♠ Suicyco Muthaf@cka ♠

Dirk parked next to a brick flowerbed, around the corner from the front entrance. The bushes in the middle of the bed had been crushed. He shook his head. “What is it with people these days? No respect for mother nature, I scheme.”

“Why does nobody tell me nothin’? Why does nobody ever do nothin’? Do Ah have to do everything mahself? Every single thing?”

This had been the tone of the conversation all the way across town, since Mick had kicked in Dirk’s door that morning.

“We couldn’t find you. Make out?” This wasn’t the first time Dirk had said these words. “You weren’t in the hospital. You weren’t in the club. You weren’t in your flat. Where were we supposed to look?”

Mick put both hands on the dashboard and closed his eyes.

“Hey, are you alright, bra?”

Mick breathed, in, out, and again. “Ah’m centering mahself.”

Dirk laughed. “What now?”

“Don’t ye believe people can change, brother?”

Dirk couldn’t answer the question. Not that question, not from Mick. Not now.

“Ah woke up this morning with bits of mah brain leaking out mah ears, man. Mah life flashed before mah eyes, so it did. And it wasn’t pretty. Ah’ve done some bad things, Dirk. And Ah paid for them in prison. So help me, Ah paid.” He opened his eyes and looked sideways at his best friend. “Then yesterday…” He stopped and looked away. “But it’s over now. Ah’m ready for the Valkyries to carry me home.”

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Read Dancing in Valhalla in weekly installments on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, GoodReads, or Amazon, where you’ll find the whole book – 13 decadent twisted tales of mystery, music, magick & mayhem.

Download FREE sampler previews of all my books – and some complete short stories – from PCloud. Including the new Burning Books sampler booklet (also available on Kindle Unlimited).

No charge. No obligation. No sign-in. Read for free. Share with your friends.

⛥⛥

If you have a book you’d like to publish, contact me to claim your 15 minutes of bestselling fame at #1 on Amazon. Find all my details at www.amazon.com/author/burning

⛥⛥

Cheers.

♠ Guns n Roses ♠

Noddy pushed himself into a crouching position, not letting go of his beer. Janine reached over to help him up. As he lurched to his feet, he bumped against her. The lump of steel in his pocket swung heavy against her arm.

“What’s that?”

“I’m happy to see you?” He took it out, holding it carefully to make sure the safety was still off. As far as he could tell.

“What the hell are you doing with that? You could hurt someone.”

The response came automatically. “It’s a gun. That’s what it’s for.”

Janine reached out and took it from him. “I’ll hold onto this, shall I? I’ve taken the day off so we can sort this out. I don’t need you playing with a loaded weapon while we discuss the future of our family. Somebody was shot just last night, in the restaurant of the Horny Dragon.”

Noddy froze. “Where was Mick?”

“Seriously? Where were you?”

“Come on, Girlfriend. Last night, when it happened. Was Mick in the club?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. He just got out of hospital.” “Yeah. Okay. You’re right.” He was too tired to argue. Instead, he stepped out of the flowerbed and towards the entrance to Janine’s flat. Towards home, the only place he had ever felt safe.

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Read Dancing in Valhalla in weekly installments on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, GoodReads, or Amazon, where you’ll find the whole book – 13 decadent twisted tales of mystery, music, magick & mayhem.

Download FREE sampler previews of all my books – and some complete short stories – from PCloud. Including the new Burning Books sampler booklet (also available on Kindle Unlimited).

No charge. No obligation. No sign-in. Read for free. Share with your friends.

⛥⛥

Catch me at the Fairland CPF Market on Sunday the 30th of May from 10am. Paperback books on sale.

If you have a book you’d like to publish, contact me to claim your 15 minutes of bestselling fame at #1 on Amazon. Find all my details at www.amazon.com/author/burning

⛥⛥

Cheers.

♠ Streets of London ♠

As she raised her beer for the first sip, her eyes fixed on something nearby. “Hey granddad. Best you stop staring before my boyfriend stabs you in the face. We’re having a private moment here.”

When Noddy swiveled his head to look, everyone around them seemed to have developed a sudden intense interest in their own feet. The daily flow of Hillbrow moved around them as if they were invisible. Which suited them just fine.

“Imagine we’re having a picnic at the zoo,” Noddy suggested, trying to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. “You have to put up with the animals staring at you, wanting some of whatever you’re eating.”

This made her laugh. Choke, actually, as she’d just taken a bite of food and a swig of beer. She coughed, laughing at the same time. “Bastard. Don’t do that. I can’t swallow with my mouth open.”

He nodded sagely. “Ah, yes. That explains the pregnancy.”

Another cough. “Stop it.”

A tiny piece of bacon had landed on her bottom lip. Noddy reached up and brushed it off. Her tongue darted out at the same time, flicking against his finger before he could pull it away. Their eyes met. Then she looked over his shoulder.

“Oi! Granddad! I thought I told you already.”

Noddy looked over his shoulder. “Nah, that’s not him. Some other old fart. Leave him alone.” Although, to be honest, he suspected it really was the same coffin-dodger, sneaking back for another look.

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Read Dancing in Valhalla in weekly installments on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, GoodReads, or Amazon, where you’ll find the whole book – 13 decadent twisted tales of mystery, music, magick & mayhem.

