Well, I don’t talk about the book on the blog that often because the blog has always been about me discovering the work of others. However, it’s a special day today so I wanted to share it. Thanks to the wonderfully talented Renee Barratt at The Cover Counts, I have a beautiful new cover. Renee(…)
Short Stories
Fiction: Out of the Darkness
Out of the darkness a soft mewling sound emerged. “There’s something in the cellar,” I whispered. My husband tried the light switch again. “Damn fuse box,” he muttered. “Be careful,” I urged, as he made his way down the stone stairs, torch in hand. I listened to his footsteps as he moved around the small(…)
Fiction: Shelving My Worries
Today, I bought a shelf. It was not the wisest course of action. I had a meeting in the afternoon so I had to take the shelf with me. It was a corner shelf and the top protruded from out of my smart bag. I wrapped a carrier bag around it but – being a(…)
Fiction: Joe’s Homecoming
Dear Sarah Joe arrived home last night after twelve years away. The family were gathered here together to mark his return. I’m sorry you couldn’t be here but I know that flight costs are high for you and the children. It was a remarkable reception. People I hadn’t seen for years turned up. Mark you,(…)
Susan (Final Part)
View Part 2 It’s half past midnight when I hear the distant sound of a door opening then slamming shut. Susan’s home at last! Where’s she been? What’s she been doing? Who’s she been with? I have to prepare myself to confront her yet again. I thought we were past all these days of deceit(…)
Susan (Part 2 of 3)
View Part 1 It’s now after midnight and Susan isn’t home yet. Where could she be? Why is she late? Has she been delayed getting a taxi? Has she been lured to one of the clubs by her friends? It wouldn’t be the first time. They’ve always been a bad influence on her. I don’t(…)
Susan (Part 1 of 3)
It’s five minutes until midnight and she will soon be home. Susan. Through the bedroom window I can see the full moon in the ascendancy; the glowing beacon in the night sky is supported by countless glittering stars that lend their exquisite splendour to the endless cosmos. This is the perfect setting for what I(…)
The Jarls of the Ocean (Final Part)
View Part 3 That day we fought as our gods have come to expect. Every one of our men hacked and slashed at his enemy, while the mud and water beneath his feet tried in vain to work against him. We threw down our enemy and they too diminished our numbers, but as the battle(…)
The Jarls of the Ocean (Part 3 of 4)
View Part 2 By the next day the oarsmen received word that we were about to land. It was noon when the fleet anchored in the river and we were left to wade our way through the water to the banks. I was one of the last to leave the ship. I wiped my helm(…)
The Jarls of the Ocean (Part 2 of 4)
View Part 1 We were six days at sea when I was called to work the tiller. Only moments after beginning my duty the gathering clouds above began to spew rain onto the rising sea. The rumble of thunder seemed distant but then grew to a tremendous roar. As I felt the tiller become damp(…)
The Jarls of the Ocean (Part 1 of 4)
The peaks of the distant mountains protruded from the dense mist, overlooking the fjord like archers manning castle walls. The mist crept down the mountainside as if it were a waterfall, descending slowly to the muddy banks below where a group of ships lay anchored in the water, their hulls fastened close together to amass(…)
The Sparkling Dew On The Lakeside (Final Part)
View Part 6 All around Lorenzo vampires slept contentedly in the shadows while their prisoners remained wide-eyed, fearful and uncertain, hoping for some dashing liberator to spare them from this purgatory. No such solace would come to them now. They were beyond the reach of salvation. Lorenzo felt the need to submit to sleep but(…)
The Sparkling Dew On The Lakeside (Part 6 of 7)
View Part 5 The vampire horde was below deck and safely in the shadows just before sunrise. Dozens of captives lay gagged and bound close by, all living fodder for the vampires back in Deutermia. Lorenzo wallowed in one of the darkest corners and found that the images of Celestia were beginning to recede. ‘Have(…)
The Sparkling Dew On The Lakeside (Part 5 of 7)
View Part 4 My Dearest Lorenzo, I waited so long for you to come back but you never did. I never wanted you to go to war but I knew you were doing it only for me. My parents would never have let us marry, myself being a nobleman’s daughter and you a farmer’s(…)
The Sparkling Dew On The Lakeside (Part 4 of 7)
View Part 3 Erected in memory of my beloved Lorenzo Cyrano Father of Luca Born 11963 Died 11988 It wasn’t possible. Lorenzo considered this truth only briefly then dismissed it straight away. This grave belonged to a man named Lorenzo but it couldn’t be the same person. It was some cruel coincidence, some cheap trick(…)
The Sparkling Dew On The Lakeside (Part 3 of 7)
View Part 2 Graves, old and new, covered the cluster of small hills surrounding a long stretch of lowland. The oldest were made of wood with simple engravings, but the freshest disturbances of the earth came with a stone epitaph. Lorenzo found himself drawn to the far north to three graves in particular. The trio(…)
The Sparkling Dew On The Lakeside (Part 2 of 7)
View Part 1 Lorenzo emerged from the outskirts of serene woodland to find a muddy path leading downhill towards a village. He could make out two guards stationed on either side of the entrance; each clasped a spear in one hand and with the other they regularly passed an amphora back and forth. Even from(…)
The Sparkling Dew On The Lakeside (Part 1 of 7)
Disembarking on the shores of Valadomiar, Lorenzo trembled for the first time in decades. It was not the clamour of the sea breeze that animated his body – life had long since ceased to flow through his veins – but something dormant, lying deep within the barren wasteland of his stagnant heart was beginning to(…)