her hand. His soul, trapped. He in her power; not she in his.

Revenge is sweet, she thinks.

She curls her fingers and feels the sphere pulsate. She turns and walks the few steps to the bridge. Leaning on the rail, she watches the greasy, grey river flow beneath her.

She tosses the sphere in the air and catches it. Tosses again; lets it fall.

Goodbye traitorous heart, she whispers.

Congratulations! Now you’re in the running for the 2019 AETHEREAL ENGINEER WRITER SUPPORT PRIZE PACKAGE! How might she, or possibly you, perchance win such…

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Ducking Under the Radar

Chris Hall13 Comments

cropped-editing-youll-never-walk-alone-by-chris-hall-lunasonline.jpg

Okay, those of you who’ve been following the unfolding story of ‘A Nick in Time’, my children’s novel, will know we are reaching the climax and soon the story will draw to a (very satisfactory) close.

I’ve decided to devote the next couple of weeks to doing just that, so I shall be going rather quieter than usual, although I will be popping up now and then to see what you’re all up to.

One more cliff-hanging chapter will appear here, but the ultimate finale will remain undisclosed until the story is ready for publication. Then you, loyal followers of ‘A Nick in Time’ (and you know who you are), will receive a free advance copy of the ebook. 

Bear with me. If I work hard it shouldn’t be too long.

see you soon

 

 

Submission Day – we did it!

Chris Hall15 Comments

Open Book Cape Town

Well, if you’ve been following my #writingmycity project journey, you’ll know we’ve had a few challenges along the way. Now we’ve come to the end of this particular road and there’s really good news.

Stories have been written, author’s bios have been composed and now our entries to the project are ready to go.

How pleased and proud I am of this group of women. They’ve produced disturbing, gut-wrenching and thought-provoking stories. There’s been anger, there’s still sadness but there is definitely hope.

These stories may not be selected for the Cape Town Library Book, but they will certainly give the selection panel food for thought. I don’t know what image of the ‘Mother City’ the editors of the publication intend to portray, but members of the Suiderstrand Library writing group have borne vivid witness to the gritty, dirty underbelly of beautiful Cape Town.

The voices of these strong women deserve to be heard. My thanks to every one of them for sharing their stories with such bravery and honesty.

20190612_114904

 

Just sayin’

Chris Hall8 Comments

000Make an author's day by JI Rogers

Some really helpful advice from author, J I Rogers.

If you were wondering how to jump aboard the ‘author’s helping authors’ band wagon, this makes it so easy!

You can see from the side panel that I regularly read and review books on Goodreads. I also post the review to Amazon for the books I’ve downloaded and read by indie authors. I know how important it is.

So, all of you ‘indies’ out there, time to help each other out. Share the message and post your book links!

And to all you gallant readers: let’s have your reviews! Pretty please?

 

A Tom’s Life

Chris Hall17 Comments

A Tom's Life by Chris Hall lunasonline

Romeo clung to hope as fiercely as he clung to the gutter, eavesdropping on Nero as he chatted up the new little cat in town. The pretty princess had never given Romeo a second glance, but his hope swelled when he heard her rebuff his rival.

Nero leapt down, landing with the soft thud of paws on paving-stones. Immediately Romeo swung himself up onto the roof and stretched seductively before the little queen.

She slammed her paw down on the tiles. ‘Enough of you toms, you’re just after one thing! I’m going to hang out with the girl cats.’ Tossing her pretty head, she flounced off into the night.

Romeo stared after her open-mouthed. He peered down into the street below where Nero was twitching his tail in irritation. He jumped down and landed beside him. Nero turned his head. ‘No luck either?’ Romeo shook his head. ‘Wanna go rat-catching?’

From  a prompt by Hélène Vaillant of Willow Poetry: What do you see? June 4, 2019

Revelation!

Chris Hall14 Comments

Open Book Cape Town

This morning’s #Writing My City workshop (re-arranged from last Friday when most people arrived too late to do anything, but never mind) took us to a whole new level.

Rather than prepare anything for group participation, I’d decided that we should just write, and then write some more. We had finished our previous workshop in writing mode and sure enough, stories had been written, at least partly.

I was so pleased to find that most of the group had written their stories in English (contrary to what they had told me they would do). I read each of them in turn in a quiet area, with their authors. And I had someone to help translate the two pieces which were written in Afrikaans.

The #WritingMyCity project is about the stories, not about how they are written, but reading stories phrased in the local vernacular is very pleasing.

The stories I read this morning are thought-provoking. They are disturbing and they have got under my skin. These stories have been told from the heart, and they are heart-wrenching. Most important of all, they are real. Powerful stories, written by women who lack power. All but one are from what we so tastefully call the ‘formerly disadvantaged communities’ as if they’re not still disadvantaged. All of these women have lived through very tough experiences.

For some, this writing journey has opened barely-healed wounds which are hard to deal with. But there will be support. For many of them it may offer a way to that special writing space which means so much to me. At least I hope so.

I’m saddened and humbled by their stories. I feel privileged that they have trusted me to read them. I am gratified that now they have the will and confidence to share them further by submitting them to the project. 

When we let our stories out into the world next week we will celebrate… with cake!

I hope at least one eventually appears in print.

 

 

 

 

Book Signing and Sales

Chris Hall24 Comments

Here we are, Friday evening at our Book Launch Party! 

Wonderful local wine and people enjoying the atmosphere.

Paul English
Listening to the speech
Why can’t I speak without waving?
Best selling author Natasha Anders
Husband Cliff explaining the challenges in working on a cover design
Theresa Wilds and Rae Rivers

A few of the pics from the Q and A session after Paul and I had told everyone about our books, with local authors Natasha Anders and Rae Rivers, and cover designers and illustrators Cliff Davies and Theresa Wilds.

The photos were taken by my good friend and photographer, Laurette van der Merwe. Find her here Laurette’s Photography and here Laurette’s Fine Art Photography and Artwork. Our launch was held at Chelsea Cafe who’d stoked up the fire and made us delicious soup to keep us going over the evening.

Paul and I both sold. We didn’t sell out, but we did do well. Our book links are here.

A good night all round, and nicely capped off the following evening by Liverpool Football Club’s victory in the European Cup. I’m sure Bob and Gary would’ve been in the crowd.

They’re singing our song again!