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Monday, October 28, 2013

Guest Post: My Brain is a Dangerous Place by Gail Z. Martin

I met Gail Z. Martin at Concarolinas this past year, and being the cover lover I am I was instantly drawn to her table (seriously take a look at the covers for her fantasy adventures books). Any way, I invited her to visit during her Days of the Dead tour. A link to her tour page is at the end. Gail thought it would be interesting to have her fantasy adventure hero, Blaine McFadden, try to get a life insurance policy. Let's see how that goes...

My Brain is a Dangerous Place
By Gail Z. Martin

I’m glad my fictional characters don’t have to apply for life insurance. They’d be out of luck. Being a main character in a fantasy adventure series is the biggest “pre-existing condition” there is.

I can imagine the interview with Blaine McFadden, my hero in Ice Forged, applying for life insurance:

Agent: What’s your occupation?

Blaine: Disgraced lord, convicted murderer, arctic colonist and potentially the only remaining Lord of the Blood.

Agent: I see. Do you have any unhealthy habits?
Blaine: I killed the man who dishonored my sister, got sent to a freezing cold prison colony run by a psychopathic commander and lately, I’ve started to hang around with ancient vampires. Oh, and I might be the only one who can bring back magic, but the last couple of guys who tried it burned up.

Agent: Uh-huh. Well. Do you take precautions when you travel?
Blaine: I can ride a horse and fight with a sword at the same time, and I’ve survived two trans-oceanic ship crossings in dicey conditions.

Agent: Yes, well. Do you have any dangerous hobbies?
Blaine: I have a knack for attracting assassins, and I have a tendency to get ambushed and have to fight my way clear despite pretty slim odds. My kingdom got flattened by a war and then magic failed, so there have been some local outbreaks of plague and storms of wild magic that tend to let monsters slip through from some other place. I’m pretty good at fighting those. A couple of people keep trying to kill me, but so far, I’ve managed to get away. And there’s a warlord and an ancient vampire who really don’t want me to live long enough to try to fix the magic.

Agent: Do you have group health coverage?
Blaine: I brought my mates with me back from the prison colony. We watch each other’s backs. There’s another convicted murderer, an assassin-spy, a thief and a court-martialed soldier. Everyone’s pretty good in a fight, and that keeps us all healthy.


I suspect that Blaine wouldn't want to see what his premium would cost, assuming anyone would underwrite his policy. But those are the risks you take when you’re the hero in a sprawling epic fantasy saga. Eternal glory and the chance to bring civilization back from the brink of ruin, vs. ungodly high deductibles. Life is full of trade-offs!



Condemned as a murderer for killing the man who dishonored his sister, Blaine "Mick" McFadden has spent the last six years in Velant, a penal colony in the frigid northern wastelands of Edgeland. Harsh military discipline and the oppressive magic of the governor's mages keep a fragile peace as colonists struggle against a hostile environment. But the supply ships from Dondareth have stopped coming, boding ill for the kingdom that banished the colonists.

Now, McFadden and the people of Velant decide their fate. They can remain in their icy prison, removed from the devastation of the outside world, but facing a subsistence-level existence, or they can return to the ruins of the kingdom that they once called home. Either way, destruction lies ahead.


Come check out all the free excerpts, book giveaways and other goodies that are part of my Days of the Dead blog tour! Trick-or-Treat you way through more than 30 partner sites where you'll find brand new interviews, freebies and more--details at www.AscendantKingdoms.com.
Ice Forged will be a Kindle Daily Deal with a special one-day price of just $1.99 only on October 31! 


Reign of Ash, book two in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga launches in April, 2014 from Orbit Books. My new urban fantasy, Deadly Curiosities, comes out in July, 2014 from Solaris Books. I bring out two series of ebook short stories with a new story every month for just .99 on Kindle, Kobo and Nook—check out the Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures or the Deadly Curiosities Adventures.



About the author:
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Gail Z. Martin is the author of Ice Forged in The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga and the upcoming Reign of Ash (Orbit Books, 2014), plus The Chronicles of The Necromancer series (The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven & Dark Lady’s Chosen ) from Solaris Books and The Fallen Kings Cycle (The Sworn and The Dread) from Orbit Books. In 2014, Gail launches a new urban fantasy novel, Deadly Curiosities, from Solaris Books. She is also the author of two series of ebook short stories: The Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures and the Deadly Curiosities Adventures.

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1 comment:

  1. I agree, his insurance premiums would be through the roof, if he could find a company to cover him. That was a fun read.

    ReplyDelete