The allure of creepy, ramshackle beach towns as settings for dark
fantasy
What is it exactly
that makes edgy beach towns the perfect setting for sinister fantasy
and historical suspense? I’ve always been attracted to the dark
side, and particularly to strange beach towns. So far, I’ve set two
of my novels in them.
When I first moved
to New York City after college and a stint out west, you couldn’t
tear me away from the nefarious boardwalks of Coney Island. This was
back before the arcade was renovated, back when the sideshow by the
sea with its sword swallower and human pincushion were on full
display. It was when a hungry, dirty capybara was caged in a box that
read: Only $1 To See the Biggest Rat in the World! This poor
critter was a plot point in Dorianna, my paranormal twist on Dorian
Grey. And no surprise, I set Dorianna in Coney Island, and installed
my sexiest villain ever, Wilson Warren, an agent of the devil
disguised as a videographer who prowled the beaches, making girls
into Internet sensations.
Fast-forward to my
new novel Witch of the Cards, set in 1932, about Fiera, a sea witch
who has a special talent with Tarot (and not just reading the cards).
Of course, I set it in a shady beach town, in this case, Asbury Park,
NJ. You see, I’ve been coming to this gentrifying beach town for
years and know it well—in its sunny moods but also in its spooky,
moody shades.
Around the turn of
the century, and up until 1940, Asbury Park used to be the stomping
grounds of the glitterati. There were grand concerts in the art deco
Convention Center, and people dressed to the nines would stroll on
the boardwalk at night. Then came the race riots of the 1960s and the
economic crash, and the place fell into major disrepair. Its only
remaining claim to fame was The Stone Pony, where Bruce Springsteen
rocked into the limelight.
When I discovered
first ventured into the convention center, there was a hole in its
roof that seagulls flew in and out of, and only one lonely saltwater
taffy store on the boardwalk run by an ancient lady who seemed to
have stepped out of a Stephen King novel. Of course in Witch of the
Cards I made her into a fabulous, dangerous witch, who sold magical
taffy. And I turned the paranormal museum on Cookwell Avenue, the
main shopping lane, into a place to hold séances that often went
horribly wrong. I installed an illegal speakeasy in the taffy store
basement. In my novel, Witch of the Cards, even the ocean hides
terrible secrets.
There’s something
about the scent of saltwater and hotdogs, the splintered, salt-dried
boardwalk and the scream of people hurtling down on the arcade rides
that gets my blood charging and my imagination firing. What about
you?
Here’s a snippet
of a scene when Fiera and her date Peter went down to the basement
speakeasy in the taffy store:
“Perhaps
I was far too gone, but I didn’t care. Peter and I danced and
danced. The room filled with the overflow from the convention hall
dance—young lovers, bootlegger types with wide ties and cigars,
older women with twinkling earrings and heavy bosoms, even a
prostitute or two. I thought so anyway, because they wore way too
much rouge and came alone to sit brazenly up at the bar with the gin
rummies.
This
time I couldn’t say whether or not I stepped on Mr. Dune’s
polished wingtips. This time, he probably couldn’t be sure if he
knocked his bony legs into mine. We had many more nips of absinthe,
and I wolfed down another green-swirl taffy and before I knew it, I
was leaning provocatively against Peter and laughing like a wild
banshee.
I
remember gaping up at him to see his black hair all disheveled and
him mumbling indistinctly. And I, thinking that he was the most
gorgeous human being I’d ever seen. I remember Dulcie grabbing one
of my arms, and Peter grasping the other. I remember all of us
howling at the crescent moon over the ocean, and the shocked sideways
glance of the hotel proprietor as we all stumbled in.
I
recall pulling out the Tarot he’d given me, and laying them out on
the bedroom rug. I recall babbling at him—about a witch and a
swindler and a boat—not necessarily in that order. I can still
picture his expression of shocked surprise but not at what.
And
I remember Peter’s lips branding my forehead—how could I ever
forget that—while shocks of his lush black hair dangled deliciously
on my burning cheeks. The last thing I recall before things went dark
was kicking off my shoes.”
Fiera
was born a sea witch with no inkling of her power. And now it might
be too late.
Witch
of the Cards is historical, supernatural romantic suspense set in
1932 on the Jersey shore. Twenty-two year-old Fiera has recently left
the Brooklyn orphanage where she was raised, and works in Manhattan
as a nanny. She gets a lucky break when her boss pays for her short
vacation in Asbury Park. One evening, Fiera and her new friend Dulcie
wander down the boardwalk and into Peter Dune’s Tarot & Séance,
where they attend a card reading.
Fiera
has always had an unsettling ability to know things before they
happen and sense people’s hidden agendas. She longs to either find
out the origin of her powers or else banish them because as is, they
make her feel crazy. When, during the reading, her energies somehow
bond with Peter Dune’s and form an undeniable ethereal force, a
chain of revelations and dangerous events begin to unspool. For one,
Fiera finds out she is a witch from a powerful sea clan, but that
someone is out to stop her blossoming power forever. And though she
is falling in love with Peter, he also has a secret side. He’s no
card reader, but a private detective working to expose mediums.
Despite this terrible betrayal, Fiera must make the choice to save
Peter from a tragic Morro Cruise boat fire, or let him perish with
his fellow investigators.
Told in alternating viewpoints, we hear Fiera and Peter each struggle
against their deep attraction. Secrets, lies, even murder, lace this
dark fantasy.
WOC
Buy links:
Amazon
US:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01COACFVU
Amazon
UK:
http://tinyurl.com/hze9ekh
Kobo:
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/witch-of-the-cards
B&N/Nook:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/witch-of-the-cards-catherine-stine/1123499606?ean=2940152837797
Amazon
CA:
https://www.amazon.ca/Witch-Cards-Catherine-Stine-ebook/dp/B01COACFVU
Amazon
AU:
http://www.amazon.com.au/Witch-Cards-Catherine-Stine-ebook/dp/B01COACFVU
About
the Author:
Catherine
Stine’s novels span the range from futuristic to supernatural to
contemporary. Her YA sci-fi thrillers Fireseed One and Ruby’s Fire
are Amazon bestsellers and indie award winners. Her YA, Dorianna won
Best Horror Book in the Kindle Hub Awards. Heart in a Box, her
contemporary YA was an Amazon Hot New Release in Teen and Alternative
Family for over eight weeks. She also writes romance as Kitsy Clare.
Her Art of Love series includes Model Position and Private
Internship. Book three, Girl and the Gamer, launches this summer. She
suspects her love of dark fantasy came from her father reading Edgar
Allen Poe to her as a child, and her love of contemporary fiction
comes from being a jubilant realist. To unwind she loves to watch
“bad” reality TV and travel to offbeat places.
One
$40 gift card, two hand-painted heart-boxes (by Catherine) with
secret treasure inside, one signed paperback of Dorianna by Catherine
Stine, one signed paperback of Witch of the Cards by Catherine Stine,
one brand new collector Tarot deck along with an envelope full of
special swag!
