Meet Balfour-Bryce McAlpin: Victorian gentleman, misanthrope and general cad-about-town.
Balfour-Bryce McAlpin is a strange one -- quite literally. He was born from a free-writing exercise, then took on a life of his own.
I began writing his misadventures as a continuation of that exercise, penning short episodic pieces of fiction inspired by the Penny Dreafuls of Victorian times and -- of course -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
I completed one of these, although its origins as an episodic exercise are still very much apparent. However, I love the character so much, I am now continuing to write much tighter plotted novellas featuring Edinburgh's most infamous (and accidental) Victorian detective...
As I have fun with his peculiar tastes and voracious appetite for hedonistic pleasures, Balfour's tales are adult in nature -- although there is nothing really graphic contained within them.
You can read a free seasonal version of Balfour-Bryce McAlpin's Christmas Carol here (PDF).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that Balfour has taken on a life of his own, you can follow him on Facebook here.