Morcan Books & Films

Prologue

An old vagrant hummed tunelessly to himself as he warmed his bony hands over a fire he’d lit minutes earlier in a drum long since blackened by perhaps a hundred such fires. Certainly more fires than he, or any of his street cronies, could remember. He stopped humming when, across a busy thoroughfare, a gravel-voiced busker began reciting poetry.

“Stormy, husky, brawling,” the busker rumbled. “City of the big shoulders.” He was reciting verse from the works of hometown poet-made-good, Carl Sandburg. The poem was appropriately titled Chicago. “Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.” The busker, a long-haired Vietnam veteran whose only concession to his military past was his VSM service medal which he still wore with pride, looked directly at the old vagrant opposite.

The vagrant imagined the busker smiled at him, though he couldn’t be sure in the fading early evening light. Even so, he flashed a toothless grin in the other’s direction.

Soon, the old man was joined by half a dozen street pals. All homeless like him, they appeared like disheveled ghosts out of the shadows, attracted partly by the warmth of the fire and partly by the busker. They listened intently to the poet’s words that flowed effortlessly from the busker’s mouth. Words that painted images so vivid in their minds it was as if the men were watching a kaleidoscope of their own youth.  

“Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with white teeth,” the busker continued. “Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young man laughs.”

Several passersby paused to listen, but none bothered to drop a donation into the hat that lay at the busker’s feet. Finally, as the busker finished his recital, a business executive threw a quarter into the hat without breaking stride. Encouraged, the busker launched into another Sandberg poem.

Listening to the busker delivering further verses about his beloved Windy City, the old vagrant couldn’t help but note the irony: there wasn’t a breath of wind on this still Chicago evening.

For the full prologue and first few chapters of The Orphan Factory go to:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008M9WWKW/

or click on the image below:

 The Orphan Factory, the latest novel from prolific New Zealand father-and-son writing and filmmaking team Lance and James Morcan, has entered Amazon’s top rated spy books list only three weeks after its publication launch.  

The new release espionage thriller has received excellent reviews from readers and book critics alike. It’s a prequel to the Morcans’ international thriller, The Ninth Orphan (The Orphan Trilogy, #1), which was published in 2011 by Sterling Gate Books.

Also published last year was their historical adventure Fiji: A Novel. It and The Ninth Orphan have been regular visitors to Amazon’s bestseller lists. The authors are adapting both these into feature film screenplays and have put them into development with their production company, Morcan Motion Pictures.

Meanwhile, the Morcans are currently writing the final novel in The Orphan Trilogy, a sequel titled The Orphan Uprising, for publication in 2013.

Lance, who is based in Papamoa, says their film and literary endeavours, which span more than a decade, haven’t been without their challenges.

“James, who is also an actor, is based in Sydney so we have had to do most of our writing long distance,” he says.

“Father-and-son novel writing teams are almost unheard of, and that does pose some interesting creative challenges. Add to that working in separate countries and it feels like mission impossible at times.

“However, with the success of our latest novel and creation of a viable thriller franchise, the colossal effort over so many years all suddenly seems worthwhile.”

Morcan Motion Pictures has produced two feature films. These are The Pawn, which was shot in Melbourne and has screened at film festivals in Australia and Italy, and the New Zealand thriller Desired, which premiered at Cannes last year.

The Morcans are currently seeking New Zealand Film Commission funding for Silent Fear, a chilling thriller which involves Auckland’s deaf community and will be helmed by rising Auckland director Amanda Phillips.

Supporting links:

The Ninth Orphan (The Orphan Trilogy, #1): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0056I4FKC

The Orphan Factory (The Orphan Trilogy, #2): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008M9WWKW/

Fiji: A Novel: http://www.amazon.com/Fiji-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B0057YCZM0/

Amazon’s top rated Spy Books: http://www.amazon.com/gp/top-rated/digital-text/157322011/ref=zg_bs_tab_t_tr?pf_rd_p=1374969722&pf_rd_s=right-8&pf_rd_t=2101&pf_rd_i=list&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0EN7ADDFZTH5HRBGKAAS