The Book Plank

Excerpt: Scourge: A Novel of Darkhurst Chapter One A HEAVY IRON candleholder slammed against the  wall, just missing Corran Valmonde’s head. “Son of a bitch!” “Try not to make her mad, Corran.” Rigan Valmonde knelt on the worn floor, drawing a sigil in charcoal, moving as quickly as he dared. Not quickly enough; a piece of firewood spun from the hearth and flew across the room, slamming him in the shoulder hard enough to make him grunt in pain. “Keep her off me!” he snapped, repairing the smudge in the soot line. Sloppy symbols meant sloppy magic, and that could get someone killed. “I would if I could see her.” Corran stepped away from the wall, raising his iron sword, putting himself between the fireplace and his brother. His breath misted in the unnaturally cold room and moisture condensed on the wavy glass of the only window. “Watch where you step.” Rigan worked on the second sigil, widdershins from the soot marking, this one daubed in ochre. “I don’...

Cursed Relics and Urban Fantasy by Gail Z. Martin What is it about cursed objects that sparks our imagination? And why do they show up so much in urban fantasy? Cursed and magically malicious objects play a central role in my Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy series. My main character, Cassidy Kincaide, is a psychometric who can read the history or magic of an object by touching it—and she can also pick up on strong emotional resonance as well. Trifles and Folly, the antique store that has been in her family for over three hundred years, exists to get dangerous magical items off the market and out of the wrong hands. Set in a city like Charleston, SC that takes huge pride in his history (and is one of the most haunted cities in America), there’s no danger that my fictional crew will run out of supernatural threats to counter. But the idea of cursed relics or haunted objects runs deep, and it shows up in plenty of books, TV shows and movies, from Needful Things to Dr. ...

Guest Post: When the Dead Just Won’t Stay Down by Gail Z. Martin Dying might be the only way to ever get free of your cell phone. So far, neither  Verizon Wireless nor Vodaphone have come up with a signal that can reach across the River Styx. It’s not for lack of trying. I suspect that people have been trying to talk to the dead and bring them back to life since the very first death. Some want to reunite with loved ones. Others want the secrets the dead took with them to their grave, or want to enslave them for labor or armies. Whatever the reason, necromancy—magic that gives the user power over the dead—never goes out of style. For someone who’s pretty normal (twitch, twitch), I spend a lot of time thinking about necromancy. My first epic fantasy series was the Chronicles of the Necromancer. The main character, Tris Drayke, learns that he is a Summoner, with the ability to intercede between the living and the dead, and he has to learn to control that magic...

Deadly Curiosities by Gail Z. Martin, Deadly Curiosities #1 Cassidy Kincaide owns Trifles & Folly, an antique/curio store and high-end pawn shop in Charleston, South Carolina that is more than what it seems. Dangerous magical and supernatural items sometimes find their way into mortal hands or onto the market, and Cassidy is part of a shadowy Alliance of mortals and mages whose job it is to take those deadly curiosities out of circulation. Welcome to Trifles & Folly, an antique and curio shop with a dark secret. Proprietor Cassidy Kincaide 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. When mundane antiques suddenly become magically malicious, it’s time fo...