An aspiring magician who gets a sinister pleasure playing all kinds of tricks on those around him. Two strangers running into each after 20 years and wondering what they’ve missed. A long-suffering husband who decides it’s time he started making big decisions. An unhappy child at Christmas struggling to deal with his new surroundings before a wonderfully surprising encounter. All this and more within the seven stories of Always Never, Rarely Sometimes, where a wide range of characters are forced to challenge long-held beliefs and powerful memories, accompanied by a sprinkling of magic. Always Never, Rarely Sometimes is the third book from Alexander Raphael, following on from his short story The Summer of Madness and his set of conceptual short stories Illusions, Delusions.

Purchase Links

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Always-Rarely-Sometimes-Alexander-Raphael/dp/B08S8PK5VM/

US - https://www.amazon.com/Always-Rarely-Sometimes-Alexander-Raphael/dp/B08S8PK5VM/

Excerpt

The Prankster 

Jimmy Nirvana was and wasn’t many things. He was a loner, an oddball and a failed magician. The type that you’ve probably walked past a million times without noticing. And the feeling would have been mutual.

He had little interest in people but dreamed of being an entertainer and showman. Even if he hated large crowds and crumbled when put under even a smidgeon of pressure on stage. But that was Jimmy. He didn’t drink but always told people he was a recovering alcoholic. He didn’t smoke but carried cigarettes and a lighter. He was handsome enough but had long convinced himself he wasn’t.

Jimmy wasn’t approachable, kind or generous either. And certainly not honest or trusting. He wasn’t the slightest bit interested in history, the arts or other cultures and was wilfully unable to read a room. And on the rare times he was invited to parties, he wasn’t good company, making no genuine attention to listen when people spoke to him and taking far more interest in the room’s layout and where he could escape to if there was a fire.

But even if those around him were able to ignore him, he wasn’t bothered because he had something else to offer. There was a talent that meant Jimmy was always able to get their attention whether they wanted it or not. He was a prankster. And that, to him, was his own form of magic.

And not just in the half-hearted “Your flies are undone, made you look” or “That deadline was brought forward, just kidding!” kind of way. No. Jimmy Nirvana was a full-on prankster, from as long as he could remember. 

Author Bio – Half-Welsh, half-Mexican and growing up in London, Alex Raphael was surrounded by different influences and interests. But it was always books that spoke to him most and had the greatest impact.

He started writing when at college, where his love of reading evolved into a desire to write, in particular focusing on poetry and short stories. Studying English and American Literature at university meant he took a break from writing, as well as giving him the chance to see more of Mexico on his travels. He concentrated on his journalistic career while working on different writing projects, but his favourite genre of literature has always been short stories as they are what first inspired him to write.

That’s why his first book was The Summer of Madness, a romantic short story that tells of a guy who goes out to try to win his ex-girlfriend back. Will you be rooting for Kurt and his big public gesture or is it more complicated than that and you don’t want her to date him again? Either way you’ll get to know a memorable set of characters along for the ride.

His second book Illusions, Delusions reflects Raphael’s love of alternative short stories from the writers of his childhood and challenges the idea of the narrative. Will your favourite be the story in the form of a questionnaire, a poem or a set of jokes, among the seven very different styles?

Alexander Raphael’s latest offering is Always Never, Rarely Sometimes, featuring original premises and distinctive characters with his trademark imagination, humour and memorable dialogue. Among others, meet a sinister magician with an array of pranks, a long-suffering husband finally becoming more decisive and a group of young guys intrigued by a pretty woman on another table.

Social Media Links –

http://www.alexanderraphaelwriter.com/

https://twitter.com/elraphael

https://www.instagram.com/raphaelalexx/