Gail Z Martin – Five Questions – Guest Post

Gail Martin, Dreamspinner Communications

I’d like to welcome Gail Z Martin to the guest spot on Tales from the Typeface. She’s an American author who writes epic and urban fantasy as well as science fiction. She’s also been kind enough to offer some downloadable goodies as well as answering my five questions.

Q: Tell us your biography in three sentences or fewer.

A: Gail Z. Martin is the author of Vendetta: A Deadly Curiosities Novel in her urban fantasy series set in Charleston, SC (Dec. 2015, Solaris Books); Shadow and Flame the fourth and final book in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books); and Iron and Blood a new Steampunk series (Solaris Books) co-authored with Larry N. Martin. She and Larry are featured authors in two new anthologies: The Weird Wild West and The Side of Good/The Side of Evil which debut in November.

Q: How and when did you begin writing, and what was your first published piece?

A: I joke that I’ve written all my life, but I’ve been published since 2007. My first book was The Summoner, the initial book in the Chronicles of the Necromancer series from Solaris Books. But the very first story I remember was a vampire story I came up with when I was five years old (I loved the old TV show Dark Shadows) and since I couldn’t write yet, I had to ask my grandmother to write it down for me! So yeah, I guess my path was set early!

Q: What’s so special about writing speculative fiction?

A: I love the ‘what if’ aspect of speculative fiction. I’m not much for reading about plain old mundane people having normal problems if there’s no magic, monsters or supernatural stuff involved. Most ‘news’ in the real world seems so shallow and boring. What is a celebrity wearing? Who’s dating whom? What stupid thing did a politician just say (and why are we still surprised)? Now if we were trying to figure out which celebrities were secretly were-creatures or vampires, I might be more interested!

Speculative fiction is about ideas. Take an idea out for a test drive and see where you end up. One idea leads to another (that’s why speculative fiction can be subversive). It’s so much more fun that real life!

Q: Tell us about your most recent publication or current writing project.

Vendetta

A: Vendetta is the new book coming December 29 (now available for pre-order) and it’s the second book in my Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy series that is set in Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston is one of our oldest cities with fantastic architecture and great food, but it was also a pirate haven back in the day, and it has a significant role in the Civil War as well. Charleston is also one of the most haunted cities in the U.S., so it’s a great place for an urban fantasy series!

I’m always working on something. I write a short story or novella every month in one of our four tie-in series, and right now, I’m doing six Blaine McFadden novellas prior to the March 2016 launch of Shadow and Flame, the last book in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga. There’s a six year gap in the first book when Blaine gets sent to an arctic prison colony, and the novellas tell that story. Plus there will be a Deadly Curiosities short story each month in October, November, December, and this year, I decided to make them holiday-themed (really creepy, scary holidays).

 

Iron in the Blood

Q: What next?

A: I’m working on a new epic fantasy series and a new space series (the space series is co-authored with my husband, Larry N. Martin). And I’m fleshing out ideas for another Deadly Curiosities novel and a sequel to Iron & Blood. It looks like we’ll have stories in at least six anthologies in 2016, and more always pop up. There’s never a dull moment!

My Days of the Dead blog tour runs through October 31 with never-before-seen cover art, brand new excerpts from upcoming books and recent short stories, interviews, guest blog posts, giveaways and more! Plus, I’ll be including extra excerpt links for my stories and for books by author friends of mine. You’ve got to visit the participating sites to get the goodies, just like Trick or Treat! Details here: www.AscendantKingdoms.com

Days of the Dead

Book swag is the new Trick-or-Treat! Grab your envelope of book swag awesomeness from me & 10 authors http://on.fb.me/1h4rIIe before 11/1!

Trick or Treat! Excerpt from my new urban fantasy novel Vendetta set in my Deadly Curiosities world here http://bit.ly/1ZXCPVS Launches Dec. 29

Win some Weird Wild West awesomeness! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_choose_address/138364-the-weird-wild-west

More Treats! Enter to win a copy of Deadly Curiosities! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/160181-deadly-curiosities

Looking for some spooky stories for your Halloween reading? Check out my “Haunted” titles on Wattpad www.wattpad.com/GailZMartin

Trick Or Treat with an excerpt from Finder https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/28016046-the-society-for-the-preservation-of-cj-henderson

Treats not Tricks! Enjoy an excerpt from Eternal Wanderings https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/32501149-excerpt-from-eternal-wanderings

Happy Halloween! Here’s an excerpt from Today’s Promise https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/23083500-today%27s-promise-chapter-1-excerpt