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Welcome to Morcan Books & Films, the blog devoted to providing a unique perspective and intelligent commentary on books and films. It includes commentary on our own books and films – i.e. novels and screenplays co-written by the Morcans, and feature films produced by, or in development with, Morcan Motion Pictures.
Lance & James
Yay! Our historical adventure, Fiji: A Novel, has been announced as a finalist in eFestival of Words Virtual Book Fair’s Best of the Independent eBook Awards in the Historical Fiction category.
http://www.efestivalofwords.com/finalists-for-best-historical-fiction-t155.html
Cannibals with shocking pink hair? It’s true. Read about it in our historical adventure-romance Fiji: A Novel – a story which one reviewer called ‘A bodice ripper’… Take a peek inside (below) and see if you agree….
Hairstyles amongst the indigenous people of 19th Century Fiji were something to behold, as the following exert from Fiji: A Novel illustrates…
…A big, powerful man, Joeli’s proud bearing and intelligent eyes were clues to his royal bloodlines. Bone earrings hung from his ears and a huge, intricately-carved, whale bone club dangled from a cord around his waist, a dozen human teeth inlaid around its head testament to how many men he’d killed in battle. Most striking, however, was his massive hairstyle. Nearly two feet high and even wider across, it was dyed blue with yellow stripes through it. Earlier treatment with burnt lime juice would ensure it remained stiffened in place for a few more days at least.
Some of Joeli’s warriors wore equally flamboyant hairstyles—many dyed a bright color and some even multi-colored; several sported hairstyles of a geometric shape while the orange-dyed hair atop one proud warrior was all of six feet in circumference. Such weird and wonderful styles could be seen on men throughout Fiji and were worn as a symbol of masculinity and social standing…
Want to read more? Click on the cover (below) of this historical novel and go straight to the Prologue…
Fiji: A Novel is available as a Trade Paperback on Createspace and Amazon. It is also available as an ebook via Amazon…
https://www.createspace.com/3671234
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057YCZM0/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0057YCZM0/
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0057YCZM0
Susan M. Heim, author and editor of the bestselling “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series has this to say in her review of Fiji: A Novel….
★★★★★ “I finished this book a week ago, and the memory of Susannah and Nathan’s experiences in Fiji are still fresh in my mind. If you’re a fan of adventure, history, even romance, you’ll want to pick up a copy of Fiji: A Novel and brace yourself for the ride. It’s an intense story that will have you turning the pages long into the night.”
–Susan M. Heim, author and editor of the bestselling “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series
★★★★★ “As a Fijian, I find the old traditions of our people fascinating and just as great as they are crude and gruesome. The novel touches on most of these now extinct practices, in mad detail and it’s AWESOME! … Racial prejudice, religion, culture and family were the underlying messages … The adventure, fast-paced and nail biting … The romance, sizzling, exciting, forbidden … I give it 5 stars because that’s the maximum amount of stars we’re allowed to give.”
–Random Writings Book Reviews (Suva, Fiji)
★★★★★ “The extensive research is evident and the plot electrifying” –MyShelf.com
★★★★ “A wonderfully entrancing read” –Joan McGrath (historical author)
★★★★ “You’ll enjoy the voyage this book takes you on” –Have You Heard Book Review
★★★★★ “A fabulous novel, beautiful for its blunt rawness, exotic scenery, and fascinating storyline”
–Historical Novel Review
Fiji wasn’t called ‘the Cannibal Isles’ for nothing, and our historical adventure, Fiji: A Novel, doesn’t gloss over the cannibalism that was rife in 19th Century Fiji.
The history books show Fiji was a melting pot of cannibals, warring native tribes, sailors, traders, prostitutes, escaped convicts and all manner of foreign undesirables. It’s in this hostile environment our story is set.
Fiji is a fast-paced adventure-romance about an innocent young Englishwoman and a worldly American adventurer who are thrown together in Fiji in the mid-1800’s. It was partly inspired by James A. Michener’s classic novel, Hawaii.
To our knowledge, there has never been a novel that truly does justice to Fiji. Having spent a lot of time in Fiji, I’ve long felt a novel that captures Fiji’s culture, exoticness and beauty is long overdue.
Fiji is now available on Amazon in both ebook and paperback form. We are also developing a feature film adaptation of Fiji through Morcan Motion Pictures. – Lance
Relevant links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwmTyalCqvY&list=UUkx4GYl5APh59k9VI868kxg&index=4&feature=plcp
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057YCZM0/
https://www.createspace.com/3671234
An exert follows from Fiji: A Novel…
By now, the Fijians’ numbers on Levuka’s foreshore had grown to several thousand. Despite their numbers, they were strangely quiet. There was an air of tension. The ratu, or chief, overseeing proceedings stepped forward to address the assembled. A huge man even by Fijian standards, he raised his hand skyward. Two hundred naked warriors fell to their knees before him. He ordered them to their feet. They stood and the ratu circulated among them, offering words of encouragement.
