Published: 2014
Setting: Historical (Victorian)
Outside, a high, thin wail rose up, making her shiver. A wash of moonlight illuminated the filmy curtains that wafted in from the floor length windows. Veronica put her hand on her chest to calm her heart.
A howl rose up.
Veronica wondered if she had the nerves for mysterious old houses in the untamed wilderness of the Yorkshire moors. She stroked her face with her hands before covering her eyes. Foxes didn't howl like that.
It was best to go to bed and forget. Sleep had a way of sorting things out, arising with the sun.
Eyes riveted to the moonlight curtains, Veronica walked slowly to her bed. She sat on the edge looking out through the balcony doors. That music...it was beautiful, soothing as a lullaby, but also haunting as if to instill uneasy dreams. She got under the covers and pulled the bed hangings tight.
Veronica had just fallen asleep when, just below, a high-pitched wail climbed the air, then faded.
Wide awake, she got up and went out to her balcony. The moon cast long shadows over the grass. Though the night sky had cleared, remnants of mist still clung to the roots of the birch trees, gathering in the wishing well among the lilies like a cloud. She couldn't see the animal that had whined anywhere. The only sounds, accompanied by the chirupping of frogs around the well, were that of the children singing...
Veronica Everly was orphaned when her parents died prematurely. And although her aunt did take her in, she was a cold, domineering alcoholic who didn't offer Veronica much in the way of mothering. When her aunt dies, Veronica is turned over as the ward of a Catholic orphanage.
Now, as she nears the legal age of nineteen, Veronica is left penniless and with no where (and no one) to turn to. She's excited, and a little shocked, when she learns she's been offered a position with the job agency for which she's applied.
Soon, she is whisked off on a new journey, one for which she won't easily return. For her life at the huge Belden House, a rambling Victorian mansion that borders the wilderness of Yorkshire, will leave little room for boredom and idleness. She finds her job as governess to identical twins, Jacques and Jacqueline, challenging to say the least. The twins seem to be from a different realm, they are given to fancy whims and are much more intelligent than the common child.
The grounds are beautiful, and her living quarters are more than she could have ever dreamed of. Yet, there's an eerie sense of doom and macabre hiding within the walls of the atmospheric mansion. First there is the horseman who terrifies her in the broad of day, warning her to leave immediately. Then there's the creepy, resonating ringing of an unseen bell somewhere towards the horizon. As if that were not enough, in the dead of night, Veronica begins to hear the howling of wolves...enmeshed with that of the children's playful laughter. Then the most frightening of all, the lady in yellow, with the bloody eyes, whom frightens Veronca beyond her wits.
Soon, Belden house becomes more of a nightmare than a refuge. And what of the enigmatic attraction and affection she feels for the man of the house, Rafe de Grimston? What secret does he hide behind his rough exterior? And what is the horrifying mystery to the lady in yellow?
As Veronica struggles to find answers to these mysteries, will she survive the evil that lurks, menacingly, waiting, willing it's victims to succumb it's ancient curse?
Alyne de Winter is a pleasure to read. The visuals and rich descriptions of the Victorian mansion are esoteric enough to touch. In fact, fans of the book have hailed it a book that rivals The Others and Rose Red. As I flipped the pages of this book (and it most definitely is a page-turner) I felt as if I'd been transported by a time machine, a mere spectator peeking a glance at this story from behind a dark corner. I am enamored by the Victorian era, and if you enjoy historical novels at all, you are in for a treat! The main character, Veronica Everly, is such an admirable and lovable spirit. You will find yourself rooting for her happiness, dreading the dark right alongside her, and cheering her on in her victories. Let us not forget the twins, for which I found highly entertaining (and endearing) of themselves. This may not be your typical 'romance,' but it's one of the best contemporary gothic horror novels I have read in a very long time! Miss Everly's story gives Jane Eyre a run for her money in this engaging novel of suspense. I am excited to read more spine-tingling stories from Alyne, and am proud to call myself a fan of her work.
My Rating:
 |
| 5 Stars |
Alyne has been wonderful enough to provide us with an awesome interview, written in her epic format, I simply asked of her some questions, and she enlightened me! I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I did:
Author
Interview: Alyne de Winter
It
sounds like a cliché but I've been writing since I could. My father
was a reader of the Classics, plus Science Fiction and Fantasy and he
always passed his books on to me. I also loved fairy tales and wrote
one about the spirits on the woods behind our house when I was eight
years old. In my teens I wrote two novels---both mysteries, very bad,
and won prizes for my short stories in school. They were all weird
and macabre in the tradition of Poe and Blackwood. I always loved the
dark, mysterious tales.
