Excerpt – The Watcher – A.L. Butcher #Horror #Darkfantasy #HistoricalFiction

Excerpt The Watcher – A Jack the Ripper Tale (c) A. L. Butcher

There she was, that whore. Once more. There she was.

Beneath the flickering gas lamp at the corner of Dorset Street, Whitechapel, she strode, grinning a seductive smile at a passing sailor, just ashore and looking for company. He, as bad as the bitch whose breasts he felt and whose ear he nipped with yellowing teeth, the unseen Watcher thought. With eyes burning hatred and a menace previously unseen and misunderstood. It was, he thought, a righteous hatred, and they blaze all the brighter for it. The beast within told him so. For he was the beast and he was its creature, at once the same.

She could have been twenty or forty; the Watcher neither knew nor cared. She’d not see another year, another week, another night. The dim streets grew ever wickeder to those of her sort spreading around their sin, their poison. Defiling this town, this land, defiling HER. The Watcher shook his head; no more whores and this place would rise like the jewel it was. Not jaded and dull but glorious and fit for a queen. The beast within whispered in his head. “Cleanse this town, make it fit again.” And so he did. A knife in the darkness, once more.

Geneva liquor and poverty aged a person far better than mere passing of the years. In the greatest Empire on Earth, they blighted the land. Gin palaces, opium dens, and hash houses aplenty gave heaven and hell to those with money, and those without. Life was cheap, and oblivion cheaper. The Watcher knew these unfortunates dropped their drawers for a taste of it, panting and moaning beneath the bridges and in the alleys, with their grunting men, and their penny a tumble.

The sailor moved on. He’d had his pleasure with another of her kind and spent his last pennies in the tavern, and she was here to work.  Nothing was free in her line of employment. Except for death.

So there she was, alone. Death walked these streets – and tonight it watched the red-haired whore, who sang and smiled and patted her new bonnet. There she was. The whore. Alone.

The minutes passed, creeping towards death; ebbing away from heaven and him ever closer to immortality. The whore did not know it. Of course, she’d heard the tales, everyone had. Screamed by newsboys on every corner “another ‘orrible murder” but rent still needed to be paid. And so she plied her trade. Afraid. Denying it would be her turn this night. A whore, alone.

Another night, another customer. Fear curled in her belly; these streets were streets of blood, four of her sisters slain in just a few weeks. But hunger was the greater force. Desperation made Mary-Jane brave – so she walked the streets, as she had often done. It wouldn’t be her, she thought. As they had. It couldn’t be her. Besides the police watched the alleys and the thoroughfares. The streets were largely empty, save the desperate and the foolhardy, and those too much in drink or lust to know or care.

The Watcher stood, beyond the pool of light from the gas lamp. This night was his. She would be his. This woman wasn’t as much a drab as some of her sisters-in-sin. Lust rose, entwined with his loathing. Two joined as one, desire and disgust, powerful and compelling. He’d never understood why they went together, but then he was a simple man, not one of the mind-doctors who had been so influential of late. The beast within did not care. Lust and hatred, pain and desire…bound so close he could experience little else when the darkness overtook him. Now, however, he watched.

The hunt was almost as enthralling as the kill; the knowledge of their fear, their desperation, and yet still they strutted themselves, offering a screw in the alleys and passages of the East End, and more if the customer had money and the taste for it. Filthy strumpets, he’d said to any who’d listen. Never did he consider the terrible choices they made. Never did he consider their choice was no real choice. What cared he for desperation and poverty? Respectable women did not sell their bodies. They kept sex for the marriage bed. SHE did – his icon, the woman he loved above all others.

The whores’ sins, the watcher thought, was what damned them. And they would pay, in this world and the next. He’d save London. He’d save it for HER. Blood would cleanse the streets.

Synopsis

The year is 1888, and the place is Whitechapel, in the very heart of London. But the heart is bleeding. A mysterious killer is stalking women of the streets – his true name is unknown, but his legend will go down in history. This is a short tale of Jack the Ripper.

18 rated for scenes of violence.

https://www.books2read.com/TheWatcherJTR

Het Geheim van Blossom Rise

Wanneer een jonge verpleegster een baan aanvaardt in een voormalig militair hospitaal, ontdekt ze een familiegeheim en komen de spookachtige bewoners haar iets te bekend voor.

Een kort spookverhaal.

https://books2read.com/BlossomRiseDutch
#Geesten, #Paranormaal, #Horror, #Kortverhaal



De in Engeland geboren A. L. Butcher is een fervent lezer en schepper van werelden, een dichter, en een dromer, een liefhebber van wetenschap, natuurgeschiedenis, geschiedenis, en apen. Haar proza is beschreven als ‘donker en gruizig’ en haar poëzie als ‘evocatief’. Ze schrijft met een zekere en soms erotische gevoeligheid over dingen die hadden kunnen zijn, nooit waren, maar zouden kunnen zijn.

