Author Archives: disq2332

About disq2332

I'm Gail Z. Martin and I write epic fantasy, urban fantasy and steampunk--so far! My newest series is Scourge: A Novel of Darkhurst. I'm also the author for the Chronicles of the Necromancer series, The Fallen Kings Cycle, The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, the Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy series and co-authored with my husband, Larry N. Martin, the steampunk series Iron & Blood.

Welcome to the Hawthorn Moon 2018!


The annual blog tour began to celebrate the summer solstice, called the Hawthorn Moon in my novel The Summoner (the first book in my Chronicles of the Necromancer series). And for eleven years, we’ve kept on celebrating the solstice with new books, guest blog posts, giveaways and more!  

Here’s what’s in store this year!

Enter for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift certificate in my Hawthorn Moon Blog Tour giveaway! http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9751c04211/?

I’m a guest blogger on the following sites, sharing details about new, upcoming and continuing series, as well as some sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes details you won’t find anywhere else!

WeGeekGirls.com — I talk about indie publishing and why indie or hybrid careers make sense for a growing number of authors

ISmellSheep.com —I spill the beans on the upcoming new dark urban fantasy Sons of Darkness!

JaceyBedford.WordPress.com —Everything you ever wanted to know about writing series and sequels

RisingShadow.net — Behind the scenes with Vengeance, the newest book in the Darkhurst epic fantasy series!

Beauty-In-Ruins.Blogspot.com  — A sneak peek at Tangled Web, the brand new novel in the Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy series.

SFBok.se  — Catch up on The Dark Road and the upcoming Legacy of the Necromancer new series!

qwillery.Blogspot.com  — Monster hunters, demon-hunting ex-priests and agents from the Department of Supernatural Investigations.

bookwraiths.com —New scoop on both what’s next for Jonmarc Vahanian, and the next chapter in the Valmonde brothers’ medieval monster hunting!

Morgan Brice has been busy, too!

As you may know, I’ve started writing urban fantasy MM paranormal romance under the pen name Morgan Brice. Witchbane, the first book in one series, came out in March, and Badlands, the first in another series, comes out at the end of June.

The Witchbane Book Blast coincides with the Hawthorn Moon, and Badlands will kick off its own tour right after the July 4 holiday. Here’s where you can find out more!

Be sure to look for me at a convention near you!

June 29 – July 1  LibertyCon, Chattanooga, TN
July 13 – 15        ConGregate, High Point, NC
July 27-29          Raleigh SuperCon, Raleigh, NC
Aug 1-5              GenCon, Indianapolis, IN
Aug 31 – Sept 3  DragonCon, Atlanta, GA
Oct. 5-7              RomCon, Williamsburg, VA (as Morgan Brice)
Oct. 18 -21         GRL, Portsmouth, VA (as Morgan Brice)
Oct. 26-27          WV Festival of the Book, Charleston, WV

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A Perspective On Pain

by Chris Shrewsbury

pain (n): physical suffering or distress, as due to injury, illness, etc.

Rarely has the definition of a word so failed to capture its essence, its flavor. The above definition of “pain” is akin to describing music as a “rhythmic aural construct.”

For most of my 50+ years, pain was an occasional, but bearable, physical nuisance. The rare bump, bruise, or scratch we all accumulate through life. (This was before I’d ever stepped on a Lego block…) Of course, there are also those unseen hurts: heartbreaks, the loss of a loved one, and such. Little did I know how intimately I would come to know both types, the physical and the emotional.

Around the time our son was born, I began experiencing gradually increasing pain in my hands and feet. After a number of physician visits, I was diagnosed with a condition manifesting as progressive neurological weakness and decay. Given the rate and nature of its advance toward major organs and systems, my prognosis was terminal. I was told to expect decreasing function and escalating pain.

So in my late 30s and never having so much as a broken finger, I now had to deal with knowing the rest of my shortened life will be spent not only in constant physical pain and disability, but also the anguish of leaving behind my wife of three years and young son. Nothing prepares you for that scenario, and it’s one that I’d never wish on my worst enemy.

Please believe me when I tell you that my lows have been quite low, indeed. I have had days where I have wept the most bitter of tears, cursing God and at the same time begging Him for relief. And more often than I can say, it was only the image of my wife and son that kept me going. The loss of abilities we all take for granted, numerous hospitalizations, multiple amputations, infections, being confined to bed for months at a time. The inability to be the husband and father my family deserved. All of these and more have conspired to turn my life into the deepest and darkest of nights. (Lego blocks got nothing on this.)

Now this is the part where I’m supposed to tell you how I overcame all of these obstacles and that everything is just fine. And I really wish I could, but I’d be lying. Pain is still my close companion. The truth is that my condition is progressing, and even though I take so many pills each day that I rattle when I walk, my pain levels are high and my prognosis is unchanged. And although my time with my family may be limited, we are firmly dedicated to creating beautiful, meaningful memories and making each day count. And I have found an extremely rewarding effort in sharing my perspective (on everything from disabilities to humor and all things in-between) with others, hoping to encourage, enlighten, and entertain.

I spent quite a while thinking that life would be worthwhile if I could just escape the pain. What I’ve found is that life is what happens through the pain. Some people measure that life in years or milestones. Others may measure it in seasons or sunrises. And oftentimes there are those of us that can simply just count each breath coming in and going out. But regardless your system of measure, I sincerely hope you glimpse life’s beauty through the pain, be it of your body or in your heart. May that beauty give you strength to continue counting breaths, sunrises, and seasons.