Download FREE sampler previews of all my books – and some complete short stories – from PCloud. Including the new Burning Books sampler booklet (also available on Kindle Unlimited).

No charge. No obligation. No sign-in. Read for free. Share with your friends.

⛥⛥

Don’t forget to check out Got Change? by my mate Jon-Pat Myers. We launched it recently at #1 in Amazon’s “Punk Music” category. Now also available in paperback.

If you have a book you’d like to publish, contact me to claim your 15 minutes of bestselling fame at #1 on Amazon. Find all my details at www.amazon.com/author/burning

⛥⛥

Cheers.

♠ People who died ♠

“Are you okay?” Janine put an arm around his shoulders.

He looked at her, eyes asking the question his lips couldn’t. Pleading for the answer to be different.

She shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I know you two were still good friends. I never wanted to interfere with that.”

Noddy lowered his breakfast, appetite gone. “How…?”

“Someone brought her jacket to the club last night. Just her jacket. Midget Submarine were playing, so I didn’t see who it was. Must have been one of Mick’s people. It was covered in blood and powder. Too much of both.”

He remembered. So much of both. Too much. He hadn’t been able to reach her where she’d landed, on a rooftop across the road from Mick’s flat. He’d used the ivy to reach the ruined fire escape, rusted and broken against the lower half of the wall. But there had been no way for him to access the building next door, even if he hadn’t heard the pairs of vengeful boots clanging against the iron steps above him.

“Dirk put it up on the wall, in that spot he’d made for Mick’s colours.” She smiled sadly. “The bouncers tried to stop him. Said Mick wouldn’t be happy. He threw one of them across the dancefloor. Threatened to shoot the other one.”

Even Noddy smiled. “Yeah. She would have liked that.”

“She would have. Neil played Vampirella in her honour. Then he played Motorhead for you. He was disappointed when you didn’t join him at the front of the stage.”

⛥⛥

Read Dancing in Valhalla in weekly installments on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, GoodReads, or Amazon, where you’ll find the whole book – 13 decadent twisted tales of mystery, music, magick & mayhem.

Download FREE sampler previews of all my books – and some complete short stories – from PCloud. Including the new Burning Books sampler booklet (also available on Kindle Unlimited).

No charge. No obligation. No sign-in. Read for free. Share with your friends.

⛥⛥

Don’t forget to check out Got Change? by my mate Jon-Pat Myers. We launched it recently at #1 in Amazon’s “Punk Music” and “Israel Travel Guides” categories.

If you have a book you’d like to publish, contact me to claim your 15 minutes of bestselling fame at #1 on Amazon. Find all my details at www.amazon.com/author/burning

⛥⛥

Cheers.

♠ Burning Books ♠ in the Rand Club

Cheers to everyone who supported us at the Rand Club book fair last weekend.

Check out my new Burning Bookshop on Etsy.

Or don’t. Your choice. Really.

♠ Rabbit fighter ♠

Noddy opened his eyes to see a Bimbos breakfast pita wafting back and forth under his nose. Hoping he wasn’t still dreaming, he moved his right hand slowly until it intercepted this gift from the gods. He found that someone else’s hand had been holding it. Disappointing. He really needed to work on his ability to summon inanimate objects and make them appear when required.

“Still tramp king of the city, I see?”

He knew that voice. Taking his first bite of the pita, he looked round to see Janine smiling down at him. She was holding a beer. It would have been impolite to make her hold it much longer, so Noddy took up the burden himself.

“Cheers.” He looked around again. “So this is our new place? I like it. Comfortable, yet with the illusion of space. Must have cost a fortune.”

She laughed. “This is a flowerbed.”

Aha. That explained all those people walking past, staring at them. He took a quick peek over his breakfast, and was more than a little relieved to find that he was fully clothed. Green bushes sprang up around the outline of his body, their neighbours providing adequate support underneath. It was really quite comfortable. And healthy, out in the sunshine and fresh air.

Janine tucked into her own pita, sitting on the brick wall around the flowerbed and popping open another beer. Now there were no smiles.

“You heard, obviously?”

And it was then that Noddy remembered why he had spent the night alone on top of the Skeleton, a burned-out shell of a building perched on the edge of a cliff in Yeoville, with a bottle of whisky liberated from a Rockey Street bar.

He would have staggered if he hadn’t already been lying down.

⛥⛥

Read Dancing in Valhalla in weekly installments on FaceBook or WordPress. Receive notifications via Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, GoodReads, or Amazon, where you’ll find the whole book – 13 decadent twisted tales of mystery, music, magick & mayhem.

Download FREE sampler previews of all my books – and some complete short stories – from PCloud. Including the new Burning Books sampler booklet (also available on Kindle Unlimited).

No charge. No obligation. No sign-in. Read for free. Share with your friends.

⛥⛥

My Burning Books sampler booklet is also free on Amazon, today and tomorrow. Even if you don’t subscribe to Kindle Unlimited.

Don’t forget to check out Got Change? by my mate Jon-Pat Myers. We launched it recently at #1 in Amazon’s “Punk Music” and “Israel Travel Guides” categories.

If you have a book you’d like to publish, contact me to claim your 15 minutes of bestselling fame at #1 on Amazon. Find all my details at www.amazon.com/author/burning

⛥⛥

Cheers.