Alex is de auteur van de Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles en de Tales of Erana lyrische fantasy serie. Ze heeft ook verschillende korte verhalen in de fantasy, fantasy romance genres met af en toe een uitstapje naar gothic style horror, inclusief de Legacy of the Mask serie. Met een achtergrond in politiek, klassieke studies, oude geschiedenis en mythe, zorgen haar affiniteiten voor een eclectische en unieke smaak in haar werk, waarbij realiteit en droom in alchemistische verhoudingen worden vermengd die haar personages en werelden tot leven brengen.

Ze is ook curator van speculatieve fictie themabundels op BundleRabbit – voor het grootste deel de Here Be Series

Alex is er ook trots op schrijver te zijn voor Perseid Press, waar haar werk te lezen is in Heroika: Dragon Eaters, Heroika Skirmishers – waar ze redacteur en omslagontwerper en schrijver was; en Lovers in Hell – deel van de veelgeprezen Heroes in Hell-serie. http://www.theperseidpress.com/

Onderscheidingen: Outside the Walls, mede geschreven met Diana L. Wicker ontving in 2017 een Chill with a Book Reader’s Award.

NN Light Book Heaven awards:

De keukenimps en andere duistere verhalen won beste fantasy van 2018

Into the Shattered Mirror – New Release #Poetry

Into the Shattered Mirror (Large Print Edition)

A dark poetry duology: war, politics, life, loss, nature and the vagaries of life feature in this special two-book collection.
Featuring – Shattered Mirror – A poetry collection & Beyond the Shattered Mirror

Only available on Amazon

The Light Beyond the Storm #Fantasy #Excerpt

Welcome to a little excerpt from The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles Book I

Excerpt 1 – Dii

Dii walked through the day, stopping only to refill her water-skin from a spring. The day had turned out to be overcast and the air was heavy with the tension of a storm hanging over the land. Heavyset big-horned sheep populated the surrounding countryside; hardy and excellent providers of meat, cheese and wool that was surprisingly soft to have come from such tough, belligerent beasts. Trees covered the land to the east, not quite fertile enough for grain or barley but ideal for the orchards and forests that provided for these lands. As she walked, the hills began to roll steeper. The horizon boded storm clouds and any canny folk, Witch or not, could foresee the storm approaching. Every mile she walked was further from her Keeper’s land.

As evening approached, the road forked, and the rain began to fall in huge, cold drops that chilled the blood and saturated a person to the skin. She was aware some mages could control the weather, calling and dismissing storms and remaining dry in the rain. Dii, however, was young and inexperienced, and did not know such useful spells. She hesitated, unsure; she could try to camp, although she had little food remaining in her bag and knew her tent would not protect her from a storm or high winds. She had passed a farmhouse some way back and contemplated returning to shelter in the barn, yet she did not wish to be caught stealing apples or eggs and, not knowing the sympathies of the farm folk, she was reluctant to beg for food. The other choice was the elf could risk the village she could see on the horizon, which would provide her at least with a hot meal, a warm fire and a bed more comfortable than a hayloft or bedroll. Being a healer, Dii knew the risks of such weather, and of prolonged exposure to cold and damp. She knew also the danger of one such as her seeking accommodation, but at this moment, she was too cold and wet to care; weather such as this could kill. It was worth the risk for a night or two. Hopefully, if she was cautious, the village should be safe enough.

The storm began to rumble and roll, the symphony of the gods beginning to boil like a cauldron. Quickening her pace, the young elf hoped no other souls were out in the storm. Looking around she saw the pear, apple and plum orchards to the east of the village. Much of the fruit had gone but a few trees still bore laden branches amongst the brown and red leaves. The storm would bring death for some of them and possibly ruin the last fruiting for the rest. Resisting the temptation to fill her pockets with the fruit, she simply plucked a couple of the juiciest ones to quiet her rumbling belly.

