“Flight of Magpies” by KJ Charles
Publisher: Samhain
Release Date: October 28, 2014
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Danger in the air. Lovers on the brink.
A Charm of Magpies, Book 3 With the justiciary understaffed, a series of horrifying occult murders to be investigated, and a young student who is flying—literally—off the rails, magical law enforcer Stephen Day is under increasing stress. And his relationship with his aristocratic lover, Lord Crane, is beginning to feel the strain. Crane chafes at the restrictions of England’s laws, and there’s a worrying development in the blood-and-sex bond he shares with Stephen. A development that makes a sensible man question if they should be together at all. When a thief strikes at the heart of Crane’s home, a devastating loss brings his closest relationships into bitter conflict—especially his relationship with Stephen. And as old enemies, new enemies, and unexpected enemies paint the lovers into a corner, the pressure threatens to tear them apart.
The hero of my Charm of Magpies trilogy, Lord Crane, is tattooed. He has seven magpies etched over him. There is reason for this: he is the descendant of a phenomenally powerful sorcerer known as the Magpie Lord, and magpies play a large role in the bloodline, power and general weirdness surrounding him.
However, the series is set in 1880s England (albeit a paranormal one). You might think a heavily tattooed earl is a bit implausible.
And if so, you’d be wrong.
For one of the best-known men in high European circles, the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, is most elaborately tattooed. And Prince and Princess Waldemar of Denmark, Queen Olga of Greece, King Oscar of Sweden, the Duke of York, the Grand Duke Constantine, Lady Randolph Churchill, with many others of royal and distinguished rank, have submitted themselves to the tickling, but painless and albeit pleasant, sensation afforded by the improved tattooing needle.
(‘Tattooed Royalty: Queer Stories of a Queer Craze’, by R. J. Stephen, The Harmsworth Monthly Pictorial Magazine, 1898)
Tattoos were startlingly common among high society. Not usually visible of course. Noblemen didn’t get LOVE and HATE across their knuckles (or BIRTH and WEALTH, even, although that would have been cool). A gentleman’s high collar and shirt cuffs would conceal his skin decoration very well. The ‘Tattooed Royalty’ article tells us, “Anyone meeting the Duke of Newcastle, or the Earl of Portarlington, or Sir Edmund Lechmere, in the street, would hardly realize the fact that these gentlemen are proud wearers of tattoo marks – very much so.” Lady Randolph Churchill had a snake going round one wrist, which would have been pretty obvious, but note how it’s hidden in the picture.
Incidentally, you know who this incredibly foxy lady is? Winston Churchill’s mother. I assume he took after his dad.
But there the tattoos were, under the frock coats and bustles: pictures on the skin, undercutting everything we think about Victorian being prudish and repressed.
Well, some of them, anyway. Tattooing was seen in Victorian Britain as something that either the lower classes or the upper classes did. It was fine to get tattooed if you were a sailor; nobody would argue if you were Lord High Admiral; the clerk in the Naval Office didn’t have so much freedom. In a country without a social safety net, the step down from precarious middle-class sufficiency to poverty was only one accident or illness or dismissal away. The middle classes, like my other hero Stephen Day, hung on to their respectability and preserved their skin. He’s frankly rather shocked by Crane’s magpie-covered skin…until he inadvertently acquires his own tattoo, at least. (There’s a free story here, Interlude with Tattoos, telling how that happens.)
Of course Crane is a bit ahead of his time. Tattooing was only just kicking off among the upper classes when my books are set. It spread fast: it’s estimated that by 1900 one in five of the British aristocracy was tattooed. And when you hear what people were having done by then, seven magpies look really quite restrained.
we notice, amongst other quaint designs at this moment adorning the bodies of some of our best known society men, three five-pound notes, full size… a fox hunt in full cry, horses and their scarlet-coated riders, with a very level pack of hounds careering down the owners back in wild pursuit of a “little red rascal,” racing for his life; whilst one more than plucky individual, who rumour says has an extremely tender epidermis, not content with a handsome pair of dark blue socks with scarlet “clocks” on his feet, has lately been adorned with all manner of strange designs, from his neck down to the top of the socks.
