My Books – Overview

I write mainly old school science fiction, space opera, with LGBT protagonists where the emphasis is on the sci-fi plot rather than the relationship – the Taking Shield series. But if you like LGBT romances, then my Lancaster’s Luck steampunk series might fit the bill: still lots of plot, but more light is shone on the loving, romantic relationship between the two main characters.

All my books are available as e-Books and as paperbacks.  I’ve included a buy link for the e-Book in the detail of each title (see below). You can buy paperbacks from Amazon, or contact me for a signed copy.

Scroll down or follow the links to find out more about the books:

Taking Shield Series
Passing Shadows: a prequel to Taking Shield
Lancaster’s Luck Series
FlashWired
Personal Relations

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Taking Shield

Earth’s a dead planet, dark for thousands of years; lost for so long no one even knows where the solar system is. Her last known colony, Albion, has grown to be regional galactic power in its own right. But its drive to expand and found colonies of its own has threatened an alien race, the Maess, against whom Albion is now fighting a last-ditch battle for survival in a war that’s dragged on for generations.

The award-winning Taking Shield series charts the missions and adventures of Shield Captain Bennet, scion of a prominent military family. Bennet, also an analyst with the Military Strategy Unit, uncovers crucial data about the Maess to help with the war effort. Against the demands of his family’s ‘triple goddess’ of Duty, Honour and Service, is set Bennet’s relationships with lovers and family. When the series opens, Bennet is at odds with his long-term partner, Joss, who wants him out of the military and back in an academic, archaeological career. He’s estranged from his father, Caeden, who is the commander of Fleet’s First Flotilla. Events of the first book, in which he is sent to his father’s ship to carry out an infiltration mission behind Maess lines, improve his relationship with Caeden, but bring with them the catalyst that will destroy the one with Joss: one Fleet Lieutenant Flynn, who, over the course of the series, develops into Bennet’s main love interest

Over the Taking Shield arc, Bennet will see the extremes to which humanity’s enemies, and his own people, will go to win the war. Some days he isn’t able to tell friend from foe. Some days he doubts everything, including himself, as he strives to ensure Albion’s victory. And some days he isn’t sure, any longer, what victory looks like.

More info and background on the Shield Universe here

Note: the novels are not standalones and should be read in order.

Taking Shield 01: Gyrfalcon
  Earth’s last known colony, Albion, is fighting an alien enemy. In the first of the Taking Shield serial, Shield Captain Bennet is dropped behind the lines to steal priceless intelligence. A dangerous job, and Bennet doesn’t need the distractions of changing relationships with his long-term partner, Joss, or with his father—and with Flynn, the new lover who will turn his world upside-down.He expects to risk his life. He expects the data will alter the course of the war.

What he doesn’t expect is that it will change his life or that Flynn will be impossible to forget.

Gyrfalcon: book data, reviews, excerpt
I very highly recommend “Gyrfalcon”. Having grown up reading Classic Sci-Fi and Fantasy, I’m always thrilled to read a new book that seems like it would fit right in on any sci-fi shelf in any library anywhere, right next to the works by the great sci-fi authors of the past. – Love Bytes reviews
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Taking Shield 02: Heart Scarab
 

Shield Captain Bennet is on Telnos, an unpleasant little planet inhabited by religious fanatics and unregistered miners running illegal solactinium mines. It’s about to be about to be overrun by the Maess. Bennet’s job is to get out as many civilians as he can, but the enemy arrives before the evacuation is complete. Caught in a vicious fire fight, Bennet is left behind, presumed dead.

His family is grieving. Joss, his long-term partner, grieves with them; lost, unhappy, remorseful. First Lieutenant Flynn has no official ‘rights’ here. He isn’t family. He isn’t partner or lover. He’s just broken.

