Inheritance is set in Charleston, SC which is a big foodie city. The restaurant my main character visits on a date is loosely based on a popular dining spot known for its menu and atmosphere. I chose the foods mentioned in that scene from my experience going to that real restaurant with my husband on a recent trip. The menu choices are very regional, and I think that helps to draw readers into the setting and the action.
Food helps to make a book real to readers. When characters eat comfort foods, like macaroni and cheese or ice cream straight from the container, we can identify. Foods that are specific to a region (like fried green tomatoes in the South or cabbage rolls in the Northeast) help to create a sense of place. Exotic foods (like the ones I mention in my medieval epic fantasies) engage readers’ curiosity and confirm that the story is set outside of their time and experience.
Sometimes the foods we read about encourage us to go on our own adventures. I’ve sought out dishes that I’ve read about in books, which has enriched my experience. Especially when I’ve read books set in a particular locale that describe regional fare, I love the chance to visit the location and try the foods to get a better feel for the story. And when I read a book set in a familiar location, and the author gets the food details right, I’m happy because that makes the story more real to me.
Pay attention to the food in the next book you read. You might discover new favorites, or be challenged to go on a culinary adventure!
Deadly
Curiosities Series
Book
Four
Gail
Z. Martin
Genre: Urban fantasy
Publisher: SOL Publishing
Date of Publication: October 23,
2019
ISBN: 978-1939704986
ASIN:B07ZHKR2LD
Number of pages: 222
Word Count: 66000
Cover Artist: Lou Harper
Tagline: Can Cassidy and her friends find the demon box, stop the killer ghosts,
and break the Pendlewood curse before Beckford’s murderous cousins and the
vengeful demon destroy them all?
Book Description:
Book four in the Deadly
Curiosities series.Cassidy Kincaide runs Trifles & Folly in modern-day
Charleston, an antiques and curio shop with a dangerous secret. Cassidy can
read the history of objects by touching them, and she teams up with friends and
allies who use magic and paranormal abilities to get rid of cursed objects and
keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats.
Caribbean ghosts terrorize
Charleston and start racking up a body count. Then Beckford Pendlewood, the
heir to a powerful family of dark warlocks, shows up raving about a bound demon
locked in a lost box and begs sanctuary. Can Cassidy and her friends find the
demon box, stop the killer ghosts, and break the Pendlewood curse before
Beckford’s murderous cousins and the vengeful demon destroy them all?
Excerpt
1 from Chapter 1 484 words
“I have a
problem antique I’d like you to take a look at.” The man on the other end of
the call sounded rattled. I recognized his name—Alfred Stone, from Stone
Auctions—but I didn’t think we had ever spoken, let alone met.
“What kind of
‘problem’ does it present?” I asked. A number of possibilities came to mind.
“Questionable provenance? Not sure how to authenticate?”
“I think it’s
trying to kill me.”
Well, damn. That
kind of problem. “All right, Mr. Stone. Try to stay calm.”
“I just told
you, it’s trying to kill me. I heard you…know…about these things. Please, help
me.”
Across the
store, Teag Logan glanced up to make sure everything was all right. I nodded,
and he went back to helping a customer.
“I can come now.
Are you at the showroom?”
“Yes. Thank you.
And…please…hurry.”
I ended the call
and sighed. This might be the first time Alfred Stone had an antique try to
kill him, but that made it just another day here at Trifles and Folly.
I’m Cassidy
Kincaide, and I own Trifles and Folly, an antique and curio shop in historic,
haunted Charleston, South Carolina. The shop has been in my family for more
than three hundred years. While we’re known as a great place to buy
high-quality antiques, the shop is also a cover for the Alliance, a coalition
of mortals and immortals who save Charleston—and the world—from supernatural
threats. I’m a psychometric, which means I can read the history and magic of
objects by touching them. Teag is my assistant store manager, best friend, and
sometimes bodyguard—and he’s also a talented Weaver witch. Sorren, my business
partner, is a nearly six-hundred-year-old vampire. Together with some other
friends with very specialized abilities, we do our best to keep the world safe
from dark magic and things that go bump in the night.
“Problem?” Teag
asked when the customer left.
“I’m not sure,”
I replied. “Alfred Stone just called—from the auction house. He says he’s got
an item that’s trying to kill him.”
“You want me to
go with you?” Teag pushed a lock of dark hair out of his eyes. His skater-boy
haircut and skinny jeans made him look younger than his late twenties. “Maggie
can handle the store.”
On cue,
Maggie—our lifesaver of a part-time associate—waved to agree from the other
side of the store. She was sporting a new bright pink streak in her short gray
hair, and it matched her sweater, a reminder—as if I needed one—that she
believed in taking risks and living large.
I reached up to
slick my humidity-frizzy strawberry blond hair back into a ponytail and shook
my head. “Let me go see what the problem is, and I’ll figure out what to do
from there. It’s not far away, in case I need to give a shout.”
Gail Z. Martin writes epic
fantasy, urban fantasy and steampunk for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, SOL
Publishing, Darkwind Press, Worldbuilders Press and Falstaff Books. Recent
books include Reckoning, Sellsword’s Oath, Inheritance, CHARON, Wasteland Marshals.
As Morgan Brice, she writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance including the
Witchbane, Badlands and Treasure Trail series. Recent books include The Rising,
Flame and Ash. Find her at
Website: https://ascendantkingdoms.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gailzmartin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WinterKingdoms
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/GailZMartin
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