*This post was accidentally posted yesterday for a brief time.*
Today’s Spooky Legend introduces us to a new character from a familiar author and guarantees you won’t be eating chili tonight. Kelly Meding’s Teresa West, from the first book in the new MetaWars urban fantasy series, TRANCE (available on October 25, 2011 from Pocket) is taking over the blog. If you missed my review of this new superhero infused series, I said, “there is a real X-Men/The Incredibles vibe to this story that really worked.“
Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways
Teresa West on Finger-lickin' Chili
by
Kelly Meding
So raise your hand if you haven't heard the one about the woman who said she found a human finger in her bowl of fast food chili? Raise your hand if, when police discovered it was all a setup, you laughed and said "I knew it," even though you actually believed it at the time?
Thought so.
 | Title: Trance
Sexual Content: Attempted sexual assault. References to rape. A lengthy sex scene. Rating:
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying. |
**Visit Dark Faerie Tales today for her Deadly Destination tour of Lee Rowland’s Duivel, Missouri from Isobel & a chance to win VIPER MOON**
Deadly Destinations takes us to Dreg City today with Kelly Meding's Milo Grant from the Dreg City series. The 3rd book, ANOTHER KIND OF DEAD hits shelves on August 2nd from Random House. Dreg city is a scary place, especially if you’re not a Hunter like Evy Stone—even if you are, but is sure is interesting. Thanks to the wonderful people at Random House, three of you who comment on this post will win a copy of the book! See details below
Milo Grant’s Guide to Dreg City
by
Kelly Meding
Hey, all! My name's Milo Gant, and I'm your official Dreg City tour guide for the day. Or I guess I should say unofficial tour guide, since I don't think there are any actual guided tours of the city. I mean, who'd want to visit this place anyway? Um, besides you good folk?
*cough*
You might be asking yourself: who is this guy and what qualifies him to give me a tour? (Even if you're not asking that, listen up anyway, because ignoring someone who's talking is rude and I know how to hide bodies.) Anyway. I can't tell you what I do, exactly, because my job is Top Secret. I can tell you that I'm in a special, unofficial branch of law enforcement and the stuff I've seen in the year and a half I've been doing this would give you nightmares for months. Maybe years. But I am definitely qualified to give the tour, because I've lived in this city my whole life. I know where the culture is, where the crime is, and can give you good tips on how to get out alive—survive your trip
The most unusual feature of our fair city is the two rivers that come together in the middle and turn into one, kind of like a Y. The Black River is to the 
west and is the wider of the two, and the Anjean River is to the east and feeds south into the Black. Both rivers are the lines that divide up some of the biggest neighborhoods, like Uptown from Mercy's Lot, and Downtown from East Side. We also have a State College satellite campus, a gigantic three-story library, and an excellent hospital emergency room (I've been there more times than you need to know about).
Uptown is the place to go for upscale shopping, dining, museums, and all manner of cultural exhibits. It's not my favorite, but if you pretty much stick to that part of the cit yyour visit will be fine. Mostly. You might see a random wild animal running around that looks like it shouldn't be there, or like it might have just escaped from the zoo (and we don't have a zoo), but don't worry. You probably just imagined it and didn't really see it (tell yourself that, it's better in the long run).
Avoid Mercy's Lot entirely, but most especially after dark. Trust me. No really, trust me on this. It may look cool, hip, or even excitingly dangerous, but you want to ignore every single word except for "dangerous." That's where the majority of my secret job happens, and that's where people go missing. Especially tourists.
*pointed look*
So if you ever want to go home again, stay out of Mercy's Lot.
East Side's not so bad, but it's also not very interesting. There's an abandoned mall, a bunch of industrial areas, and some homes. Not recommended unless you like taking photos and touring parking lots full of dandelion weeds. It's your vacation.
Or your funeral. Depends on whether or not you follow my advice. I mean, that's what tour guides are for, right? So have fun, poke around the city, and don't get killed. And if I see any of you around Mercy's Lot tonight, it'll probably be because you're about thirty seconds from dead.
Stay safe; stay out of the Lot.
Better yet, you'll be a hell of a lot safer touring some other city altogether—like Detroit.
