Guest Author: Kelly Gay

Today, I get to welcome Kelly Gay to Literary Escapism. Kelly is the author of the amazing The Better Part of Darkness and it’s definitely a novel everyone should be checking out. I know I can’t wait for the second novel, The Darkest Edge of Dawn, to hit the shelves.

Atlanta: it’s the promised city for the off-worlders, foreigners from the alternate dimensions of heaven-like Elysia and hell-like Charbydon. Some bring good works and miracles. And some bring unimaginable evil….

Charlie Madigan is a divorced mother of one, and a kick-ass cop trained to take down the toughest human and off-world criminals. She’s recently returned from the dead after a brutal attack, an unexplained revival that has left her plagued by ruthless nightmares and random outbursts of strength that make doing her job for Atlanta P.D.’s Integration Task Force even harder. Since the Revelation, the criminal element in Underground Atlanta has grown, leaving Charlie and her partner Hank to keep the chaos to a dull roar. But now an insidious new danger is descending on her city with terrifying speed, threatening innocent lives: a deadly, off-world narcotic known as ash. Charlie is determined to uncover the source of ash before it targets another victim — but can she protect those she loves from a force more powerful than heaven and hell combined?

Make sure you stick around, we’re giving away a signed copy of The Better Part of Darkness.
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Thanks Jackie for having me over! These last few weeks have been a crazy mix of trepidation and excitement as my novel made its way into the world. All the chaos fried a few brain cells, I think, and left me hitting a brick wall when it came to writing this guest post. But, never fear. This past Friday, at my first book signing, I had an idea…

Okay, okay, I can’t claim it was me.  Several folks asked me if I’d written the short synopsis on the back cover. And the answer was no. I tweaked it, yes, but, no I didn’t write it. That job fell to the folks at my publishing house. And, honestly, I’m glad I didn’t have to do it. It’s hard to sum up a 384 page novel into one small paragraph. You have to be pretty general and introduce readers to the main goals, the character, the world, all while trying to build a level of mystery and excitement. Not easy.

But sometimes this generalization can leave readers wondering about certain things, about what kind of book they’re actually getting. And one of the questions that popped up at the signing and elsewhere is the level of religion and Christianity in the book. And with words like revelation, heaven, and hell, how could folks not wonder? Is The Better Part of Darkness steeped in religion?

That would be a resounding no.

You see, Charlie’s world is an exploration of ‘what if’s’, and what happens when we learn some of our legends and myths are actually based in truth. My fictional population has used the term Revelation for over a decade to describe the scientific discovery of the alternate dimensions of Elysia and Charbydon. (The word was a term used by a reporter in those first anxious days of the discovery, a term that stuck.) So, it’s not The Biblical Revelation. The dimensions ‘revealed’ all those years ago do closely resemble our myths and legends of heaven and hell. And the beings in these worlds (having visited us for thousands of years, using our world as a neutral ground, and sometimes as a battleground) inspired our myths of angels and demons, but these were also the same beings who inspired earlier myths of gods and monsters.

Religion and faith? Sure, those things were shaken in the initial days of Elysia and Charbydon being discovered, but, for the most part faith and religion remains intact and flourishing as always. The many beings of Elysia and Charbydon have since integrated into our society, and the question of God and our origin is as murky to them as it is to some of us. It’s a question of faith for all three worlds. And there are even those who believe that the beings of all three worlds came from the same stock, the First Ones. But, that’s just another legend . . . another story . . .
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Thank you Kelly for stopping by, and seriously people, if you haven’t read The Better Part of Darkness then you need to hurry and get a copy. Oh look! Here’s a chance to do that.

Contest Time! We’re giving away a signed copy of Kelly’s novel The Better Part of Darkness and a copy of Staked by JF Lewis to a lucky commentator and it’s very easy to enter. All you have to do is answer this one simple question: Which legends or myth would you like to see as real?  Do you want leprechauns walking the earth or sirens to appear out at sea?

As always, if you want more chances to win, you can post about today’s contest on your blog, social network, or anywhere you can. Digg it, stumble it, twit it, share it with the world. Wherever you share it, make sure you add a link to it along with your answer (yes LE is now on Twitter as well!). The more places you share it, the more entries you get.

Join the Literary Escapism Facebook page and you’ll get an additional entry. Make sure you leave a comment so I know that’s why you’re joining. If you’re already a fan, let me know and you’ll get an additional entry for that as well.

For 2 additional entries, subscribe to Literary Escapism’s newsletter in the sidebar.

