Welcome to my world. This is the third collection of short stories and novellas from the Deadly Curiosities’ universe, and as odd as it sounds, it began with real life. Authors take inspiration from many places, and for me, life events took me down a dark and mysterious road. It all began with Buttons. (Included in Trifles & Folly, Volume 1) I was asked to participate in the Solaris anthology Magic: The Esoteric and Arcane and had to come up with a new story. I’d written several involving Sorren set in earlier times, but I wanted a fresh take and a modern setting, and Cassidy was born.
At the time, I was dealing with the recent death of my father, and my husband and I were settling his estate, dealing with auctions and appraisers, and sorting through a life-long collection of stuff. Not ordinary stuff, but the kinds of things that provided fodder for ghost stories. Though obviously, I took some creative liberties, some everyday items do have unusual providence, and oh, the things they’ve seen!
Over the course of the short stories and novels, the characters grow and change, as you’d expect if they were real people. When we first meet Cassidy in Buttons and in Deadly Curiosities, she is very new in using her gift of psychometry, and the visions often throw her for a loop. As time goes on, she gains more skill—both in controlling her magic and in using it defensively. Teag also grows in his magical abilities, and Sorren proves that continued growth and change are part of a successful long existence. By the time the stories in this collection happen, Cassidy and Teag have gained much greater mastery over their abilities.
This collection includes seven stories set in the Deadly Curiosities universe.
NOTE: One story—Crewel Fate—is an MM paranormal romance with adult content. (The other stories do not have adult content.) It is a direct follow-up to events that take place in Inheritance at Teag’s birthday party.
I hope you enjoy these stories, and if so, there are more available and more to come, including the full-length novels: Deadly Curiosities, Vendetta, Tangled Web, Inheritance, and Legacy.