A.L. Butcher's Blog, page 107
April 22, 2019
Book Spotlight – Portal Bundles
Basic Book Spotlight
Title: Fantasy Portals
Author: VV.AA.
Genre: Fantasy
Main character description (short). This is a collection of short stories, so there’s no main character.
Synopsis: Whether you’re sucked in, you fall into it or you see it and decide to explore what’s beyond, a portal is always an opening to a great adventure. From our world to others, alone or in good company, our heroes and heroines reach “somewhere” down the rabbit hole and meet strange creatures. Sometimes those creatures are the protagonists and help humans. Sometimes the other world is not as shiny as it first looks. 10 stories of fantasy portals.
Brief Excerpt 250 words:
Since I can’t pick and choose even if I’m the curator, I shall put the Table of Contents, so you can see who’s in it – all great writers!
“A Flat Above the Wynd” by Alexandra Brandt
“The Earthbloods of Carapet” by Joe Cron
“The Faerys Choice” by Jamie Ferguson
“A Walk With Georgia” by Debbie Mumford
“A Chance to Escape” by Laura Ware
“Queen of the Mouse Riders” by Annie Reed
“The Portal” by Barbara G.Tarn
“The Traveler” by C.A. Rowland
“Wolf Warlock” by Meyari McFarland
“The Dancer at the Red Door” by Douglas Smith
Why should readers buy this book (50 words max)?
Award-winning stories and brand new ones sitting side by side
Cover Art (add as attachment please)
Title: More Portals
Author: VV.AA.
Genre: SFF
Main character description (short). This is a collection of short stories, so there’s no main character.
Synopsis: More portals coming your way, with aliens and mythical creatures mingling with us. You’ll be transported all over the world and beyond, or even between worlds with some time-travel and some archeology thrown in for good measure. 10 stories of portals.
Brief Excerpt 250 words:
Since I can’t pick and choose even if I’m the curator, I shall put the Table of Contents so you can see who’s in it – all great writers!
“And Then There Are Cats” by Jamie Ferguson
“The Avalon Pub” by Barbara G.Tarn
“What We’re Going To Do Next” by Jennifer Rachel Baumer
“The Angle Between Worlds” by Stefon Mears
“Sideways” by Lana Ayers
“Tethering the Sun” by C.A. Rowland
“Beneath and Beyond” by Debbie Mumford
“Ten Escher From Here” by Fulvio Gatti
“Nite 2 Remember” by Pati Nagle
“My Julie” by Ron Collins
Fantasy Portals eBook universal link and paperback.
More Portals eBook universal link and paperback.
More portals, including science fiction ones that either take to other worlds, aliens, back in time or other dimensions. With some traditional portal fantasy and a couple of weird tales of passages between worlds. 10 portal stories of discovery that sometimes lead to love.
“And Then There Are Cats” by Jamie Ferguson
“The Avalon Pub” by Barbara G.Tarn
“What We’re Going To Do Next” by Jennifer Rachel Baumer
“The Angle Between Worlds” by Stefon Mears
“Sideways” by Lana Ayers
“Tethering the Sun” by C.A. Rowland
“Beneath and Beyond” by Debbie Mumford
“Ten Escher From Here” by Fulvio Gatti
“Nite 2 Remember” by Pati Nagle
“My Julie” by Ron Collins
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CuratedAnthos/
BundleRabbit Series page: https://bundlerabbit.com/s/curated-anthologies
Curator’s website: http://www.unicornproductionsbooks.com/curated-anthologies/
[image error]
[image error]
April 16, 2019
Swift Six Author Interview – Felicia Fredlund – Fantasy/Eclectica
Name: Felicia Fredlund
[image error]
What attracts you to the genre in which you write?
I write in several genres, but I mostly write fantasy. When I write I want to go on an adventure, to somewhere different and interesting, and perhaps a bit dangerous. Wonders like magic can exist. I love the idea of going on an adventure.
