Posts Tagged ‘convicts’

Escaped Irish convict follows the Songlines in novel based on true story

Posted: May 24, 2021 in white spirit
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In Australia’s wilderness, Aborigines told escaped Irish convict John Graham if you want to live follow the Songlines. So he did… and he lived. John found sanctuary with the Kabi, a primitive tribe who had never seen a white man, and he marveled at their uncanny ability to navigate the landscape by following the mysterious Songlines – tracks left by their spirit ancestors from the Dreaming.

“Those who lose dreaming are lost.” -Aboriginal proverb

Here, we relate some of John’s true-life experiences from our epic historical adventure WHITE SPIRIT (A novel based on a true story)…

As his companion Mamba explained, “You know we sing to the land and its sacred landmarks because it is alive… The Songlines allow us to follow the paths left by our spirit ancestors from the Dreamtime. Our ancestors have told us it is so, remember? By following the Dreaming Tracks we walk in footprints of those who went before us and so we journey safely…and never get lost.”

Mamba continued, “The language of the Songlines is in the rhythm of the song, not the words. The rhythm is an echo of the sky and of the land below. Listening to it, or singing it, guarantees you always have a path to follow.”

White Spirit (A novel based on a true story) by [Lance Morcan, James Morcan]

Set in Nineteenth Century Australia,  WHITE SPIRIT is based on John Graham’s remarkable true story. After escaping from the notorious Moreton Bay Penal Settlement, John finds refuge with the Kabi, a tribe of Aborigines who eventually accept him as one of their own. Attempts to recapture him are orchestrated by a variety of contrasting characters working for the all-pervasive British Empire. They include Moreton Bay’s tyrannical, opium-addicted commandant Lord Cheetham, the dashing yet warlike Lieutenant Hogan, native tracker Barega and the penal settlement’s captain, Tom Marsden.

WHITE SPIRIT is available via Amazon as a paperback and Kindle ebook. https://www.amazon.com/White-Spirit-novel-based-story-ebook/dp/B01LWIRH9J/

4.4 out of 5 stars after 185 reviewer ratings on Amazon.

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An epic Aussie tale for lovers of historical fiction

Posted: January 1, 2021 in white spirit
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In WHITE SPIRIT (A novel based on a true story)  Irish convict John Graham is mistaken for a white spirit by primitive Aborigines after he escapes from Australia’s infamous Moreton Bay penal settlement. His is an epic tale!

White Spirit (A novel based on a true story) by [Lance Morcan, James Morcan]

Set in nineteenth century Australia, WHITE SPIRIT  is a sweeping yarn that encapsulates all the nuances of the southern continent’s unique history and provides detailed insights into the tribal life of First Australian (Aboriginal) peoples.

★★★★★ “Disturbing, brutal, honest, unputdownable. It is real, very, very real with fascinating characters at the helm. Very highly recommended! Both men and women will enjoy the story.” – ‘History and Women’ org.

★★★★★ “This is a tour de force of a book… every page and chapter is riveting.” –Amazon Reviews

★★★★★ “It kept me enthralled from start to finish” –Amazon Customer

WHITE SPIRIT  is available via Amazon as a paperback and Kindle ebook. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LWIRH9J/

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Meet Moilow – the end result of fifty thousand years’ evolution

Posted: June 30, 2020 in white spirit
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Behind the charred tree stump, a solitary Aborigine stood stock still, his spear clasped close to his side. Moilow had been standing there, unmoving, since dawn. He’d been about to give up when he sensed a presence in the rainforest beyond his hiding place.

Moilow

A respected member of the local Kabi tribe, Moilow was, in many ways, typical of others of his race. Intelligent, dark, deep-set eyes peered out from beneath furrowed brows; his broad nose protruded above full lips, and he wore a black, matted beard to complement his bushy hair, which he’d tied in a knot; his coal-black skin glistened and his near-naked, wiry frame oozed strength and robustness – the end result of fifty thousand years’ evolution in this unforgiving, inhospitable land; his chest and limbs were scarified as a result of his following the age-old practice of lancing the flesh with shells; and his nakedness was covered only by a skimpy loincloth fashioned from the skin of a dingo, the native wild dog that ranges over much of the continent. The loincloth, once yellow like the dingo that wore it, had browned with age.