I
wanted to be a visual artist---in those days that meant drawing and
painting, and I was always taking art classes. My goal was to be an
illustrator of fairy tales and children's books, maintaining my link
with storytelling. Because I have strong psychic ability, I have
tended to use my artistic and storytelling skills as a means to
express the visions, sensations and intuitions I pick up in the
ethers. I grew up in nature, highly attuned to the spiritual realms
close to the earth. Nature is always prominent in my books, as are
graveyards and churches----quiet, peaceful places where spirits make
themselves felt. I love religions and superstitions, secret
societies, antiquarian books, folk beliefs and the occult. My
ancestors came from France in 1604, carrying with them a particularly
Medieval brand of Catholicism. Because of this I feel I was born with
a Gothic consciousness.
In
college I wrote poetry and illustrated my poems with pen and ink
drawings---always in dark-fantastical and mythic themes, designing my
own little books. I suppose I was already an Indie author! I later
published poetry and won prizes for that, but never followed it
through as a career.
I
wanted to write fiction, but somehow never felt worthy. I figured,
being so right brained, and thus a total "space-case", that
my ideas would not be taken seriously. I felt that a writer needed to
have something to say, and that writing revealed, more than any other
art form, the quality of one's thinking. I got involved in theater
and dance, acting in Shakespeare productions, dancing in an esoteric
dance company, and singing faery ballads in a Celtic band. In the mid
1990s, I was designing a tarot deck, went to the UK for research and,
long story short, ended up living there for 9 years. Part of my time
was spent in a haunted house---not a good place for a psychic---and
found my stories.
Realizing
that all of my artistic endeavors revolved around storytelling, I
figured I might as well buckle down and write novels.
Since
I began writing fiction in London, a great Gothic city with a strong
Goth community, my stories take place in the UK or Europe. As a lover
of castles and cathedrals, ancient tombs, history and old traditions,
I feel Europe is my creative home. The first story I wrote with an
American setting was Lenore:
A Southern Gothic Re-telling of Beauty and the Beast.
The setting is Louisiana and the inspiration Jean Cocteau's great
film, La Belle et la
Bete----a European
source. Portrait
of a Vampire is
the only contemporary American story I've written so far, and was
inspired by real events.
The
Lady in Yellow is
close to my heart because it was a breakthrough for me on many
levels. It was inspired by The
Turn of the Screw by
M.R. James, Jane Eyre
and the werewolf tales
of Tanith Lee. The Haunted Garden is one of my oldest novels and went
through many revisions before it achieved its final form. I would say
my favorite of all my books is The
Vampire's Mirror.
I love it so much, I have sequels in the works, a series of novellas
following the cursed mirror into modern times.
My
character, Veronica Everly, in The
Lady in Yellow just
grew out of me. I suppose they all do. The artist Jasper Johns had a
saying about painting: "Do something, do something to it, do
something else to it." In fiction, the goal is to put as many
obstacles into your protagonist's path as possible. Since my own life
has been a series of hurdles, (stories) some pretty darn scary, like
that haunted house (exploring that theme in another book) it's not
difficult to come up with nightmarish obstacles to plague the
characters with, or to find creative ways to overcome them. Since I'm
lucky to be alive, so should they be.
As
far as my imagery goes, my first love was visual art. Many works of
art have inspired my stories. Both painting and writing are time
consuming and pay little at first, so I had to make a choice. The art
world is much more narrow, I feel, much more difficult to navigate
for a working class person like me who has no connections. Writing
fiction seemed to be a career path that would be more open to me,
plus I could use my love of art and art history, nature and
architecture, to build entire worlds. When you read a descriptive
passage in one of my books, you are reading the words of a frustrated
artist. If I had my life to live over, I'd go into film. I love
movies and want my stories to be as visually stunning as my favorite
films, with the added power to reveal the inner lives of the
characters.
A
day in the life of me... I have had a varied and adventurous life.
Probably about five lives rolled into one. Maybe I get nine, like a
cat. Since I've been in this Indie Author world, things have become
more focused. I write in the morning, at least four hours a day. (I'm
a slow writer) I keep a tidy house and work out because I need a long
life to finish all my projects. I have a part time job to keep things
afloat until I can replace that income with book sales. There isn't
much time left in the day!
As
far as hobbies, I write stories that involve things that interest me,
so I get to do all sorts of research into things I love. Travel is
huge for me. When I have the money I want to take a research trip to
Spain and the Pyrenees for two doorstopper novels that have
international locations. These books will be along the lines of Dan
Brown meets Anne Rice meets Elizabeth Kostova. I can't wait to get
started on both of them.
Thank
you for being a fan!
My
biggest struggle is speed. I am a slow writer. I can't even type
properly.
I
have a new release up for pre-order at 0.99 on Amazon now! The
Shadows: A Paranormal Thriller.
