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(¸.•´ (¸.•`MAGPIES AND MAGIC  ¸.•*¨*•
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I’m not superstitious, but I count magpies.

Most British people do. It’s just a thing. If you nudge a Brit and indicate a lone magpie, you can bet money you’ll get the response, ‘One for sorrow.’ Everyone knows a magpie rhyme (and there are a lot of them).

One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy… 

So, I count magpies. Just a habit. It’s not a superstition. If I was superstitious, each time I saw a lone magpie, I’d have to say, “Good morning Mr. Magpie, and how are your wife and children?” in the hope of warding off bad luck. If I was superstitious, I’d panic when a magpie landed on my roof, because “when pies chatter upon a house, it is a sign of right evil tidings”.

But I’m not superstitious. And it would be ridiculous to believe magpies are unlucky. Although they eat carrion, of course, which associates them with death. And there’s the old story is that they were the only bird that refused to go in the boat with Noah, preferring to sit on the roof of the Ark “jabbering over the drowning world”. And then there’s the colour. In much of Europe black birds are unlucky, white are lucky. Magpies are both. Lucky and unlucky, sorrow and joy. No wonder we can’t quite feel comfortable with them. No wonder we have to count them.

Five for rich, six for poor, seven for a bitch, eight for a whore… 

In The Magpie Lord, China trader Lucien Vaudrey unexpectedly inherits the title of Lord Crane and a huge fortune. He also inherits a bloodline full of magic, and a peculiar obsession with magpies that has led his family to fill their decaying stately home with pictures and carvings and tapestries of magpies. The new Lord Crane hasn’t done that. He wears his magpies as tattoos instead. Seven of them. Which is one of the many things about Crane that attracts the reluctant attention of magician Stephen Day.

Seven for a witch, I can tell you no more. 

As it happens, magpies don’t have the same significance in China as in England. In China they’re a symbol of good luck and happiness. I didn’t know that when I started writing The Magpie Lord. Crane would have known, after twenty years as a smuggler and trader in China. And it fits the story well, because while Crane’s malign English inheritance seems likely to get him killed, it’s possible that the magpies – together with Stephen’s powers – will be the only things that can save him.

Nine for a funeral, ten for a dance, eleven for England, twelve for France.

Thanks to Sid Love for hosting me, and don’t forget to greet the next magpie you see. After all, you never know…

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THE MAGPIE LORD

PUBLISHER: Samhain Publishing

LENGTH: 200 pages

BLURB: Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He’s also inherited his family’s enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn’t expect it to turn up angry.

Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane’s family. Unfortunately, it’s his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he’s ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude…and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That’s definitely unusual.

Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane’s dangerous appeal isn’t the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can’t find a way through it—they’re both going to die.

The Magpie Lord is out now from Samhain (see Elizabetta’s review here, http://sidlove.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/pre-release-review-the-magpie-lord-by-k-j-charles/).  

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I’m a writer of romance, mostly m/m, often historical or fantasy or both. I also have a contemporary thriller coming out soon. I like to mix it up.

I’m a commissioning editor in my daily life and I blog about writing and editing at kjcharleswriter.wordpress.com.

I live in London, UK, with two kids, a tolerant husband and an even more tolerant cat.

KJ Charles blogs at kjcharleswriter.wordpress.com, tweets @kj_charles, and would love to say hello on Facebook or Goodreads. 

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