SIA Showcase for Readers and Writers discussion

Hi everyone

I'm H.E., and you can fill in the missing names as you wish :-)

My writing doesn't slot into any single neat genre, but the bulk of it could be described as uncanny fiction with a twist, and a liberal does of dark humour. That said, I am currently writing a novel in the historical fiction genre, albeit one with an uncanny element.

I have recently gathered together five of my tales and published them in both Kindle ebook and a 273-page paperback: Anthology: Wry Out West.
It contains:

Old Crotchet - a ghost story with a dash of wit and a dark twist, set in 1920s Somerset;

Gwydion's Dawn - an acid-fried, occult satire set amidst Glastonbury's New Age counterculture;

Agnes of Grimstone Peverell - a satirical ghost story involving a crusty theatre critic, his wife, and a sanctimonious minster guide named Agnes;

3:05 am - a trip into psychological disorientation, courtesy of a television set with a mind of its own;

The Cleft Owl - a tale of bizarre rites, and dark deception, set in late seventeenth-century Devon.

Each of the above retails for 99c/99p apiece, so in effect, the anthology gives you a discount of approximately 50%.

To download Anthology: Wry Out West, please visit:
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072P1VMM3
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072P1VMM3/
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B072P1VMM3
Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B072P1VMM3


I have also published The Rude Woman of Cerne, a social satire with a murderous ghostly element set in rural Dorset. To download, please visit:
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M7RS1OX
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M7RS1OX
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01M7RS1OX
Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01M7RS1OX

H.E. Bulstrode's Blog: http://www.hebulstrode.co.uk/
H.E. Bulstrode's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/H.E.Bulstrode

Hi, HE! Welcome to the showcase! I've got a couple of those books on my to read list!

Christina wrote: "Hi, HE! Welcome to the showcase! I've got a couple of those books on my to read list!"

Hi Christina!

Thanks for your welcome :-)

Hope the books raise a smile or two. I enjoyed last Saturday's 'Title Wave' Facebook chat with some fellow indies. It's good to be able to share experience in the main group. I'm a bit of a newbie in this game, being only twelve months in :-)

Hi H E. Be welcome. I'm still pushing for Heavitree Exeter....

Jane wrote: "Hi H E. Be welcome. I'm still pushing for Heavitree Exeter...."

Cheers Jane

Never been to Heavitree, but interesting to see that it's where the Bideford witches were hanged in 1682. Any there today? There could be a bit of mileage in the place after all :-)

As for Devon, other than Widecombe, I've only written about odd goings on in Horrabridge and Plymouth to date.

I recently revamped the cover artwork for Old Crotchet. It's a humorous period mystery with a supernatural twist. Any thoughts on its look? The new cover isn't visible on Goodreads, so please click on the following link to view: myBook.to/Oldcrotchet

It looks good, but I think the version you used on your Wry Out West anthology is better. It's more spooky and ethereal.

Ann wrote: "It looks good, but I think the version you used on your Wry Out West anthology is better. It's more spooky and ethereal."

Thanks for your feedback Ann. I think I'll post them side by side on my Facebook page and ask for feedback from visitors as to which they prefer.

Free 3rd to 5th August: Old Crotchet
A humorous period mystery with a supernatural twist

myBook.to/Oldcrotchet

Old Crotchet - her manor, her rules. Cross her at your peril. There's little that will rile a woman more than 300 years of age than the arrival of some flighty young upstart intent upon displacing her. It is Twelfth Night by the old reckoning, and festivities are about to commence as something sinister stirs from its protracted dormancy, awakened, it seems, by the arrival of two young guests. The old ways, they find, should not be treated lightly.

If you should enjoy the story, reviews or ratings here, or on Amazon, are always welcome.

A new release: At Fall of Night. A sordid slice of seasonal Victorian Gothic. Download from Amazon for 99c/99p, or free on Kindle Unlimited at myBook.to/AtFallofNight

Blurb
To capture that which is transient, which is precious and beautiful: that is the aim of a certain type of artist; an artist such as Monsieur Benoit Lavarnier, toast of the Parisian art world, a man of culture, and yet still a son of the Breton soil, and a believer in its dark world of superstition. He has a commission to complete: to paint a portrait of renowned beauty, Lady Helena Brocklington. However, there lurks a danger in that act of creation, akin to devotion, that the artist may invest his work with such a part of himself, and his sitter, that it takes on an essence that may be taken for a life of its own. Could it be, that after so many decades, something beyond the paint itself endures?

An understated ghostly novelette, Victorian in sensibility and style, that immerses the reader in a tale of obsession, and terror.

I love the of the descriptions, titles, and genres of your books, they are so unique and sounds really interesting. Really intrigued by the newest one At Fall of Night. I'll have to check these out!