In this one, the Gothic stream veers toward Horror as 14-year-old
Poppy Farrell begins a life at a new boarding school, Blight's
Academy, a turreted neo-Gothic mansion in the remote English
countryside. I love it because it practically wrote itself and was so
much fun. The plot for a sequel came on its heels. If it sells, I'll
work on that.
I
have a Dark Fantasy/ Horror series that was planned back in 2004. The
first book in the series,
Roses of the Moon,
was the first book I published to the Kindle. It was inspired by the
life of Countess Bathory, an icon of the Goth culture and
prototypical vampire. It has a unique, multi-layered mythical world
that could spawn more books than I can write. I was convinced by the
marketing people on the web to write a prequel---a short novella to
give away free to get people into the series. Well, the first draft
of this prequel is over 50,000 words and needs about 50,000 more to
be done right. It's called Dark
Reliquary: Prelude to Roses of the Moon.
I am very proud of how cohesive and intriguing this Vampire Gothic
book is, but like Roses,
it is not a walk in the park to write. I planned it for 2014, but it
looks like I will need to take into 2015.
Look
for Song of the Sea and
Starlight: A Celtic tale of the Selkies
at the end of 2014. This was meant to be a short story but became
epic and will be a substantial novella with a sequel called Morna.
I've been to Scotland a few times, but the history and culture of
Scotland requires more research than I thought. This international
Kindle market means that you can no longer fudge on even the tiniest
cultural details since people from those countries will read your
books. Luckily, you can find people from those places to sort you out
with a beta read.
I'm
also getting The Lady
in Yellow into print.
It's almost there!
So
those three are coming. There are so many more stories clamoring for
attention that, like the old woman who lived in a shoe, I'm on my
last nerve sometimes.
Here's
the current blurb for The
Shadows:
"From the moment she enters
the world of her new boarding school, Blight's Academy, teenage
sleuth, Poppy Farrell, finds danger. From a strange encounter on a
train platform, to the evidence of a murdered student in the woods
that surround the school, life at Blight's Academy grows more
menacing by the day.
Poppy and her friends, Clair and
Georgie, must outwit their Shadows, older girls assigned to mentor
them, but who coldly follow them wherever they go. There is a dark
secret at the heart of Blight's Academy: disappearances, deaths, and
conspiracies pervade the wooded grounds, flicker in the stained glass
windows, tinkle like a music box lullaby through the turreted halls.
Enter
the world of The
Shadows where
witchcraft is afoot. Young Adult or Old Adult, this story is
guaranteed to send a shiver up your spine and keep you turning the
pages far into the night."
Oooo---favorite
authors! I adore short stories and some of my favorite all time
stories are short. I can read them over and over again. I love Tanith
Lee's short works, Angela Carter--both authors of rich imagery and
hypnotic phrases. E.A. Poe, the British Gothic writers from the
Brontes to Bram Stoker to Algernon Blackwood, Wilkie Collins and
Dickins---especially Great
Expectations. Daphne
du Maurier's Rebecca
is a huge influence. I'm loving Victoria Holt's Gothic Romances at
the moment.
For
a small niche, Gothic covers a lot of ground. I love Romance that
involves intense moral struggle, and spiritual battles. Gothic
Romance gives space for that, as well as elements of suspense,
mystery and horror. You don't even need a happy ending---look at
Wuthering Heights!
I think atmosphere is the main quality that sets Gothic Romance
apart, a pervading psychic dread, dark secrets, nostalgia for the
glorious past and its ghosts.
The
hardest thing about writing is my slowness and the pressure to get
all these stories out of my system. I feel like if I die before
they're all written, I'll have to come back to finish up. Some of
these books are destined to be doorstoppers. (I suppose you can wedge
your kindle under the
door...) I'm almost good enough to write them.
My
advice to aspiring writers is coming from one who had often wondered:
Am I sane? Isn't spending all this time in your head and not having
a life a form of madness? If I had known back in 2001, would I have
embarked on this path? The option to publish independently has
alleviated most of these concerns because I feel I can produce
instead of spinning my
wheels for the traditional deal. So I am sold on Indie Authoring and
always suggest it to my writer friends. The other thing I would say
is that is that you have to love it. This work requires enormous
dedication and a thick skin. If you don't love it more than just
about anything, it will be hard to keep going. And read a lot.
Alyne
De Winter is an author
of Gothic Mysteries and Occult Thrillers featuring tormented
beauties, eerie settings, night religions, secret histories…
Pictured above is the lovely Alyne de Winter in the flesh! She is author of Gothic Mysteries and Occult Thrillers featuring tormented beauties, eerie settings, night religions, secret histories…
I have a special Alyne de Winters post pending very soon, so you'll want to make sure to stop by again for some great info, book blurbs, and info pertaining to her marvelous works.