Heart Scarab: book data, more reviews, excerpt
 If you’re a fan of sci-fi, you’ll love this book. If like me, you aren’t a particular fan of sci-fi, but love a great adventure, you’ll love this book. In fact, almost everyone will love this book! It’s worth your time. It’s worth your money. A great 5 Star read. – It’s About The Book Reviews
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Taking Shield 03 : Makepeace
  SECOND PLACE WINNER 2016 Rainbow Awards for Best Sci/Fi Futuristic book

Returning to duty following his long recovery from the injuries he sustained during the events recounted in Heart Scarab, Shield Captain Bennet accepts a tour of duty in Fleet as flight captain on a dreadnought. The one saving grace is that it isn’t his father’s ship—bad enough that he can’t yet return to the Shield Regiment, at least he doesn’t have the added stress of commanding former lover, Fleet Lieutenant Flynn and knowing the fraternisation regulations will keep them apart.

Bennet’s new mission takes him behind the lines to Makepeace, once a human colony but under Maess control for more than a century. The mission goes belly up, costing Albion one of her precious, irreplaceable dreadnoughts and bringing political upheaval, acrimony and the threat of public unrest in its wake. But for Bennet, the real nightmare is discovering what the Maess have in store for humanity. It’s not good. It’s not good at all.

Makepeace: book data, more reviews, excerpt
I adore space operas. I really and truly do. This one was perfect in all of its glory. The imagery was fantastic. The character development is wonderful. – Thorn and Ink Reviews
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Taking Shield 04: The Chains Of Their Sins
  FIRST PLACE WINNER 2017 Rainbow Awards for Best Sci/Fi Futuristic book

THIRD PLACE WINNER 2017 Rainbow Awards for Best Gay Book

Shield Captain Bennet arrives on the Gyrfalcon to take up his final year’s posting before returning to the Shield Regiment after his rotation out. On Gyrfalcon he faces up to the fallout from Makepeace—ethical, political and above all, personal. Will he be able to accept necessity: that knowing what the Maess are up to outweighs the humanitarian issues surrounding the prisoners he rescued from Makepeace? Can he ride out the political furore that follows the loss of the dreadnought Caliban? How will he cope with an entire year of serving under his father, Caeden? And worst of all, how in the name of every god in the Pantheon can he stand to see Flynn every single day, with the Fraternisation Regs standing between them and keeping them apart?

It will be an interesting year. Bennet can hardly wait for it to be over. Of course, things never really do go to plan…

Read some deleted scenes here

The Chains Of Their Sins : book data, more reviews, excerpt
Anna Butler has usurped all other authors as my favorite. Never before have I read a book with such detailed characters and relationships. As I’ve said before, these are more than just characters. They are so heartbreakingly real, as are their relationships… Bennet and Flynn are so fully realized. Anna Butler truly has a gift when it comes to crafting characters and relationships, and other authors would do well to study what she has created… There will be another book, and I am counting down the days until it is released. I need to know what happens next. Anna Butler never fails to deliver an outstanding book that is meticulous in its details to science of the world. For fans of the series, this is another wonderful installment.  – The Novel Approach
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Taking Shield 05: Day of Wrath
FIRST PLACE WINNER 2019 Rainbow Awards for Best LGBTA Futuristic book

FIRST PLACE WINNER 2019 Rainbow Awards for Best LGBTA Book

In less than a week, Bennet will finally return to the Shield Regiment, leaving behind the Gyrfalcon, his father, his friends… and Flynn. Promotion to Shield Major and being given command of a battle group despite the political fallout from Makepeace the year before is everything he thought he wanted. Everything he’s worked towards for the last three years. Except for leaving Flynn. He really doesn’t want to leave Flynn.

There’s time for one last flight together. A routine mission. Nothing too taxing, just savouring every moment with the best wingman, the best friend, he’s ever had. That’s the plan.

Bennet should know better than to trust to routine because what waits for them out there will change their lives forever.

