Tag: books

Bringing us together ~ words have wings!

Chris Hall40 Comments

Last Friday, it was with great delight that I released a new word into the blogosphere. Braccaneer has been added to the lexicon of our lives.  No sooner was the post out, than Tom from Beyond the Sphere, had come up with a badge! Not just one, but a range from which to choose. As Tom has generously offered, go and help yourselves!

Words link us all together, don’t they? That’s what we do here on WP.

Out in the big wide world, words also bring us together and it was just two years ago that I became involved in the Writing My City Project which brought people from all over Cape Town together to write stories and poems about their city. My small part of the project was, with the invaluable help of the Head Librarian, Bongi, to lead a series of writing workshops in her library for a group of women whose life experiences and life chances are very different to mine. Together we teased out some beautiful and heart-wrenching stories. It was a privilege to share the experience with them.

I hadn’t thought about it recently, but I was really saddened to learn that the Suiderstrand Library, where our writing group met, had burned to the ground last weekend. I really hope the City of Cape Town rebuild it for the sake of the local community and the dedicated staff. My copy of the anthology, containing my humble contribution is safe on my shelves at home, but I’m sorry for the loss of a great little library and its books.

But on a much brighter note, here’s my big news of the week

Diverse contributors around the worId have been brought together in a new collection of poetry and art, edited and published by Tara Caribou of Raw Earth Ink. Tara writes the most exquisite, visceral poetry and I’m honoured that she selected all five of the poems that I submitted to her latest project, Creation and the Cosmos.

Within “Creation and the Cosmos”, you will discover nature’s revelation transformed into poetry, rhyme, digital photographic art, painting, photography, and more.
Throughout these pages, thirty-two artists and writers from all over the world express their emotions and thoughts as seen through the wide-open eyes of nature. From stars and moon, birds in flight, the raging storm, a deer’s quiet passing, the salty depths of the sea, rolling hills and towering mountains: there is art in all creation.
Sink your hands into the rich soul-soil of humanity’s finest creators and allow all of nature, both dark and light, to impress its artistry in your heart.

Creation and the Cosmos will be out in paperback and ebook, and is due for release on 23rd March 2021. I haven’t seen the book yet, but I know from my own paperback copy of Tara’s poetry collection Four, that this will be a beautiful book to hold in your hands. Save the release date when I’ll be posting the links to where you can get your hands on a copy.

“…and then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?”~ Vincent Van Gogh

What I’ve been reading #2

Chris Hall22 Comments

chris's #armedwithabingo book update Q2

 

#ArmedWithABingo is a year-long reading challenge hosted by Kriti Khare & Ariel Joy and this is my end of June update. 

The books I read for the challenge in this second quarter of the year are outlined in yellow, and straight away I’ll tell you that my stand out book was Trevor Noah’s ‘Born a Crime’. If you’re curious to know what I thought of this or any of the books I’ve read, pop over to Goodreads where you’ll find my reviews. I do think it’s important to support authors with reviews – I know how much it means to us.

You can also find out more about my reading habits and my response to the #ArmedWithABingo challenge in an interview I did with Kriti Khare at the beginning of this month.

And now, with only four more books to go to complete the challenge, maybe I’ll try do a second bingo board for the second half of the year. Meanwhile, if anyone has a suggestion for a book with a food in the title, please let me know.

Footnote
How much the world has changed since I did my first ‘check in’ for the challenge. Here in South Africa we were about to go into lockdown. We thought it would be for just 21 days, but it continued for 100 days. Like most of the rest of the world, the country is only just beginning to open up.

My reading has continued and so has my writing. Most of all though, I’m so grateful to all of you, my online friends, for being there and being you! 

Stay well, stay safe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I’ve been reading

Chris Hall29 Comments

March 2020 update 1March 2020 update 2

#ARMEDWITABINGO is a light-hearted reading challenge from Kriti Khare & Ariel Joy which I signed up for at the start of this year. Reading is good for writers and I read a lot anyway, so why not? I also set myself a target to read 36 books this year for the 2020 Goodreads Reading Challenge.

I’ve enjoyed them all for different reasons, although I have to say that Moby Dick was pretty hard going! If you’re interested you can read all of my short and snappy reviews here on Goodreads.

And now… back to the writing! I’m busy with my fourth novel and with the South African lockdown starting at midnight tomorrow for 21 days, I really have no excuse. Of course, I’ll still be keeping up with my little stories and occasional poems on here.

Take care and stay safe wherever you are in the world. At least we can still meet here.

 

 

The Writer’s Gift

Chris Hall19 Comments

what do you see 3 by chris hall lunasonline

Waves of words wash over her

transporting her through

space and time

to other realms

where dreams come true

and the adventurer knows no bounds.

