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Location: United States

Member Since: Feb. 20, 2012

15 readers have added this author as a 'Favorite Author'.

Alyne de Winter

Biography

Alyne de Winter is an author of Gothic Mysteries and Occult Thrillers featuring tormented beauties, eerie settings, night religions, secret histories…
After years of drawing and painting, by a fluke ended up as an English major. She wrote and published award-winning poetry but always wanted to write fiction. The stories did not come to her until she went to Europe, then they flooded in and still haven't stopped.
She loves the tradition of the writer establishing themselves with short stories while building the novels, so you will find many short stories on her page. The short story requires intensity of focus, economy of language (so every word must be effective) and must keep the plot lines tight. She likes to think of the short story as poetry's second cousin.
Major influences: Grimms' Fairy Tales, Complete Works of Shakespeare, Angela Carter, Tanith Lee, Daphne du Maurier,Charles Dickins, Anne Rice, Theophile Gautier, Edgar Allen Poe, the films of Barbara Steele and other 1960s horror films. (Not a gore fan) Religion, History, costume, Ancient dance and folk cultures, and witchcraft.
The Gothic novel has always been a love letter to the past, a grieving for lost beauty and an elegy to the soul.

Smashwords Interview

Who are your favorite authors?

I was an actress for many years, often cast in Shakespearean roles. These plays have always had a powerful influence on me. As have Tennesee Williams and Oscar Wilde.
Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber is the book that made me want to write fiction, followed by Tanith Lee's Red as Blood. Both of these collections are fairy tales re-tellings in imagistc language and Gothic atmopshere. I love both of these authors.
Influences on my writing: Grimm's Fairy Tales, Arthurian Legends, British folk ballads, Bram Stoker, Algernon Blackwood, E.A. Poe, Conan Doyle, Fiona MacLeod, Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca, Suzanne Clark's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, Dan Brown's thrillers-- and lots of 1960's horror films mostly from Europe.
Anything Gothic I love!

What inspires you to get out of bed each day?

Coffee, then my three hours of writing. Every morning I can, I write. My imagination is most active when I wake up, and I love immersing myself in my dream worlds before I face the rest of the day.

Where to find Alyne de Winter online

Website: http://www.alynedewinter.com
Twitter: @AlynedeWinter
Facebook: Facebook profile
LinkedIn: http://AlyneDeWinter@Linkedin.com
Wattpad: AlynedeWinter
Blog: http://www.gothicfaerytales.com

Where to buy in print

http://alynedewinter.com

Books

The Haunted Garden: Secret of the Memento Mori by Alyne de Winter

Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 51,100. Language: English. Published: October 12, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Paranormal » General, Fiction » Romance » Time travel

1666: The Black Death stalks a tiny village in Middle England, laying waste the population 1966: Love lorn art student, Simon Beaumont, goes on walkabout in the Pennine Mountains to die. Instead, he discovers a ruined garden in a remote village haunted by ghosts, especially that of a beautiful girl in a long white dress who seems know him....

Brides of Darkness: Tales of Opulent Darkness by Alyne de Winter

Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 46,270. Language: English. Published: February 22, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Horror, Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal

Tales of Gothic Mystery and Suspense A collection of four short stories and two novelettes about innocents encountering realms of inner darkness. Psychological, atmospheric, mysterious...

The Vampire's Mirror by Alyne de Winter

Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 20,290. Language: English. Published: January 1, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Horror » Undead, Fiction » Romance » Gothic

(5.00 from 1 review)

When young nobleman, Stefan stumbles on the ruins of Castle Drag, he ignores the advice of his friends not to enter, and finds an ornate, golden hand mirror lying in the grass. Dazzled by the beauty of the dragon-ish designs, he takes the mirror home as a gift for his fiancé, Lady Analise, a woman whose beauty calls forth an ancient evil that will not be denied....

The Keys: A Gothic ReTelling of Bluebeard by Alyne de Winter

Price: Free! Words: 6,070. Language: English. Published: November 12, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Historical, Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Psychological thriller

At six years old, Lissette attends a concert by the handsome and dazzling concert pianist, Armand Guy de Rais. She is instantly infatuated. Ten years later, their lives destroyed by the French Revolution, Lissette's mother marries her off to a wealthy aristocrat living on a Caribbean island. Could Lissette's childhood fantasy be coming true?