—-

About the campaign:
#HoldOnToTheLight is a blog campaign encompassing blog posts by fantasy and science fiction authors around the world in an effort to raise awareness around treatment for depression, suicide prevention, domestic violence intervention, PTSD initiatives, bullying prevention and other mental health-related issues. We believe fandom should be supportive, welcoming and inclusive, in the long tradition of fandom taking care of its own. We encourage readers and fans to seek the help they or their loved ones need without shame or embarrassment.
Please consider donating to or volunteering for organizations dedicated to treatment and prevention such as: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Hope for the Warriors (PTSD), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Canadian Mental Health Association, MIND (UK), SANE (UK), BeyondBlue (Australia), To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) and the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

To find out more about #HoldOnToTheLight, find a list of participating authors and blog posts, or reach a media contact, go to http://www.HoldOnToTheLight.com and join us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WeHoldOnToTheLight

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Happy Spring!

Awesomecon and Ravencon were wonderful, and now that I’m home, we’re back to getting more books out to satisfy story-hungry readers!

Watch for Tangled Web (Deadly Curiosities novel #3) to come out very soon, in ebook/print and in audiobook! When a malicious weaver-witch awakens the spirit of an ancient Norse seoir warlock and calls to the Wild Hunt, Cassidy, Teag, and Sorren—and all their supernatural allies—will need magic, cunning, and the help of a Viking demi-goddess to survive the battle and keep Charleston—and the whole East Coast—from becoming the prey of the Master of the Hunt.

Vengeance (Darkhurst book #3) is also due later this spring, continuing the adventures of undertaker brothers Corran and Rigan Valmonde and their outlaw friends as they battle the monsters and uncover a conspiracy much larger than they ever imagined.

Also coming soon from Falstaff Books is Deep Trouble, our third Spells, Salt, and Steel Mark Wojcik monster hunter adventure. Mark’s gone up against plenty of big bad creatures and cryptids, but never like this! Mark Wojcik fights a dragon, has a battle of wits with the ghost of Mad Anthony Wayne, and even takes on the infamous Pig People of Radio Tower Hill, but when the angry spirits from a bloody mine disaster come looking for vengeance, Mark knows he’s in deep trouble!

We’re working on plenty of other stuff behind the scenes, so expect plenty of new stuff yet to be revealed—we’ve got your summer reading covered!

Under my Morgan Brice pen name (urban fantasy MM paranormal romance), I’m working on the first book in a new series, Badlands, set in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I hope to have it out in May, so stay tuned to find out more!

Witchbane, the first Morgan Brice release, is racking up 4 and 5 star reviews! The Witchbane blog tour includes excerpts, a Q&A, a post from me on Paths to Publication, and musings about the inspiration for the new series and the addition of a new name and a new sub-genre! Plus a chance to win a $25 gift certificate! Here’s the master page—visit the participating blogs and enter the Rafflecopter drawing from their sites! http://www.ltpromos.com/2018/04/23/morgan-brices-witchbane-tour-and-giveaway-2/

Supernatural fans—I’m going to the #SPNNC convention in Charlotte in August. I’d love to meet up with you there! Here’s the link to the con group I started to help attendees find each other https://www.facebook.com/groups/169524930423807/

Come see me at a convention, follow me on Twitter @GailZMartin (and @MorganBriceBook), join the Shadow Alliance street team or The Worlds of Morgan Brice free Facebook groups, or check out my Pinterest boards www.Pinterest.com/Gzmartin (includes a Morgan Brice board, as well as abandoned buildings, cute animals, nostalgia and Supernatural).

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Where Have All the Muses Gone—a #HoldOnToTheLight post

By Danielle Ackley-McPhail

From the first days of my conscious thought I have always been creative. I have told tales and given free rein to my imagination. I’ve created worlds on paper, in my head, for my toys, friends, and anyone else who would listen. And—eventually—for my fans. I have lived with my muses for a very, very long time.

holdontothelight-fb-bannerI live to be creative. To make something awe-inspiring out of nothing but a thought.

It kills me to not be creative.

I am dying inside.

Since 2014 the stress of life has become a barrier between myself and my muses. The death of loved ones, friends, pets… The struggle to provide for my family. My failure to do so. Losing my job. Losing my house. Moving in a long, slow, painful process that feels as if it will never end. Still not knowing how I’m going to meet my obligations. Needing to find a job.

My muses and I are rarely on speaking terms anymore. Or maybe I’ve just become deaf to their voices, too soft to hear over the clamber of all my other worries. Pushed back by all the other responsibilities. Even just writing this article has been a struggle. I despair of every being creative again. Believe me. That doesn’t help. The panicked jibbering in my head at that thought drowns the muses out even more. Depression kills my passion and my joy, but I refuse to let it triumph and kill the heart of me.

I remind myself that today is not the day. But that does not mean tomorrow isn’t. Or the next. Or even years from now.
My creativity might not come when I expect it. When I need it. But that is not today’s concern. Today I must survive. I must manage what responsibilities I can. Deal with whatever crises rise up before me. Because no matter how dark today seems, there is always tomorrow. Each time I wake up to a new day, it is a win. I will not surrender my life, my creativity to despair. I will not hand it that victory.