 

Riding the White Horses of the Camargue

Dancing with Wolves

Searching for The Beach

 

She journeys to the Centre of the Earth

explores King Solomon’s Mines

and witnesses the Return of the King.

 

Laying aside her book

she drifts, dreams,

and the waves of words

still wash over her.

Written in response to Sadje‘s ‘What Do You See #3‘ photo prompt.

You still have to sell!

Chris Hall24 Comments

Writers, we love to write, don’t we? That’s the best, even if NaNoWriMo can make us a little jittery (I know I had a wobble last week). But if you’re a writer, or an artist or creative of any kind, you know how wonderful it feels to be in the zone.

The converse of this: you still have to sell. 

For indie authors, it’s all down to us.

This is why friend and fellow author, Paul English and I were selling our books at the local car boot sale last Saturday. My husband Cliff was there too with his some of his lovely artworks. He’s a very important member of the team as he has the transport (that’s his bakkie in the background) and the tables and the all-important awning were borrowed from his school.

I have to tell you, it was not a great success. I sold a copy of ‘The Silver Locket’ very early on, but that was it! No other sales of anything! A couple of sniffs… and a couple of people said they’d come back next time. And there will be a next time, in two weeks.

I mean, who wouldn’t want a lovely book for a Christmas present?

Ah well, there’s always next time.

Meanwhile I’m planning some Black Friday and holiday offers – stay tuned out there!

Welcome to the House of Books

Chris Hall4 Comments

The House of Books Barrydale

 

Hemingway drains his whisky glass and picks up his rifle,

stomps from the room.

Sadly, the last we’ll see of him.

His clipped and perfect prose

Done for good.

 

Sylvia surfaces for the last time, before disappearing

below the lapping waves,

one last word on her beautiful blue lips.

No, not waving.

Gone for good.

 

Pass the purple prose and the sugar-pink poetry,

the long-winded sagas and the tea-time trash.

Just give me the facts!

 

Boris burbles, bright but bonkers.

I said the facts, sir!

Thatcher, Thatcher, school milk snatcher!

Not what history will recall.

HIS story?

 

What about HER story?

Diana, princess betrayed

Norma Jean?

Her story says it all.

 

Drop the pretense.

Give me something I can believe.

 

Believe in the beauty of fine-tuned fiction:

the gentle rustle of pages turning,

the perfume of old paper.

Behold the tranquility of a mind engrossed

and a spirit at peace.

 

Inspired by a visit to ‘The House of Books’ in Barrydale, South Africa. It lives up to its name!
Eccentric owner, Anton, is pictured above.

Writing My City Book Launch

Chris Hall19 Comments

writing my city book launch at the Fugard Theatre with Africa Melane
Book launch discussion hosted by Cape Talk‘s Africa Melane

Last Saturday saw the launch of the #WritingMyCity book, the exciting collection of
Cape Town writing, put together by Cape Town Library Service and Open Book.

writing m city book launch at the Fugard Theatre
The Fugard Theatre was packed!

The selected authors signed a copy for the organisers, Christelle Lubbe and
Frankie Murray. Then we opened our copies and started reading each others stories.
There are some fascinating stories, poems and memoirs in the collection.

 

Here’s the piece I wrote (page 96):

I’d been late leaving school that afternoon. I’d stayed behind because nice Miss Leibrandt had been helping me with my poem.

On the way home I’d been kicking a can along the dirt pathway between the shacks when I heard shouting over on the main road. Then there was the explosion. Flames shot up into the air, all red and angry-looking. Black smoke billowed upwards.

My house was the other way, but I had to see. I peered out from the end of the lane. People were jumping up and down in the street, arms waving angrily. They were chanting.

Flames licked out of the little corner shop. My friend’s shop. Mr Kabongo whose skin was as black as night, who came from another country further up the map of Africa. Mr Kabongo who told me stories about the animals of the forest where he grew up and the people who lived there before the war in his country. Mr Kabongo who gave me sweets when I went to fetch a half-loaf for my mother.

And now his shop was destroyed. I wondered if he was safe. Had he run, as he’d run before?

Why can’t we all live together?

writing my city book on the coffee table
The latest addition to my coffee table collection

Have you heard the one about…

Chris Hall3 Comments

bookstore-by-pj-accetturo-on-unsplash.jpg
Bookstore by Pj Accetturo on Unsplash

So, this writer walks into a book store. She has a mooch about; she knows the store well. She often comes in, to browse (books are so expensive). It’s one of the largest book selling chains in the country. Nicely fitted out, and the staff are always friendly. It must be nice to work in a book store, surrounded by all those lovely books.

