Junior Inquisitor

Junior Inquisitor

Thursday, January 7, 2016

R.M. Ridley's Blondes, Books and Bourbon




Another week, and another guest post on the blog. This time, we have R.M. Ridley, a dark urban fiction/ horror writer from Canada. I am hard at work on getting The Witch’s Lair finished so that you will have it come Valentine’s Day. Enough of the blather, let’s get to it and find out about Johnathan Alvey and his addiction to magic.

As always leave a comment and you have a chance to win a free e-book copy of  Blondes, Books and Bourbon.

Bio:
R. M. Ridley lives in rural Ontario on a small homestead, swarmed by foul. He has been writing stories, both long and short, for three decades, the themes of which range from the gruesome to the fantastical. As an individual who suffers from severe bipolar disorder, R. M. Ridley is a strong believer in being open about mental health issues because myths should be kept to stories.




https://twitter.com/RavenMRidley


   

‘Blondes, Books, & Bourbon’ is a collection of short stories featuring Jonathan Alvey. It is the second book in the White Dragon Black world – the first being the full-length novel, Tomorrow Wendell. The series is written, as ‘stand-alones’, so that each book can be enjoyed, and understood, with no need to have read any previous books. These short stories are a great way to delve into the world and get to know how it works. Be careful though, you could become addicted to the trials and tribulations of the protagonist, Jonathan Alvey.





Get your copy of Blondes, Books and Bourbon here:


 


Blurb:
Zombie thugs, magical tomes, ghosts, demons and more – Welcome to the White Dragon Black world.
It’s your world - you just don’t know it.
The thing you thought hid under bed, the shadowy figure seen out of the corner of your eye, the unexplainable ravings of your neighbor, it’s all real and hiding right in front of you. Your mind ignores the truth for your safety… and sanity.
In this reality, magic is deadly real – and fatally addictive. Using magic creates a high like no drug can supply, referred to as The White Dragon. The withdrawal, The Dragon Black, follows close behind, delivering suffering few would choose to experience.
There are some who live every day in this world and private investigator, Jonathan Alvey, is one of them. He takes on the cases no else can, or should. Using magic to protect his clients and stop the monsters is just another day on the job… he just wishes there weren’t so many.

Blondes, Books & Bourbon; 
Interview: A rare sit-down with paranormal private investigator Jonathan Alvey. 

The Play’s the Thing: When a blonde woman shows up in Alvey’s office, seeking protection, he uncovers more than a murder attempt. 

The Cost of Custody: Alvey helps estranged parents rescue their daughter from a terrible fate. 

Sins of the Father: A pawn shop owner risks it all by asking Alvey to recover property that is more than meets the eye. 

Legerdelivre: There’s nowhere Richard Tomlin can hide when it comes to the controlling powers of a dusty grimoire, but can Alvey truly help him? 

What a Nightmare: Little old ladies do deceive, and secretaries come dear, in Jonathan Alvey’s office. 

Do As I Say, Not As I Did: Alvey must air a CEO’s dirty laundry before a company ghost destroys too much. 

The Ties That Bind: Can Alvey control a poltergeist and maintain his promise to not fall victim to the Dragon Black? 

Bindings and Spines: A first chapter sneak peek of the second White Dragon Black novel.


Get your copy of Blondes, Books and Bourbon here:
 


Excerpt:
‘Jonathan had questions, but some of them could be answered with a little exploration and following his nose.
He had learned there existed scents that, once you knew them, once you’d been forced to confront them, you became unable to forget. Having come across those odors more often than he cared to admit, it became possible for him to be his own hound dog.
Jonathan found the corpse in the child’s room.
Something wasn’t adding up. A good quantity of blood had soaked into the carpet around the cadaver but nowhere else. The body resembled a rag doll, left crumpled in a corner. Despite the blood, he couldn’t see an obvious wound. And most curious, even in this small room, the smell hadn’t gotten any stronger.
Careful to avoid setting a knee into the dried gore, Jonathan crouched to turn the body over. The stench of rot assaulted him then. Jonathan forced himself to ignore the smell and placed his hands on the body. Kiri’s clothes, as well as her long brown hair, had become a hardened red shroud. He had to push hard to separate her from the carpet.
Looking about, Jonathan spotted a long-handled hairbrush on the dresser and went to retrieve it. Beside the brush lay a prayer card and, as the son of a pastor, Jonathan knew its type. He opened it and read the quote: ‘I baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11’. Under this was a time and date. Rose had yet to be baptized.
Unconsecrated: the flesh of the fallen.
Jonathan returned to the body and used the brush to move the hair plastered to the dead woman’s neck. What he found unsettled him.
At the back of her neck, he saw a ragged hole that looked like someone had bitten down into her very spine, chewed up the hunk of flesh, and probed at the spinal fluid with its tongue.'