Over the last three years I have had to focus on survival, but that does not mean my muses have been silent. I have written, there have been fleeting moments of inspiration, and once I find my feet again, my sisters will be there, ready once more to whisper in my ear, to share new worlds with me.

And I WILL share them with you. If I do not give up.

Never Give Up. Never Surrender.

#HoldOnToTheLight is a blog campaign encompassing blog posts by fantasy and science fiction authors around the world in an effort to raise awareness around treatment for depression, suicide prevention, domestic violence intervention, PTSD initiatives, bullying prevention and other mental health-related issues. We believe fandom should be supportive, welcoming and inclusive, in the long tradition of fandom taking care of its own. We encourage readers and fans to seek the help they or their loved ones need without shame or embarrassment.

Please consider donating to or volunteering for organizations dedicated to treatment and prevention such as: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Hope for the Warriors (PTSD), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Canadian Mental Health Association, MIND (UK), SANE (UK), BeyondBlue (Australia), To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) and the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

To find out more about #HoldOnToTheLight, find a list of participating authors and blog posts, or reach a media contact, go to https://www.HoldOnToTheLight.com and join us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WeHoldOnToTheLight

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Hawthorn Moon Tour 2017–Monsters, Airships and Smugglers

FC (Scourge)Welcome to my annual Hawthorn Moon blog tour! The name comes from a holiday celebrated on the Solstice in my Chronicles of the Necromancer series, and the idea just stuck. It’s become the season to unveil new cover art, talk about new books and upcoming new releases, and explore ideas in guest blog posts on blogs around the world!

The big news….

Scourge, the first book in my new Darkhurst epic fantasy series, comes out from Solaris Books July 15!

What’s Scourge about? Here’s the short answer: Three undertaker brothers in a medieval trading town battle monsters to protect their family and neighbors, only to discover that the monsters have masters and the stakes are higher than they dreamed.

Here’s the book cover answer: In a city beset by monsters, three brothers must find out who is controlling the abominations and stop the carnage. Corran, Rigan, and Kell Valmonde are Guild Undertakers, left to run their family’s business when guards murdered their father and monsters killed their mother. Their grave magic enables them to help souls pass to the After and banish vengeful spirits. Rigan’s magic is unusually strong and enables him to hear the confessions of the dead, the secrets that would otherwise be taken to the grave. When the toll exacted by monsters and brutal guards hits close to home and ghosts expose the hidden sins of powerful men, Corran, Rigan and Kell become targets in a deadly game and face a choice: obey the Guild, or fight back and risk everything.

And here’s the Hollywood pitch summary: Supernatural meets Game of Thrones.

So there you have it–medieval monster hunters! Be sure to check out the excerpts I’ll be posting with many of the blog tour links!

The Tour

IMG_0158Check back here for updates–I’ll post live links to the blog posts, giveaways and excerpts running on these awesome blogs!

We Geek Girls
Bookwraith
Magical Words
Solaris Books/When Gravity Fails
Risingshadow
Beauty In Ruins
I Smell Sheep
Jacey Bedford
SciFi Chick
SFF World
SF Bokhandlein
Qwillery
Squealing Nerd
Dave Brendon deBurgh
Fantasy Book Critic
MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape
There will also be a Goodreads giveaways, so stay tuned for details!

Other News

IMG_0090We’ve got a trio of new Steampunk stories in the Storm & Fury Adventures (extra episodes in the Iron & Blood world): Ghost Wolf, Ruin Creek and Lagniappe! Werewolf vigilantes, skinwalkers and weird West aliens and the curse of a pirate’s ghost–these stories have it all!

Jonmarc Vahanian fans–his story is now complete! If you’ve been following the serialized journey of everyone’s favorite brigand lord, the tale is now complete with Death Match, Guardian and Smuggler!  These three novellas take the action up to about five years before the beginning of The Summoner! (Will I ever write more smuggling tales? Maybe!)

What’s Coming Up!

IMG_0028Salvage Rat, new space opera series by Larry N. Martin, will debut later this year. If you cross Bonnie and Clyde with V For Vendetta in a Firefly-esque universe, you’re on the money!

Spells, Salt and Steel–Larry and I team up to write this brand new series loosely set in John Hartness’s Bubba the Monster Hunter ‘verse. Mechanic Mike Wojcik and an unlikely group of helpers battle monsters, urban legends and homicidal deer in the wilds of Western Pennsylvania. Coming in October.

A Deadly Curiosities novella tied in with the world of Jeanne Adam’s Haven Harbor witchcraft series in an all-new anthology! Look for it at Halloween!

Hath No Fury, an anthology about kick-ass female characters from Ragnarok Press featuring an origin story for Kestel Falke from my Ascendant Kingdoms Saga.

IMG_0098The Assassins of Landria–If Butch and Sundance were medieval assassins, they would roll like this. An epic fantasy buddy flick series filled with dark magic, betrayal and action. Coming later this year.

A Terrific Tie-In I Can’t Talk about Yet!  Watch for an announcement in late summer about this brand new media tie-in series coming in 2019

The final three Blaine McFadden Adventures–Arctic Prison, Ice Bound and Cold Fury told the story of Blaine’s years as a convict. Watch for three new novellas in early 2019 that recount his years as a colonist!

