A L
Butcher's character Lise Giry gets interviewed. Learn more about the character, and the historical fantasy exhibited in the award-winning Legacy of the Mask short story series:
Lise Giry, how did you
find yourself in your current predicament/on your current adventure?
Years ago, I
took pity on a young man – he was caged like a beast, beaten, starved. He was a
prisoner, because of the face he wore. Never had I seen the like of him – thin
and wiry, ugly as the devil, but his voice… oh that voice. The moment I heard
Erik sing my soul rejoiced, for it was a heavenly sound. No mortal should be
able to sing like that – not even the greatest of the Opera singers. It was so
full of joy, and yet so terribly sorrowful. That day I heard the Angel of Music
and brought the Angel of Death to my door.
Can a man be
an Angel and a devil in one? Yes. He is the best of men, and the worst.
I found him
in my husband’s barn, cold, bleeding and desperate. I should have turned him
in, but I did not. I brought him food, tended his wounds and clothed him. I
could not know than how that act of Christian goodness would shape my life. I
could not know who he would become, or indeed, who I would become. No one had
ever been kind to him. His life was pain, darkness, hatred and fear. Poor Erik.
Erik was my
secret, my first lie. After my husband died, I was left with nothing, my
stepchildren saw to that. My daughter and I would have starved, but
‘opportunities’ appeared, like working at the Opera House. I thought about him,
not every day. Not then. I wondered what had happened to the frightened boy I
had helped, sometimes I heard fantastic stories about a wizard who built
palaces for kings, and sang like no one else.
What is
your moral code? How does it compare with the general moral code of your area?
I was raised
as a Catholic. France is a religious country, and it is expected one follows
the teachings of Jesus. I pray to God, he doesn’t listen, but I pray
nonetheless. Do I believe, truly? I believe in angels – for I have met one. He
is terrible, enchanting, captivating and mysterious. I used to believe no one
is beyond redemption, no one is truly damned – and now I question that. I have
spoken with an angel in hell, a man truly damned.
To others I
am the prim and proper dance mistress of the Opera Populaire in Paris. I live
quietly, I tell no tales, do not gossip, attend Mass and don’t flaunt my body –
although at my age that would be a sin indeed.
In truth I
live a lie and have done for many years. The secrets I keep could bring a man
to the executioner or could have saved a man’s life. The truth I know is not
that of others.
How many
crimes have you committed?
I have
harboured a murderer, fed him, clothed him. I have remained silent whilst the
bodies pile up. I have been complicit in extortion, theft, deceit, and even
kidnap.
Sins – many
of those have been committed. Every day he lives. Every day I live.
What is
your greatest achievement?
My daughter, Meg. She is a talented dancer, and despite our hardships
and our strange life she has done well.
What is
your greatest failure?
I
could not save his soul.
If you
could live your life again would you make the same choices?
Yes.
Have you
ever loved/been loved?
I
loved my father, I loved my husband, in a way, and I loved Erik.
Tell us
about your family. I have a daughter Meg.
My other children are with their father in heaven. I
have no family other than that.
How does
your society deal with those on the edges? Do you approve of this?
Those who are poor, infirm or
disfigured often find themselves at the mercy of others. There are those who
are different, feared, hated for no reason other than they ARE different. I
wonder what Erik would have become if he had not bore the face he had. If a man
lives in shadows, he becomes a ghost.
Women,
especially widows, often find life a struggle. It’s a man’s world – and we must
conform or be outcast. Many resort to crime to feed hungry bellies, I have seen
failed dancers, abandoned my patrons, often pregnant, starving in the streets
or selling their bodies for bread.
Giveaway & Blog Tour
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copy (or large print - winners choice) of either book,
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Kitchen Imps and Other Dark Tales (fantasy) in either ebook, signed print
edition or audible.
- 1 winner each!
About the
Author
British-born A. L. Butcher is an avid reader and creator
of worlds, a poet, and a dreamer, a lover of science, natural history, history,
and monkeys. Her prose has been described as 'dark and gritty' and her poetry
as 'evocative'. She writes with a sure and sometimes erotic sensibility of
things that might have been, never were, but could be.
Alex is the author of the Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles
and the Tales of Erana lyrical fantasy series. She also has several short
stories in the fantasy, fantasy romance genres with occasional forays into
gothic style horror, including the Legacy of the Mask series. With a background
in politics, classical studies, ancient history and myth, her affinities bring
an eclectic and unique flavour in her work, mixing reality and dream in
alchemical proportions that bring her characters and worlds to life.
She also curates speculative fiction themed book
bundles on BundleRabbit - for the most part the Here Be Series
Alex is also proud to be a writer for Perseid Press
where her work features in Heroika: Dragon Eaters, Heroika Skirmishers - where
she was editor and cover designer as well as writer; and Lovers in Hell - part
of the acclaimed Heroes in Hell series. http://www.theperseidpress.com/
Awards: Outside the Walls, co-written with Diana L.
Wicker received a Chill with a Book Reader's Award in 2017.
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