I am always happy to host new-to-me authors on this blog. I like discovering new voices, and in a genre that’s always growing, it’s often difficult to hear them for the noise created by those who have established their place already. So, it’s always a delight when I do find someone whose book really appeals, and who I haven’t come across before. It’s even better when what they’re offering is something different from the usual beefcake fare in the LGBT genre. There are nowhere near enough books with female leads. This one appeals both because of the strong female lead character, and the idea of a government threaded through with pagan values – which when you think of the mess so-called religious values impose on the world, has an attraction all of its own!

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About The Book

Follow Joan on her adventure of discovery, as she learns the hard way that her post-apocalyptic utopia isn’t always full of rainbows and Merlot.

Yes, she lives on the nicer side of the settlement, as the daughter of the Mother Founder. But after a life-threatening attack on her home, she soon realises that many out there are against the Silver Party regime.

Horned Winged Blessed is the story of one girl fighting against a tyrannous government, elected to power amidst the unending chaos of World War III. Heavily enriched in their pagan values, the Silver Party are to thank for pulling Broken Britain up from the brink of a depression, but at what cost?

Will Joan decide to take down the Silver Party from the inside…

…or will she go on to fight alongside the rebel faction that allures her so intensely?

 

Title: Horned Winged Blessed

Author: E L Croucher

Category: LGBTQ+ Dystopian Fiction

Publication Date: 29^th November 2019 (Pre-release as of 10^th Nov)

Publisher: Amazon

Editor: Jake Ratcliff

Cover Artist: Dawn M Larder

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Buy Links

Amazon UK|  Amazon US

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Excerpt

“He said that you represent them… the enemy. There’s something about you, and I see it too.” She has no idea how right she is in this exact moment. It’s almost frightening.

“Maybe I don’t want all that though, did anyone ever consider that?”

“We don’t always get to choose what we stand for, Luna. I didn’t. I’m here, fighting this fight because I have to be.”

“You have to be?” I’m confused. What is she saying? “For Matthew?”

“No, not him. He means the world to me, that’s no secret. But no. Not him. Luna, look at me.” I submit and do as she says. We put our wine glasses to the side. “I didn’t go through what I did in the previous world to live as a stupid, suppressed ‘Blessed one’. No way. And neither did any of my other sisters. Do you understand me? I’m a woman. Not a trans woman. Not anything else. A woman. The minute I’m defined as a subcategory is the minute my identity stops being up to me. I haven’t fought to become who I am – and was always meant to be – just to have it dictated to me by a bunch of crazies.”

Suddenly she stands up, and walks over to my kitchen surface. One drawer after another, she searches for something. The wine is on the table, so it can’t be that. Then, she pauses when she finds whatever it is she’s looking for. A small dagger, given to me by a guy I could’ve fallen for, once upon a time. It stands for everything she stands for. For me, it’s a symbol of what could’ve been. A night’s warmth. A fleeting memory.

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About E L Croucher

E L Croucher is a young author, living in London. She started writing over two years, with her first novel The Butterfly on Fire, which she published on Amazon. Alongside her career as a writer, she works as a Japanese translator and interpreter for a well-known Japanese gaming company, after studying Japanese at university and living in Tokyo, Japan.

Her latest novel, Horned Winged Blessed is an ironic look into a world in which gender roles are swapped, and minorities are forced into labels that they did not choose. With a mix of feminist views and a pro-LGBTQ+ stance, E L Croucher writes to further her dream of a world free from prejudice, hate-crimes and bullying.

Follow her story on her website or find her on social media:

www.ELCroucher.com  | Emi Louise Croucher| @emi13230 on Instagram