‘Yeah,’ Fox said. ‘I’m still fairly sure that Sherman thought the only thing he had done wrong was getting caught.’
‘Sounds right. How did he grow up with that level of… entitlement?’
‘Major Wayden blames himself, I think. He said something about not paying enough attention when Sherman was younger. I guess he gave the boy too much for free and the resulting man just came to expect it.’
‘Sucks to be rich.’
‘Huh.’
Belle appeared. ‘Fox, Sister Naomi has arrived and is coming up the back stairs.’
‘Thanks, Belle,’ Fox replied.
Helen grinned and drained her wine glass. ‘That is my cue to leave.’
‘You don’t–’
‘You’ve been looking vaguely depressed since you found out what happened to those girls. You need some TLC and if Naomi’s providing it, I don’t think I need to be here to see it.’
Fox heard them as they met in the corridor outside the lounge. ‘Helen,’ Naomi said, a smile in her voice.
‘Naomi,’ Helen replied. ‘She needs cheering up.’
‘Then I shall provide some cheer.’
Fox smiled, and was still smiling when Naomi walked in, in uniform, unclipping her wimple from her hair as she walked. ‘Helen says you need cheering up,’ Naomi said.
‘I could use something to lift my spirits, yeah.’
Naomi smiled one of her mischievous smiles. ‘Do you trust me?’
While there was no reality to it, Fox felt as though her heart rate began to climb at those words. ‘Yes,’ she said softly. ‘Yes, I do.’
###
About the Author
I was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail. So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.
Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.
I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote science fiction when I was playing Traveller. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still love the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.
Recently I took the big step of quitting my day job and taking up full-time writing. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, J.D. Robb, and Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.
For More Information
Take a look at the Witches and Ray-guns blog: http://witchesandrayguns.wordpress.com
Links to book vendors and other information can be found there, along with a view on what I’m up to and when it might happen.
Other Books by this Author
The Thaumatology Series
Thaumatology 101
Demon’s Moon
Legacy
Dragon’s Blood
Disturbia
Hammer of Witches
Eagle’s Shadow
Ancient
Dragonfall
The Other Side of Hell
For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll
Vengeance
A Midsummer’s Nightmare – coming
Anthologies in the Thaumatology Universe
Tales from High Towers’ Study
Tales from the Dubh Linn
The Aneka Jansen Books
Steel Beneath The Skin
The Cold Steel Mind
The Winter War
The Greatest Heights of Honour
The Lowest Depths of Shame
Hope
The Ultrahuman Books
Ugly
Shadows
Hunting Mink
Frostburn
Guardian – coming
True Dark – coming
The Unobtainium Books
Kate on a Hot Tin Roof
King Solamet’s Mines – coming
The Reality Hack Books
Reality Hack
The Fox Meridian Books
Fox Hunt
Inescapable
DeathWeb
Criminal Minds
Emergence
The Ghost in the Doll
Eden Burning
Dominance
The Princeps Venator Books
Hunter’s Kiss
Be My Valentine
The Gunwitch Books
Gunwitch: Rebirth
The Children of Zanar Series
The Zanari Inheritance
The Misfits Series
Misfit Magic
Misfit Witchcraft
Table of Contents
Part One: A Very Private Murder
Part Two: Cold Vengeance
Part Three: It’s a Dirty Job, But…
Part Four: Confession is Good for the Sentence
Part Four: Confession is Good for the Sentence