Dii smiled sadly when she remembered her foster mother’s fruit pie. Dii had learned much from Malana, not just some of her magical training, unofficially of course as that was forbidden. Malana was the best cook and best herbalist in the area and although she was the lord’s mistress, she was also a midwife. Often the villagers appealed to her when the other midwives had failed or were unavailable. A few times, Dii had been given permission to attend, escorted of course. The first time she had marvelled at the sight of new life arriving in such a fashion, the joy, the pain, often the blood. She had watched and then assisted, pleased to be able to help with bringing new life into the light. She remembered Joset had not been pleased she had attended, feeling it unsuitable for her, but Malana had somehow persuaded him. Perhaps it had simply been another use of her skills for which she would receive payment to fill the lord’s coffers. The ability to be an excellent cook and a well-trained herbalist, not to mention his favourite bed warmer, were solid reasons why Joset kept her foster mother around. Nasty and manipulative he may be, foolish he was not. Dii knew to her cost that he would not waste a good source of income and entertainment. Malana also believed herself, as a bound concubine and Kept, to be in no position to be elsewhere. In her way, she loved him, although Dii had never understood why. Perhaps he had once been a different man; as a mage, Malana would have been bound in the prison beyond the Enclave, unless she was very clever or very lucky. A mage would be bound with the feared Shackles: cruel, draining of magic and often fatal. Standing at the fork of the road, Dii was afraid and unsure, then a rumble of thunder reminded her of why she must risk her new-found freedom, and perhaps her life.

Adult rated #fantasy (contains violence and sexy scenes). Universal Link – ebook, audiobook, hardback, audiobook, large print.

https://www.books2read.com/Lightbeyondstorm1

Signed copies – Poll

I’m contemplating offering signed copies of my print books (including large print). Possibly with merchandise. Payment would be through paypal. Postage would be dependent on the timescale you wanted the book and where you lived but I could give you an amount at the time of enquiry.  Please complete the poll above – it’s only worth doing this if enough people are interested.

Vote here 

https://app.crowdsignal.com/polls/10912844

Buiten de muren – Nederlandse editie




Wanneer het tij van de oorlog vloeit, wie zal dan in zijn kielzog worden gevangen? Een kort fantasieverhaal over de vastberadenheid van een vrouw in tijden van oorlog.

#Fantasie, #Historischefictie, #Novelle

https://books2read.com/Outsidethewalls-Dutch

Lágrimas e Veludo Vermelho

https://books2read.com/Lgrimas-e-Veludo-Vermelho-TCV-Port

Quando o assassinato e o mistério começam na Opera House uma mulher sabe quem está por trás disso, e o que realmente está sob a máscara. Segredos, mentiras e tragédias cantam uma canção poderosa neste conto “poderia ter sido”.

Madame Giry encontra-se envolvido na tragédia que se desenrola na Casa de Ópera; mistério e assassinato perseguem os corredores e, dizem, um fantasma assombra o lugar. Giry sabe a verdade, pois ela se lembra do homem enjaulado que conheceu há tantos anos. Esta é a história dela, a história deles.

Quando o assassinato e o mistério começam na Opera House uma mulher sabe quem está por trás disso, e o que realmente está sob a máscara. Segredos, mentiras e tragédias cantam uma canção poderosa neste conto “poderia ter sido”.

Uma curta e trágica história baseada em personagens de Fantasma da Ópera.

#Histórico, #Fantasia, #FICÇÃO

Love and Magic – A Fantasy Romance Bundle

Love across time and space, in lands of magic and mayhem, sizzling sorcery, fairy-tale retellings and classic twists, lonely fae, passionate Vikings and demigods searching for their magic in a land of mortals. Love, passion, and magic in a fantasy/sci romance/paranormal romance bundle from:

Robert Jeschonek

Kathryn Kayleigh

Charlotte E English

A J Tipton

Kristine Grayson

A L Butcher

Barbara G Tarn

Meyari McFarland

Alexa Lynsey & Belle De Ver

Links

https://books2read.com/LoveMagicBundle

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/love-and-magic-5

Amazon https://amzn.to/3s8Ycaa

Apple Books https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1548175688

Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-and-magic-kristine-grayson/1138594941

https://bundlerabbit.com/b/love-magic-fantasy-romance

2020 Writing Round-up

I had all sorts of plans in 2020. Didn’t everyone? 

Stress does not help with the writing process. Some people thrive on stress – I am not one of those people. I looked at my writing plan and knew I hadn’t fulfilled it. However when I investigated further – it was not as bad as I thought.

10 Bundles – not quite one a month 

Here Be Elves

Here Be Brave New Worlds

Here Be Aliens

Light Beyond the Storm Box Set 

Blood on the Cobbles

Angels and Demons

Rainbow Romance

Here Be Pirates 

Here Be Trolls

Here be Zombies

Also Heroika Skirmishers

Print edition of Dark Tales and Twisted Verses, several large print editions and many translation editions. 

I’ve finished a course on Editing and Proofreading, and 19 work-related courses.

Editing for Perseid Press and some freelance editing.

I now have a Fiverr profile.

All things considered, not too shoddy.

In 2021 I plan to finish a couple of novellas, get some more translations sorted, find more editing clients and continue learning Photoshop.