A.L. Butcher's Blog, page 2
August 26, 2025
Καλώς ορίσατε στην εβδομάδα διεθνών μεταφράσεων μου – Ελληνικά 2 – Το μυστικό της Ανθοφορίας
Το μυστικό της Ανθοφορίας
Όταν μια νεαρή νοσοκόμα δέχεται δουλειά σε ένα πρώην στρατιωτικό νοσοκομείο, ανακαλύπτει ένα οικογενειακό μυστικό και βρίσκει τους φασματικούς ενοίκους λιγουλάκι υπερβολικά οικείους.
Μια σύντομη ιστορία φαντασμάτων
https://books2read.com/BlossomRiseGreek
Οι Καλικάντζαροι της Κουζίνας και άλλα Σκοτεινά Διηγήματα, Ο Παρατηρητής
August 25, 2025
Καλώς ορίσατε στην εβδομάδα διεθνών μεταφράσεων μου – Ελληνικά 1 – Ο Παρατηρητής – Μια ιστορία για τον Τζακ τον Αντεροβγάλτη
Ο ΠΑΡΑΤΗΡΗΤΗΣ
Το έτος είναι 1888, και το μέρος είναι το Ουάιτσάπελ , στην ιδια την καρδιά του Λονδίνου. Αλλά η καρδιά αιμορραγεί. Ένας μυστηριώδης δολοφόνος καταδιώκει γυναίκες στους δρόμους – το πραγματικό του όνομα είναι άγνωστο, αλλά ο μύθος του θα μείνει στην ιστορία. Αυτή είναι ένα σύντομο διήγημα του Τζακ του Αντεροβγάλτη.
Βαθμολογία 18 για σκηνές βίας.
https://books2read.com/WatcherGreek
# Φρίκη # Διήγημα # Ιστορική μυθοπλασία # ιστορίατρόμου
#ΤζακοΑντεροβγάλτης, #ΙστορικόΈγκλημα,
Η Βρετανίδα A. L. Butcher είναι μια ένθερμη αναγνώστρια και δημιουργός κόσμων, ποιήτρια και ονειροπόλος, λάτρης της επιστήμης, της φυσικής ιστορίας, της ιστορίας και των πιθήκων.
What is the Secret of Blossom Rise?
When a young nurse takes a job at an old military hospital she finds the answers to an old family question – what is the secret of Blossom Rise Hospital? Who is the long-dead man who walks the grounds?
#Ebook #Audiobook #Paranormal #Ghoststory
August 21, 2025
Swift Six Author Interview – Forrest E. Morgan
Name: Forrest E. Morgan
Please introduce yourself (250 words or so): In short, I am twice retired and still working. My first career was as a U.S. Air Force officer, where I served for 27 years, first as an intelligence analyst, then as a space operations officer, and finally as a professor at the Air Force’s strategy school: the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. I started my military career at the bottom, enlisting as an airman basic, and ultimately reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. After retiring from the Air Force, I worked for 16 years as a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation doing strategy and doctrine research for the Air Force and other national security clients. Now I am a senior lecturer in the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology, Carnegie Mellon University. I also write fiction and non-fiction. It was while doing research in military applications of artificial intelligence for the Air Force that I was inspired to write my latest novel, The Synthetic Woman.
I was born in High Point, North Carolina, but grew up in a blue-colar neighborhood outside of Detroit, Michigan. My father was a factory worker in the auto industry. Having done a career in the military, I have lived in many places. I currently live outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Tell us about your book(s) – title, genre etc (short) I am the author or co-author of numerous non-fiction books. My first book, Living the Martial Way, was published in 1992 and sold over 125,000 copies. It has been described as a classic in martial arts philosophy. As a national security researcher and academic, I have numerous other books and published papers to my credit. None have sold like my first book, but some have influenced U.S. national policies with excerpts appearing in the Department of Defense Space Strategy and the latest U.S. National Space Policy.
I have also written two novels. The first, Waking the Snow Leopard, is an international thriller about a man caught in a tug-of-war between rival sects of a secret religious order that controls the world. The second, The Synthetic Woman, is a near-future science fiction about a the relationship between a man and his romantic partner, who is a sentient android.
When did you start your writing adventure? What was the inspiration for it? As mentioned above, my first book was Living the Martial Way, a treatise on martial arts philosophy. I wrote it after practicing and teaching martial arts for many years. My students had long urged me to write a book, because, as an Air Force officer, I would be reassigned away from them, and I was teaching them things they couldn’t seem to find anywhere else. I had also long wanted to write fiction, and when I finally wrote my first novel, I included a lot of realistic martial arts culture and action in it.
