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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
Shrouded in cloud at the bottom of the world, this was the land that time forgot: the last sizeable piece of undiscovered land on Earth. Two hundred million years after breaking away from the vast southern continent of Gondwana, Man had yet to leave his footprints on this prehistoric place.
The land in question is New Zealand and the piece you are reading is the blurb for my historical adventure New Zealand: A Novel.
Mythology would have it the land was fished up out of the ocean. In fact, earthquakes and volcanic activity forced it to literally erupt from the seabed. This violent birth left it with a majestic ruggedness that would always reflect its former turbulence. The legacy of those fiery beginnings includes still-active volcanoes amidst the mountain chains that dissect the land.
Over time, its features softened. Scenes of beauty emerged out of the mists. There was a haunting stillness about the land. It was a place of mystery – of magical forests and sparkling lakes and rivers.
And the sea surrounded it – like some huge tidal moat.
Its isolation ensured it wouldn’t be until well into the First Millennium AD that Man would step foot on these shores. The brown-skinned people who settled here would call their new home Aotearoa – land of the long, white cloud. Not until its rediscovery centuries later by European explorers would the land receive the name by which it is known today…
Tall for his age, the good-looking, blond-haired, blue-eyed lad had an eye for the working girls who frequented London’s docks, and he inevitably attracted their attention. He was still inexperienced in matters of the opposite sex, but he vowed he’d do something about that in the next little while.
That’s how I introduce Nicholas Young (above) in an early chapter of my historical adventure New Zealand: A Novel. The 17-year-old medical student is about to be recruited to serve as Surgeon’s Assistant aboard a vessel called the Endeavour.
Excerpt continues:
Early in his first summer in London he struck up a conversation with a Mister Wilkie, the recruiting officer for a vessel called the Endeavour. Wilkie, a short, bald, engaging character with a twinkle in his eye, told him he was charged with the recruitment of crew members for a voyage of discovery.
Nicholas was intrigued – even more so when he learned where His Majesty’s bark, the Endeavour, was going.
“She sets sail soon for Tahiti and on to the bottom of the world,” Wilkie confided. He spoke in that distinctive rural drawl, which identified him as a native of Devon. When pressed for more information by the eager boy, Wilkie said, “The Lords of the Admiralty want us to look for Terra Australis Incognita.”
Nicholas’ brow creased uncomprehendingly.
“The Great Southern Continent,” the recruiting officer explained, warming to his subject.
“You mean New Holland?” Nicholas asked, referring to the newly-discovered continent that would one day be referred to as Australia. He’d overheard chatter about New Holland amongst Jack Tars in the taverns.
“Nay, lad. Our Admiralty and the learned gentlemen of the Royal Society have long held the belief there is a vast tract of land, a veritable continent, far to the east of New Holland and the known world. They want it found, explored and claimed for Mother England.”
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To celebrate the acceptance of New Zealand: A Novel into Waterstones UK & Europe bookstores, the book’s Kindle version will be FREE on Amazon March 15-17 PDT.
The Tahitians’ unconstrained attitude to sex and, indeed, to life itself, was as far from European ways as Tahiti was from England. That was one of the first observations the men of Captain James Cook’s bark the Endeavour made during a stopover in Tahiti in 1769. They were there so that Cook could record the upcoming transit of Venus before sailing south to discover new lands. His men, however, had other priorities.
In the following excerpt from my new release historical adventure New Zealand: A Novel, the Endeavour’s company enjoy the hospitality of the villagers of Matavai Bay (pictured) early in their stay…
The feast that followed was worth the wait. Served on trays fashioned from the bark of trees, it included all manner of exotic fruit, fresh crayfish, prawns and oysters, and roasted pork and turtle meat topped with coconut cream. The food was served with generous quantities of kava, which, despite being an acquired taste, was well received by most of the visitors.
By now the celebrations were in full swing and many of the visitors were becoming intoxicated. Some of the worst-affected of the Endeavour’s company lay in a stupor on the ground while those still sober or partly sober participated in the trading now underway; others took advantage of the comforts offered by friendly wahines. Many of the womenfolk were either married or betrothed yet their promiscuity seldom caused arguments.