There’s more, including plans to start writing the seventh Chronicles of the Necromancer book (beginning a new six-book series seventeen years after The Dread), new novels in the Deadly Curiosities and Iron & Blood series, and three more new series I can’t talk about yet! Subscribe to my email update, and you’ll never miss a new release!

Come see us at a Convention!

I’ll be at LibertyCon, then we’ll both be at ConGregate, then I go to GenCon and we’re both at DragonCon and Atomacon. Look for us there–we’ll have a table with books galore (including hard-to-find anthologies and our new indie stuff in print) at several of the cons plus Larry’s awesome hand-thrown pottery shot glasses and mugs!

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Why Fandom is My Family, and Family Don’t End With Blood

I don’t usually write blog posts that are about someone else’s book. BUT–Lynn Zubernis asked for my ‘thinky thoughts’ about her new book, Family Don’t End With Blood, so here I go.

The story so far….Lynn runs the Fangasm Supernatural fan site and is @FangasmSPN on Twitter. She’s very active at SPN conventions and both she and Laurena Aker of the WinchesterFamilyBusiness site are pillars of the Supernatural fandom community. Family Don’t End With Blood is Lynn’s new book about how Supernatural–the show, the characters, the actors and the fandom–changed lives and helped people through depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, grief, physical challenges, self-harm and other issues. It includes interviews with actors, fans and others who are part of the SPNFamily.

IMG_0078I knew I was in trouble when I choked up on the introduction. Trust me when I say I’m not a big crier. I was teary before I was even into the first essay. Not sad tears, but that sense you get when you come home and know it.

I’ve talked candidly about how fandom saved my life when I was 15. And I’ve also talked about why, in these frightening and unstable times, we fans need each other and our fandoms more than ever. And I’ve also shared how Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles’ #AlwaysKeepFighting (#AKF) campaign via the Supernatural fandom inspired me to pull together 100 science fiction/fantasy authors for the #HoldOnToTheLight campaign.

Fandom has been part of my life since I was about 15. Now that I’m an author of epic fantasy, urban fantasy and steampunk, I’m not only a fan, but I’m up on the stage on panels, talking about how we create the worlds readers escape into, as well as other fannish interests. Most of my friends are involved in fandom at some level or another, either as pros or fans–or both. I travel for about 15 sci-fi/fantasy conventions a year all over the U.S. and sometimes Canada. I am writing eight novels this year, plus some short stories and novellas. I spend most of my waking hours surrounded by the characters in my books. So I take fandom very seriously.

I came late to the party on Supernatural, diving into the show during late S11 and got completely caught up on all eleven seasons plus all the tie-in books (and reading more fan fiction than I will admit to sober) by the start of Season 12. I haven’t gone this deep into a fandom since the first Star Wars movie came out in 1977. And gradually, I came to understand why.

I knew about Supernatural because one of my daughters had watched it when the show first came out and she said I would like it. Then last April, all of a sudden it seemed like the right time to start in. I was hooked from the start, and we binge watched a couple of episodes each night. Little did I know that I was also just heading into a storm of personal upsets and set backs that still hasn’t fully worked its way out. I found myself getting immersed in the show–and then the books and the fan fiction–as a way to hang on.IMG_0347

One of the first ways Supernatural changed me happened when I saw how much good came out of the #AlwaysKeepFighting campaign. I was really impressed that Jared and Jensen and Misha would use their platform to do something so personal and important. That got me thinking. Writers aren’t famous like actors, but our books create the worlds that inspire TV shows and movies–we create the genre. I know a lot of writers, and I also knew that we all had our own demons. So I asked 100 of my author friends if they would be willing to write a post on their own blogs about how mental health issues like depression, suicide, PTSD, anxiety, self-harm, etc. had affected them, someone they loved, their characters and their writing. I called it #HoldOnToTheLight, and the goal was to decrease the stigma about mental health issues within fandom, to stand in solidarity with fans, and to encourage readers to seek help. You can find more about #HoldOnToTheLight and the master post of blogs at www.HoldOnToTheLight.com. We also encouraged convention runners to add panels on mental health to con programming or to expand/promote panels they already offered. The list of cons with those panels is growing, and now includes GenCon (approx. 70K attendees) and Dragon*Con (approx 80K attendees).

But Supernatural wouldn’t let me go–and going through a personal rough patch, I dove in deeper. I found my way into online fandom, first by immersing myself in fan fiction, fan videos and art, and then gradually getting involved in the lively, ongoing conversation on Twitter.

That’s how I met Nightsky, and as we chatted–first with tweets, then direct messages, then emails–she asked me to do a guest blog post for Winchester Family Business based on some comments I’d made. Then I was heading to Chicago to a non-SPN convention, and we agreed to meet up between my panels. We ended up spending most of the day together and having a wonderful dinner, and then continuing the conversation via email afterwards. I’ve written another guest blog since then for WFB and might do so again. Along the way, I started to live tweet the new episodes, and met even more fans. Now going out on Twitter is a highlight and social point of my day, responding to conversations, posting photos and memes, and enjoying the SPNFamily’s online companionship. I’m still not through that rough patch, but the SPNFamily is helping me hang on–they mean more to me than I can express, and I hope I can pay the favor forward.

There’s one more reason Supernatural is so special to me, and I didn’t realize it until I was well into season six.