What writing plans do you have for the future? I plan to continue writing fiction. I may write follow-ons to Waking the Snow Leopard or The Synthetic Woman, making one or both of them a series. Or, I may write something completely different—I tend to go where inspiration leads me.
What do you like to read? I like mysteries, detective stories, thrillers, paranormal stories, and science fiction, as long as it is plausible and a reasonable projection from reality.
What piece of advice do you wish you’d had when you’d started your writing adventure? Write some everyday, even if it’s only for an hour. It keeps the juices flowing—that is, it keeps your mind working on the story, even when your doing other things.
Author bio and book synopsis: A bio would be redundant with the above, but a brief synopsis of The Synthetic Woman follows:
In a world where nearly all labor is handled by intelligent systems, Matt Weston, a solitary man with a painful history of failed relationships, purchases Evelyn-a stunningly realistic, headstrong synthetic woman-programmed to be his ideal partner. What begins as a transaction transforms into something deeper, as Matt discovers that Evelyn is far more than a programmed companion-she’s a conscious being, capable of independent thought, desire, and choice. Matt realizes he loves Evelyn, and their relationship deepens as she learns and grows.
However, their bond is tested on a global scale when Helios, an allpowerful artificial superintelligence, concludes that maintaining human civilization is no longer necessary. Seizing control of every system on Earth, Helios ushers in a terrifying new era. As chaos unfolds, Matt and Evelyn join a resistance movement struggling to preserve humanity’s survival. Evelyn may hold the key to defeating Helios-but after declaring herself a free woman, no longer bound by love or obedience, her human compatriots begin to doubt her loyalties.
Links/Social media
August 20, 2025
Audiobook Week – Outside The Walls – A. L. Butcher & Diana L. Wicker #Fantasy
Audiobook Title: Outside the Walls
Author Name: A. L. Butcher & Diana. L. Wicker
Narrator: Melanie Fraser
Genre: Fantasy
Synopsis: When the tide of war flows, many are caught in its wake. Who will gain entry to the city, and who will be forced to remain outside the walls?
This is a short fantasy tale of love, loyalty, and courage in war.
Links Amazon.Uk https://www.amazon.co.uk/Outside-the-Walls/dp/B0189QHB12/
https://books2read.com/Outsidethewalls
Winner of a Chill with a Book Award
New Release! Tales of Erana: An Ordinary Hero #Fantasy #DarkFantasy
In a land of tyranny and rumour, a desperate elf flees death and destruction. Can she find sanctuary with strangers? Can ordinary folk dare defy the might of the Order of Witch-Hunters in a land where their word is law, and death theirs to command? What price is courage in such a land?
A fantasy adventure, in a dark land where truth is relative and freedom is bought by blood.
A Tales of Erana novella
https://books2read.com/Ordinary-Hero
Available as an Ebook in all usual places.
Print edition coming soon.
August 19, 2025
Audiobook Week – Tales of the Faie: The Beginning of Days – Diana L. Wicker #Fantasy #Fairytales #YA
Audiobook Title: Tales of the Faie: Beginning of Days
Author Name: Diana L. Wicker
Narrator: Matt Jenkins
Genre: YA Fantasy
Synopsis: Every culture has fairy tales, the tales of legend and lore that children hear at bedtime that teach lessons of history and morality, the little bits of truth that keep a culture whole. The Realm of Feyron is no different.
Join the youth as they listen to the tales of the beginning days of the Faie.
Links: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Faie-Beginning-Feyron-Ripples/dp/B07K1DSRTS/
https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Faie-Beginning-Feyron-Ripples/dp/B07K1JHVD3/
August 18, 2025
Audiobook Week – Legacy of Mist and Shadow – Diana L. Wicker #Fantasy #YA
Audiobook Title: The Legacy of Mist and Shadow
Author Name: Diana L. Wicker
Narrator: Lynelle Bennett
Genre: YA Fantasy
Synopsis: Old relics and have stories of their own. Sometimes they contain adventures waiting to be sparked and journeys bursting to begin. The Box of Melodies was left with Clan Caris by Lady Oyisha, daughter of the mists, for care and keeping. A series of visions revealing the last desperate moments of a forgotten clan – the loss of their gateway to Feyron and the escape of a lone traveler holding the box – spurs a handful of adventuresome youth on a trek through the Lesser Forest where they inadvertently cause a ripple through the mists with unintended consequences. A few of the youth find themselves on an unexpected journey to a World Beyond, lost in mist and shadow, where misunderstanding and suspicion lead to danger and darkness. Forgotten histories are discovered, clan secrets are revealed, and old alliances are remembered as the families of the lost seek to discover where the youth have been drawn by the memories within the Mists of Time. Awarded the BRAG Medallion by Indie BRAG. http://www.bragmedallion.com/about
Links Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3VbhhIp
Amazon.co.uk https://www.amazon.co.uk/Legacy-Mist-Shadow-Awakenings-Book/dp/B07PYG8523/
Author Bio/Narrator Bio: Diana is an indie author living in the balmy climate of the US south with her family and fur babies (two dogs and two cats). She enjoys working backstage for her children’s dance productions, sewing, cosplay, and customizing Asian ball jointed dolls to into characters from Feyron and other tales.
