Ignatius is about to be seduced by a legend. During a time where even the most educated of folk believe in ghosts, Ignatius Swain arrives in the quiet town of Ville sur le Fleuve to act as pedagogue to the adult daughter of Gregoire Delacroix. There, he encounters the enigmatic Jacques Bouchard, who appears to view him as a rival for Desiree Delacroix’s affection. Nothing could be more misconstrued. Even if Desiree’s gaze were not able to freeze water, Ignatius has set aside hopes of love hereabouts. He satisfies his desires with the ‘helping hand’ of ghostly fables, tales of terror that walk shivery traces and fiery passion up his spine…until one night when Jacques’ behaviour breeches barriers, and the pair encounter the most famous of resident spirits on the road.
Author
During Sharon’s writing career she’s lived in a house with a Harry Potter cupboard under the stairs, shared a publisher with the creator of Roger Rabbit, and has taken a trip to Jupiter. Only one of these has been in her imagination. The first short story she submitted—Silver Apples of the Moon—was accepted by Roadworks Magazine. The editor announced her as “a writer who is going places” and described the story as having “both a Sci-fi and horror element,” and being “strong on characterisation, and quite literary, in terms of style.” Subsequently, she was approached to write all reports and publicity material, including a piece for translation into Braille for The Really Wild Nursery and Arthritis Care Breaking Down the Barriers garden project, which took place at the Malvern Spring Show. Since then, her work has appeared steadily in both print and electronic publications, such as Midnight Street, Aoife’s Kiss (Sam’s Dot Publishing), Night To Dawn, and Radgepacket (Byker Books). Her short story—Bitter and Intoxicating—was snapped up for inclusion in the anthology Red Velvet and Absinthe. This compilation, edited by Mitzi Szereto with a foreword by Kelly Armstrong, was designed to evoke the romantic ethos of classic Gothic fiction with a serving of eroticism. With a repertoire of twisted tales and a love of cross-genre writing, it surprised everyone (including herself) when she branched out into erotic romance. These works have been critically acclaimed and often described as ‘deeply passionate’. Sharon’s worlds are vivid, unexpected and sometimes intensely magical. Sharon writes whatever her warped mind can come up with and is quite capable of writing something darker, grittier, and even outright twisted. Though her love for all things Myth and Legend has led her to write under more than one name, from 2019 she's using S.M.Bidwell for her Dark Fiction. She was propelled into the Steampunk universe of Space, 1899 and beyond, winning approval of series creator and award-winning game designer, Frank Chadwick, with three books, one of which was co-authored with editor (and writer) Andy Frankham-Allen, and subsequently led to her writing for the Lethbridge-Stewart series, and a short audio story for Doctor Who, performed by Katy Manning. She's also on Goodreads under the name Sharon Bidwell.