Sam and Dean faced down the specter that dominated my childhood and convinced me that I would never live long enough to become an adult: the Apocalypse.

Now maybe that sounds strange. But I grew up in a church that expected the literal Biblical Apocalypse/Rapture/Armageddon to happen any day. And simultaneously, my parents were involved in the far right’s conspiracy-fueled underground expecting a Communist take-over (a la the Chinese Cultural Revolution and Stalin’s purges) to happen at any time. (Note: I disavowed both these religious and political views decades ago, but they unquestionably warped my childhood and framed my world view as a child/adolescent.)

IMG_0106One of my favorite books as a child and pre-teen was Clarence Larkin’s The Greatest Book of Dispensational Truth. It was–I kid you not–an illustrated, fold-out guide to the Apocalypse that did not consider itself to be fiction. If you wonder where Supernatural got its horsemen, Leviathans, the Witnesses, the Seals, the Whore of Babylon, the Beast, the AntiChrist and so much more–it’s all in there, in pictures. Larkin and John Nelson Darby popularized the Rapture and Armageddon mythos by reading several prophetic books of the Bible (Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation as well as the apocryphal book of Enoch–yes, it’s where Enochian comes from) and interpreting them outside of generally accepted methods of textual criticism and archeological/cultural study. In other words, they in a sense wrote fan fiction of the Bible, and it stuck.

When these frightening images are part of what all the adults around you accept as real and inevitable, it is terrifying to a child–like finding out that the monster under the bed is real. It was too big to handle, and the only advice from adults was just to make sure my soul was ok when it came my time to die.

At the same time, my parents got pulled into a secretive network of conspiracy theorists who believed that Communists had infiltrated the world governments at every level and that–any day now–we were all either going to die or be imprisoned in gulags. One of my earliest memories is my mom coaching me on how to behave when the day came that we would be taken to a prison camp. I think I was around four or five.

My uncle got us into it. He had been in infantry and then tanks in World War II and saw combat in the Battle of the Bulge. I believe he returned with severe PTSD, which went untreated and unacknowledged, and I think it made him vulnerable to the nightmarish scenarios of the conspiracies. My uncle’s friends were also WWII vets. They passed information via short-wave radio (no internet back in the 1970s), through secret get-togethers, and by word of mouth–always wary that ‘They’ were watching.

IMG_0107So I grew up with people who stockpiled ammo and hid guns in the walls of their houses, who had bunkers and safe houses, who talked about keeping a stash of silver coins on hand so that when–not if–the banks collapsed and currency lost its value, we could run and go to ground. I grew up with caches of freeze-dried food–enough to last five years–and survivalist tactics and friends who trained their kids to strip a gun blindfolded. My uncle and his friends saw themselves as the thin gray line of sentries in a war against evil, willing to die for a cause kept secret because others would think it was crazy.

I don’t think John Winchester and Bobby Singer would have shared the political views of my uncle and his friends, but they could have walked into the room and had a drink with them and understood those guys. They were damaged men, trying to do the best they could, protecting the people they loved.

Shedding those two pervasive world views that had shaped my understanding of reality nearly destroyed me as a teenager in my college years. Fandom and my early attempts at writing the novel which would someday become The Summoner kept me alive. Back then, I discovered I could entertain and amuse my friends by writing fan fiction for Star Wars, Star Trek, Space: 1999 and other shows. We passed the typed or hand-written stories around at convention room parties in the early 1980s. For a short time, I even ran a fanzine.

I belonged in fandom the way I didn’t ever belong in my birth family, at my church, at my college or with most of the people I knew growing up. Inside fandom, I was safe. Inside fandom, people understood and liked the same things I did, they got the jokes and the catchphrases. They validated, affirmed and encouraged. We might have been freaks to the outside world, but we were freaks together.

When I started watching Supernatural, I didn’t realize the connection at first. Then one day, it hit me and I was poleaxed. Sam and Dean faced down my personal bogeyman–the Apocalypse–and survived. Scarred, yes, but still standing and stronger than before. True heroes.

So when I read Lynn’s awesome book and the essays by creators, actors and fans alike about the strength and healing of the fandom family, I totally understand. I cherish my time at conventions when I can be with my tribe–although the events at which I’m a panelist are general sci-fi/fantasy cons instead of the SPN cons (which do sound like a lot of fun). I’m so thrilled that because of Supernatural, a much larger group of people have come into fandom and found that refuge. We all find our corner of fandom, whether it’s books, movies, TV shows, cosplay, gaming, LARP, comics, filk music, art or a mix of all of those.

One of the most affirming thing you can hear as an author is that your book and characters got someone through a hard time. I have read books by favorite authors that got me through depression, loneliness, deaths in the family, and stressful circumstances. And my most cherished notes from readers are the ones who tell me that my books kept them company at the bedside of a dying loved one, got them through two tours of duty in Afghanistan, or otherwise helped them survive hard times.

As Lynn shares in her book, that two-way support is taken to a whole new level of special with the Supernatural fandom and its creators and actors. I’ve seen that kind of support in action, and I know how powerful it can be, and how wonderful it is to belong to a community that welcomes you and encourages you to be your real self.

I’ve felt that welcome myself as a newcomer to SPNFamily–take a look at my Twitter feed, It’s turned Twitter into one of my favorite activities. I look forward to seeing what new wonderful comments and photos my SPNFamily is going to share that day, and enjoy trying to return the favor. Getting adopted by this wonderful group of people has meant a lot to me.