What piece of writing advice do you wish you’d known when you started your writing adventures?
Entertain yourself / have fun. Keep the fun and when it starts to go away, cut away the worries and fears and keep seeking the fun. Writing as a way of making a living means a lot of work with no guarantee of money at the end of all that effort. So to make the effort always worth it, fun is the needed ingredient.
If you could have dinner with any famous person or character who would you choose?
So I’d have different answers depending on what I’d want to achieve with the dinner! For just a fun and interesting time, I’d probably pick Aly from the Tricksters series by Tamora Pierce. As a fine spy, I bet she knows all kinds of interesting things. But, I guess she might not be famous. Ops!
The writer Nora Roberts would be another pick. I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting her but I think it would be fun and I could learn a lot from her. I really love her In Death series under her open pen name J.D. Robb.
Who has been the greatest influence on your own work?
For the genre I write (fantasy) and the mainly female main characters I create, I guess I can thank Tamora Pierce and her book Alanna: The First Adventure, which is the book that made me fall in love with reading and featured a girl want to be a knight. I loved that book as a kid. As an adult I favor the last book in series more (Lioness Rampant).
Do you think the e-book revolution will do away with print?
Considering we are about a decade into the revolution and print is still strong? Probably not for a while yet. Do I think we will always have print books like we do now? Probably not, we don’t use papyrus much anymore. My point being that technology do change over centuries and millenniums.
But do I think print will disappear anytime soon? It doesn’t seem likely at the moment, but that could change tomorrow.
Which 3 books would you take to a desert island and why?
Only 3 books? Does my kindle count as one book? Because I’d take that, haha.
The Deeds of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon, because it is an excellent fantasy adventure book (trilogy that is always sold as one book nowadays so I’m counting it as one!). It just hits all the notes for me to make a great fantasy book and it goes dark without going into horror.
Eat. Pray. Love. by Elizabeth Gilbert (I’m sensing a trend in author names…). I didn’t read it for the first time when it got famous. I read it a few years later when it showed up on my radar for some reason I can’t remember. I love Gilbert’s writing, what I’ve read of it I mean. It is a story of a physical, emotional, and mental journey that I already know I’ll want to come back to periodically (I’ve reread it once so far).
The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings. Constraining me to three books means I have to make different choices than I might otherwise. I wanted another fiction book on the list, another meaty one preferably, but since it could only be one, I couldn’t choice any of my favorite series that I might have chosen otherwise. This is still a great choice. Another fantastic adventure, with a lot of humor this time, so more light-hearted than Paksenarrion. A more comfortable ride, which is what is needed when life throws too many hard balls.
Author bio and book synopsis
Please introduce yourself (250 words or so):
Felicia Fredlund writes fiction about entertaining adventures and emotional journeys of interesting people. She currently lives in Japan after a period of traveling.
She writes one series, a dark fantasy series called Sorceress Islands. Her short stories have appeared in several Fiction Rivers.
She also edits. She edited Fiction River: Last Stand with Dean Wesley Smith.
Learn more about her on her website www.FeliciaFredlund.com, and join her newsletter for up-to-date information about all her books.
Tell us about your book(s) – title, genre etc (short)
Dear Brother is a contemporary short story about dealing with grief. A young man has lost his brother and is trying to come to terms with it.
(Side note: I assumed you asked about my story in the bundle, if you meant to ask more generally, I can add more about other stories/books of mine.)
Links: www.FeliciaFredlund.com, https://www.feliciafredlund.com/newsletter/
Social media (I don’t use it).
[image error]
April 14, 2019
Sunday Surprise
A great Eclectica interview
creative barbwire (or the many lives of a creator)
And it’s a guest! From the Eclectica bundle, please meet Harvey Stanbrough! And check out An Eclectic Dinner Party at Jackie Keswick’s! 
Character Interview – Madam Giry – Tears and Crimson Velvet/Eclectica
Name: Madam Lise Giry
Which book/world do you live in? Tears and Crimson Velvet.
