Today's guest post is by Catherine Stine, author of Witch of the Cards:
Inspiration for Witch of the Cards – Shipwrecks & Seemingly Magical Taffy Shops
For
my new historical fantasy Witch of the Cards, inspiration came from all angles.
First of all, I’ve been visiting Asbury Park for years. It’s a beach town on
the Jersey shore that went from being a posh destination in the 1900s, to being
a dilapidated, even dangerous town in trouble. Its gorgeous Art Deco convention
center was in ruins, its boardwalk practically deserted.
Despite
this, or maybe because of this, I loved strolling its boardwalks and stopping
into the few stores still open. One was an ancient taffy shop run by an old
lady. I made the shop in my novel have taffy with very strange effects. I
changed the tumbledown convention center into a shiny 1930s dance palace, where
Fiera and Peter danced to Rudy Vallee’s rendition of Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries, and more. It was big fun
researching the music of my grandma’s time.
In
another shop on the boardwalk, I discovered dozens of photos of a shipwreck from
the 1930s that had washed ashore on the Asbury beach and become a tourist
curiosity. It was called The Morro Castle and during Prohibition, it cruised from
New York City to Cuba, carrying high rollers who could drink penalty free. In
those days, large vessels were still crafted from wood, and the Morro caught
fire, causing scores to perish in the cold waters off the Atlantic coast.
I
put this disturbing event into my novel, but in Witch of the Cards, it is caused
by a supernatural dilemma (not saying what! No spoilers here). Peter Dune, Fiera’s
love interest, attends a business meeting on the Morro Castle, where I have him
run into a group of 1930s glitterati: actors Bela Lugosi and Irene Ware, the surrealist
painter Salvador Dali and the cutting edge fashion designer, Elsa Schiaparelli.
This encounter injects some wild fun and helps break up the tension.
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| Stars with cameos |
A
paranormal store I have visited to get psychic readings became Peter Dune’s
Séance and Tarot, the site of many an unsettling event. And in Witch of theCards, even the ocean holds terrible danger.
Witch of the Cards is historical, supernatural romantic suspense set in 1932 on the Jersey shore. Twenty-two year-old Fiera has recently left the Brooklyn orphanage where she was raised, and works in Manhattan as a nanny. She gets a lucky break when her boss pays for her short vacation in Asbury Park. One evening, Fiera and her new friend Dulcie wander down the boardwalk and into Peter Dune’s Tarot & Séance, where they attend a card reading.
And here is the blurb for Witch of the Cards by Catherine Stine
Fiera was born a sea witch with no inkling of her power. And now it might be too late.
Witch of the Cards is historical, supernatural romantic suspense set in 1932 on the Jersey shore. Twenty-two year-old Fiera has recently left the Brooklyn orphanage where she was raised, and works in Manhattan as a nanny. She gets a lucky break when her boss pays for her short vacation in Asbury Park. One evening, Fiera and her new friend Dulcie wander down the boardwalk and into Peter Dune’s Tarot & Séance, where they attend a card reading.
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| Morro Castle washed ashore |
Fiera has always had an unsettling ability to know things before they happen and sense people’s hidden agendas. She longs to either find out the origin of her powers or else banish them because as is, they make her feel crazy. When, during the reading, her energies somehow bond with Peter Dune’s and form an undeniable ethereal force, a chain of revelations and dangerous events begin to unspool. For one, Fiera finds out she is a witch from a powerful sea clan, but that someone is out to stop her blossoming power forever. And though she is falling in love with Peter, he also has a secret side. He’s no card reader, but a private detective working to expose mediums. Despite this terrible betrayal, Fiera must make the choice to save Peter from a tragic Morro Cruise boat fire, or let him perish with his fellow investigators. Told in alternating viewpoints, we hear Fiera and Peter each struggle against their deep attraction. Secrets, lies, even murder, lace this dark fantasy.
And about that giveaway:
Catherine is offering these prizes: One
$40 gift card, two hand-painted heart-boxes (by Catherine) with secret treasure
inside, one signed paperback of Dorianna by Catherine Stine, one signed
paperback of Witch of the Cards by Catherine Stine, one brand new collector
Tarot deck along with an envelope full of special swag!
Click the link below:
Click the link below:
Author Bio:
Catherine’s novels span the range from futuristic fantasy to
paranormal to contemporary. Her futuristic thriller companion novels Fireseed One and Ruby’s Fire are both Amazon bestsellers.
Her paranormal YA, Dorianna won Best
Horror Book in the Kindle Hub Awards. She also writes romance as Kitsy Clare.
Her Art of Love series includes Model
Position and Private Internship. Catherine
suspects her love of dark fantasy came from her father reading Edgar Allen Poe
to her when she was a child.
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