A taste of Worlds Apart

            Hi all,
            I am speaking at an upcoming Local Authors Night at the Albert Campbell public Library in Toronto Ontario coming up on October 19, 2017. As a lead up I’ve been posting snippets from my books and thought they might be of interest to you folk. So here’s the first snippet.

For more on the Authors night visit: www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMEVT259125&R=EVT259125

            Given that this event is supposed to be for Halloween I thought I’d share an excerpt from my Paranormal Romance, Action Adventure that I personally find quite frightening. This is frightening to me because it is a true modernization of the witch trials of the middle ages. In it the fanatical cultists have captured Alcina, a Wiccan priestess, and are torturing her. All faiths have good and bad people that follow them; here we see what happens when a faith of peace is used as an excuse for intolerance and hate.
Worlds Apart is available in Kindle or Paperback from: www.amazon.com/author/stephenpearl
or Stephen will have copies for sale at the Local Authors Night at the Albert Campbell Public library.

            “Do we kill the sinner now?” spoke an unfamiliar male voice.
            Alcina tried to roll over so she could see the speaker, but as soon as she moved a boot struck savagely against her ribs.
            “Brother Edward, we are a court of the Lord. We must do this properly! If she can be saved by the love of Jesus we must make every effort. If she cannot, the purification of fire will cleanse her from this world.” Jones knelt in front of Alcina gripped the duct-tape over her mouth and tore it away.
            Alcina yelped with pain.
            Jones unfolded a piece of paper he had carried in his back pocket. “Answer truthfully and this will be easier on you.” He read the first of the traditional questions from the paper. “How long have you been a witch?”
            The pain helped to clear Alcina’s head, and she looked at Jones. “Let me go!”
            “Answer the question, witch! How long have you been a witch?” Jones looked at her with wild eyes.
            “I was born a child of the Lord and Lady, but I was initiated eight years ago.” Alcina tried to concentrate, to touch the energy in the language amulet, and reach Markus.
The butt of the birding-rifle slammed into the side of Alcina’s mouth. “Liar! No confession is valid without torture!”
            Alcina felt fear well up inside her. She’d read enough about the burning times to know what was coming. “Torture has always been illegal in England.”
            “We draw our authority from a higher power. We are the court of the Lord, the children of Jesus.”
            “Hallelujah,” echoed out around her.
            “Brother Jones, we didn’t have the right equipment, but I brought this from my toolbox.”
            “Thank you, Brother Lancre. They will do. Take the rifle and cover her. Be careful, this bride of Satan is possessed of a powerful demon.”
            All Alcina could see was a man’s dress slacks and the end of the rifle barrel at Jones’ side. She closed her eyes and concentrated with all her might. A moment later she felt her arms pulled forward.
            “Now witch, do you renounce Satan and his evil ways and embrace the one, true, only and right Lord.” Jones stinking breath blasted into her face.
Alcina trembled as she felt something cold and metallic touch her thumb. She opened her eyes and looked down. Jones was tightening a vice grip.
            “Help, help!” Alcina screamed.
            “Shut up, witch, or I’ll shoot! I won’t let you bespell us,” snapped a stocky man with greasy, brown hair and a fat face. He held the rifle in trembling hands.
            Alcina could hear the fear behind his threat. The idiocy of it would have been funny in another situation.
            “Good, Brother Lancre. She must not speak unless spoken to.” Jones took the vice grip away and set it tighter then returned it and clamped it down.
            Alcina screamed as the bones in her thumb were crushed and the tool’s teeth tore her skin.
            Whendon knelt beside Jones and jammed a rag into Alcina’s mouth. “Someone might hear!”
            Jones nodded. “Why did you become a witch?”
            Whendon pulled the rag out of Alcina’s mouth.
            She whimpered as her thumb throbbed.
            “Why did you become a witch?” demanded Jones. “Answer and I promise I won’t crush your other thumb.”
            Through the pain Alcina knew she had to stall, to give her friends time to find her. “I felt the call of nature and the seasons, the need to accept responsibility for my own actions and to love the earth. I—”
            Jones nodded at Whendon who jammed the rag into Alcina’s mouth while he used the vice grip to shatter her other thumb

A taste of Worlds Apart

            Hi all,
            I am speaking at an upcoming Local Authors Night at the Albert Campbell public Library in Toronto Ontario coming up on October 19, 2017. As a lead up I’ve been posting snippets from my books and thought they might be of interest to you folk. So here’s the first snippet.

