Blog Tour & Giveaway: Shadows of Asphodel by Karen Kincy- Guest Post

Today I'm hosting a tour stop on the Shadows of Asphodel blog tour. This is an NA/Adult Dieselpunk (like Steampunk, but with diesel) historical paranormal romance.  I loved this book!  You can find my review HERE and the tour post with schedule HERE.

Today I have the author, Karen Kincy, on the blog for a guest post about her characters, which ended up being my favorite part of the book.  

What was my favorite part of writing Shadows of Asphodel? I could say the research, since I was obsessed with the time period, or the action, since I got to learn all sorts of cool things about sword fighting. But that’s not the real reason I fell in love with Shadows of Asphodel. That would be the characters. Ardis and Wendel are more complex and more ambitious than anyone I have ever written about before. Let’s go behind the scenes…

Ardis

With Ardis, I wanted a badass heroine, but I also wanted to subvert some tropes associated with “strong” female characters. Ardis thinks of herself as a stoic mercenary who doesn’t talk much, keeps her head down, and kills because it’s what she has to do. She even thinks of herself as a hero, since she’s working as a peacekeeper for Austria-Hungary. In her mind, fighting rebels to stop a war is the right thing to do, and she’s just doing her job. She plays the part of dumb hired minion when she has to, and never lets her emotions too close to the surface.

But what Ardis believes to be her strengths are also her weaknesses. Her ability to lock away her emotions means she can’t admit how lonely she is. Her dedication to her job means she’s blind to the humanity of her enemies. Her determination to abandon her past in San Francisco means she has no one to talk to about the trauma she tries to forget.

When Ardis meets Wendel on the battlefield, she sees him as a rich gentleman who might bring her ransom money, and as a necromancer who will come back as a monster if she lets him die. She saves his life because she’s afraid, not because she cares about mercy. Or at least that’s what Ardis lets herself believe, until she realizes she has been so wrong about so many things.

(Confession: I deliberately wanted Ardis to be the one who makes the first move with romance. She knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go for it. Confidence is sexy, but surprisingly quite rare among female characters.)

Wendel

I have admitted the truth about Wendel to a handful of readers, though I’m not sure they believed me. Wendel was always meant to be the villain. Or more accurately, he’s a villain who wants out of the villainy business. He’s a necromancer in a world where the ability to raise the dead with a touch makes him an abomination. He’s a Prussian nobleman in an alternate 1913 on the brink of World War One. He’s an assassin who has killed more than he would ever care to admit.

And Wendel knows that he’s good at being bad. Though it was never his choice, he has embraced his necromancy. His family disinherited him and sent him to Constantinople, where the Order of the Asphodel trained him to be ruthless and heartless. Although he admits to no one that this “training” involved torture, and his physical scars aren’t his deepest wounds. Vulnerability isn’t a luxury Wendel can allow himself.

Wendel hides his true self under a tangle of lies. He has a charming bastard persona that allows him to escape even the most serious of situations. He wields his anger like a weapon, to motivate himself to keep fighting, and his bitterness like a shield, to keep his emotions out of reach. Of course, when Wendel tries to convince Ardis that he’s fine with his life as a necromancer, she looks past all the lies and the charm and sees his pain. She knows she has to save him, because then she might be able to save herself.

That’s what I love most about Ardis and Wendel. Both deeply flawed, but determined to survive, they still deserve a chance at love and redemption. Like we all do.

Here's a bonus for you too.  Character inspiration boards!  LOTS for Wendel! ;)

Ardis: http://www.pinterest.com/karenkincy/ardis/

Wendel: http://www.pinterest.com/karenkincy/wendel/

About Shadows of Asphodel:

When Ardis discovers a man bleeding to death on the battlefield, she knows she has to walk away.

1913. In her work as a mercenary for Austria-Hungary, Ardis has killed many men without hesitation. One more man shouldn’t matter, even if he manages to be a charming bastard while he stands dying in the snow.

But when he raises the dead to fight for him, she realizes she must save his life.

If a necromancer like Wendel dies, he will return as a monster—or so the rumors say. Ardis decides to play it safe and rescues him. What she doesn’t expect is Wendel falling to one knee and swearing fealty. Ardis never asked for the undying loyalty of a necromancer, but it’s too late now.

Ardis and Wendel forge an uneasy alliance underscored with sexual tension. Together, they confront rebels, assassins, and a conspiracy involving a military secret: robotically-enhanced soldiers for a world on the brink of war. But as Ardis starts to fall for Wendel, she realizes the scars from his past run more deeply than she ever imagined. Can Ardis stop Wendel before his thirst for revenge destroys him and everyone else around him?

Find the book:
Goodreads | Amazon  | Barnes & Noble

About the Author:
Karen Kincy (Redmond, Washington) can be found lurking in her writing cave, though sunshine will lure her outside. When not writing, she stays busy gardening, tinkering with aquariums, or running just one more mile. Karen has a BA in Linguistics and Literature from The Evergreen State College. 

Find the author:
Website | Twitter | Facebook 

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