Deadly Curiosities will take readers in an entirely new direction from her previous classic fantasies: Cassidy Kincaide is the proprietor of Trifles and Folly, an antique shop with a difference that continues a family tradition begun in 1670 – acquiring and neutralizing dangerous supernatural items. It’s the perfect job for Cassidy, whose psychic gift lets her touch an object and know its history. Together with her business partner Sorren, a 500 year-old vampire and former jewel thief, Cassidy makes it her business to get infernal objects off the market.
Take it away, Gail...
Shadows of the Past
by Gail Z. Martin
I grew up around antiques.
My dad haunted antique shows and flea markets, dragging me with him on
my childhood weekends. Dad would go off
on a quest for whatever he was looking for at that particular time, leaving mom
and me to wander the aisle on our own.
Even back then, I remember being fascinated with the idea that these
objects had a history of their own.
I would imagine what they had witnessed, what secrets they had
overheard. Perhaps a vintage evening
purse had been to the opera or to Lincoln Center. Maybe a piece of jewelry had been worn when
the former owner met a dignitary, movie star, or other luminary. To salvage the day from utter boredom, I
would start concocting stories about what I saw and regale my mother with my
imaginings.
Decades later, going to an antiques or collectibles sale became a
stroll down memory lane. I'd spot a
piece of furniture that an aunt had owned, a vase that looked familiar from the
home of a childhood friend, a dish or clock that I remembered from my
youth. My husband and I would laugh at
how pieces donated to charity just to be rid of them were now fetching big
money as "collectibles."
Fast forward again, and I learned how much objects become a
touchstone for memory as my husband and I had the task of cleaning out our
childhood homes after our parents passed away.
Handling the family silverware, the good dishes, the table linens became
almost sacramental as we remembered the events and people who had used them. Surrounded by family members, someone would
pause from cleaning out a cupboard or closet to hold out an item and say,
"Wow, do you remember this?" Reminiscing became a way to honor the
memory of those who were gone and to pass on those stories to the younger
cousins and grandchildren.
Perhaps after all that, it was inevitable that I would come up
with the concept behind my upcoming Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy series,
which will debut from Solaris Books in the summer of 2014. Cassidy Kincaide is a psychometric, someone
who can read the history of an object by
touching it. She runs Trifles &
Folly, an antiques and curio shop in historic, haunted Charleston, South
Carolina, whose real business is getting dangerous magical objects off the
market before they cause disaster.
Over the years, I've seen a lot of strange, unnerving and odd
items laid out for sale at antique shows.
I'm not worried about running out of fodder for tales about Cassidy and
her team! I'm excited about the chance
to share her world with readers in Deadly Curiosities!
Come check out all the free excerpts, book giveaways and other
goodies that are part of my Days of the Dead blog tour! Trick-or-Treat you way through more than 30
partner sites where you'll find brand new interviews, freebies and
more--details at www.AscendantKingdoms.com.
Ice Forged will be a Kindle Daily Deal with a special one-day
price of just $1.99 only on October 31! Get it here: http://amzn.com/B008AS86QY
My new urban fantasy, Deadly Curiosities, comes out in July, 2014
from Solaris Books. I bring out two series of ebook short stories with a new
story every month for just .99 on Kindle, Kobo and Nook—check out the Jonmarc
Vahanian Adventures or the Deadly Curiosities Adventures.
About the author: Gail Z. Martin is the
author of Ice Forged in The Ascendant
Kingdoms Saga and the upcoming Reign of
Ash (Orbit Books, 2014), plus The Chronicles of The Necromancer series (The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven
& Dark Lady’s Chosen) from Solaris Books and The Fallen Kings Cycle (The Sworn and The
Dread) from Orbit Books. In 2014,
Gail launches a new urban fantasy novel, Deadly
Curiosities, from Solaris Books. She is also the author of two series of
ebook short stories: The Jonmarc Vahanian
Adventures and the Deadly Curiosities
Adventures. Find her at www.ChroniclesOfTheNecromancer.com,
on Twitter @GailZMartin, on www.facebook.com/WinterKingdoms, at
DisquietingVisions.com blog and GhostInTheMachinePodcast.com
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