‘Tina,’ Frank said, ‘this is Louise. She’s one of the local deputised civilians. The Widows have started calling her the Gunwitch, so you might hear that name too.’
Tina’s eyes widened. ‘Louise? You mean you’re–’
Leaning forward a little, Louise pushed her glasses down the bridge of her nose so that Tina could see her eyes. ‘How’s your mother?’
‘You two’ve met before?’ Frank asked.
‘Sort of,’ Louise supplied.
‘I was unconscious at the time,’ Tina said. ‘Uh, sorry for thinking you were… You know.’
‘Well, I was,’ Louise told her, grinning. ‘Now the outfit is just camouflage. Amazing how many people you can catch doing bad things when you aren’t in a uniform.’
‘Huh, yeah. Louise saved my life. She’s a real hero.’
‘No, I’m–’
‘Don’t have to tell me, kid,’ Frank said over the top of Louise’s denial. ‘You ask around. There are plenty of people in the Queens station who’d be in a casket if Louise hadn’t been there to stop it. Come on. We’ll head over to the gate into the industrial zone. We get Cyber-Kings sniffing around there sometimes…’
Louise watched them walking away, Frank still strolling while Tina’s gait was more urgent and purposeful. At least one good thing had come out of the last few months and, once again, someone with the Clement name was keeping Queens safe.
It was kind of weird to be thought of as someone’s hero. Louise had managed to laugh it off when Sarah had said it; the mention of ‘superheroes’ had helped, making the whole thing too surreal to take seriously. With Tina and Frank, it was different and, maybe, Louise was going to have to take it seriously.
It was a big change. At the start of the year, Louise had been an illegal immigrant, turning tricks on this very street to keep a roof over her head. She had left a life of comfort, even if that comfort was really something of a smokescreen to hide the lies it was based on, to become a hooker with no prospects in a strange city. Now, barely three months later, she was some sort of hero.
Louise turned and started down Industrial Avenue at a pace not unlike the one Frank had been keeping to. Well, if she was a hero, she had better get on with keeping her patch safe, and this was her patch. It was run-down and largely ignored by the rest of the enclave, but it had good people on it and, yes, it did deserve a hero: the Gunwitch.
###
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
Amazon US Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B006J6II9O
Amazon UK Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B006J6II9O
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 – Early 2017
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
Steel Heart
The Winter War
The Greatest Heights of Honour
The Lowest Depths of Shame
Hope
The Ultrahuman Books
Ugly
Shadows
Hunting Mink
Frostburn
Guardian – 2017/18
True Dark – 2017/18
The Unobtainium Books
Kate on a Hot Tin Roof
King Solamet’s Mines – 2016/17
The Reality Hack Books
Reality Hack
The Fox Meridian Books
Fox Hunt
Inescapable
DeathWeb
Criminal Minds
Emergence
The Ghost in the Doll
Eden Burning - 2017
The Princeps Venator Books
Hunter’s Kiss
Be My Valentine
The Gunwitch Books
Gunwitch: Rebirth
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Gunwitch: Rebirth Page 29
