With little to hold her to Nashville, Jesse agrees to work as a freelance agent for Jeremiah Tate, a pharmaceutical tycoon in Chicago. Together they plot revenge against Caldwell, the mastermind responsible for the genocide of over 100,000 Necronites worldwide. 
Description:
Published: November 2nd, 2015
Cover Artist: John K. Addis
In the wake of her handler’s death, Jesse has never felt more alone. Her best friend is distracted by a new love. Her mentor Rachel is missing and her boyfriend Lane isn’t returning her calls.
Worse, a Necronite with the ability to heal any wound wants to kill Jesse and absorb her power of pyrokinesis.
With little to hold her to Nashville, Jesse agrees to work as a freelance agent for Jeremiah Tate, a pharmaceutical tycoon in Chicago. Together they plot revenge against Caldwell, the mastermind responsible for the genocide of over 100,000 Necronites worldwide.
When Jeremiah fails to dominate Jesse and her pyrokinesis, tensions escalate, dividing her from her allies.
Then Caldwell gives Jesse an ultimatum she cannot refuse.
GUEST POST
Murder Makes it Better
A writer has endless choices when it comes to murder and mayhem in their urban fantasy, but there is one way that makes it particularly good—humor. You might think, death or darkness isn’t supposed to be particularly funny—oh but it is! Any Buffy the Vampire fans out there know exactly what I’m talking about. That show is great at showing how to use humor is the darker aspects of storytelling. Here are four ways to use humor in the dark/urban fantasy genre:
1. Characterizations
Humor is a great way to get to know characters. People are funny at different times for different reasons. By timing your humor just right, you can give the readers a great sense of what the character cares about and how they handle certain situations. It gives a great sense of inter-relationships between characters as well.
2. To control tension
Humor can be used to alleviate extremely tense moments in your work. You might not think that relieving tension is a good thing, but it really can be. If you’re writing especially dark material, then your readers will need a break from time to time. Think of the comic relief often infused into stories like Les Miserables or Dean Koontz Frankenstein series (he uses O’Connor and Maddison to great ends this way.
3. To improve dialogue
No one enjoys a whole lot of dialogue on the page, especially if the dialogue is boring and informative. However, this can easily be spruced up with humor. Adding humor to dialogue makes the characters more interesting, the dialogue more interesting and improves the over all pace of the dialogue itself.
4. To move along plot
Humor can also keep things moving along as your characters decide what to do with themselves. There can be a lot of indecision that happens in-between high point scenes and humor is a great filler for those.
About the author:
Kory M. Shrum lives in Michigan with her partner and a ferocious guard pug. She has dabbled in everything from fortune telling to martial arts and when not reading or writing, she can be found teaching, traveling, or wearing a gi. She is the author of four books in the Jesse Sullivan contemporary fantasy series. She is also an active member of both SFWA and HWA.
Loving the covers!
ReplyDeleteBetul E.