Honour Anthology
M.B. Feeney
The world is filled with people destined to help
and to serve. Doctors, nurses, police, and firefighters—each and every day,
these special people work to help others in times of need. Often, this means
putting their own lives at risk in order to do their jobs. They give of
themselves to benefit society, and they do it without any expectation of
thanks.
And then there is the military…
These are the men and women who don’t head home to
their families and safe homes to relax at the end of a shift. They are on the
front lines, far from home and often fighting someone else’s battles because it
is the right thing to do. Military families struggle to cope with the constant
worry and the long periods of separation, staying strong to support those who
serve in everything they do, and often are left to pick up the pieces when the
highest price is paid.
Servicemen and women are heroes in the purest
sense of the word. Even when the world’s gone mad and their hearts are breaking,
one thing remains unchanged.
They have honour.
Excerpt:
All his life, his mother had been
there for him, gently pushing him to do his very best and allowing him the
opportunity to make his own decisions, even when they led him on a path she
wouldn’t have chosen for him. When he’d told his parents at age sixteen that he
wanted to enlist in the Army, they supported him. The one thing they asked of
him was that he finished his education up to A-Levels before he enlisted. They
did try to talk him into going to college for a couple of years also, but he
insisted that he would get better qualifications and experience once he was a
soldier. As agreed, on the day that he received his exam results, his dad drove
him to the Army Careers Office to begin his journey.
“I’m so proud of you, son,” his
mother whispered into his ear while clutching him in a tight embrace. “Never,
ever forget that.”
“Thanks, Mum. I know you are. I love
you.”
(Taken from the story Letters to No One)
Why did you an
anthology rather than a full length novel?
Firstly,
please let me thank you for hosting me as part of the tour. Honour is quite a
personal book and I am nervous and excited for people to read it.
This collection started life as a singular story.
It was 5,000 (ish) words, and I was going to self publish it as it was too
short to approach a publishing house with.
Then, after a conversation with a friend, I
looked through the many stories I had saved on my hard drive and realised I had
a few with similar themes. The anthology was born.
I decided against a full length novel for this
project as the subject matter was highly emotional to me, and also, I didn’t
have the confidence to try and extend any of the stories enough to make it a
novel and do it justice.
The military is such a complex institution and,
if I’m honest, I don’t know all that much about how it all operates and I’m too
lazy to do too much research in any kind of detail other than using Google and
Wikipedia. So, I stuck with the feelings of families with links to people
serving in the military which is something I have experienced.
Also, I like writing shorts. It’s a discipline
I have honed over a few years and I really enjoy it. It’s kind of magical
writing an entire story in few words. I particularly like writing these shorts
with little to no dialogue, which is harder than it sounds as you are unable to
rely on that kind of character interaction.
By doing this, the descriptions of surroundings
and body language become far more effective and powerful to the reader, in my
opinion at least. Naturally, a novel couldn’t be written in the way as dialogue
add pace and flow to a story which is essential to keep readers engaged.
Because of this, I don’t think any of the stories within the anthology would
have worked in novel form.
Author Bio:
M. B. Feeney is an army brat who finally settled
down in Birmingham, UK with her other half, two kids and a dog. Currently
at university studying for her BA (Hons) in primary teaching, she
procrastinates on her assignments by listening to music of all genres and
trying to get ‘just one more paragraph’ written on whichever WIP is open. She
is also a serious doodler and chocoholic. Writing has been her one true
love ever since she could spell, and publishing is the final culmination of her
hard work and ambition.
Her publishing career began with two novellas, and
she currently has a novel under way whilst Honour, a compilation of her own
military based shorts, is due for release 1st November 2013. Always
having something on the go can often lead to block which eventually gets
dissolved by good music and an even better book.
Author Links:
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Sarah's Review:
Thank you to M.B. Feeney for asking me to be a part of this tour and giving me the chance to read this wonderful collection of stories. As a huge supporter of military related stories, I jumped at the chance. I was not disappointed, even though I cried my eyes out.
This is a difficult review to write because each story was so powerful, but so well thought out. I feel that the author didn't glorify any of the stories and did a wonderful job being respectful.
I wish this review could be longer, but I really don't know how to express how much I love this anthology.
