Guest Bloggers Anah Crow and Dianne Fox - A “Walking Tour” of TATTERDEMALION

TRAMMEL, our brand new release from Samhain, is the second book in our Foundations of Magic series. (Check out the bottom of this post to find out how to enter for a chance to win a copy of TRAMMEL!) In talking about what readers might want to know about TATTERDEMALION before picking up TRAMMEL, we hit upon the idea of a “walking tour” of the places Lindsay and Dane go in TATTERDEMALION.

Like many other authors, even in our fantasy worlds, we do a lot of research so we can set our stories in real-world places. Foundations of Magic is urban fantasy, which makes that research even more important, as the world Dane and Lindsay live in is the real world, but with a twist.

So, without further ado, please join us as we give you the nickel tour!

When we meet Lindsay, he’s trapped in a place he calls “the Institute”. Dr Kennedy Moore has been performing horrible experiments on Lindsay for two years in her secret government laboratory. While there are (probably!) no magical experiments going on there, Lindsay’s “Institute” is, in fact, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C.

Later, after he escapes and meets Dane, Lindsay goes to Washington Square Park in New York City to practice his magic. He sits on the edge of the fountain and watches the NYU students wandering around. It’s a beautiful place, but things don’t go as planned.

When it becomes clear that Dr Moore’s experiments on Lindsay have had adverse affects on his magic, he and Dane are sent to Germany, to a reclusive mage who will help heal him.

Dane and Lindsay hike through the Black Forest for several days, coping with deep snowdrifts and deeper danger as a mage sent by Dr Moore is on their trail, intent on returning Lindsay to her.

After Germany, they head to Mexico, following the information they get from the mage in the Black Forest. In the dark back alleys of Cholula, as they hunt down what they need to help Lindsay, they run into a new threat. They barely escape in one piece and have to keep moving before Dr Moore picks up their trail.

Near the end of the adventure, Lindsay and Dane return home to New York, but before they can even get out of the airport, their enemies arrive to take Lindsay captive again...and this time they take Dane, too.

Their destination is Moore’s new laboratory, hidden in the basement of a military base right there in New York City. While we don’t name it explicitly in the book, that base is the Fighting 69th battalion of the Army National Guard.

Of course, they eventually find their way out...

Which leads to our new book, TRAMMEL. Here’s a sneak peak at one of the locations where Dane and Lindsay get up to trouble in their new story:

If you’re interested in winning a free copy of TRAMMEL, just comment below. We’ll choose one winner at random and post the name in the comments OF THIS POST on Thursday, June 2. Check back—if you’re the winner, we’ll need your email address to send you your new book!

Anah Crow and Dianne Fox have been writing together for years, in a variety of genres. You can find them at www.anahcrow.com, www.foxwrites.com, as well as anahcrow.livejournal.com and diannefox.livejournal.com. You can also find them on Twitter as @anahcrow and @diannefox, or sign up for their newsletter at http://www.foxwrites.com/newsletter.

Picture Credits:

Washington Square Park by Ed Schipul

Black Forest by David Blackwell

Cholula by Russ Bowling

Steel Pier by Holly Brown