The writer picks up the latest copy of The Artist magazine. She’s written a few articles on behalf of clients which have been published in this particular periodical. Not that the artists get paid – it’s for their publicity. Nor does she get a mention, but at least the clients pay for her time. She has an idea for another of her clients.

But that’s not why she came today.

Clutching the magazine, she approaches the desk. One of the assistants intercepts her. “Can I help you?”

She takes a deep breath. “Can I just ask you..?”

The assistant smiles encouragingly. He’s a nice-look young man; intelligent, open-faced.

“Can I just ask you if the store supports Indie Authors?” (There, she said it).

The assistant smiles kindly; a little apologetically. “No, no, never. It’s all done by Head Office…with the publishers, you know.” He pauses. “There was this one time though…”

“Go on,” the author says, leaning forward, as if some major confidence might be shared; some key to unlock…

The assistant is speaking. “The lady’s books were selling very well. There was a lot of publicity. She was selling her books out of the boot of her car.” He shakes his head. “It was a bit greedy really. You know, on the part of the store. They realised they could make money out of her. It didn’t last long.”

The author nods. “So you have to be popular first?”

The assistant nods and smiles sympathetically (pityingly?)

The author nods. “I’ll just pay for this then.” (At least she asked. The ground didn’t swallow her up). She leaves the book store, head held high.

…/ continued

 

How readable is your story?

Chris Hall12 Comments

Duke_Humfrey's_Library_Interior_5,_Bodleian_Library,_Oxford,_UK_-_Diliff
Duke Humfrey’s Library, the oldest reading room of the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford   Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0

I’ve been wandering about on the old interweb looking for something to rate the reading level of my latest work-in-progress. It’s a children’s book, and this is the first time I’ve written for any audience other than adult (apart from one short story).

I’d tried comparing with some of the books which I still have on my shelves from my childhood, but I suppose I was looking for something more analytical.

Then I came across the Automatic Readability Checker from ‘Readability Formulas’. All you have to do is cut and paste some text from your work and you’ll get an assessment of the grade-age range of your writing. Interesting, huh?

So, I tried the first few paragraphs of the children’s story. The results show it’s ‘easy/fairly easy to read’ and at fourth to sixth grade level (9-12 years), which is great; I’m aiming at the middle grade market!

Then I tried some samples from my first novel, The Silver Locket. This comes out at much the same level. Interesting! So finally I popped in a couple of paragraphs from ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, which is the new novel I’ve just finished editing and I get a slightly higher reading age, 11-15 years.

Also interesting. Then I read somewhere else that Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Old Man and the Sea’ is a fourth grade read and that Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling both come out at between fifth and sixth grade levels.

It’s all about ‘readability’ and actually, who wants to read something difficult, unless it’s an academic text? And even then, wouldn’t you be aiming for at least a good level of readability?

In the end though, I guess the best judge is the reader. I’ll be posting my new work-in-progress children’s novel a weekly chapter at a time, starting next week. And I’ll be interested, as always, in your feedback. Must think of a title!

 

With these words…

Chris Hall6 Comments

Duke_Humfrey's_Library_Interior_5,_Bodleian_Library,_Oxford,_UK_-_Diliff
Duke Humfrey’s Library, the oldest reading room of the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford   Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0

She hadn’t realised the consequences of taking down that old book and reading from it aloud. Nobody had warned her.

She’d always loved books; especially old books. Battered and bruised, but still adorable. Like a comfortable old armchair. The feel of the paper, pages yellowed at the edges, curled like parchment, worn down by the gaze of its readers. The smell: a little musty; a little dusty. And words which have been read and re-read; taken in, digested.

She’d been permitted to browse this ancient library. To scale the heights of the upper shelves and plumb the depths of the bottom-most archives. To swim in an ocean of promised words.

Finally, she made her choice, a heavy tome and rather old. The pages were discoloured, their edges torn, and the leather binding scuffed and stained. But the drawings of flowers and birds it contained were still colourful. There were passages of script held within the pages, although the language and spelling were archaic and hard to follow.

She took her prize to a remote desk and opened it carefully. She pored over it; savouring it. The illustrations were remarkable; tinted drawings so precise that they could have been photographs: two young girls dressed in pinafores, chanting a hand clapping game. Over the next page, a robust woman in a heavy woollen dress shouting straight out of the page at her, brows knitted with concern, arms open in appeal. A little further on, a poem was it? To be read aloud; of course.

And as she whispered the words, the world grew very bright for a moment, and then the lights went out.

Come, gentle reader, open the book! Look, she’s waving at you; page 229.

©2018 Chris Hall

The Clapping Song