Tell us about yourself: I am a wardrobe mistress at the Opera House in Paris. I have been here many years – M. Giry died not many years after our marriage and the children from his first marriage ensured I was left with very little. I have a daughter – Meg – the only one of our children to survive and thus at first my life was hard.
How do you see your world? A friend, I suppose that is the correct term, arranged for my employment here. I have been seamstress, box-keeper, ballet mistress, and almost every role open to a woman in this grand establishment. I am eternally grateful to Erik, through his kindness my daughter has been educated, danced and we have had, if not a life of luxury then at least more comfortable than otherwise. Once I was an innocent girl with dreams. Now I am an old woman with arthritis, a heart that loved unwisely and memories of an angel in cage.
I have a kind benefactor – perhaps the greatest, but most unhappy and tragic of men. I could have a life so much worse.
What part do you play in this tale? This is my story, our story. The tragedy of the Phantom of the Opera is well known; the deaths, the disappearances, the music, the Opera Ghost. I knew the man behind them when we were both barely out of childhood. I suppose you might say I saved his life, and he changed mine.
Do you consider yourself a good person? I have tried to live a good life, a life to please God, and in that, I may have failed.
He could have left me to starve, or eke out my living in the slums, but he did not. He remembered me, and he repaid the debt he thought he had – and more. Women of my status and situation have very little on offer without a husband or money and I have seen many sell everything, including themselves. I could have, should have been one of those unfortunate women.
There was something about that young man, a caged songbird filled with despair, hatred and the most exquisite song, and marvellous tricks, even then. There is not another such as Erik, no do I believe there ever will. But that haunted, twisted face still appears in my dreams. An angel damned to wear the face of a monster and be shunned by man and god alike. I am not surprised he lived apart from men, and the tragedy of his misguided love happened. My heart broke that day. Now my friend is gone and the world is thus emptier.
Should I have told what I knew? Should I have turned in the man I suspected to be a murderer? Probably. Do I regret that I did not? No. Not for one single day. I should have told the authorities where he was, who he was and yet I perpetuated his legends and his secrets. Yet I have heard him sing, and seen the tragedy and the curse in his eyes. And I have been part of that curse.
Do you follow any religion? I was raised a Catholic. Do I still believe? I pray, but mostly it is out of habit. The prayers are hollow. I have seen, and been complicit in too much to believe I will be forgiven. Once I may have thought that, but many years have passed.
What is your favourite music? I love Opera – the glory of the human voice and the excitement. One cannot work here without that love.
[image error]
Eclectica A Short Story Bundle
From fantasy to space adventure, pirates, mystery, horror, historical fiction, romance and coming of age you’ll find short, snappy reads herein. There is something for everyone in this lucky dip.
19 short stories and collections from multiple authors.
https://books2read.com/EclecticaBundle
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NWQ4YTP/?tag=kydala-20
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07NWQ4YTP/?tag=kydala-20
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/eclectica-1
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1458246383
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1131078746?ean=2940161178102
https://bundlerabbit.com/b/eclectica
Blown – Diana Deverell
Socks and Pins and Aliens – Thea Hutcheson
Tales of Blood and Ink – Kate MacLeod
Tales of Tomorrow – Debbie Mumford
Shaken, Not Stirred: A Dawna Shepherd Short Story – Diana Deverell
City Shadows – Chuck Heintzelman
Outside the Walls – A.L. Butcher and Diana L. Wicker
Tales of an Altered Past Powered by Romance, Horror, and Steam – Donald J. Bingle
Dear Brother – Felicia Fredlund
The Cache and Other Stories – Sherry D Ramsey
Sword Oath – Jackie Keswick
The Hooded Man – Barbara G. Tarn
S F & H – Harvey Stanbrough
Resonant Bronze – J.M. Ney-Grimm
Hitomi’s Path – M.L. Buchman
Children – Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Jhyoti Planetside – Marcelle Dube
Petra and the Blue Goo – Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Tears and Crimson Velvet – A. L. Butcher
April 1, 2019
Eclectica – Short Story Bundle – On Preorder Now
On Preorder – available from 13th April 2019.
