**Visit Dark Faerie Tales today for her Deadly Destination tour of Vicki Pettersson’s Las Vegas & a chance to win THE NEON GRAVEYARD**

I. Love. This. Series.  Greek Mythology, heaven and hell, smokin’ hot male Sirens, and one of the coolest protagonists in UF.  I’m talking about Kelly Gay's Charlie Madigan series, which continues on August 30th from Pocket Books with THE HOUR OF DUST AND ASHES. Charlie, her partner Hank and I have been tight since last January and things have only gotten better since.  So when Charlie’s daughter, Emma, wanted to plan a Deadly Destinations trip to Charbydon (aka hell), I said sign us up.  Have you read this series?  Want to?  One of you will win the entire Charlie Madigan series, and two of you will win THE HOUR OF DUST AND ASHES!  See details below.

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Emma Madigan’s Guide to Charbydon
by
Kelly Gay

Hope you all are having a great summer. Glad to be here for the Deadly Destinations event! My third Charlie Madigan novel releases August 30^th and I’m really excited to see what readers think about the direction Charlie and company have taken. One thing I can tell you is that Charlie finally travels off-world to Charbydon (aka hell) and, of course, she gets into her fair share of trouble! As my readers know, Charlie’s daughter Emma keeps a journal called Hellhounds Rule, Parents Drool. The following is an excerpt:

The City of Two Houses

Ugh. I meant to write this down sooner, but classes are kicking my butt. Anyway, it’s the weekend—FINALLY!—and my chores are done, and the most excellent hellhound to ever walk the face of all three-worlds has been bathed and fed, so I can finally chill and get some writing done.

Okay, so. I can’t believe my mom was actually in Charbydon!! She never likes to go anywhere on this planet, so her going off-world to another dimension = huge. Travel isn’t her thing, but even though that trip was pretty dramatic and led to some not-so-great things, I know she'd go again in a heartbeat if it meant saving someone in trouble.

Rex keeps joking and saying, “Charlie went to hell and hell was never the same again”, which is actually true. She's not allowed to go there anymore.

Anyway, now that things have settled down, Mom’s told me some really cool things about Charbydon, and since I plan to go there one day, remembering this stuff is important.

So, back in the ancient history of Charbydon, the jinn used to rule the land and the great underground city of Telmath. But when the nobles came and warred with the jinn (and won), they built the City of Two Houses above Telmath. The cavern that holds both cities is the size of a hollowed out mountain with cliffs and rivers and chasms that seem to have no end. The whole place is hot and muggy, and smells like tar and swamp water.

The nobles are an oligarchy. They have two kings, one from each royal house—the House of Abaddon and the House of Astarot. So that’s why it’s called the City of Two Houses. The city is made up of palaces and temples that rise straight up from the giant cliff they’re built on. And because the nobles inspired a lot of our myths about Sumerian gods, their city looks a lot like the old Sumerian and Babylonian temples with their thick walls, ziggurat temples, and straight avenues. The palaces have balconies and gardens and they overlook Telmath below. Fires burn in giant stone basins and the best part, the part I HAVE to see for myself are the buildings made of black marble. Mom says that some of them are so clear and polished that it almost looks like mirrors or calm black water.

How cool is that?

One of these days, I’m going to convince Mom to go back (well, if they’ll let her) and take me, Brim, and Rex. There are a bunch of stray hellhounds that need homes. Someone has to look after them, so that can be my mission. Not so sure Mom would be cool with me bringing a bunch of wild hellhounds back to Atlanta with us, but we shall see. Oh, we shall see...  J

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About Kelly Gay

I'm just your average bookworm who likes to spend an embarrassing amount of time in make-believe places. I've had many jobs from construction (I can drive a backhoe, tar and shingle a roof, and frame out a house) to waiting on tables, threading film through a projector, managing horse farms, and selling men's underwear (a talent, I tell you!). In the writing world, I'm a 2010 double RITA finalist, a three-time RWA Golden Heart finalist, and a recipient of an NC Arts Council Fellowship grant in Literature. Visit Kelly Gay online: Website|Blog|Facebook|Twitter

Want to read more from Kelly Gay?

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Giveaway provided by Pocket Books & Kelly Gay

Two winners will each receive a copy of THE HOUR OF DUST AND ASHES & One winner will receive the first 3 books in the Charlie Madigan series

Available on August 30, 2011 from Pocket Books

Description:

To save her sister, she must stop a silent killer. . . .

Protecting Atlanta from the off-world criminals of Underground is tough enough, but now Detective Charlie Madigan and her siren partner, Hank, learn that the addicts of the offworld drug ash have begun taking their own lives. Ash makes humans the perfect vessels for possession, and something or someone is leading them to their deaths. Charlie is desperate to save her addicted sister, Bryn, from a similar fate. As New Year’s Eve approaches and time runs out, Charlie makes a deadly bargain with an ancient race of beings and embarks on a dangerous journey into hellish Charbydon with Hank and the Revenant Rex to save Bryn and make it back before it’s too late. Only, for one of them, coming home means facing a fate worse than death. . . .

Read an excerpt

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Giveaway Guidelines

1. Open internationally

2. Leave a comment for Kelly & a way to contact you unless it’s listed in your profile

3. All Deadly Destinations winners will be announced on August 7th

4. See our Giveaway Policy if you have any questions

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Don’t miss any of the tours & giveaways from Deadly Destinations.  Check out all the previous posts from this event!