 

You have been reading an exerpt from our epic, historical adventure WHITE SPIRIT (A novel based on a true story). It’s available as a paperback and Kindle ebook via Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LWIRH9J/

 

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Convict escapee confused with a white spirit in true-life historical adventure

Posted: April 27, 2019 in white spirit
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Morcan Books & Films

In White Spirit (A novel based on a true story)  escaped convict John Graham learns the Aboriginal First Nations people of Australia believe their loved-ones sometimes return from the Dreaming as a white spirit.

Excerpt from novel follows:

The villagers were shouting encouragement to the pair tasked with ridding the white spirit from their midst. If the Irishman had been in any doubt about what his captors had planned for him, he was in no doubt now. As he was lifted over the fire, he began screaming. “Please! Put me down!”

At the sound of John speaking in a foreign tongue, the Kabi fell silent. The pair holding him dropped him to the ground, startled.

Only now did Mamba have a clear view. Like the others of her clan, she’d been mesmerised by her first sighting of a white man. However, for no apparent reason, when she looked at…

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Aborigines welcome escaped convict as a white spirit in true-life novel

Posted: August 23, 2018 in white spirit
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Quote from White Spirit: “To understand the Dreamtime, you must understand that we do not own the land. The land is our mother and she owns and nurtures us.” –Old Aboriginal saying.

 

White Spirit (A novel based on a true story) by [Morcan,James, Morcan, Lance]

White Spirit (A novel based on a true story).

 

When Irish convict John Graham escaped Australia’s Moreton Bay penal settlement only to be captured by a remote tribe of Aborigines who had never seen a white man before, he couldn’t have known what adventures lay before him.

At first, the natives thought Graham a white spirit, one of their own returned from the dead. And he considered them backward, bloodthirsty savages.

As the years passed, he became lover to the beguiling Aboriginal woman who ‘identified’ him as her late husband, and he became a father to her two children. He also came to realise the natives who had adopted him were people who harboured the same hopes, dreams and desires as himself.

Over this period, John Graham was never forgotten by the beautiful young Englishwoman he’d left behind. He was also tracked relentlessly by a native the British Army called the Tracker.

White Spirit (A novel based on a true story)  is available via Amazon as a paperback and Kindle ebook:  https://www.amazon.com/White-Spirit-novel-based-story-ebook/dp/B01LWIRH9J/  

 

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Announcing paperback launch of White Spirit historical novel

Posted: February 15, 2017 in white spirit
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Our top rating historical adventure WHITE SPIRIT (A novel based on a true story)  has been released as a paperback – available via Amazon, major book distributors and your local library.

 

White Spirit (A novel based on a true story)

Now available as a paperback and ebook.

 

Meanwhile, the Kindle ebook version of White Spirit  continues to attract critical acclaim as these 5-star reviews attest:

“The best way to describe this novel is disturbing, brutal, honest, and unputdownable. It is real, very, very real with fascinating characters at the helm. Very highly recommended! Both men and women will enjoy the story.” –Great Historical Reviews

“Compelling, thought-provoking…a great read!” –Sheri A. Wilkinson

“This was such a captivating story, and it made for a few very enjoyable days of reading. I would definitely recommend it.” –Amazon Australia Top 50 reviewer Todd Simpson

“This is Lance and James Morcan’s best work to date. It is up there with Colleen McCullough’s Thorn Birds.” –Author Yvonne Crowe

“One of the best novels I have ever read it kept me enthralled from start to finish I couldn’t put it down “a real fecking page turner” which will have you rooting for the Irishman John Graham.” –Amazon Customer

 

To view the paperback version of White Spirit  go to: https://www.amazon.com/White-Spirit-novel-based-story/dp/0473372266/

 

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New release historical adventure novel resonates with readers

Posted: October 15, 2016 in white spirit
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Our new release historical adventure WHITE SPIRIT (A novel based on a true story)  resonates with readers if the early Amazon reviews and sales are any guide.

 

White Spirit (A novel based on a true story)

 

Here’s what one Amazon reviewer (‘Kotuku’) has to say: “This is a Tour De Force of a book that follows the lives of convicts, guards, soldiers and above all the Aborigines of that time (1830’s)…Don’t be put off by the length, as every page and chapter is riveting…and the descriptions of the Aborigines is unparalleled in any other novel I have read. It is crying out to be made into a movie!”