For more on the Authors night visit: www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMEVT259125&R=EVT259125

            Given that this event is supposed to be for Halloween I thought I’d share an excerpt from my Paranormal Romance, Action Adventure that I personally find quite frightening. This is frightening to me because it is a true modernization of the witch trials of the middle ages. In it the fanatical cultists have captured Alcina, a Wiccan priestess, and are torturing her. All faiths have good and bad people that follow them; here we see what happens when a faith of peace is used as an excuse for intolerance and hate.
Worlds Apart is available in Kindle or Paperback from: www.amazon.com/author/stephenpearl
or Stephen will have copies for sale at the Local Authors Night at the Albert Campbell Public library.

            “Do we kill the sinner now?” spoke an unfamiliar male voice.
            Alcina tried to roll over so she could see the speaker, but as soon as she moved a boot struck savagely against her ribs.
            “Brother Edward, we are a court of the Lord. We must do this properly! If she can be saved by the love of Jesus we must make every effort. If she cannot, the purification of fire will cleanse her from this world.” Jones knelt in front of Alcina gripped the duct-tape over her mouth and tore it away.
            Alcina yelped with pain.
            Jones unfolded a piece of paper he had carried in his back pocket. “Answer truthfully and this will be easier on you.” He read the first of the traditional questions from the paper. “How long have you been a witch?”
            The pain helped to clear Alcina’s head, and she looked at Jones. “Let me go!”
            “Answer the question, witch! How long have you been a witch?” Jones looked at her with wild eyes.
            “I was born a child of the Lord and Lady, but I was initiated eight years ago.” Alcina tried to concentrate, to touch the energy in the language amulet, and reach Markus.
The butt of the birding-rifle slammed into the side of Alcina’s mouth. “Liar! No confession is valid without torture!”
            Alcina felt fear well up inside her. She’d read enough about the burning times to know what was coming. “Torture has always been illegal in England.”
            “We draw our authority from a higher power. We are the court of the Lord, the children of Jesus.”
            “Hallelujah,” echoed out around her.
            “Brother Jones, we didn’t have the right equipment, but I brought this from my toolbox.”
            “Thank you, Brother Lancre. They will do. Take the rifle and cover her. Be careful, this bride of Satan is possessed of a powerful demon.”
            All Alcina could see was a man’s dress slacks and the end of the rifle barrel at Jones’ side. She closed her eyes and concentrated with all her might. A moment later she felt her arms pulled forward.
            “Now witch, do you renounce Satan and his evil ways and embrace the one, true, only and right Lord.” Jones stinking breath blasted into her face.
Alcina trembled as she felt something cold and metallic touch her thumb. She opened her eyes and looked down. Jones was tightening a vice grip.
            “Help, help!” Alcina screamed.
            “Shut up, witch, or I’ll shoot! I won’t let you bespell us,” snapped a stocky man with greasy, brown hair and a fat face. He held the rifle in trembling hands.
            Alcina could hear the fear behind his threat. The idiocy of it would have been funny in another situation.
            “Good, Brother Lancre. She must not speak unless spoken to.” Jones took the vice grip away and set it tighter then returned it and clamped it down.
            Alcina screamed as the bones in her thumb were crushed and the tool’s teeth tore her skin.
            Whendon knelt beside Jones and jammed a rag into Alcina’s mouth. “Someone might hear!”
            Jones nodded. “Why did you become a witch?”
            Whendon pulled the rag out of Alcina’s mouth.
            She whimpered as her thumb throbbed.
            “Why did you become a witch?” demanded Jones. “Answer and I promise I won’t crush your other thumb.”
            Through the pain Alcina knew she had to stall, to give her friends time to find her. “I felt the call of nature and the seasons, the need to accept responsibility for my own actions and to love the earth. I—”
            Jones nodded at Whendon who jammed the rag into Alcina’s mouth while he used the vice grip to shatter her other thumb

Foreknowledge a double edged sword.