So go buy Lynn’s book. Give it to a friend who needs encouragement. But even more importantly, continue being the wonderful fandom and SPNFamily you already are and be there for each other. Because family really doesn’t end with blood–in the end, our true families are the people we choose.

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Necromancy Light and Dark

by Gail Z. Martin

I mostly write about necromancers who are good guys.

Tris Drayke, the main character in my Chronicles of the Necromancer/Fallen Kings Cycle series, struggles to control his power as he rises to be the strongest Summoner of his generation. Tormod Solveig, a secondary character in my Ascendant Kingdoms series, wields his power as a warlord and a necromancer with his sister Rinka, a fearsome warrior, watching his back. Archibald Donnelly, in my Deadly Curiosities dark urban fantasy series, takes the low key approach to necromancy with the misleading demeanor of a laid back archivist. They’re the good guys, wrestling with the temptations of fearsome power to remain on the side of light.

Now let’s go dark side. In the steampunk world of Iron & Blood, which I co-write with my husband, Larry N. Martin, we meet the dark necromancers, the Resurrectionists, Francis Tumblety and Adolph Brunrichter, as well as the Dollmaker, who try to uncover the secrets of clockwork-driven immortality. Scaith, a dark necromancer, also appears in The Sworn and The Dread in my Chronicles/Fallen Kings series, and the devotees of the dark goddess Shanthadura also move into the territory of dark necromancy. In Vendetta, part of my Deadly Curiosities series, Sariel calls on dark magic to control reapers and nephilim who in turn feed on the spirits of the dead.  And in The Shadowed Path, we meet Foor Arontala, a blood mage. He is not an necromancer himself, but he is sworn to freeing the soul of the Obsidian King, a powerful dark necromancer whose soul was imprisoned after he nearly brought the Winter Kingdoms to destruction.

Intent is everything.

I’ve written about hero necromancers because I don’t believe power is intrinsically good or evil; what matters is what you do with the power. And as Spiderman knows, with great power comes great responsibility. What makes the responsible use of great power very difficult is imperfect information and human nature. Without complete information, it’s easy to draw incorrect conclusions, come to bad decisions, and believe you’re using the power to do the right thing when in fact, you’ve been badly misled. Worse, dire circumstances can tempt the best people to wonder if in this particular case, the end justifies the means. And of course, ego, denial, fear, anger, and the need for vengeance can blind us and send us down the road to hell with plenty of good intentions.

Which means that to remain serving the Light, a necromancer must be as vigilant about his/her actions as about the threats from the enemy. More so, perhaps, because self-delusion is easy and comfortable and the consequences of wrong choices affect both the living and the dead.

So the distinction that I draw between good and evil when it comes to necromancy comes down to respect for free will and volition. A necromancer who serves the Light will not force an unwilling spirit into a dead body, nor trap a spirit in a corpse that wants to be free. He or she will not keep a spirit from crossing to its final rest, nor trouble the spirits of the dead for personal gain or selfish reasons.

A good necromancer might call summon the spirits of the dead to learn information that benefits the larger whole. In battle, he/she might make it possible for the willing spirits of dead soldiers to reanimate their corpses or give their ghosts form and substance to fight. It is permitted to bind a spirit that wants to be healed to its dying body long enough for the body to be healed. A Light necromancer would be duty-bound to release spirits held against their will by curses or Dark magic.

So what about Dark necromancy? That gets into ‘evil legions of the undead’ territory. Dark necromancers are willing to use the souls of the dead and their ravaged corpses as shock troops, or to bind the souls of tortured and broken prisoners to their dying bodies and send them first into battle as sword fodder. The darker side of necromancy traps spirits and forces them into servitude, either as revenants or as zombies. Dark necromancy acts for selfish purposes and the aggrandizement of power without regard for agency, free will or self-determination.

Dark necromancy considers the spirits of the dead to be tools, nothing more than means to an end, without respect for them as human beings or immortal souls. A dark necromancer may serve a god or goddess and/or owe a deity a debt for assistance, but the practice of dark necromancy essentially sets the mage outside of and above humanity by meddling with human souls. Dark necromancy, in my worlds, is tied to blood magic, which requires forbidden magic and usually either human or animal sacrifice. Once again, intention is key, since the willingness to sacrifice another living being for the accumulation of power marks and sullies the soul of the practitioner.

In the end, the same choices that make a dark necromancer also make a monstrous human being: the disregard for freedom of choice and the value of human life.

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Cursed Objects and Haunted Relics

by Gail Z. Martin

“Look but don’t touch.”

If you ever find yourself in one of my fictional worlds, that’s good advice.

Personally, I blame my fascination with cursed and haunted objects on a childhood spent being dragged around to antique shows, flea markets, swap meets and used book stores. While my dad explored the cast-off treasures, I passed the time making up stories to amuse myself about the oddities and old items set out on display.

My imagination had plenty of fodder looking at old books in crumbling leather bindings, vintage clothing, antique personal items, even huge, working steam engines. Our house was littered with dad’s finds, from halberd axes and old-time bear traps under the eaves in the attic to big steam-driven engines from saw mills and factories that filled up our yard. It’s never been difficult for me to imagine the people who owned the items, to picture their lives and the circumstances that led them to buy the object or discard it.