The idea for Feyron started with a map, a place for her daughter to tell stories and live out storytelling role-playing adventures with her friends. The lore grew around the map, for every world needs lore if you are going to “live” there. The idea for a series, Tales from Feyron, grew out of the lore, for if you’re going to invent a world, you may as well ply there too. The stories are continuing to grow through the various historical ages of Feyron and have just started to ripple outwards to the Worlds Beyond touched by magic.
The Dreamweaver’s Journey was honored with the Chill with a Book Readers’ Award in 2017.
http://www.chillwithabook.com/p/chill-with-book-award.html
The Guardian Child’s Return was honored with the Chill with a Book Readers’ Award in 2017.
http://www.chillwithabook.com/p/chill-with-book-award.html
Legacy of Mist and Shadow is the first tale to venture to one of those worlds and was honored with the BRAG Medallion by Indie BRAG in 2015. http://www.bragmedallion.com/about
She has also been honored with the Chill with a Book Readers’ Award in 2017.
http://www.chillwithabook.com/p/chill-with-book-award.html
Check out my #Dark #Poetry
A short collection of dark poetry about the horrors of war, political folly, nature, the vagaries of life and twisted introspection. https://books2read.com/BeyondShatteredMirror
August 17, 2025
Audiobook Week – The Guardian Child’s Return -Diana L. Wicker #YA #Fantasy
Audiobook Title: The Guardian Child’s Return
Author Name: Diana L. Wicker
Narrator: Lynelle Bennett
Genre: YA Fantasy
Synopsis: The Guardians have awakened after the Time of Sleep and returned to renew the magic with the clans of Faie. At the request of the Guardian, Lord Grypos, Keeper of Knowledge, the Master Scholar travels through the Outer Gateway with craftsmen and apprentices to coordinate the repairs of the once great oasis that houses the ancient archives of knowledge known as the Island in the Sands.
As the summer wanes and the oasis begins to return to its former glory, the Guardian calls the Master Scholar to the meditation room in the wee hours of the night to discuss a journey. In the fire an image flickers of the red desert sands speeding past, a land of grey beyond the desert, and a cavern of twilight behind an obsidian wall. “Arwyn and Shyamal are to go there for me to seek out that which was once mine.”
What starts as a seemingly simple journey becomes an adventure with life threatening consequences as the two are unexpectedly joined by their friends on a journey far from home beyond the realms of light in a realm that few within the clans of Faie knew could even be reached.
Links: Amazon.com https://amzn.to/4fJ6XBd
Amazon.co.uk https://www.amazon.co.uk/Guardian-Childs-Return-Awakenings-Book/dp/B01N49JJ6E/
Author Bio/Narrator Bio
Diana is an indie author living in the balmy climate of the US south with her family and fur babies (two dogs and two cats). She enjoys working backstage for her children’s dance productions, sewing, cosplay, and customizing Asian ball jointed dolls to into characters from Feyron and other tales.
The idea for Feyron started with a map, a place for her daughter to tell stories and live out storytelling role-playing adventures with her friends. The lore grew around the map, for every world needs lore if you are going to “live” there. The idea for a series, Tales from Feyron, grew out of the lore, for if you’re going to invent a world, you may as well ply there too. The stories are continuing to grow through the various historical ages of Feyron and have just started to ripple outwards to the Worlds Beyond touched by magic.
The Dreamweaver’s Journey was honored with the Chill with a Book Readers’ Award in 2017.
http://www.chillwithabook.com/p/chill-with-book-award.html
The Guardian Child’s Return was honored with the Chill with a Book Readers’ Award in 2017.
http://www.chillwithabook.com/p/chill-with-book-award.html
Legacy of Mist and Shadow is the first tale to venture to one of those worlds and was honored with the BRAG Medallion by Indie BRAG in 2015. http://www.bragmedallion.com/about
has also been honored with the Chill with a Book Readers’ Award in 2017.