Unfortunately, venereal disease would soon sweep through the Endeavour’s crew, affecting thirty-two sailors and six of the marines – an unfortunate development that would surprise Cook. Surgeon Monkhouse had assured him his men were not poxed before they reached Tahiti, and the Dolphin’s medical records confirmed that the clap had not been a problem during her visit to these same shores. This could only mean the French were the culprits as their ships had been the only vessels to anchor in Matavai Bay since the Dolphin’s historic visit.
When Nicholas Young was appointed Surgeon’s Boy aboard Captain Cook’s bark Endeavour in 1768 homosexuality and drunkenness below deck were among the surprises in store for him – as the following excerpt from the new release historical adventure New Zealand: A Novel shows…
The Endeavour’s surgery was one of the busiest facilities aboard ship. As surgeon’s boy, Nicholas’s shifts involved twelve-hour days every day as well as being on call to assist in the event of an emergency. The seventeen-year-old soon discovered emergencies aboard sailing ships of the day were the rule rather than the exception.
Terrifying mid-Atlantic storms had resulted in a rash of injuries, some serious, and two more lives had been lost before they’d even reached the sanctuary of Rio de Janeiro. Both unfortunates had been swept overboard in mountainous seas. Since then another had died after falling from the rigging.
Many of the mishaps could be attributed to drunkenness. So liberal were the Royal Navy’s rum rations, which were often supplemented illegally through theft and bribery, that many crew members and some officers were constantly drunk.
Nicholas had quickly discovered that alcohol and sailing were not a good mix. He was constantly helping to patch up injured seamen who had over-indulged. Other injuries resulted from fighting, which was all too often another side-effect of excessive drinking.
Brawling, drunkenness and illicit procurement of liquor were punishable by flogging. More than a dozen floggings had been administered so far on the voyage, but not even the cat-of-nine-tails was enough to deter the worst offenders. These were rough men who worked hard and played hard, and Nicholas soon learned he’d entered a world where he had to stand up for himself or risk being bullied.
He learned that homosexuality was another fact of life at sea where men were literally thrown together in the cramped quarters below deck. As the distance separating them from wives and loved-ones lengthened, bunk or hammock-sharing became quite common, and not only below deck. This problem – for that’s how the navy viewed homosexuality – was different to other problems encountered on board in that the top brass scarcely acknowledged it existed. Officially, the hierarchy took a dim view of buggery, as they called it. The offence was punishable by death – and not just in the navy: it was a capital crime in civilian life, too. Unofficially, the navy’s top brass turned a blind eye provided offenders were discreet.
Nicholas often marvelled at how easily happily married family men could turn to other men for sexual relief then just as easily return to their wives’ loving arms on returning to their home port.
Several crew members had made unwanted advances to Nicholas early on in the voyage. He’d quickly discouraged them. On the last occasion – to signal loud and clear what his preferences were – he made an example of the drunken oaf who tried to grope him in front of others in the mess. Evading the man’s clumsy advances, he promptly kicked him in the testicles. While his victim lay temporarily paralyzed on the floor, Nicholas proceeded to force-feed him pickled cabbage and other legumes from the man’s plate until his open mouth could accommodate no more of his unfinished dinner. All this to the wild cheering of some thirty admiring onlookers.
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New Zealand: A Novel is available via Waterstones UK & Europe bookstores & via Mighty Ape NZ & public libraries. Its Amazon link is:
Fans of historical romance novels – Georgian romance in particular – are in for a treat following the announcement that accomplished American author Kathleen Buckley’s latest Georgian romance novel will be released in March.
Titled A Murder of Convenience, it will be published on March 24, but the Kindle version can be pre-ordered via Amazon now for delivery on that date.
The story:
Ellen Cuthbert’s husband, Randolph, is now the Earl of Keswick’s heir. Their marriage is a sham, and Randolph’s mistress, Lydia, is present at the house party. When she is found murdered in a locked room, all the evidence seems to point to Ellen. And how could the murderer have escaped the locked room except by witchcraft?