From fantasy to space adventure, pirates, mystery, horror, historical fiction, romance and coming of age you’ll find short, snappy reads herein. There is something for everyone in this lucky dip.
19 short stories and collections from multiple authors.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NWQ4YTP/?tag=kydala-20
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07NWQ4YTP/?tag=kydala-20
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/eclectica-1
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1458246383
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1131078746
https://bundlerabbit.com/b/eclectica
Blown – Diana Deverell
Socks and Pins and Aliens – Thea Hutcheson
Tales of Blood and Ink – Kate MacLeod
Tales of Tomorrow – Debbie Mumford
Shaken, Not Stirred: A Dawna Shepherd Short Story – Diana Deverell
City Shadows – Chuck Heintzelman
Outside the Walls – A.L. Butcher and Diana L. Wicker
Tales of an Altered Past Powered by Romance, Horror, and Steam – Donald J. Bingle
Dear Brother – Felicia Fredlund
The Cache and Other Stories – Sherry D Ramsey
Sword Oath – Jackie Keswick
The Hooded Man – Barbara G. Tarn
S F & H – Harvey Stanbrough
Resonant Bronze – J.M. Ney-Grimm
Hitomi’s Path – M.L. Buchman
Children – Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Jhyoti Planetside – Marcelle Dube
Petra and the Blue Goo – Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Tears and Crimson Velvet – A. L. Butcher
March 31, 2019
Review – Green Men and White Swans – The Folklore of British Pub Names
3.5 Stars.
This book is a potted history and folklore of some of the names of British Pubs, past and present. Not every pub name is included – it depends on the origin of the name (and the ability to find out what it means).
Some of the names are odd, not obvious and many are reminiscent of attitudes long gone (Such as Quiet Woman – depicting a woman with no head, or wearing a scold’s bridle; or Nags Head – could also be sexist; Saracen’s Head or Black Boy – now viewed as racist.) In many cases the signs or names have been altered in our more enlightened times. Some of the pubs are old – they show which side a local landholder was on in the English Civil War, or whether they supported the Catholics or Protestants during the Reformation.
There are many mythical references – Unicorn, Green Man, Dragon, George and Dragon, Phoenix, etc. Not all in a locale directly related to that creature or hero – and some are named after ships, for example.
The snippets of local history and pride in that history are the most interesting aspect – and some of the references would be largely unknown outside a particular area.
A lot of research has been done for this book, and that shows.
The cons – there were a lot of formatting/typo errors, including a duplicate paragraph and the way certain aspects were laid out with specific topics interspersed did not work well as an ebook, as the formatting was all over the place.
Subject – 4 stars
Technical side – 3 stars.
March 25, 2019
Adventures in Self-Publishing – Reviews -Part 2
I remember the first ‘bad’ review I got for my first book. It was 2-star review on Goodreads, and I was angry, upset and lots of negative emotions. How dare someone think that! Of course, now I have moved on, and I realise it is just one reader’s views, nothing more, nothing less.
My point is – for new writers a bad review feels terrible. Someone who doesn’t care how much time you spent writing, what sacrifices you made etc. Correct – the reader doesn’t give a damn about that. He or she just wanted a good experience with the book they spent money on. If you go to a restaurant and order a meal, it arrives and it’s not what you expected, or you think it’s too cold, or too hot, or has garlic in then you will complain. You don’t care that the chef has a headache, or his car broke down on the way in. You want a nice meal. It’s the same principle.
