Burying the Past

Happy Valentines Day, those of you who observe. I hope there's at least a little bit of chocolate in it for you.

Burying the Past

Recently, possibly during the Walking Dead midseason premiere, I got to wondering whether zombies aren't a sort of extended metaphor for all the things in our lives that ought to be dead and past, yet steadfastly refuse to remain buried.

 

We bury our emotions. Our memories. Traumas. Sometimes we're good at it. We toddle along looking for all the world like perfectly normal human beings. For a little while.

 

But you know, when you put something in the ground without killing it properly first, it usually refuses to stay buried. That stuff claws its way from the dank soil and shuffles out of the dark. Bloody, putrid and terrifying. 

 

Depending on what it was you tried to bury in the depths of your psyche that newly risen THING will try to devour you. Who wouldn't want to resolve that situation in a morally unambiguous way? A few rounds of ammo taking out a line of zombies seems so much -- cleaner -- than years of therapy.

 

All of this is germane this week, because I get to show you the cover to my new Urban Fantasy novel, NIGHTMARE INK. (Due out April 15 from Intermix)

 

The heroine of the book, Isa, is an expert at burying her past. She thinks. And she has a lot of past to bury.

 

With the needle of a tattoo gun, Isa Romanchzyk has the power to create and destroy. In her shop Nightmare Ink, Isa helps those in need by binding the powers embedded in their Live Ink—the magical tattoos that can enhance the life of the wearer, or end it.  But binding tattoos has earned Isa the contempt of her fellow artists—including her former lover Daniel.

When a friend comes to the shop with a tattoo on the verge of killing him, Isa can’t turn him away. For the first time in years, she works Live Ink into someone’s skin—something she swore she’d never do again. But breaking her vow soon becomes the least of her problems.

Isa is horrified to discover her friend’s body in the shop, but the real nightmare begins when she’s abducted and inked against her will.  Now, as she seeks retribution from the man who betrayed her, Isa must figure out how to bind her Living Tattoo before it consumes her completely...