And here’s what other reviewers say:

“This has to be my #1 for book of 2016. A must read.” -Tony Parsons

“It is an excellent book with great characters and a simple plot which is made complex by the many subplots. It is not a book to rush through but one to savor.” -P. Blevins

“This was an amazing story. It is a sad story of mans ability to survive. It is definitely a page turner, I couldn’t put the book down.” -Mary L.Traylor

“One of the best novels I have ever read it kept me enthralled from start to finish. I couldn’t put it down – “a real fecking page turner” which will have you rooting for the Irishman John Graham. I hope there will be a movie made.” -Amazon Customer 

“I couldn’t put the book down. It is an outstanding and very satisfying read.” -Cyrano1db

“This is Lance and James Morcan’s best work to date. It is up there with Colleen McCullough’s Thorn Birds.” -Yvonne Crowe (author)

“Amazing Story! I didn’t want to put it down! Sometimes fact is better than fiction. It took me a few days to read, since it’s a long book, but it’s well worth the effort!” -BCopanos

 

WHITE SPIRIT (A novel based on a true story)  is exclusive to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/White-Spirit-novel-based-story-ebook/dp/B01LWIRH9J/

 

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New cover reveal: ‘WHITE SPIRIT (A novel based on a true story)’

Posted: October 5, 2016 in white spirit
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white-spirit-ebook-cover

White Spirit…the latest historical adventure novel from Lance & James Morcan.

WHITE SPIRIT (A novel based on a true story)  is exclusive to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/White-Spirit-novel-based-story-ebook/dp/B01LWIRH9J/

 

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‘White Spirit’ novel a worthy follow-up to ‘Into the Americas’

Posted: September 20, 2016 in white spirit
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Finding a worthy follow-up to our popular historical novel Into the Americas  was always going to be a challenge, but we believe we’ve achieved that with our new release historical adventure WHITE SPIRIT (A novel based on a true story).

  white-spirit-ebook-cover

Set in 19th Century Australia, White Spirit  is based on the adventures of Irish Convict John Graham who escaped the brutal Moreton Bay penal settlement in what was then New South Wales, and lived with a tribe of Aborigines who eventually came to accept him as one of their own.

This epic tale caters as much for lovers of romance novels as it does for action and adventure fans. A love triangle adds to the storyline’s tension.

It’s fair to say few have heard of John Graham. That’s surprising, to us at least, because John’s adventures in the wilds of an untamed Australia must surely rank with the most incredible true-life tales of survival. Not only Down Under, but anywhere in the world. Having both lived in Australia for many years, and having experienced first-hand the harshness of its climate and terrain, we, the authors, can only marvel at John’s bravery, endurance and fortitude.

Though White Spirit  is first and foremost a novel and therefore a work of fiction, many of the adventures described therein happened – exactly as related in some cases, and with some embellishments for drama’s sake in others.

In reality, John Graham’s story was so unbelievably remarkable it needn’t have been dramatized. However, as novelists, we couldn’t resist expanding upon and adding characters to certain true-life events. The great challenge, of course, was the need to always stay true to the broad historical realities while subtly infusing “fiction”.

We sincerely hope we have also done justice to the Indigenous Australians in our writing. We strived for accuracy and balance in our portrayals of these unique Aboriginal people; we show the cruelty the Aborigines were capable of, and we show their love for family, their community-mindedness, their incredible hunting and tracking skills, and their ability to survive in the most unforgiving of environments.

 

WHITE SPIRIT (A novel based on a true story)  is exclusive to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/White-Spirit-novel-based-story-ebook/dp/B01LWIRH9J/

 

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Coming soon! ‘WHITE SPIRIT (A novel based on a true story)’

Posted: January 24, 2016 in white spirit
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Following on from the success of our historical adventure novels Into the Americas, World Odyssey and Fiji, we announce the scheduled April launch of our latest historical adventure WHITE SPIRIT (A novel based on a true story).

 

White Spirit poster 2

 

White Spirit  is an epic historical adventure novel based on the gritty, true story of Irish convict John Graham. After escaping from Moreton Bay Penal Settlement, in Australia, Graham finds refuge with the Kabi, a tribe of Aborigines who accept him as one of their own.

Set in the early 1800’s, White Spirit  also gives readers an in depth look at the tribal life of First Australian (Aboriginal) peoples.

 

For more information about this this book see our Goodreads  page at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28681110-white-spirit

 

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