I have a mix of ratings on my books from 1 star to 5 stars, some great comments and some… less than great comments. The books I write are NOT mainstream. Light Beyond the Storm features violence against women, murder, sex, slavery and other contentious topics. I’ve been told it can be difficult to read. Am I going to change it? No. The issues therein are part of the story and the world of Erana: Elves are slaves, Dii (the main female character) is an Elven woman who is not only a slave but a magic user. She has no rights in that society – and her very existence is illegal. The poor girl is at the bottom of the social heap. Olek and Archos are the good guys (and I use that term relatively), but they aren’t nice. Olek is a thief and an assassin – he kills, he steals, he blackmails. Archos is a sorcerer and he deceives, he kills, he flouts the law, and he is, essentially, a crimelord. There are very few really ‘good people’ – except Dii and Ozena. I can understand why readers might be shocked by what happens, or upset by the violence. Some folks are. But then again some aren’t.
Books are a varied as the authors – everyone is different. Readers are different.
So how to deal with ‘bad’ reviews.
DO NOT COMMENT – Really just don’t. It’s unprofessional, it’s likely to backfire. A few years ago there were some individuals on Goodreads who had rated a particular author’s book with a low rating and unfavourable review; said author then started bitching about these reviewers. There was name calling, trolling and general nastiness. No one came out well, least of all the author. Such behaviour tarnishes other authors (and readers) who don’t behave like that and indie author suffers.
ANALYSE THEM – is the reader just unhappy because the story didn’t fulfil their expectations? Or are they reporting technical issues? The first you as the author can’t do much about, but technical issues can and should be fixed.
DO NOT GO BITCHING ON YOUR BLOG – this relates back to 1. Yes, you might be annoyed or upset but venting online will not help. People forget what is said online can be deleted but not removed. By that I mean if someone sees it, then it’s ‘out there’ – it can be copied, or shared. If you feel you must vent do it privately.
MOVE ON – pretty much every book from Shakespeare’s plays to Game of Thrones will have a bad review. It happens.
KEEP WRITING – don’t give up. Writing is a craft, and it takes practice, and commitment. One or two bad reviews can knock your confidence – but just shrug and keep writing. Look for how you can improve – which is pretty much the same as in everything.
DO NOT COMMENT. Yep it’s that important I am saying it twice.
There are blogs offering reviews – and they can be useful. But don’t buy a good review – it will show and many sites (such as Amazon) will remove ‘fake’ reviews. This also goes for review swaps (I read your book and rate it high if you do mine). Indies don’t have the best reputation and behaviour like that doesn’t do anyone any good.
Don’t get your mum/brother/cat to post a review. They may indeed like your work but the review will be biased. Again most review sites will remove those, and in some places, your publishing account can be revoked.
Wait. Reviews will come. Not every reader reviews.
Good reviews are nice to have, but it’s not the end of the world if they are few.
As I said in my previous article you can’t please everyone. There will always be someone who doesn’t enjoy your work, and that’s fine. Move on. Keep writing.
March 16, 2019
Book Spotlight – His Red Eminence – Historical/Biography/Historical Romance – Laurel A. Rockefeller
Title: His Red Eminence, Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu
Author: Laurel A. Rockefeller
Genre: Biography, historical fiction, historical romance
Main character description.
His Excellency, Armand-Jean du Plessis, the Bishop of Luçon (1608). Trailblazing bishop and the first French bishop to bring his diocese into compliance with the Council of Trent. Enters government service in 1615 following his rock-star performance representing the clergy of Poitou at the États-Généraux (1614-1615). Invested a cardinal in 1622. Elevated to First Minister of France in 1624. Made Duc de Richelieu by King Louis XIII in 1631. Died of consumption 4 December, 1642. Creates modern France.
Synopsis:
Priest. Lover. Statesman. Cardinal Armand-Jean du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu is one of the most famous — or infamous politicians of all time. Made a villain in the popular Dumas novel, “The Three Musketeers,” the real man was a dedicated public servant loyal to king and country. A man of logic and reason, he transformed how we think about nations and nationality. He secularized wars between countries, patronized the arts for the sake of the public good, founded the first newspaper in France, and created France as the modern country we know today.