For 3 additional entries, purchase any novel through LE’s Amazon store sometime during this contest and send a copy of the receipt VIA email for your purchase to: myjaxon AT gmail DOT com. Each purchase is worth three entries and it has to be through the LE Link.

I’ll determine the winner with help from the Research Randomizer and the List Randomizer. All entries must be in by midnight on Dec 15th.

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.

26 Comments

  1. I’d like to see the mermaid myth become reality. I blame The Little Mermaid.

    Thanks for stopping by Kelly and thanks for the contest Jackie.

  2. I would love to know the Loch Ness Monster and Sasquatch are real and not make believe. That’d be cool.

    Thank you for the entry.

    Great post!!

  3. I’d like to see the Fae become reality. But not the ones from KMM Highlander and Fever series. The world can only take so much evil.

    Thanks for the add.

    Thanks for stopping by Kelly and the contest!!

  4. As i am Scottish i would love to see the Loch Ness Monster appear out of the Loch on a regular basis.

    I have joined LE on Twitter
    @Coistycat

    Now off to subscribe to your newletter & facebook.Then share this with twitter.

    Can you tell i’m a fan & really want to win LOL

  5. I’ve believed in unicorns since I was a wee one, and I would love to come across one someday while walking in the forest…

    Thank you for the entry (and I’m also a fan on Facebook!), and I’m looking forward to reading the new book :)

  6. Which myth, eh? I love the figures in Egyptian mythology–Bast, Anubis, Isis–I could deal with some of those figures being real. The beings of the underworld, though, not so much.

    Already a fan on the Facebook page. : )

  7. I would like to see lots of different varieties of shapeshifters. Maybe if people could actually BE animals, more of us would be kinder to them!

    (already fb friend/fan and subscriber to newsletter)

  8. Personally would like to see Black Panther or Cougar Shapeshifters become reality because love cats and would love the ability to become one of the big predatory ones and run in the wild and hunt. (Fantasy I know but it is harmless one after all shapeshifters are just mythological creatures but sure would be fun)
    Leprechauns walking the earth not so much, sirens out in the sea is a scary idea not a fan of shipwrecks…
    Already new Facebook Fan and gmail newsletter subscriber and Twitter Follower
    Posted Contest Link :http://www.facebook.com/jacabur?ref=profile
    Tweeted link and contest deadline : http://twitter.com/jacabur1

    Thanks to Kelly for stopping by and Thanks to you Jackie for letting us have such an enjoyable contest….
    Jackie B Central Texas

  9. I would love to see mermaids, fairies, and dragons!

    thanks for the giveaway!

    – already a fan on Literary Escapism Facebook page
    – already a newsletter subscriber

  10. I think it would be great if MAGIC was real but without it being able to be used to kill any living thing.

    Carol.

    I have subscribed to you via Google.

  11. I wish Santa Claus were real – how great would that be!!

    And, I’d like to second your first commenter’s Mermaid suggestion.

  12. Hi everyone. :-) Thanks for reading the post!

    Jackie, the entry question is awesome. I have to answer. :D I think it’d be really cool if the gods were real, like entire pantheons. (I know, I’m just asking for trouble, LOL). And unicorns. *sigh* I love unicorns. And dragons. And faeries…

    :D

  13. Help can’t find where i am to subscribe to the LE Newsletter. You said on side bar but been up & down over & over & just can’t see where. Can someone help me, i know it is probably staring me in the face LOL

    Thanks in advance

    Once again good luck to all who enter. xx

    • Donna said: Help can’t find where i am to subscribe to the LE Newsletter. You said on side bar but been up & down over & over & just can’t see where. Can someone help me, i know it is probably staring me in the face LOL

      I did some rearranging and condescending. At the bottom, there’s the “follow LE’ with the RSS button. Click on that. It gives you the option of adding LE to a reader or signing up for the email updates. I should reword that.

  14. Thanks for spotlighting this one – it’s been on my radar and it’s nice to learn more about it. Please enter me for the contest.

    what I want to become real? UNICORNS – but maybe they aren’t so nice in real life…

    THanks

  15. I’d like to see mermaids & mermen, pixies, vampires, ghosts and dragons – heck it would be cool to have any of the fabulous creatures I love to read about be real.

  16. I’d like them all to be real – shape shifters, vampires, fairies, unicorns. It would definitely make things more intersting. Of course, I’d like the shifters and vamps to be hot, sexy shifters and vamps, not out to kill us at any time!

    Posted on my contest sidebar here

Comments are closed.