Sir Hugh accompanies his cousin, a magistrate, to the scene of the murder. They investigate, appalled to find their childhood friend Ellen appears to be the chief suspect. Hugh’s lack of prospects years ago prevented their marriage. Now if he cannot find the real murderer, there may be only one final service he can perform for Ellen to spare her a slow death at the end of the hangman’s rope.
She has loved writing ever since she learned to read. After a career which included light bookkeeping, working as a paralegal, and a stint as a security officer, she began to write as a second career, rather than as a hobby. Her first historical romance was penned (well, word processed) after re-reading Georgette Heyer’s Georgian/Regency romances and realizing that Ms. Heyer would never be able to write another, having died some forty years earlier.
Buckley’s earlier Georgian romance novels include: An Unsuitable Duchess, Most Secret, Captain Easterday’s Bargain, A Masked Earl, A Duke’s Daughter, Portia and the Merchant of London, A Westminster Wedding, and A Peculiar Enchantment.
Kathleen Buckley…ever the romantic.
Buckley’s bio includes the following warning: “No bodices are ripped in her romances, which might be described as “powder & patch & peril” rather than Jane Austen drawing room. They contain no explicit sex but do contain the occasional den of vice and mild bad language, as the situations in which her characters find themselves sometimes call for an oath a little stronger than “Zounds!”
“Her novel Captain Easterday’s Bargain was an Oklahoma Romance Writers of America IDA 2019 finalist, Historical Fiction category; and Most Secret was an Oklahoma Romance Writers of America IDA 2018 finalist, Historical Fiction category, and a 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist, Romance category.”
For our review of A Murder of Convenience…watch this space!
Waterstones customers can now buy the historical adventure paperback New Zealand: A Novel, by Lance Morcan, from Waterstones bookstores in UK and Europe.
New Zealand: A Novel spans almost 500 years and covers the respective discoveries of New Zealand by Pacific Islanders and Europeans. From the outset the two stories are interposed. It starts in the 1300’s with the departure of Islanders from Hawaiki in search of land far to the south.
It is generally agreed the Polynesian explorer Kupe discovered New Zealand between 750 AD and 950 AD, and the so-called Great Fleet of seven canoes landed around 1350 AD. Those canoes each had landing points and arrival dates that did not suit my story, hence my deviation from the popular historical account in my new release, historical adventure New Zealand: A Novel.
*** To clarify, in the following excerpt from the novel, the great Hawaikan voyaging canoes I named Ronui and Tautira never existed:
The morning after the big feast in Hotu’s village, Ronui led Tautira toward the narrow gap in the reef that separated them from the open sea. Around eighty people – passengers and crew – occupied almost every bit of available space on the decks of each canoe.
First places aboard the craft had been allocated to the rangatiras and their extended families. These included Hotu’s wives and their young children aboard Ronui, and Ra’s wives and even younger children aboard Tautira. Some of the children were only babies.
The rangatiras’ extended families accounted for about twenty people on each vessel. Other places had gone to a cross-section of villagers with special skills. High on the list were navigators, sailors, fishermen and boat-builders. Most were fighting men as well. Last but not least were their womenfolk. In some cases children had had to stay behind. They’d be looked after by grandparents and other close relatives.
Hotu hadn’t even considered taking his own ageing parents, so frail were they. Besides, they considered themselves too much a permanent part of Hawaiki to consider leaving. Saying goodbye to them proved an unbearable sadness for the rangatira.
Many of those departing wailed mournfully as they sailed away from their beautiful island. Men chanted to their island gods while their wahines cried out despairingly. Oblivious to their sadness, naked children scampered over the decks. Behind them, Hawaiki’s palm trees swayed in the balmy breeze and the jungle-covered peaks were framed by a tropical blue sky.
On the black sand beach, villagers looked on forlornly as their loved ones sailed away even though many of them were hoping to depart soon aboard the other seven canoes. Those vessels were now within ten days of completion.
Crewmembers aboard the departing craft were too busy to look back. They worked frantically adjusting the triangular sails in readiness for the open sea beyond the reef. The cries of those ashore faded amidst the constant boom of waves crashing on the reef. Ronui led Tautira through the small gap. In the space of a few heartbeats, they were into the open sea.