            A key element in the Norse sagas is when Odin sacrifices his eye for a drink from the well of knowledge and gains foresight in to all that is to come. From that moment onward his life becomes a quest to stop or delay the prophecy. Another recurring theme is that Odin’s actions often set up the very circumstances that bring the prophecies events into being. This is truly a tragic tail, but is it also a cautionary one?

            Odin sacrifices his eye. Is this symbolic of his ability to see the other path? Take the case of Lady Hel, for example. He cast her into Niflheim where she became his foe. Had he not had foreknowledge of a possible future would he instead have been the loving uncle that could have turned her nature and created an ally? Hel was destined to rule Niflheim, but was she destined to be antagonistic to the Aesir? If Odin had stepped up and told the other gods to stop teasing her because of a birth defect, would her nature have been different?

            The pattern repeats with Fenrir. They bound Fenrir to guard Asgard, but the truth is any dog can be made mean, and most dogs can be raised gentle. I’m sure it is the same with wolves. If Odin had arraigned play dates with Geri and Freki for Fenrir would he have had a noble ally as opposed to an enemy when the final day came?

            The one instance where Odin did take one of Loki’s children under his wing was Sleipnir who proved a most loyal stead.

            There are other instances. The question becomes, did Odin in sacrificing his eye close the avenues that would have lead to a different future? Did his quest for foreknowledge blind him to the best course in the present?

            I’ve seen it as a professional psychic where I predicted an injury for a semi-pro athlete. I warned him, even told him it would be in his lower body and that he needed to do extra work to strengthen the area. I told him flat that predictions were probabilities and that an act of will could alter them. Later that year I received a phone call telling me his leg was messed up during a practice. Complete face palm on my part because the point to the warning was to prevent the injury.

            Are Odin’s actions and their consequences a warning not to let prophecy close your vision of the present? Not to let fear of tomorrow cause one to act in a less than noble way today?  Having read the Runes for decades I can tell you it is all too easy to let them dictate your actions. In desperation we seek answers, but does striving for the future we have glimpsed through a foggy and indistinct haze close us to other opportunities?

            In the stories is Odin a wise fool so focused on the broken bridge over the river he fails to see the stepping stones at the bridge’s base? (This is said with respect to the all father but the point must be considered.)

            In any case, this is a thought that has come to me; take from it what you will. Also, please note the number of question marks above. I make no statement of truth simply a thought to be considered, do with it what you will.

            FFFF

Worlds Apart video trailer

Foregn Exchange Student

Horn of the Kraken, a Norse fantasy Viking adventure, based on the Fate of the Norns Ragnarok role playing system.

            www.amazon.com/Horn-Kraken-Stephen-B-Pearl/dp/0994024053/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Middy and Mjolnir cartoon = a twist on Norse myths.

To be sure not to miss any Middy and Mjolnir cartoons join: https://www.facebook.com/StephenBPearl or follow my blog at: http://stephenpearl.blogspot.ca

Feel free to share any Middy and Mjolnir posts.

Reading from Seven Days at Milton Pirate Fest 2015

Hi all. I just wanted to let you know that I have a new reading up from the Milton Pirate Festival. This is a reading from my story Seven Days in the Love, Time, Space, Magic anthology from Pop Seagull publishing and features Elizabeth Hirst and Stephen B. Pearl.

Video address: https://youtu.be/RPChHBA_-YY

Stephen B. Pearl: www.stephenpearl.com

Pop Seagull Publishing: http://popseagullpublishing.wordpress.com

Milton Pirate Festival: www.thepiratefestival.com