Get your copy of Blondes, Books and Bourbon here:
 



Main Character's motivations - 
My protagonist, Jonathan Alvey, takes on his cases because there are few others who can help, or will. Despite being an introvert at heart, more content to read his grimoires than deal with people, he can’t simply let the innocent get hurt, or the guilty get away. His father’s sacrifice of his own life, to protect an innocent, drives Jonathan. He is both trying to live up to his father’s example and atone for his own actions.

What is their secret strengths/ weaknesses –
Guilt and sentimentality. These are both his strength and weakness. Jonathan would give his own life to protect those ignorant, and innocent, of all the ugly truths in the world. His willingness to do so often leads him to make choices that place him in great danger – his willingness to accept such a potential outcome often gives him the upper hand.

Any philosophical issues in this story? If so how do you address them, how does MC live and overcome them? – 
One issue that is unavoidable is ‘the good of many, over the one’. Jonathan knows he is killing himself every time he uses his magic; to save the lives of others however, he must use his magic. Is his own well-being more important than others, or must he do what he can to save the innocent because he has the power?
Also there is the question of the addiction, is Jonathan doing what he does just as an excuse to use? Is none of it actually about ‘saving the innocent’ but actually just a junkie’s excuse to get his next hit?

Any offbeat obscure or 80s references? – 
There are often less recognisable biblical quotes, thought or spoken, by Jonathan, as the years of being an Anglican pastor’s son are hard to forget. He is just as likely to quote classic rock lyrics however, because he rebelled against his father through all his years.

When did you start to write this one and why? – 
As this is an anthology the stories were written over the span of a few years. Occasionally my Muse will give me an idea that is best represented as a short story, instead of a novel. This anthology includes the very first story ever written featuring Jonathan Alvey, dating back five years. It also includes a story written specifically to include in the anthology for the purpose of tying into the next novel.

What's next in this series or in your next book? - 
If things go as planned, ‘Bindings & Spines’ will be coming from my publisher in the spring. In this novel, Jonathan will be faced with a mystery surrounding a grimoire, and deal with the trouble caused by a budding necromancer.

Preview of your next book?
 ‘Jonathan raised the gun, and sighted. The revenant would smell him in a moment and he planned to be ready. The bullets loaded in the revolver were handcrafted with slugs made of rowan wood, the natural properties of which disrupted most creatures of an arcane nature. They would hurt them to a far greater degree than any piece of lead.
The revenant whirled like a dervish and gave a howl. It had caught his scent. The sound was grating, as though a hyena were being torn apart by rusty knives. The next instant, it was coming for him. The speed of the thing was phenomenal, faster than a healthy human body could move, let alone one so decayed. Willpower and magic bound and moved it.
Jonathan held his ground. He waited, keeping the horror in his sights. The rowan bullets had many good qualities, but accuracy over distance could not be counted among them.
It came, rushing past the stone monuments to human grief.




https://twitter.com/RavenMRidley



The Witch’s Lair is undergoing line-edits. Line-edits, yes I am in the 5th circle of hell reserved for editing, and people who talk in the theater. There is a reason I pay for editing to be done, and not because I am Typo Mctyposon even when sober. I am working on setting up a way to pre-order The Witch’ Lair, and should have the links by the next posting.



Junior Inquisitor Book One
  
 

Inquisitor Series - http://goo.gl/mJtTf8
 


Soulless Monk Book Two


 


Smashwords - https://goo.gl/NXw3Gr
Inquisitor Series - http://goo.gl/5lCyaX


The Witch’s Lair Book Three
 

Pre-order links coming soon!



2 comments:

Unknown said...

Great interview and excerpt! I think it's very smart for Raven to have one supernatural PI character in a bunch of separate stories where you don't have to have read all the others to understand one. I love Alvey's moral compass - few things are as appealing as someone willing to sacrifice himself to save others. Wishing Raven much success! :)

Good luck with line edits, Lincoln.

~ LX Cain

Farish's Freehold said...

Thanks Lexa, I'm sure this will be an excellent book for those who like darker worlds.