It’s no real wonder that cursed and haunted objects turn up frequently in all of my book series. In my Deadly Curiosities dark urban fantasy series, my main character Cassidy Kincaide is a psychometric who can read the history and emotional resonance of objects by touching them. I don’t claim that kind of ability, but I’ve always been able to imagine what it would be like to know something about an object’s ‘experiences’ and previous owners on contact.

And on a darker note, to feel their pain, their loss, their madness and the turbulence of their lives by touching objects that accompanied them on their journey.

In my epic fantasy, I’ve used haunted swords, magical amulets and jewelry, crowns that convey kingship via magic as well as symbolism. Even in the Iron & Blood Steampunk series that I co-write with my husband, everyday objects like dolls, necklaces and other items become supernaturally dangerous either because of intentional spell work, intrinsic evil, or because they have ‘soaked up’ the disquieting experiences of their previous owners.

As I’ve browsed antique stores and yard sales over the years, I can think of instances when I instinctually gravitated toward some unremarkable items, and shied away from others. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but there have been pieces that I wouldn’t touch on a bet, that I did not want to make a connection with. When I browsed through a shop in New Hope/Lambertville that specialized in Victorian memento mori hair jewelry and death photography, I kept my hands clasped in front of me.

When we worked through my father’s collections after he died, there were a number of items that gave me or my husband ‘the creeps’–seriously bad vibes.  A psychic family friend singled out a few objects of dad’s collection he had no way to know even existed and advised us to remove them from the house because of their negative mojo. I can’t prove there was anything substantial to those warnings or my feelings, but I felt better being rid of the items, and I’ve learned to trust my gut.

The idea that the objects that we keep close to us throughout our lives, things we wear next to our skin and over our hearts, items that accompany through the poignant moments in our personal history might soak up some of our emotions doesn’t seem that far-fetched. It’s certainly a concept many other people have had throughout history, and the thought behind the lore of religious relics, sacred objects and protective amulets. Many–if not most–of the objects in my Deadly Curiosities series are based on pieces I inherited–and got rid of–from my dad’s collection. I’ve been up close and personal with the items. That made them a natural to work into my fiction.

So the next time you wander into an out of the way curio store or eye the offerings on a table at a flea market, pause before you reach out to pick up that tempting treasure. You might find that it comes with a dark–and unwelcome–supernatural something extra.

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Beginning, Ending and Extending Book Series

by Gail Z. Martin

With six different book series in various stages, it seems like I’m always contemplating beginnings, endings and extensions.

I’ve got a new epic fantasy series coming out in 2017 from Solaris Books (which I’m not allowed to name or reveal details about), so beginning a new book and starting a brand-new series have both been on my mind as I finish up that manuscript. In March, Shadow and Flame marked the final novel in my Ascendant Kingdoms epic fantasy series (Orbit Books), so wrapping up not just a single book but a story arc and a series is also fresh in my thoughts. The Shadowed Path (Solaris Books) is a collection of eleven of my Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures short stories that are prequels to The Summoner and my Chronicles of the Necromancer series, which has wrapped up (for now).

With a little time until the next Iron & Blood Steampunk novel or the next Deadly Curiosities dark urban fantasy novel comes out, the short stories and novellas tied into those series help to bridge the gap for readers with an extended universe of additional adventures. That sixth series? It’s a space series that’s currently in development, with some hints dropped in the Origins Gaming Fair anthologies, so we’re beginning both another book and another series.

Beginning a series is exciting and a little terrifying. Before I can sit down to write, I’ve got to do a lot of mental world-building to create the setting for the books, flesh out the characters, plan the series story arc, and develop the history, legend, belief/magic systems and lore of the world so that the reader gets a multifaceted, immersive experience. I want to make sure I’ve thought everything through, because once I’ve written the first book, canon is set and I don’t want to paint myself into a corner with limitations I’ll regret later. Most importantly, I want to make every series the best books I’ve ever written to make them fun and memorable for readers. And of course, I want the books to do well in the marketplace, which makes both me and the publisher happy. No pressure.

Whether a new book is the first in a series or somewhere else in the sequence, each one begins with a blank computer screen. No matter how many times I do that, it’s always a little intimidating, and there’s a thrill of fear that crawls through my veins at the thought of transforming six hundred blank pieces of paper into a book. I can be armed with a thorough outline and lots of great ideas, I can be antsy to put ideas down in words, and I might even be mid-series with well-established characters and a world I know well. It’s still scary and exciting, because while I’m taking my characters on a new adventure, I’m embarking on an unknown journey right along with them. I know that, despite my planning, I’ll run into unanticipated obstacles and places where I have to sit back, re-read and re-evaluate in order to get the plot right. And I also know that, out of the blue, inspiration will strike when I least expect it and there will be scenes, characters and action that show up full-blown in my imagination and that is a wonderful thing. Writers live for those moments.

Ending a series is as sad for an author as it it is for readers. It’s gratifying to get to the end of an adventure, and there’s a sense of accomplishment to wrapping up an epic journey. But when I’ve kept company with the characters every day for the years required to write a multi-book series, it’s disappointing to think that they won’t be hanging out in my head as often moving forward.

Craft-wise, it’s important to make sure all the loose ends and plot bunnies have been handled by the end of a series, so readers aren’t left thinking, ‘whatever happened to…’.  I want to be sure to leave readers with a satisfying conclusion that may be bittersweet, but feels authentic and organic.