Justin wrote: "I love the of the descriptions, titles, and genres of your books, they are so unique and sounds really interesting. Really intrigued by the newest one At Fall of Night. I'll have to check these out!"

Thanks Justin. As At Fall of Night is a new(ish) release it has yet to receive any reviews in the US, but it's had a couple of favourable ones in the UK. I'm currently working on another stand-alone novelette set in the same period but involving one of the central characters from At Fall of Night. It's nearing completion, so should be out in the next couple of weeks or so.

I need to check these books out. Been so busy and lazy I haven't done much on goodreads which includes what I said I would look into. Keep up the good work!

Justin wrote: "I need to check these books out. Been so busy and lazy I haven't done much on goodreads which includes what I said I would look into. Keep up the good work!"

Cheers Justin. Hope you enjoyed 'At Fall of Night'.

Hi everyone,

I have just published a new book in Kindle and paperback: Old Crotchet's Return: A Ghost Story. The Kindle version is currently discounted to 99p (UK) and 99c (US).

A high-spirited romp of a ghost story set in 1920s England.
George Simpkins is in a state, and it’s not just because of the gin. His wife remains missing, his son a curious and callous enigma, and, most worryingly of all, his spouse’s erstwhile schoolmate, the witheringly waspish Cynthia, has plans afoot for his future. An invitation to a festive break in the country brings London society into collision with half-cracked Somerset locals steeped in cider and superstition, as well as a far from festively inclined spirit. Welcome to the world of Hinton St Cuthbert, the parish with a past, but seemingly no future.

Kindle Universal Link: http://mybook.to/OldCrotchetsReturn
Paperback: http://mybook.to/OldCrotchetsReturnpb

Congrats! You're #1 in all three of your categories for free books. :D

Justin wrote: "Congrats! You're #1 in all three of your categories for free books. :D"

Cheers! Just a shame it wasn't at that number in the paid charts :-)

New Release: An Occult Omnibus: Collected Occult Tales 2016-2018.
https://mybook.to/AnOccultOmnibus
This Kindle (Unlimited) omnibus brings together H.E. Bulstrode’s occult mystery novel Upon Barden Moor , as well as two occult novellas – Gwydion’s Dawn and The Cleft Owl – and the short story 3:05 am. All were originally published as standalone stories between 2016 and 2018.

Upon Barden Moor
‘A shocker of occult terror and death with near cinematic strength.’
Tweed, feathers and blood mix with Westminster skulduggery and the disappearance of a village schoolmaster in this tale of grouse-shooting Edwardian aristocrats with a taste for occult dabbling on the Yorkshire moors. Some forty or so years later, George Haddon leaves an enigmatic note, and as the mystery unfolds the reader is transported back to the events of one stifling afternoon upon Barden Moor. This is the moment with which his fate has become inextricably intertwined.

Gwydion’s Dawn
Murder, mystery and magic: a satirical journey into the occult.
Lust, mushrooms and the quest for immortality: meet Gwydion Turner, an inept, portentous, psychedelic demon raiser; a wannabe Crowley in crushed velvet. From Haight-Ashbury to Glastonbury, this eccentric figure has been known by many, but understood by few; just who, or what, is he? Is he a fraudster, or a sage? It’s for you to decide.

3:05 am
It has often been said that too much television isn’t good for you. There are, however, some things you simply have to watch, even though the consequences may be neither pleasant, nor quite what you had expected.

The Cleft Owl
A tale of occult horror, deception, and intrigue in 17th-century England.
Witness the work of a practitioner of the occult arts, a willing deceiver and interpreter of dreams, schooled in awe by a house of God rendered a charnel house by a fiery, dancing orb of light. Self-tutored in greed, and self-assured in his deceptions, Robert Tooley would have many think him able to command the dead and have them do his bidding, but as his demands grow greater, so the villagers’ doubts grow deeper; there will be an end to it all, and not a pretty one.

At long last, after almost two years in the writing, it’s here in paperback and Kindle: A Ghost Story Omnibus Volume Two http://mybook.to/GhostOmnibusVol2

Its 285 pages contain nine ghost stories spanning the ages from the ninth century to the present day:

• Epitaph
• The Fighting Cheribatsu
• Equal Shares
• The Cross at Crickmead
• The Bread Oven
• Lord Guthlac’s Wife
• The Recovery Man
• Levelling
• Eileen of the Aisles

For those who appreciate supernatural tales with a twist, where the past looms large, and the old gods lurk in unexpected places. Some are of a darkly humorous and satirical nature, and others of a rather more sinister, and disturbing, hue. The characters whom you will encounter include bumptious academics, a crass gold-digger, a wistful ex-diplomat, an ambitious Victorian surveyor, a rapacious Norman lord, a garrulous Yorkshirewoman who likes to lend an unwelcome ‘helping hand’, and families looking to get away from it all, and wishing that they hadn’t. To find out more and read a preview, please click on the link.