Alp Mortal

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I'm English by birth, from the Isle of Wight, now living in France, in the stunningly beautiful department of Haute-Saône, in the Franche Comté region. It is heavily forested and very tranquil but the winters are pretty harsh and my home is 820 metres above sea level so I get plenty of snow. 

I was 49 years old in 2014. I only started writing in 2009, proving, I suppose, that it is never too late. I didn't think about self-publishing until late 2012, now, 20 months later, I'm more energized by the process than ever before.

I'm a qualified English teacher, specializing in teaching English as a second language (TEFL), though I don't do much of that now. In the distant past, I taught software skills. In the very distant past, I was a project manager on big IT projects and at the very beginning of my career, I was an Internal Auditor. I have degrees in "Internal Auditing", "Computer Auditing" and "Project Management". I'm studying for my degree in Sustainable Development at the moment. Renewable energy is what really interests me and I generate my own power at home via a solar panel.

I grow some of my own food, and from Easter to the end of October, I'm outside for the largest part of the day tending the garden. I write in the evening and during the winter when there is very little else to do. I have no great philosophy except "energy follows intention" and "honour your gifts". These two principles keep me sane, very happy and exceedingly busy!

The Shell & The Granite Pearl

Mystery/Gay (m/m)Romance

A two part story in one volume.

Part 1 of the story of the love affair between Drew and Mordy. Drew is an author staying on the island trying to write; Mordy is back after twenty years on the road; they meet. Mordy has found a wreck which together they salvage but they open a whole can of worms and a mystery which stretches back through Mordy's family to the Middle Ages. Mordy has other demons to deal with and his return to the island is opening up old wounds. The pair decamp to London and begin to come to terms with things, amongst them; the treasure they unearthed and the mystery, Mordy's desire to learn to read and write, and his goal to write the account of his travels. The pair go to Paris shortly after their engagement and Mordy is reunited with his mother after twenty-nine years; but it has unforeseen consequences.

Part 2 of the story opens with the civil partnership of Mordy and Drew, back on the island at the standing stone. The plan was then to sail around the World but that always seems to be dogged by delays and uncertainty. When Mordy's journal is published and becomes successful, out-selling Drew's four novels, Drew behaves badly and Mordy leaves. It's Linda who gets them back together. Mordy's mother dies and he and Drew are back on the island for the funeral. Just at the point of their return to London, they are handed a letter; "we want it back". Who and what? They guess the diamond which they discovered in the wreck, and some detective work gives them a name, 'Oscar Stubbs' and an address in Paris. They head there to find out more and then the mystery just deepens and now their lives are in danger.

Love is ... maybe all you can rely on in the end.

The Map Stick - the first journey

Metaphysical Gay (m/m) romance

In part one, 'The Map Stick', Rane leaves his tribe to find answers; he is shunned by his people and his father is absent; no one will speak to him. He travels and happens across a valley where he stays to hunt and he meets War. War was abandoned in the valley as a child. Rane finds a stick that is carved and it looks like a map to a mountain cavern that holds a star and a fire. They wait out the Winter and then leave, determined to find the cavern and answers to their questions.

In part two, 'The Seeing Stone', Rane and War continue in their quest and hold to the path drawn on the map stick. In this part of the story they meet their 'protectors'. The men are separated for a time and War is injured. The consequences of the injury will bring about the greatest change and the biggest test of their love for each other.

In part three, 'The Obsidian Eyed Hunter', the hunters find the cavern under the mountain. How they got there and what they find are nothing like they imagined, and perhaps, nothing like you were expecting either! No spoilers from me. This is a love story. Neither hunter has loved before, neither has the vocabulary to describe it but love each other they most assuredly do. The journey is a metaphor for love and relationships as much as it is about a quest to find answers to questions and maybe ultimately to discover something amazing.

The Weaver & The loom - complete

Modern Myth gay (m/m) romance

The Weaver & The Loom is a gay romantic story which charts the life and love of Jonah, the weaver and Jason, the boatwright. This story is about love, the sacrifice that it demands and the gifts that it bestows. 

The Weaver and the Loom – The Warp
“Change comes not when we expect it, rarely is it a welcome guest … a darkness descends but there is light too … he is young and impetuous, he will act out of love but you will pay the price … something will be born and something will die … that is what I can see.” Such were the words of the fortune teller to Jonah.

Jonah is the village weaver and his lover is Jason, the village boatwright. Their love for one another runs deep but it is kept hidden from the village. A young man’s arrival to the village brings an unexpected change and the fortune teller's words begin to ring resoundingly with truth. 

The Weft - Journey to Deuxfleurs
Part 2 of The Weaver and the Loom follows Jonah and Jason as they journey to the city of Deuxfleurs. It is a journey that tests their love. Jason struggles with the weight of his feelings regarding Jonah's sacrifice and his attraction to an exotic young man who they meet in Aubade. Old friends are reunited and new friendships are made including with a man from Deuxfleurs who will irrevocably change their future.

The Doom Clock
Part 3 and the stunning conclusion of ‘The Weaver and the Loom’ finds Jonah and Jason in the midst of strife in Deuxfleurs where they have become unwitting partners in a plot by the king to create an empire over which he will reign. As the strength of their characters is tested, their love binds them even closer together. But will love be enough to survive the horrifying toll of the Doom Clocks?

Daniel's Garden

Gay (m/m) romance

Daniel, an author, employs a new gardener, Sam, a sad and lonely character who has suffered a few knocks on the journey of life. The pair hit it off almost immediately.

The discovery of Knotweed and the extra days that Daniel agrees pay for to remove the offending plant lead to an invitation for Sam to stay, to save him travelling to and fro home. There was no ulterior motive, but things move quickly nevertheless and the men start to fall in love. Their love making becomes increasingly rampant and feral.

Daniel is shining a light into all the dark and damp corners of Sam's life and Sam is attempting to show Daniel that there are sometimes better ways to deal with your problems, especially those with your neighbours. Though Sam always stood up to the bullies who taunted his best pal, Marshy, no one ever stood up for him; until now. An incident involving Sam's dog, Maggie, leads Daniel to do something selfless and courageous for Sam, and it seals their union. The sex between the two men is described reasonably graphically. There is frequent use of bad language.
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