Authorpreneur Dashboard – Alan Norris
The Hunter (William Blake series, #1)
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
"THE HUNTER" is the first book in a series of William Blake novels. It is a fast moving read, where our once professional hunter becomes the hunted. The story is set in the north of France where William, an ex Royal Marine, becomes the hunter's quarry in a bizarre initiation ceremony when he joins a local hunting club. The ceremony ends in disaster and sets William on a course to defend his innocence by again becoming the professional hunter to find his only witness. William Blake, happily settled in the peaceful countryside of Brittany, meets a beautiful Frenchwoman at a local sporting club. But, after meeting her son, things begin to go wrong and the Hunter becomes the Hunted.
Book Bubbles from The Hunter (William Blake series, #1)
The hunter becomes the hunted!
Hunting. Sport, they call it. How much more equal the contest would be if the animal possessed a human-like mind and resources. I am not a fan of hunters setting out to kill animals for their enjoyment. The story line for this book, the first in the "William Blake" series, came to me via a poem that I had written as an exercise for a creative writing course. The complete first chapter is available on my writer's website, http://www.alannorrisauthor.com, hope to meet you there. The original poem is included in my "Little Book of Poetry".
The Miller
Literature & Fiction
It is 1798 and our story begins on an early day in autumn after some of the wettest summer days on record. Admiral Nelson is at last beginning to win the war at sea against the French and life in the English countryside should be good. But it isn’t. In a quiet Devonshire valley a family lives and works peacefully at their flour milling business. On the hill above their small cottage stands a windmill, a robust tower that is the heart of their business. It is old, built nearly a hundred years ago, but in the hands of the master miller it produces flour that is famous for its quality throughout the south of the England. To the North of the Mill, is a vast estate owned by Sir Jeremy Wyke, a domain that the mill had once been a part of. England’s Lords and countryside landlords are losing their manpower to the autocratic war-machine, as well as having their purses bled dry to finance this terrible conflict and many of them are approaching bankruptcy with remarkable speed. Our friends at the mill fall foul of the corrupt, desperate plans of Sir Jeremy that are designed to reclaim the land on which the mill stands and to absorb the income that it generates. And for Joseph Goss, the owner and the family’s Master Miller, that awful day began the same as countless others before it.
Book Bubbles from The Miller
The beginning
I have had an interest in country life for many years and the difference between how folk lived two hundred years and now is quite amazing. It was hard, every day was often a challenge to be able to reach the end and still be alive. For the gentry of course, things were different, but even they had their problems, not normally as extreme as life and death, but in a flash, a twinkling, they could sink in the tidal flow of corruption.
Pirates! (A Reluctant Warrior, #3)
Literature & Fiction
Pirates! This word often brings to mind the popular image of swashbuckling heroes such as “Blackbeard” and his contemporaries, but some of the earliest known Pirates were women and one of them was none other than King Alfred the Great’s daughter; the Princess Aethelflaed. After the King’s death, the Princess took control of the embryo Royal Navy and took up the cause of ridding the British shores.
Book Bubbles from Pirates! (A Reluctant Warrior, #3)
This Pirate is not all it seems
Pirates! This word often brings to mind the popular image of swashbuckling heroes such as “Blackbeard” and his contemporaries, but some of the earliest known Pirates were women and one of them was none other than King Alfred the Great’s daughter; the Princess Aethelflaed. After the King’s death, the Princess took control of the embryo Royal Navy and took up the cause of ridding the British shores of the Viking threat, often using viciously brutal methods. In this, the third book in the Reluctant Warrior series, Hild, Ranulf’s widow, is pushed into a seafaring life after escaping from charges of Witchcraft and from being subjected to the vilest of medieval public executions. Burnt alive while tied to a stake. She is innocent of course, but is still pursued by the Pirate Princess who has vowed to take vengeance and to reclaim the Navy’s warship the Sir Ranulf. Hild and her crew run the gauntlet between Viking and the princess with several sea battles and confrontations on land. The story is a fast moving action adventure, with a sprinkling of violence and sex, but told as it must have been in those dark days of history.