 Day of Wrath: book data, more reviews, excerpt, recorded excerpt
I’m sad I can only give 5 stars…. – Love Bytes Reviews
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Passing Shadows

The Taking Shield series is based on a simple ‘what if’ question: what if in some AU universe Earth’s been a burnt out dust ball for the last ten thousand years? In this prequel to the series, a trilogy of three short stories – Overthrown by Strangers, Habitation of Dragons, and Winterlight (29,400 words in total)– you’ll find out what happened at that moment when Earth went dark and how some humans escaped to eventually found Albion, seen through the eyes of Li Liang, first officer on a trading vessel.

Passing Shadows
  Honorable Mention  2017 Rainbow Awards  (Best Sci/Fi Futuristic book) 

Li Liang has found a berth to suit her: chief pilot and first officer of the all-female crew of an old space freighter, the Sappho. Then one ordinary, unremarkable morning, Liang retunes the Sappho’s communications systems just in time to catch the breathless, terrible accounts from Mars of the total destruction of Earth.

Earth’s a cinder. The unknown alien race that destroyed it has left Mars, too, in flames and is ravening outward from the solar system, devouring every human colony on the way.

Liang’s one of the few survivors, racing ahead of the Devourers, rescuing as many frightened, shocked people as she can. Will Liang and the pitiful remnants of humanity find a new haven, somewhere to start again? Or will she, too, echo the dreadful last message coming out of their dead home?

They’re coming. Oh God, they’re coming.

Passing Shadows: book data, more reviews, excerpt
I was completely enthralled by this story. It has amazing world building, exceptional character development, and enough action to keep the story moving at a comfortable pace… I’d have loved this to be a full-length novel. I loved the characters, the plot, and the writing style…It was a joy to read this story, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys space opera and sci-fi. – Boy Meets Boy Reviews
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Lancaster’s Luck

The Lancaster’s Luck series is set in a steampunk world where, in at the turn of the twentieth century, the eight powerful Convocation Houses are the de facto rulers of the Britannic Imperium. In this world of politics and assassins, a world powered by luminiferous aether and phlogiston, and where aeroships fill the skies, Captain Rafe Lancaster, late of Her Majesty’s Imperial Aero Corps, buys a coffee house in one of the little streets near the Britannic Museum in Bloomsbury.

So begins the steampunk-coffee house adventure/mystery m/m romance series.

More information and background on the Lancaster’s Luck world here. Lots more!

The Gilded Scarab
  NOMINEE: ROMANTIC TIMES REVIEWER’S AWARDS 2015

When Captain Rafe Lancaster is invalided out of the Britannic Imperium’s Aero Corps after crashing his aerofighter during the Second Boer War, his eyesight is damaged permanently, and his career as a fighter pilot is over. Returning to Londinium in late November 1899, he’s lost the skies he loved, has no place in a society ruled by an elite oligarchy of powerful Houses, and is hard up, homeless, and in desperate need of a new direction in life.

Everything changes when he buys a coffeehouse near the Britannic Imperium Museum in Bloomsbury, the haunt of Aegyptologists. For the first time in years, Rafe is free to be himself. In a city powered by luminiferous aether and phlogiston, and where powerful men use House assassins to target their rivals, Rafe must navigate dangerous politics, deal with a jealous and possessive ex-lover, learn to make the best coffee in Londinium, and fend off murder and kidnap attempts before he can find happiness with the man he loves.

The Gilded Scarab: book data, more reviews, excerpt
I give this superbly woven tale top marks and my highest recommendations to anyone who likes a slow-build M/M romance filled with suspense and intrigue, even if you’re not a fan of steampunk or historicals. The sex portions take place at the beginning of the book, while the suspense fills out the rest. I am honestly impressed with the level of detail, characterization, plot developments, and the writing that matches the subtleties of the created world with its uses of slang and steampunk parlance. I absolutely recommend this to everyone, regardless of your preferred genre. – Long and Short Reviews
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The Jackal’s House
  JOINT FIRST PLACE WINNER 20197 Rainbow Awards for Best Gay Historical book