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About Kelly Meding
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A native of the Delaware seashore, Kelly Meding lives in a small town near the beach, with a neurotic cat who occasionally meows at ghosts. Kelly received her Bachelor's Degree in Communication in 2002 and she hasn't used it since. After discovering Freddy Krueger at a very young age, Kelly began a lifelong obsession with horror, science fiction, and fantasy, on which she blames her interest in vampires, psychic powers, superheroes, and all things paranormal. When not writing, she can be found crafting jewelry, enjoying a good cup of coffee, or scouring the Internet for gossip on her favorite television shows. |
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Giveaway provided by Random House
3 copies of ANOTHER KIND OF DEAD by Kelly Meding
Available on August 2, 2011 from Random House
Description:
She can heal her own wounds. She can nail a monster to a wall. But there’s one danger Evangeline Stone never saw coming.
Been there. Done that. Evy Stone is a former Dreg Bounty Hunter who died and came back to life with some extraordinary powers. Now all but five people in the world think she is dead again, this time for good—immolated in a factory fire set specifically for her. Evy and Wyatt, her partner/lover/friend, can no longer trust their former allies, or even the highest echelons of the Triads—the army of fighters holding back from an unsuspecting public a tide of quarreling, otherworldly creatures—they can trust only each other. Because when the Triads raided a macabre, monster-filled lab of science experiments and hauled away the remnants, they failed to capture their creator: a brilliant, vampire-obsessed scientist with a wealth of powerful, anti-Dreg weaponry to trade for what he desires most of all—Evy Stone: alive and well, and the key to his ultimate experiment in mad science.
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**Visit Tynga’s Reviews today for her PSF Interview & Giveaway with Dakota Banks author of SACRIFICE**
I’m so happy to welcome back Kelly Meding today. Kelly’s first Dreg City urban fantasy novel Three Days to Dead was one of my favorite reads last year, and on July 27, 2010, in just over a month, the sequel AS LIE THE DEAD will be released. If you remember Kelly’s last visit was her main character, Evy’s Vamps 101 post & today Evy has the follow up with Shapeshifters 101. Plus she’ll be giving away a signed copy of Three Days to Dead + swag. Details below
AS LIE THE DEAD (Dreg City #2) by Kelly Meding
Available on July 27, 2010
Evangeline Stone, a rogue bounty hunter, never asked for a world divided between darkness and light . . .
. . . or the power to die and live again in someone else’s borrowed body. After a murder plot meant to take her out leaves an entire race of shapeshifters nearly extinct, Evy is gnawed by guilt. So when one of the few survivors of the slaughter enlists her aid, she feels duty-bound to help—even though protecting a frail, pregnant shifter is the last thing Evy needs, especially with the world going to hell around her.
Amid weres, Halfies, gremlins, vamps—and increasingly outgunned humans—a war for supremacy is brewing. With shifters demanding justice, her superiors desperate to control her, and an assassin on her trail, Evy discovers a horrifying conspiracy. And she may be the only person in the world who can stop it—unless, of course, her own side gets her first.
By Evangeline Stone
A few months ago, I was tricked into telling you guys all about vampires. Anyone go out flaunting this newfound knowledge and get themselves killed? No? Awesome.
So let's talk about shapeshifters/weres. There are tons of myths and legends surrounding the idea of people who turn into animals, or animals who turn into people. I'm told these stories go back as far as ancient Greece, and that there is as much fact in them as fiction. I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about shapeshifters. They're a damn secretive bunch, and they don't like spilling secrets to outsiders—especially human Hunters. Everything I know I learned through my Triad training, on-the-job experience, and my kind-of friendship with Danika (R.I.P.).
Triads are rarely sent to hunt weres. The Assembly keeps a pretty tight lease on their activity, but there are rogues in every bunch. And those rogues tend to see the pointy end of my knife. The majority, however, behave themselves.
But here's what I know, and I hope you find it useful:
Myth #1 : Shapeshifters/weres are werewolves.
Fact #1 : This is a myth that could very well get you killed (or at least seriously injured). There are apparently fourteen were-Clans living in the city, governed by an Assembly of Clan Elders. I don't know who all of the Clans are (I bet the Fey Council does, but no one's passing that info along to me), but here are the Clans that I am aware of:
Owlkins/birds-of-prey, were-cats (not your average housecats, think tigers and leopards), were-bears (black, grizzly, etc…), Kitsune (all sorts of foxes), and true dogs (jackals, dingoes, coyotes, dholes). They're the ones we see most often and get the most general trouble from (with the exception of the Owlkins, who are almost extinct now, and who were pretty damned peaceful before that). Not a wolf in the bunch.