The King's Ships (A Reluctant Warrior, #2)
Literature & Fiction
This book, Volume Two, continues Ranulf's story as he oversees the preparation of the King’s fleet of warships that becomes the embryo of our modern day Royal Navy. It should have been a straightforward task, but it became mired in the politics and greed of the King’s councillors, something that would never have happened if the King had been in residence.
Book Bubbles from The King's Ships (A Reluctant Warrior, #2)
Alfred the Great, father of the British Royal Navy
The Viking Chieftain and his followers were baptised into the Christian church at the tiny Somerset village of Aller after their defeat at the battle of Edington. The agreement that resulted, gave the Norsemen legal rights to settle in the areas to the north of England and that region became known as the Danelaw. But, to comply with the fragile truce arrangements, the King’s treasury was being bled dry by payments of Danegeld that they were forced to make. It must have been around this time that a decision was made to construct a new, controversial marine force. The battle could then be taken to the Danes and the British shores protected by gaining a mastery of the sea.
For Queen, Oil and Country
Literature & Fiction
A collection of short, and not-so-short stories for those cup of coffee moments or trips to work on the bus.
Book Bubbles from For Queen, Oil and Country
For that coffee moment
For Queen, Oil and Country This is an eclectic collection of short, and not-so-short stories, that I have written over the past years. Most of them are complete fiction, with perhaps their locality being the only anchor in reality. Others are of an autobiographical nature and I hope these will be obvious to you, the reader, as you come across them. Several of these short stories will form the basis for longer works and one, The Hunter, has already become a full length novel and in the writing, it produced a seed that became the “William Blake” series of books.
A Small Book of Poems
Literature & Fiction
A small book of contemporary poems, some humourous, some serious and some to bring a tear.
Book Bubbles from A Small Book of Poems
Poetry
As a child, I really didn't like poetry, I didn't understand it and certainly didn't want to write any. Until recently! This little book is the result of my enlightenment and hundreds of copies have been sold around the world. A little late, but at almost seventy years of age I discovered this land of light contemporary poetry - easy to read, yet still having a message. Some are of life, some are of nature, some short, some very short, but all will strike a chord with a reader
The Beginning (A Reluctant Warrior, #1)
Literature & Fiction
Volume one of “A Reluctant Warrior” tells of the adventures and travels of Ranulf, from his lowly beginnings as a ragged orphan, to becoming a national hero and lord of the manor. Although sent to the court of King Alfred to become a scholar, he becomes involved with the defence of the realm and, as the British army is on the point of a decisive victory, he is taken prisoner by the retreating Vikings and threatened with execution. By a twist in their Pagan beliefs however, Ranulf becomes protected by the laws of their ancient religion and he is sent to sea as a slave with promise of never returning....
Book Bubbles from The Beginning (A Reluctant Warrior, #1)
Life in King Alfred's Wessex
Volume one of “A Reluctant Warrior” tells of the adventures and travels of Ranulf, from his lowly beginnings as a ragged orphan, to becoming a national hero and lord of the manor. I have used a number of historical facts, and apologise for bending their details and dates to weave them into the story’s needs. Although Ranulf is a purely fictitious character, created to tell the tale, Odda, his adoptive father, was a real person. His household was in a small valley (or Coombe as they are known locally) on the flanks of the Quantock Hills in Somerset, England. King Alfred the Great took refuge for a while in the Somerset marshlands during his early confrontations with the Viking invaders. It is thought that there was never very much in the way of buildings at Athelney, certainly not on the scale of those I have portrayed. But the only evidence of this important site is a rough stone in the middle of a field with no direct access. I thought this to be quite a shame and it was the sight of this lonely piece of rock that prompted the story.
