Devilish intrigue in a magical library…
Welcome to the July 12th stop on the blog tour for Cargo of Bones by Z. Lindsey with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more author guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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Author Guest Post
Did you have a minor character who insisted on playing a larger role in the story. If so, please tell us about it. And if not, please tell me how you get the characters in your head to behave.
I think most writers have a general idea of their characters’ backgrounds before a book starts, but not always where the characters are going. And the more I’ve written, the more I’ve realized it’s worth thinking about what happens to a given character after a book, too.
Ah yes, fine writers, you need to understand who your characters are before your book and after, and you need to plan their lives meticulously. I know this is a good idea, and it sounds like the kind of good advice writers give each other.
On the other hand, it’s kind of fun to just set a bunch of weird characters loose in ‘the sandbox’ and let them do whatever they want.
My current trilogy has an ensemble cast of drunken sailors, liars, and weirdos. Naturally, I planned very little of it. In the story, Essie Darkenchyl is a powerful magic user whose powers are being subverted to perform tedious bureaucracy. She’s mostly okay with it at first–she just wants to do a good job and prove herself. It’s kind of like The Office on the ocean . . . with zombies. And fungus monsters. And Jim’s a devil.
The second book, Essie has to go to her hometown after one of her people is murdered. The first book was written to be a stand-alone before the pandemic. The second one was written during the pandemic, so you can imagine it leans a bit heavier on the dark side of the dark humor than the book before it. It’s still hopeful, but I did initially struggle to give it a positive ending.
When I started writing it, I realized I would be introducing a lot of new characters, and it didn’t make sense for every character from the first book to play a role in this one. I had to pick who should come along on the trip with Essie, so of the, say, twelve or so crew members of the first book, I had to whittle it down to five and Essie. And the folks who do go with her bond with her really heavily on this trip, cause again, it’s intense. Minor apocalypses and all.
Then when I sat down to write the third book, I realized Essie had developed a core friend group. Although the third book is nearly five years after the first and second books, it made sense that of the crew members, the ones Essie would be closest to were the ones that were there with her in the second book.
I knew I wanted to play with the Power of Friendship trope in the work, but I hadn’t really considered how, in real life, you can’t really anticipate who ends up being a core friend when you meet them. It really depends on the experiences you have together. By the third book, Essie’s best friend is a woman who absolutely hated her in the first book; Essie would do absolutely anything for the timid elf boy she used to make fun of and the snarky doctor who used to make fun of her; and Essie’s crush is … mmm … spoiler on that one, actually.
It actually kind of makes me feel bad for the minor characters who didn’t get to go on to do important things in the works–those sailors I enjoyed writing in the first book but didn’t really have space in the second or third book. Sorry, First Mate Bunts. I’ll miss your gruff voice and absurdly hairy chest. Maybe I’ll write you a short story one day.
About the Book
Cargo of Bones
The Saltwater Chronicles Book two
by Z. Lindsey
Published 24 June 2024
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 320
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
Devilish intrigue in a magical library…
Devil bureaucrat Essimore Darkenchyl barely made it out of the jungle alive, but next she’s going straight to hell—aka her hometown. When she finds out about a dark and desperate plan for immortality originating from her own people, her family ties, her sense of right and wrong, and her silly sense of humor will all be put to the test.
A strong and geeky female lead
A doomed romance
A dark but hopeful storyline
Llamas!
In the second book of The Saltwater Chronicles, the stakes are higher, the villains are scarier, and the jokes about cannibalism are more common.
Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | B&N
Excerpt
“I had a bit of an incident,” Essie said, stepping into his office.
“Not surprising,” the duende said.
“There was an attempt on my life. I’ve filed the required paperwork with the security agents, but I need a less inferior pen for protection.”
“Uh . . .”
“I’m not scared, in case you’re wondering,” Essie said, glancing around the room to see what books she recognized on his shelves. She was unaware that she did this when lying. “But I am investigating the attacker, which may expose me to more danger. And more importantly than what happened to me, I need to deflesh and repatriate the remains of an Aordés body. I can’t do that with a pen that’s exploded.”
The duende frowned and adjusted his glasses.
“Pens are not weapons,” the duende said in a low hiss, his nostrils flared. “Or for . . . flaying, or whatever you want it for. They’re for signing shipping contracts, approving payroll, and weighing cargo.”
“Yeah, I need it for that, too, but—”
“And I told you, pens do not explode, even one as, to use your word, ‘inferior,’ as the one I loaned you—”
Essie smiled, unbuttoned the leather quill pouch on her belt, and removed the corpse of the inferior loaner pen. She dropped it onto the desk. All the barbs were burned off. When it hit the wood, it should have wiggled with the chance to do some signing. Instead, it hissed, shot off a few blue sparks, and produced a single smoke ring before expiring.
“Whoa,” the duende said.
About the Author
Zac Lindsey is an anthropologist and a linguist who focuses on the Maya people of Quintana Roo. Since childhood, he’s had a not-so-secret love of weird, silly, and well-structured fantasy. When other people’s parents were reading them picture books, his mom was reading him Terry Brooks. He typically writes hopeful and character-driven fantasy.
Today, he lives in Quintana Roo, Mexico with his wife, daughter, and various stray cats.
Facebook | Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads
Giveaway Alert!
Z. Lindsey will award a randomly drawn winner a $25 Amazon/BN gift card + a digital copy of the book via Rafflecopter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway| June 24 | Read Your Writes | June 25 | Kenyan Poet |
| June 26 | Sandra’s Book Club | June 27 | Fabulous and Brunette |
| June 28 | Literary Gold | July 8 | Beyond Romance |
| July 9 | A Wonderful World of Words | July 10 | InkSpired: Musings on All Things Literary |
| July 11 | Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read | July 12 | Westveil Publishing |
| July 15 | My Beauty My Books | July 16 | The Avid Reader |
| July 17 | Straight From the Library | July 18 | Country Mamas With Kids |
| July 19 | Teatime and Books | July 22 | Gina Rae Mitchell |
| July 23 | Author Deborah A. Bailey Blog | July 24 | Dawn’s Reading Nook |
| July 25 | The Faerie Review | July 26 | It’s Raining Books |
| July 26 | Guatemala Paula Loves to Read |
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Thank you for hosting today.
This sounds like a really interesting book.
This looks very interesting. Thanks for sharing
This sounds like a fascinating book that many readers will enjoy.