Like the ratu, many of his warriors sported hairstyles similar to those of the warriors of Momi Bay. Some hairstyles were two feet high or more, while others were almost that wide, and many were brightly colored. Their owners wore them proudly while, to any European looking on, the effect was comical.
The warriors’ faces shone with pride at the great honor they believed awaited them. Their ratu reminded them of the rewards in store for them in the Spirit World. He then raised his hand a second time and the warriors turned and solemnly began walking up to the drua. The crowd parted to make way for them.
All two hundred warriors lay down in two rows that extended from the drua’s bow to the water’s edge. It was evident to Nathan and the others watching aboard the Rendezvous that the warriors were about to be sacrificed as human rollers. Other warriors grabbed hold of ropes dangling from the drua’s deck. The onlookers began singing while those holding the ropes began pulling. The drua held firm in the sand.
As more natives pulled on the ropes, it slowly inched forward. When its hull rolled over the first of the naked warriors, it gathered speed. Screams of agony and grunts of pain rang out as the nearest warriors were crushed to death in this centuries-old tradition.
Now moving at walking pace, the mighty drua rolled inexorably down toward the sea. Beneath her hull, more sacrificial warriors were crushed. Their mangled bodies were left half-buried in the sand behind her. Miraculously, one or two survived, albeit badly injured. They were quickly finished off by club-wielding natives.
As the death toll rose, the singing was replaced by the wailing and chanting of loved ones. Their loss was assuaged slightly by the knowledge their dearly departed were already on their way to a better place.
Now only a few paces from the water’s edge, the drua gathered momentum. One of the last warriors in the sacrificial line-up, a teenage boy, suddenly lost his nerve and rolled out of the way. An armed warrior ready for such incidents clubbed him unconscious and rolled him back into position. The boy disappeared beneath the hull as the drua finally slid into the water.
Behind the vessel, two lines of broken, mangled bodies marked its bloody passage to the sea.
A huge cheer erupted from the onlookers. After several years of effort, and many, many sacrifices, their sacred drua was now afloat.More natives appeared carrying a mighty mast and sails. These were hoisted on board, and still more men were sacrificed as the mast was assembled and the sails rigged. These sacrificial volunteers were killed by spear-wielding warriors who expertly stabbed them through the chest or back, killing them quickly. The sea around the drua was soon red with blood. It wasn’t long before the sinister fins of ocean predators appeared.
Fiji: A Novel is available as a Trade Paperback on Createspace and Amazon. It is also available as an ebook via Amazon.https://www.createspace.com/3671234As the pharaohs of ancient Egypt build their mighty pyramids, and Chinese civilization evolves under the Shang Dynasty, adventurous seafarers from South East Asia begin to settle the far-flung islands of the South Pacific. The exotic archipelago of Fiji is one of the last island groups to be discovered and will remain hidden from the outside world for many centuries to come.
By the mid-1800’s, Fiji has become a melting pot of cannibals, warring native tribes, sailors, traders, prostitutes, escaped convicts and all manner of foreign undesirables. It’s in this hostile environment an innocent young Englishwoman and a worldly American adventurer find themselves.
Susannah Drake, a missionary, questions her calling to spread God’s Word as she’s torn between her spiritual and sexual selves. As her forbidden desires intensify, she turns to the scriptures and prayer to quash the sinful thoughts – without success.
Nathan Johnson arrives to trade muskets to the Fijians and immediately finds himself at odds with Susannah. She despises him for introducing the white man’s weapons to the very people she is trying to convert and he pities her for her naivety. Despite their differences, there’s an undeniable chemistry between them.
When their lives are suddenly endangered by marauding cannibals, Susannah and Nathan are forced to rely on each other for their very survival.
With the strong themes of love running through what is essentially a swashbuckling action-adventure story, this novel appeals equally to male and female readers. It has also been a regular visitor to Amazon’s bestseller lists.
Fiji: A Novel, published in 2011 by Sterling Gate Books, is selling as an ebook via Amazon and as a trade paperback via Amazon and CreateSpace. The paperback is also available through most libraries and major book distributors.
The Amazon link for the Kindle ebook version is: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057YCZM0/
Fiji is in early development with Morcan Motion Pictures. The search is now on to secure a name director to helm this ambitious period film; we will adapt the novel to a feature film screenplay under our director’s guidance so that it’s his/her vision that makes it to the big screen.
Morcan Books & Films 