Roses of the Moon: Book One: Dark Reliquary by Alyne de Winter

Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 145,110. Language: English. Published: July 12, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Historical, Fiction » Horror » Occult

In this Gothic-horror fantasy, Lady Mara grows up, a neglected princess in a labyrinthine castle haunted by evil. Inspired by the legend of Countess Bathory, Alyne weaves a complex web of ritual, mysticism and dark magic that gradually builds up an intense mythology around the mysterious Lucifer Tree and the dragon-queens who worship gods that existed long before the birth of Christ.

The Lady in Yellow: A Victorian Gothic Romance by Alyne de Winter

Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 105,560. Language: English. Published: April 10, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Supernatural, Fiction » Romance » Gothic

(4.00 from 9 reviews)

The Lady in Yellow: A Victorian Gothic Romance! A young governess gets her first job in a stately home in the wilds of Yorkshire, only to discover that the family she serves suffer from an ancient, bestial curse. Revised and Expanded Edition: February 2014

Priestess by Alyne de Winter

Price: Free! Words: 5,960. Language: English. Published: March 16, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » Ancient, Fiction » Horror » Occult

(5.00 from 1 review)

This is a short story, a tale of Dark Fantasy inspired by the High Priestess card in the Tarot. The seventh of seven daughters, Sylvana is taken at birth to be raised in the Temple of the Moon Goddess Diana. When she is initiated into the Rites of the Hunt she flees, on pain of death, because she cannot bear the sacrifices. Protected in a Temple of Proserpina, she learns that her life is danger.

Roses, Briars and Blood: A Gothic Sleeping Beauty. by Alyne de Winter

Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 16,920. Language: English. Published: March 8, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal, Fiction » Fantasy » Dark

(4.50 from 2 reviews)

Blood of a King Blood of a Queen Open a portal To the Unseen. A beautiful Sorceress yearns to be accepted back into society. A barren Queen secretly seeks her magical aid in conceiving a child. The Sorceress gives an elixir to the Queen that is charged with her own essence. This essence grants the babe within the power of magic.

Portrait of a Vampire by Alyne de Winter

Price: Free! Words: 5,320. Language: English. Published: March 7, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Horror » Undead, Fiction » Romance » Suspense

(5.00 from 1 review)

Obsession is a Vampire! "Every evening after work, Gina sensed his presence as an eerie, watery light that filled her apartment.The atmosphere pulled her under, into his mind, into his world. It was exhausting. Even after a full night's sleep, she couldn't wake from the dream...Perhaps, if she had something of him she would feel more grounded. She needed something real, like a picture of his face.

Lenore: A Southern Gothic Re-telling of Beauty and the Beast by Alyne de Winter

Price: Free! Words: 10,440. Language: English. Published: March 6, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal, Fiction » Romance » Gothic

Lost in the Louisiana countryside, Jake finds a half-ruined ante-bellum mansion inhabited by a mysterious lady who never shows her face. In exchange for room and board, he agrees to paint the house. In the process, he uncovers her secret, and finds himself increasingly fascinated by his enigmatic hostess, Lenore.

Alyne de Winter's tag cloud

1600s hungary dark fantasy alyne dewinter ancient roman temples ancient rome astral projection bathory blood blood countess history hungary beauty and the beast betrayals of the heart black death black magic bluebeard retelling body switching briar rose retelling christian themes coming of age girl dark fantasy dark fantasy novella dark fantasy romance dracula vampire story english paranormal mystery european gothic fairy tale retelling fairy tale retellings forbidden room french revolution fiction ghosts gothic gothic author gothic erotic romance gothic faery tales gothic fairy tales gothic fantasy gothic horror gothic horror fantasy gothic horror stories gothic horror vampire gothic mansion gothic regency werewolves ghosts murder thriller romance dreams nightmares gothic romance gothic short story grimms fairy tales haunted painting haunted portraits haunted village high priestess tarot historical dark fantasy historical family saga historical medieval historical religious conflict historical romance novels historical vampires horror dark fantasy horror short stories horror short story horror suspense identical twins lady in yellow literary fantasy love and death lucid fiction magic and mystery medieval stories mystery religions myth of actaeon mythe of goddess diana ottoman wars pagan religion paranormal romance powers of darkness priestesses psychological horror psychological suspense psychologicall thriller quirky characters revenge romance 1400s romance 1600s romance about a ghost romance about unrequited love romance and gothic sacrifice for love seattle goth scene sexual obsession shapeshifting sleeping beauty retelling sorcery sorcery fantasy souhern gothic tales of dark fantasy teles folklore fairy tales temple of proserpina the lady in yellow werewolves traditional vampire story turn of the screw undead goths urban fantasy vampire horror vampire novella vampire romance victorian gothic werewolves werewolves and shifters werewolves romance witchcraft woman in black woman in white