Grotesqueries

In a quiet corner of Prussia, late night peals of a ghostly bell summon select victims to a gruesome and otherworldly death. It's a dark event that's haunted the land for five centuries, and the truth behind it is made all the more elusive with superstition shrouding its history.Lukas Geiger assists his uncle, a country doctor, and will do everything he can to unravel this mystery. It proves to be difficult, however, with doors being shut in his face while many young patients exhibit signs of physical abuse and neglect, and their tormentors succumb to the spectral bell's calls. Surviving adults simply refuse to speak and leave their doctors frustrated and helpless.Herrick Shriver returns to his birth country after finishing his studies in England, reuniting with the beloved uncle who helped raise him. Wide-eyed hope, however, crosses paths with dark secrets that refuse to stay silent. A strange bell tolls, and the night feels wrong. A silent figure stands on the moonlit drive, watching the manor house. Occasional nightmares about a long-dead friend trouble his uncle-as well as the doctors who look after him, one of whom catches and holds Herrick's attention.As their paths converge, Lukas and Herrick soon learn that the truth lies in a long-abandoned church and its eerie collection of statues. That every step toward discovery is guided by a faded journal once owned by a nameless priest. That past and present might be more hopelessly entangled than they believed.Set in an AU 19th century Europe, Compline is a gothic reimagining of "The Pied Piper of Hamelin". I've lived most of my life in the San Francisco Bay Area though I wasn't born there (or, indeed, the USA). I'm married with no kids and three cats.I started off as a writer of gay young adult fiction, specializing in contemporary fantasy, historical fantasy, and historical genres. My books ranged from a superhero fantasy series to reworked and original folktales to Victorian ghost fiction.I've since expanded to gay New Adult fiction, which reflects similar themes as my YA books and varies considerably in terms of romantic and sexual content.While I've published with a small press in the past, I now self-publish my books. Please visit my site for exclusive sales and publishing updates.

The reserves in St. Jerome's orphanage have never enjoyed an easy life. Born with disabilities or deformities, they're separated from the rest of the orphans and are marked for a future working for the guilds or in noble households as servants. At least that's the belief for as long as the orphanage has been around.Lóránt Kárpáthy was born mute and as such has become the target of bullies. He's also drawn the attention of the fiery-tempered Dávid Bodnár, an older boy who gladly takes on the mantel of Lóránt's protector. The two friends find solace in each other's company through shared daydreams and hopes for the future.It's a close bond that is soon tested when David is adopted while Lóránt becomes the special beneficiary of a mysterious patron. A patron who sees to Lóránt's education and sudden exclusion from the rest of the orphans when he's sent to live in near solitude in St. Jerome's north tower.A childhood of colorful daydreams in spite of heartbreak falls prey to dark hallucinations that devour time. To the blood-soaked secrets of a family descended from a line of legendary hunters. To the appearance of a strange nobleman claiming the hand of a young man, a nobleman who brings his new husband to a sprawling manor hiding its own secrets behind its shut doors, its sepulchral corridors, and its army of silent servants. There are secrets outside as well-among seductive roses and hungry, whispering briars.And woven among those secrets is the terrible truth behind St. Jerome's reserves.Set in the dark dreamscape of 19th century Hungary, Voices in the Briars is a gothic gay romance and a retelling of the "Bluebeard" fairy tale.

When the kindly old ferryman to the underworld injures his ankle, primordial gods come together to help guide the newly departed to their final journey. To make the task more interesting to the deathless, a quaint little shop hawking ephemera becomes the vehicle through which breadcrumbs to the underworld are scattered. All this is a temporary situation, meant to end when the broken ankle is healed.It sounds easy and simple enough. Or so it seems.The Nightshade family, headed by Barbara Nightshade, the most feared matriarch of an eternal bloodline, are dragged into the twenty-first century from their comfortable existence in Chaos. And it's through this shop and their day-to-day dealings with mortals that the children-now young adults-learn something new about themselves.Time moves differently in Chaos, and maturity drags for primordial gods. Now that Viktor and his twin, Narcisse, have turned twenty in immortal years, their physical forms scramble to catch up. Hormones are roused, hearts learn to feel, and minds struggle against prejudices learned through the centuries, and, boy, is it a pain.It's a sore trial especially for Viktor when he crosses paths with a sweet and shy potter and finds himself behaving quite out of character. There's something else at work here, however. Something meant to guide him down a road he refuses to travel-a road where love comes with a price tag too dear even for Death to pay.True, there are perks to being immortal, but no one outruns Fate.