Thanks to electronic publishing, series never have to completely end so long as there are readers interested in continuing adventures. We write short stories and novellas that are extended adventures for all of the series. Some are prequels, like the Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures. Others are extra ‘episodes’, like the Deadly Curiosities Adventures and the Storm and Fury steampunk adventures tied into the Iron & Blood universe. And some fill in a ‘gap’ in the main books that wasn’t part of the main story arc but begs to be told, like the Blaine McFadden Adventures that tie in to the Ascendant Kingdoms books.

With extended adventures, I get to dig deeper into my world-building, reveal more about both main characters and secondary characters, and give readers extra stories that are part of canon but go beyond what’s in the novels. The stories stand alone, and obviously don’t have as large or complicated a story arc as the novels, but they flesh out the people, places and world, and help to bridge the time between new books.

I’m thrilled that it’s easier than ever for adventures with favorite characters to continue indefinitely. And that’s a win for readers and writers.

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Swords and Shotguns: Writing Characters in Epic and Urban Fantasy

by Gail Z. Martin

People are people–how much of a difference does a couple hundred of years make?

A lot–and less than you might think.

I write epic fantasy and urban fantasy, and co-authored with Larry N. Martin, steampunk. That’s a pretty broad time span, from roughly the late fifteenth century to the Victorian era, to modern day. The protagonists are all human, though some have enhanced abilities and immortality. And while being human doesn’t change over those centuries, other factors that influence how we define our humanity and our place in the universe certainly do.

It’s true that people remain much the same in their love, hate, ambition and failures. In every age, human beings fall in love, cherish their family and value friends, suffer betrayal and grief, take risks and make mistakes. Yet our times and our surroundings, as well as our world view, inform and constrain the choices that occur to us to consider, and shape the courses of action we believe are open to us.

My two epic fantasy series–The Chronicles of the Necromancer/Fallen Kings Cycle and The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga–take place in worlds other than our own, but with roughly the social structure and technology of late fifteenth century Western Europe. Monarchies and the nobility hold resources and power. Most people remain in or close to the villages where they were born. The lowest classes are bound to the land, and the highest classes owe fealty to a lord. Religion, alchemy and magic define how the cosmos function, and inform one’s view of where one fits in that cosmology. Duty to one’s king or liege lord supersedes individual choices.

Existential questions are seen through the lens of dedication to the gods and goddesses, or the teaching of clergy. Most peoples’ destiny is determined by birth and caste order, as well as whether or not they can do magic. Defying convention and culture is possible, but carries heavy social and personal consequences. A great deal of personal identity is determined by group identity: family, kingdom, religion, gender, ethnicity, caste, profession. Individualism as we think of it in modern times is a radical notion which threatens the status quo. Myriad social obligations to one’s family, clan, village, Guild, and kingdom define one’s use of time.

In the Iron & Blood Steampunk series, it’s the height of the Victorian age, and human self-confidence is at an all-time high. Science overcomes new obstacles and solves old mysteries every day, and it seems like just a matter of time until the secrets of the universe are laid bare. Technology emerges to meet every challenge, and inventions are proof of limitless creativity. Every day, in every way, the world is getting better and better.

And yet, cholera and malaria and typhus and Yellow Fever scourge cities. Life is good for the upper classes, and, well, ‘Dickensian’ for those who aren’t. Infant mortality and childbed fever kill civilians while thousands die in places like Gettysburg and Antietam. Colonialism and racism take a horrendous toll which will not be seen or grasped for another century. Victorians bow under the weight of grief, and spiritualism is on the rise, seeking the answers science can’t provide. Strict social etiquette and suffocating class and gender roles restrict and constrain, and being openly LGBTQ earns prison or worse. People are people, but the Victorian lens through which the self and the world is viewed is narrow and particular.

My Deadly Curiosities dark urban fantasy series is set in modern-day Charleston, SC with a secret coalition of mortals and immortals who eliminate supernatural threats and get haunted and cursed objects out of circulation. Cassidy is our modern contemporary, shaped from our current culture, yet her psychometry enables her to sense a whole additional reality as she reads the history of objects by touch, and her knowledge that the supernatural is real informs her choices and world view in a way that sets her apart from those who don’t share her secrets. Sorren, a nearly 600 year-old vampire, knows how to adapt to changing times, yet his reactions and insights are a product of six centuries of enculturation and observation, and he will never again be part of his own time period.

When you’ve come face to face with Voudon loas and ancient god-like beings and battled monsters and creatures right out of legend and myth, your existential framework is going to be a little bent. When you know that the things that go bump in the night are real, when you’ve saved the world a couple of times though no one knows it, that changes your reactions to what’s on the news, shifts your perspective about what’s important, and changes your priorities.

How are the characters different among the subgenres? For me, they’re a combination of the familiar and the unfamiliar. The aspects that make them human–love, hate, passion, the need for connection and the desire to complete a task, make a difference or right a wrong–make the characters identifiable and relatable. The aspects that are influenced by culture impart believability within the timeframe of the story and make them interesting and memorable, truly a part of their era. For an author, it’s a fun challenge to bring off a mix in a way that forges an emotional connection for the reader. And as a reader, when that mix is done well, it opens a gateway to experience different lives and different times.

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