I've heard rumors that the occasional raccoon, lemur, badger, or ferret might be a were, but I've yet to meet one. I try to keep an open mind, since most of the Clans are still a mystery.
Myth #2 : Shapeshifters/weres can shift into more than one kind of animal.
Fact #2 : Weres can shift into just one animal. Period. Within a Clan, the shapes vary, but one shape per customer. If a were-cat is a jaguar, they can't shift into an lion. They're just a jaguar.
Myth #3 : Only silver bullets can kill a were.
Fact #3 : Any kind of bullet, if you aim right, can kill a were, silver or otherwise. Now, weres apparently heal at an accelerated rate, but they are subject to the same sort of bullet/knife/explosion injuries as humans, no matter if they're in man or animal form. They aren't invulnerable. Sever an artery and they'll bleed out.
On the other hand, silver can be used as an effective weapon, because weres are highly allergic to it. Skin contact causes serious rashes and swelling, and long-term exposure can lead to infection and eventual death.
Myth #4 : Weres live extra-long life spans.
Fact #4 : Weres actually live very short, natural lives, compared to humans. They age roughly four times faster than a human does. Were children reach physical and sexual maturity in four actual years, putting them at roughly human age 16/17. External aging seems to slow a bit after that, for roughly ten actual years. After the age of 14-15 years, rapid aging takes affect again, and their body begins to reflect their elderly state. Few weres have been known to live longer than twenty actual years.
Myth #5 : Weres are controlled by their animal natures.
Fact #5 : According to Danika, this is only true of those weres who choose to live wild lives outside of the city. The majority of the Clans prefer living as "humans" and choose city life, over braving the wilds of the outside world. Those wild weres live all over the world, in very small pockets, but they do exist. And they're dangerous. But I don't think about them much, as long as they keep their tails out of my city.
Most weres are very much in control of their animal side. However, extreme swings of emotion will bring out their more animalistic natures (sounds a lot like humans, huh?).
Myth #6 : Weres turn on the full moon.
Fact #6 : Silly werewolf myth. Just not true.
Myth #7 : Weres and humans can mate and have little halfling babies.
Fact #7 : Er, not true. First of all, I don't think it's physically or genetically possible. I mean, can a fish mate with a bear? Didn't think so. Second, the mixing of the species is seriously frowned upon by both sides. Your average human male might not be able to look at that hot blonde and know she's a were-cat, but she knows she's not human. She also knows he is. And her Clan Elder would hold her fully responsible for any, um, indiscretion.
Danika once told me it isn't so much about hating humans, as it is about Clan survival. In order to continue, the Clans need to have babies. And to have babies, Clan members need to mate with each other. And they only live a certain number of years anyway.* Falling in love with a human means one less Clan member to contribute to Clan survival. And if multiple Clan members got with a human…well, you do the math. It kind of makes sense, too.
*Plus, the human male might start wondering why his lovely blonde bombshell isn't aging quite right, which exposes this human to the fact that Dregs exist in the first place. That's just another big damned mess the Triads would have to deal with, which makes human/were dating/mating/whatever a really big no-no for both parties.
Well, that's all I've got. I have to admit, even I'm still learning new things about the were-Clans every single day. And as my interaction with them continues, I bet a few more myths/facts will come to light. I may not like what I learn, but that's one of the risks you take when you know about Dregs. I have a feeling I'm about to learn a few things I'd really rather not know….
Thanks Kelly for stopping by. Come back anytime.
Visit Kelly online:
Want to read more from Kelly Meding?
Dreg City
1. Three Days to Dead (read my Review)
2. As Lie the Dead
Giveaway courtesy of Kelly Meding
One (1) signed copy of THREE DAYS TO DEAD by Kelly Meding + a bookmark and buttons
She’s young, deadly, and hunted—with only three days to solve her own murder…
When Evangeline Stone wakes up naked and bruised on a cold slab at the morgue – in a stranger’s body, with no memory of who she is and how she got there – her troubles are only just beginning. Before that night, she and the other two members of her Triad were star bounty hunters — mercilessly cleansing the city of the murderous creatures living in the shadows, from vampires to shape-shifters to trolls. Then something terrible happened that not only cost all three of them their lives, but also convinced the city’s other Hunters that Evy was a traitor . . . and she can’t even remember what it was.
Now she’s a fugitive, piecing together her memory, trying to deal some serious justice – and discovering that she has only three days to solve her own murder before the reincarnation spell wears off. Because in three days, Evy will die again – but this time, there’s no second chance…
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