Brief Excerpt 250 words:
Excerpt one – La Rochelle
“21st of April, 1628. Dear Anne, At long last everything is ready. The fortifications begun before my departure from Paris in August are now at very long last complete, as is the new seawall designed by Jacques-Clément Métezeau. What began with only four thousand men and a few horses and cannon has grown to over thirty thousand men manning entrenchments nearly seven- and one-half miles long and with eleven forts total. Huguenot commander Henri duc de Rohan attempted to raise a rebellion in the countryside near here, but was unsuccessful due to the loyalty of the overwhelming number of protestants. Likewise, our new seawall has already proven its value against England’s Duke of Buckingham and his fleet. Thanks to the perfection of Métezeau’s design, Buckingham has lost the support, both moral and financial, he needed to continue his opposition against us. As of this moment it is likely England is no longer a threat to any Frenchman nor is likely to be for some time, depending of course on its queen, the king’s sister Henrietta-Marie. More than these things, all of them public knowledge here and likely to become even more so as news spreads across France and beyond, I dare not tell you in writing. Instead, I must wait until I am able to return to Paris at the completion of this siege to share with you the details, both those of a personal and political nature.
“Know that despite the months of silence you remain in my thoughts often. The gift you gave me I keep close to me at all times, especially when I am at prayer and in those quiet times when I am able to be alone to reflect and listen to the voice of God. Your wisdom often flows through my memory, as does the beautiful cadence of your voice when you sing. God grant I may hear your music again soon for yours is one of the most beautiful sounds to ever touch my ears.
“God keep you safe, Anne. Now and always. Armand, Cardinal de Richelieu.”
Why should readers buy this book?
Priest. Lover. Statesman.
Based on Richelieu’s “Political Testament,” this very slightly fictionalized, narrative biography showcases the kind, thoughtful, and dedicated public servant who transformed our concept of nations and international relationships. A delightful historical romance that brings you back to the vibrant court of King Louis XIII.
[image error]
Links etc.
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NTKF4RV
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130522188
Website: http://www.laurelarockefeller.co.uk
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Laurel-A.-Rockefeller/e/B008YVJJFE
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurelarockefellerbooks/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurelworlds
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/peersofbeinan/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-213198671
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAiAQRKQ2lTxdNx9quqtorA
March 9, 2019
Book Spotlight – The Kitchen Brigade – Laurie Boris – Dystopian Fiction/Women’s Fiction #Indiesrock
Title: The Kitchen Brigade
Author: Laurie Boris
Genre: Dystopian fiction/women’s fiction
Main character description (short). Valerie is petite and pretty, with chestnut curls. But beyond that seemingly innocuous exterior, she’s resourceful and much tougher than she would have believed before her world went to hell.
Synopsis: The Kitchen Brigade is a dystopian novel set in a future America torn apart by civil war and Russian occupation.
Valerie Kipplander is a talented culinary student and daughter of the assassinated secretary of state. When the regime discovers her in a refugee camp jail, she’s forced to cook for the Russian general whose army is occupying New York.
But being part of the head chef’s kitchen brigade is only a different kind of prison. The safety that had been promised her is an illusion. The resistance wants her to join them. And one of the guards wants her dead.
She knows she has to act. To rebel against her Russian captors could prove deadly, but how long can she serve the men destroying her country?
Brief Excerpt 250 words: Valerie might have been in this house before. During her childhood, perhaps, when her father the diplomat and her mother the French heiress attended parties and teas at which Valerie was made to wear uncomfortable dresses and sit still, hands folded like sleeping doves in her lap. But as Chef took her to where she presumed she would sleep, Valerie didn’t dare ask who owned the house, or where the previous owners had gone. Since the war started she’d learned many things she would have preferred not to know.
“The general rises early,” Chef said over her shoulder. “So we rise earlier. You will learn the routine.” She paused in a corridor and rapped on a door. A woman swung it open as if waiting breathlessly for the knock.
