Coming in April: ‘Conjuring the Rage Deity’

 

Conjuring the Rage Deity is a prequel to my Pearl Dragon Adventures urban fantasy series. The novellas revolve around the escapades of art thief and grave robber Pearl Tham. 

This series is for you if you like Asian folklore, female antiheroes, fast-paced action, quick reads, and monster slaying. 

The Pearl Dragon series is a spin-off of my Geomancer’s Apprentice series, featuring two underdog feng shui practitioners who find, to their dismay, that they must save the world (or at least Washington, D.C.). 

My newsletter subscribers will be able to download Conjuring the Rage Deity for free when it releases in April.

Subscribe to my newsletter now if you’d like to read it. I’ve included a snippet below. 

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A Snippet from Conjuring the Rage Deity

She was almost at the door when she detected the odor of smoke and incense. Following her nose, she discovered a small gray structure in a dark corner behind some bonsai trees. The structure rested on a thick slab of cement and was about waist-high and two feet or so wide. 

Getting closer, she found herself looking at a brick and cement replica of a Chinese temple with a curved roof. Tiny steps led up to a door-shaped opening in its facade through which she could see only darkness. 

In front of the temple was a rectangular cement container full of sand. Joss or incense sticks bristled from the sand like porcupine quills, their flames long burned out. A porcelain bowl sat on either side of the container.

Pearl was familiar with these kinds of structures. They were Tudigong shrines. A Tudigong—or “lord of the land” in Mandarin—was a Chinese guardian deity or spirit who protected a specific place. There were several Tudigong shrines in Chinatown, including one near her relative’s restaurant. 

There was nothing odd about Chan believing in Tudigongs. He was originally from Hong Kong, where folk religion was widely practiced and where people were arguably more superstitious than those from communist mainland China. Nevertheless, there was something about this shrine that seemed off. 

Despite the lateness of the hour and the job still ahead of her, she crept to the shrine and bent over one of the bowls. They were filled with a substance that looked black in the failing light. She recoiled when she smelled a coppery odor. Both bowls held congealed blood. 

Her interest was truly piqued now. She went down on one knee and peered into the shrine’s opening. There was a dark shape inside. She fished a flashlight from her backpack and aimed its beam into the hole.