JOINT THIRD PLACE WINNER 2019 Rainbow Awards for Best Gay Book

Something is stalking the Aegyptian night and endangering the archaeologists excavating the mysterious temple ruins in Abydos. But is it a vengeful ancient spirit or a very modern conspiracy…

Rafe Lancaster’s relationship with Gallowglass First Heir, Ned Winter, flourishes over the summer of 1900, and when Rafe’s House encourages him to join Ned’s next archaeological expedition, he sees a chance for it to deepen further. Since all the Houses of the Britannic Imperium, Rafe’s included, view assassination as a convenient solution to most problems, he packs his aether pistol—just in case.

Trouble finds them in Abydos. Rafe and Ned begin to wonder if they’re facing opposition to the Temple of Seti being disturbed. What begins as tricks and pranks escalates to attacks and death, while the figure of the Dog—the jackal-headed god Anubis, ruler of death—casts a long shadow over the desert sands. Destruction follows in his wake as he returns to reclaim his place in Abydos. Can Rafe and Ned stand against both the god and House plots when the life of Ned’s son is on the line?

Read some deleted scenes here

The Jackal’s House: book data, more reviews, excerpt
…totally a 5 star read…only because they tell me that’s all the stars I can give it, otherwise there’d be a hella’ lot more of them up there at the top of this review.  My Fiction Nook Reviews
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The God’s Eye
Rafe Lancaster is reluctantly settling into his role as the First Heir of House Stravaigor. Trapped by his father’s illness and his new responsibilities, Rafe can’t go with lover Ned Winter to Aegypt for the 1902/03 archaeological digging season. Rafe’s unease at being left behind intensifies when Ned’s fascination with the strange Antikythera mechanism and its intriguing link to the Aegyptian god Thoth has Ned heading south to the remote, unexplored highlands of Abyssinia and the course of the Blue Nile.

Searching for Thoth’s deadly secrets, Ned is out of contact and far from help. When he doesn’t return at Christmas as he promised, everything points to trouble. Rafe is left with a stark choice – abandon his dying father or risk never seeing Ned again.

The God’s Eye : book data, reviews, excerpt
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FlashWired

FlashWired
  Cal Paxton and Jeeze Madrid are the top scouting team on the Pathfinder-class starship, the Carson, on the very outer edge of Earth’s expansion across the galaxy. A Pathfinder’s job is to evaluate planets for colonization. Cal’s and Jeeze’s job is to find the planets for the Carson’s scientists to analyze.

Cal and Jeeze are wingmen, best friends… and lovers. Cal wants more than a casual relationship but Jeeze, recently divorced, is wary of commitment. When Jeeze is shot down over a planet inhabited by a race Earth has never before encountered, what will Cal find when the Carson can finally mount a rescue mission? Will he ever succeed in persuading Jeeze to take up that offer of hand and heart?

FlashWired: book data, reviews, excerpt
This book took my breath away. Not just because its story takes place in an interesting future, with puzzling aliens, and a real threat to the main characters’ lives and happiness, … the story is a really good one: great science fiction combined with a deeply emotional love story. Some of it was mind-bending and gruesome, and I cannot say it was a comfortable read. But it was a great read… Rainbow Book Reviews.
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Personal Relations

I don’t write contemporary stories, so this collection of short stories is as much a surprise to me as to you!

Personal Relations
 

Kit Lewis and John Hogarth are two thirds of one of the best Public Relations outfits in the business. Kit has loved John for years now, but John’s wary and skittish. He’s seen far too many of Kit’s loves fall by the wayside, wings burned, to risk it.

One day, though, Kit’s sober when he makes the offer and John is particularly open-minded to the possibility of accepting Kit’s heart and hand. The rest is history.

This collection of six lighthearted short stories charts their relationship from the London Olympics to the celebration of every public holiday known to humankind.

Personal Relations: book data, excerpt
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