In the weeks ahead, the crews of the two craft would strive to maintain this formation through torrential rain and high winds and every other challenge the sea could throw at them.
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Spring gave way to summer and the voyagers found themselves at the point of no return – the point reached in every ocean voyage where to continue and not find land meant certain death. Hotu and Ra instinctively knew they had reached that point.
It had been four weeks since they’d set sail for Kupe’s land aboard Ronui and Tautira. In that time, the giant craft had been battered by almost everything except a tidal wave or full-blown cyclone. Still they’d never been more than fifty yards apart, secured to each other by a length of platted twine fashioned from strong jungle vines. Without it they would have been separated very early on in the voyage.
The canoes were barely recognisable as the proud craft they’d once been, such was the terrible hammering they’d received from the elements. Their crews and passengers looked even more pathetic. They were in the early stages of starvation; the signs of malnutrition could already be seen in the children. All on board were cold, wet and tired, and many had developed hacking coughs. The coughing sickness they called it.
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New Zealand: A Novel is available via Amazon as a hardcover, paperback and Kindle ebook.
The hardcover version of the new release historical adventure New Zealand: A Novel was launched on Amazon this week. Also available as a paperback and Kindle ebook, this epic spans almost 500 years and covers the respective discoveries of New Zealand by Maori and European. It’s a no-holds-barred tale of lust, betrayal and conflict.
Researching my new release, historical adventure New Zealand: A Novel, I discovered that Christmas dinner for the crew of the Endeavour on December 25th, 1769, was surprisingly good. That’s according to one logbook entry penned by English botanist Joseph Banks who also alluded to heavy drinking by fellow crewmembers that particular Christmas.
The Endeavour, helmed by Captain James Cook, had anchored off Three Kings Islands, in New Zealand’s Far North, during her circumnavigation of the country. What transpired is covered in the following excerpt from my novel…
The crew spent Christmas Day anchored off Three Kings Islands, a small island group that had been discovered by Abel Tasman. For Christmas dinner, the bark’s company enjoyed a meal that passed as goose pie thanks to the marksmanship of Banks who had shot a good number of gannets the previous day.
The meal was so well received that Banks made mention of it in his diary entry that evening. It read:
“Our goose pye was eaten with great approbation and in the evening all hands were as drunk as our forefathers used to be on such an occasion.”
Cook, who was never one for frivolity, didn’t mention the dinner in his logbook. Nor did he make mention of the sorry state of his men the following day. Banks did mention it, however, stating: “All heads ached with yesterday’s debauchery.”
First reviews are in for the new-release historical adventure New Zealand: A Novel, and acclaimed American book reviewer Grady Harp asks, “Could this be the Great New Zealand novel?”
Harp, who is also an artist representative, gallery owner and published author of note, says, “This is a fine novel that invites understanding of New Zealand’s fascinating history!” He describes it as “Fascinating!”
Excerpts from the other 5 ★★★★★ reviews follow:
“What a fantastic story! This is a story of the beginnings of New Zealand, warts and all and very well researched and written. A good insight into the early settlers in NZ, both Māori and Pakeha but told with a flair for the story and information and facts laid out with clarity, that both New Zealanders as well as those who have never been here would find factual and interesting. “The sex scenes were tastefully done as well!!” –Kotuku
“Riveting. I could not put the book down. Historical facts were woven with some well-crafted narratives into a story of how the nation of New Zealand came to be. The knowledge of the author about native beliefs, customs, and the way of life in the tribal communities of the south Pacific coupled with Captain Cook, the explorer of legend, made this a compelling and exciting story to read. And now I am just waiting for the movie!” –Stephen Heartland
“Wow, what a fantastic novel. Lance Morcan has that special talent of being able to pull you into the story, so you can vividly picture everything that’s going on. The struggles of the indigenous people are not something one can possibly imagine, and courage it must have taken to leave their home in search of a better place. I always enjoy reading about Captain Cook, and this has been incorporated really well into this story. I’m amazed at how much has been packed into this wonderful book. It’s well worth a read and easily worth the 5/5 Star Rating.” –Todd Simpson
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