“Yes, Ma—Chef.” She looked to be in her early twenties. Her honey-blond hair, scraped into a severe ponytail, accentuated her rounded face and long nose. She was tall, her shoulders slumped slightly forward as if she’d spent many years trying to hide her height, or the fact of her existence, but her frosty blue eyes—incongruous against her olive-toned skin—went to Chef Svetlana as if the sun and moon rose and set by her will. Then her jaw tightened as she caught sight of Valerie.
“This is Two,” Chef said to Valerie. “She’ll show you the way things work.” Then Chef Svetlana paused a moment, as if mentally sliding a few puzzle pieces into place. “You’ll answer to ‘Three’ and nothing else. It’s easier that way, and the sooner you get accustomed to that, the better.”
Why should readers buy this book (50 words max)?
It’s a fast-moving, entertaining story about what unites us even as the world divides us. It’s full of cooking—it revolves around a band of female chefs—snappy dialogue and unforgettable, broken characters seeking redemption. If you like adult dystopian stories without the apocalypse, you might enjoy The Kitchen Brigade.
[image error]
Links etc.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurie.boris.author/
Twitter: @LaurieBoris
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Laurie-Boris/e/B005I551QA
Website: http://laurieboris.com
March 6, 2019
Three Questions With… Raoul Comte de Chagny #Phantom #Echoesofasong #Legacyofthemask
As part of the author/character features for 2019 I am starting 3 Questions With….
We get to meet, in brief characters or authors who answer only 3 questions, but have to bare their soul…
Three questions with…
Name: Comte Raoul De Chagny
Tell us a little about your life and story:
My life is one of riches and luxury, I should have everything I money can buy. Yet I do not. I have an aching loneliness, sadness and my family is touched by a curse. I have three children – a son and heir, and two daughters – but I cannot love them, not truly as a father should. My wife Christine lies in the marble tomb yonder and my heart with her, but my soul belongs to a devil in a mask, who sang like an angel and entrapped us all. And I am ashamed of it. I could not save her, he was beyond saving and I surely cannot save myself.
I was a young man, wealthy and privileged, I married beneath my station and that choice brought death to my family, and left us semi-exiles. I loved Christine and was foolish enough to believe she loved me. But love is strange – there is the love of the heart, and then there is the love of the soul. Love keeps us alive as it slowly kills us. I would have died for her, and almost did, and her loss tears me apart. But I know now I am not worthy of her love, and certainly not his pity or love. And so love and hate dance hand in hand and I can tell not one from the other these days.
They boy – Charles looks through me, he is far more intelligent than either myself or his mother. I see nothing of myself in him, and he misbehaves. The girls grow more like their poor mother each day – and it breaks my heart. What lives will they have when I am gone? Who will take care of them? We are the last of the De Chagny’s in a world where the old nobility is long fallen. Once we had a name, now we have a curse.
Who is this nemesis?
Erik. I do not know his family name if he even had one. I can’t tell you from where he came, or how. He is a ghost, a monster and an angel. I once believed he was just an unfortunate man – disfigured by God for his sins, but I am not sure. There was that music – I still hear it in my dreams, oh God that music.
Erik is dead. He died over a decade ago, yet I cannot escape him. I will never escape him whilst one of us lives. That terrible night he let us go – I thought myself the victor. I thought the loss of her would kill him, and surely it did – but this ghost of a man haunts me still and I get no satisfaction in my gains and his loss. The world is poorer for his loss. Some nights I wonder if he ever existed, or if I do. It all seems so far away, and so bizarre – it must be a dream or the plot of one of the Operas we used to attend.
How do you see your future?
My mind plays tricks and my sleep is plagued by awful dreams. Laudanum is my solace and my vice. I hope to see my children grown but ever winter becomes harder to bear, ever summer a little colder. I see the darkness and the mask which haunts me. I hear the music calling… the music always calls.
*****
Raoul was originally created by Gaston Leroux, he has been adapted in many forms and by many writers. My own tragic adaptation is here in Echoes of a Song.