(‘Pictures in the Human Skin’, Gambier Bolton, The Strand magazine, 1897)
In Flight of Magpies, the third in the Charm of Magpies sequence, Crane’s magpie tattoos play a significant role. Everything seems to be turning against our heroes – Stephen’s trainee, the Council that controls his life, the tattoos. They’re even turning on each other…
(The articles referenced and some fabulous photos can be found here.)
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 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.
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One ebook copy of “Flight of Magpies” and a $25 gift certificate to your online book retailer of choice.
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Read Elizabetta’s Pre release review HERE!
yay! so excited for this book and the growth in all your work. why isn’t the blog hop on samhain’s new site?
Thanks! I think you have to book slots at Samhain miles in advance and I have to admit, it has not been that kind of month. What with one thing and another…
Two more days to go. I will be able to buy the book and stop stalking the blog tour looking for new excerpts! 🙂
One more to come I believe… 🙂
I love this series. I am so excited.
I really can’t wait for this book anymore! I don’t even want to think in Jackdaw, coming next year (too long!), lol.
I didn’t realise that upper class gentlemen had Tattoos in Victorian times but then again I suppose they went unnoticed because of the clothes they wore. You learn something new every day!!
ShirleyAnn(at)speakman40(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk
Thanks for the fascinating post and the giveaway!
lkbherring64(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks for the historic detail on tattoos! I learned something new today. 2 more days to go until I can read the new story!!!
I just read book one recently. I loved it. I still need to get to book two, but I will soon. Glad to see that there are even more.
I had no idea tattoos were popular so long ago! Thanks for the post and contest. I am looking forward to reading Flight of Magpies. Just in time for my B-Day. 🙂
jen.f {at} mac {dot} com
Tattoos are so omnipresent today that I’ve never really thought about their past. This was fascinating!
vitajex(At)Aol(Dot)com
Thanks for the really interesting post! I had no idea that tattoos were so popular then. I’m really looking forward to Flight of Magpies.
Tattoos must be more popular now than ever before. I pass by at least 5 tattoo parlors on my way to work everyday, and I’m the only person in my office without a tattoo. I see gorgeous tattoos and also ones that make you wonder what they were thinking. I need to Google some of those early tattoos to see how they compare.
I can hardly wait until Tuesday!! 🙂
can’t wait to read this! I really enjoy this series
Fascinating about the tattoos being so popular back then. Looking forward to your new book.
Thanks for the really cool post. The tattoo thing was totally new to me. I never would have thought they would have tattoos. Thanks for the chance.
That is so cool! I had no idea! Excuse me while I assign tattoos to all my Victorian aristocracy characters … hm, I may need to create some specifically for that purpose. Tattoos!
Also, I don’t need to be entered into the giveaway, I’ve already pre-ordered! 😀
Great post. Hearing tattoos in a historical era story is a bit shocking and actually sounds awesome.
Love this series – thanks for a chance at winning Flight of Magpies!
Love this series! Super excited for tomorrow’s release. Thank you!
Wow! I had no idea tattoos were so popular back when. The book/story line sounds quite interesting. I haven’t read the first book yet but I’m looking forward to starting. Thanks for the giveaway!
Wow, I had absolutely no idea that tattoos were so common back then. I guess you really do learn something new every day 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I seriously had no idea about this. That’s the coolest thing about history, probably everything you ever knew about it is absolutely wrong! 😀
I can’t wait (no, really, stop making me wait!) for Flight of Magpies. I very much look forward to being able to download my preorder. Which will be soon, yay!
I’m really looking forward to this book. I preordered it so it was on my Kindle when I woke up this morning. I wish I could take the whole day off to read it!
kimandpete at me dot com
Very cool info about tattoos 🙂
penumbrareads[at]gmail[dot]com
[…] A blog post about tattooed Victorian aristocracy at Love Bytes […]
The research on tattoos was almost as fascinating as your series is. So awesome, I had to run down a Google rabbit hole on tattoos before coming back to finish the article. I’m a huge geek & I love your words.
This was so interesting, it reminds of the recent film remake of the Oscar Wilde play ‘The Importance of being Earnest’ when the character Gwendoline had a tattoo on her behind and later Earnest did as well. I must admit I was bit dubious at the time, would the Victorian upper classes do such a thing, and I thought they had modernised the story to much.
Thank you again KJ Charles for enlightening me about the secret tattoos of the upper classes and for a chance to win this book 🙂