Guest Author: Diana Pharaoh Francis

Diana Pharaoh FrancisI am excited to welcome author Diana Pharaoh Francis, who is celebrating the release of her first Diamond City Magic novel, Trace of Magic.

Even the most powerful tracers can’t track you if the magical trace you leave behind is too old. But I can track almost anything, even dead trace. That makes me a unicorn, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Lock Ness Monster all rolled into one. In a word, I am unique. A very special snowflake. And if anyone ever finds out, I’ll be dead or a slave to one of the Tyet criminal factions.

Riley Hollis has quietly traced kidnapped children and quietly tipped the cops to their whereabouts one too many times. Now she’s on the radar of Detective Clay Price, a cop in the pocket of a powerful magic Tyet faction. When he blackmails her into doing a dangerous trace for him, Riley will have to break every rule that keeps her safe. Or become a Tyet pawn in a deadly, magical war.

Read an excerpt.

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Meet Riley from Trace of Magic

Hi everyone!

I want to thank Literary Escapism for having me here today to talk about my new book, Trace of Magic. It comes out tomorrow! I’m really excited for this one. I’ve had a lot of great responses to it and now it’s time to share with readers.

I call this story an alternate history/urban fantasy/noir with some romance. How’s that for a mash-up? Riley is a wonderful character to write. She’s down-to-earth and feisty. Her relationship with her sister is as tight as any pair of sisters should be, and yet they bicker and fight. She has no super powers—no super strength or incredibly fighting skills. She’s pretty ordinary, except for one exceptionally powerful magical skill. But let’s face it, no matter how good a doctor or a chef you are, that isn’t going to help you a whole lot when real trouble hits.

I’m going to leave you with a little snippet of Riley:

I didn’t realize I’d stopped until Luke turned around and shined the light in my face. I squinted and looked away.

“What’s wrong?”

I didn’t speak. If I opened my mouth, the sounds that came out would only humiliate me. So I stood there, my entire body shaking. In the back of my head, I was praying I didn’t pee myself.

“Hey!” Luke snapped is fingers in front of me, and then he put his hands on my shoulders and gave me a little shake. “Snap out of it.”

Oh, good. I was afraid I’d never be cured, and here’d done it. A quick snap out of it and I was over my claustrophobia. If I could have, I would have rolled my eyes. I opened my mouth. Something like “ack” came out.

“Fucking hell. You’ve got claustrophobia.”

Thank you, Doctor Phil. I didn’t know. I’d have said it out loud if my lips weren’t made of frozen rubber.

I’d love to talk more about Trace of Magic or anything you have questions about. Ask away!
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Meet Diana Pharaoh Francis!

Diana Pharaoh Francis has written the fantasy Path trilogy and The Crosspointe Chronicles. Diana teaches in the English department at the University of Montana Western. She is a lover of chocolate, Victoriana, and sparkly things. For more a lot more information including where to go to read her blog, maps of her worlds, updated news, and other odd and fun tidbits, visit DianaPFrancis.com.

Contact Info: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | GoodReads | Amazon | Pinterest

Want to purchase Diana’s novels?
DPFrancis-Trace of MagicTrace of Magic

Horngate Witches

  1. Bitter Night
  2. Crimson Wind
  3. Shadow City
  4. Blood Winter

Crosspointe

  1. The Cipher
  2. The Black Ship
  3. The Turning Tide
  4. The Hollow Crown

Path

  1. Path of Fate
  2. Path of Honor
  3. Path of Blood
About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

4 Comments

  1. The new book looks great! Sorry my question is unrelated. I follow your blog (so hope you didn’t put this info out there and I just missed it) and wanted to know if you were re-writing/publishing any other of the Crosspointe Chronicles, or just The Cipher?

  2. Hi Bethany! Yep, all the Crosspointes will be reissued, and then a new one will follow. I’ve been plotting out the next, and probably last, volume, and I think it will be terrible and torturous and fun.

    • Will anything major change, or are you just tweaking little things that you just decided you could make better after years of reflection?

      • In The Cipher, I made some adjustments to firm up the characters. So far, those have been the most extensive changes. I don’t anticipate that much to the next three. I realized with Lucy and Marten I’d muddied some things. I think now it’s a stronger read than before, and I liked it a lot before.

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