Oh my gosh, I’ve been meaning to update my blog for WEEKS now, but packing to move out of state has eaten my time (and my brain!) Now, however, we’ve finally moved! Bye, bye, Maryland. Hello again, North Carolina.
But enough about that. I promised you endpapers and signing information, so let me get right to it! First up are the signings. I’m thrilled to announce a signing with me, Alyssa Day, and Melissa Marr at the Barnes and Noble Magnolia Mall in Florence, South Carolina on June 13th at 12pm Eastern Time.
I will be celebrating A CURSE OF BEASTS AND MAGIC’s release while Alyssa Day is celebrating the release of NOBODY’S QUEST and Melissa Marr is showcasing her new fantasy world in REMEDIAL MAGIC. For more details about the signing, please visit the store’s site link HERE.
I’m also excited that I will be signing with authors Alyssa Day and Jade Presley on June 20th at 2pm Eastern time, at San Marco Books & More in Jacksonville, FL.
This signing is to celebrate Alyssa’s book launch of NOBODY’S QUEST, but you can also get A CURSE OF BEASTS AND MAGIC from me, and Jade will have her latest release, THE KINGS LIST and THE NEVER LIST as well. If you’re local to the Jacksonville, Florida area, I hope you can come out! This is a ticketed event. Link to buy your ticket HERE.
I have more appearances coming up in addition to these, so stay tuned!
And now, to the endpapers. What are endpapers, some of you might wonder? They are custom artwork exclusive to the deluxe hardcover of A CURSE OF BEASTS AND MAGIC. I told the my publisher’s art department about a scene in the book where the heroine crosses over into a magical dragon realm via a gateway that’s guarded by gargoyles, and the artist, Sasha Vinogradova, delivered this stunning image.
Now, my gargoyles weren’t sexy like these ones, but you don’t hear me complaining! In fact, now I wish I’d written them that way, heh. You can preorder your deluxe hardcover edition of A CURSE OF BEASTS AND MAGIC containing these endpapers (and a map of the dragon world!) at Barnes&Noble, BooksAMillion, IndieBound, Bookshop, #AD Amazon,* or your favorite book store.
Finally, here is a snippet from the scene that inspired the art, edited to omit spoilers:
***
Remy placed his hand over the old-fashioned door knockers and whispered something. I heard a series of clicks and caught a whiff of that unique scent again. It wasn’t Remy’s cologne, but it definitely came from him. I inhaled deeper. Like liquified darkness mixed with spices and chocolate.
Wait, I’d caught a whiff of this right before the Beast came out, too. Did Remy’s magic actually have its own scent?
The double doors clicked open.
“Was that magic? Or do you have a palm-scan plus auditory-based security system?” I asked while trying to figure this out.
“Both,” Remy said with a note of amusement.
“Letting it in here is a mistake,” Mandal hissed.
“Enough with the ‘it’ shit!” I snapped.
Remy gave Mandal a hard look. “Stop calling her that, and you’ll understand why I’m doing this shortly.”
The sight that greeted me made me think someone had slipped me a hallucinogenic. It wasn’t possible that the “room” suddenly stretched until it was wider than the entire hotel. It also contained a sprawling garden split by a stone path illuminated by what looked like flame-lit sky lanterns.
“Give it a moment.” The amusement was back in Remy’s tone. “It can be jarring seeing this for the first time.”
I kept staring. “Is this real? Or more Warden stuff?”
“Both,” he said. “It’s real, but the distortion of space and physics required to have a long bridge within a small space is indeed ‘Warden stuff.’”
Later tonight, I’d break my brain wondering how any of this was possible. Right now, I had a video to watch. “Okay, lead on.”
Remy took my arm. We walked down that stony path as if we were strolling through any other garden. The air was thick and sweet, and a faint mist coated the incredible floral blooms. Sky lanterns also floated around us before disappearing into a ceiling that was so dark I couldn’t tell where it ended. Then the stone path ended at an entryway to . . . something. I couldn’t see what. All I saw were white marble walls, about five feet high, with two large stone gargoyles flanking a single opening between them. Dark gloom hovered over everything else, reaching up to a fathomless night sky.
I grabbed Remy when those gargoyles suddenly leapt down and blocked our path. “Oh shit!”
Remy said an unfamiliar word. The gargoyles jumped back up with surprising grace, resuming their stances on the walls.
“Don’t mind them,” Remy said in an infuriatingly light tone. “They only attack intruders.”
***
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