Blog Tour Guest Post + Giveaway: The Lady Lazarus Series by Michele Lang

Please join me in welcoming author Michele Lang to Let Them Read Books!

Michele is touring the blogosphere in celebration of the final book in her Lady Lazarus Series, Rebel Angels. She's got a great guest post for us today, and she's brought along an e-copy of her novella The Magic of Fabulous, which is set in the world of Lady Lazarus, for everyone who leaves a comment with their email address! And thanks to Tor Books, three lucky readers will win all three books in the Lady Lazarus Series!

Secret Spaces and Their Magic

By Michele Lang

Now that the LADY LAZARUS trilogy is complete, I can step back and see motifs operating that I never planned, themes dancing through the three books that only emerge now that it is all done.

One motif that jumps out at me now: terrifying battles conducted in secret or underground spaces. For a long time, I've been fascinated by hidden, subterranean worlds. Caverns, labyrinths, other natural formations that predated the grand structures erected on the surface above them and that reveal a different side of the people who live in a place.

For example, the Buda Caves under the grand Buda castle in the oldest part of Budapest. The Turks used to say that "Buda Castle is hollow," in acknowledgement of the huge labyrinth winding under the castle on the top of Buda hills.

It seems many cities in Europe have secret, underground worlds beneath the surface. Recently, I read about a subterranean cinema/secret club in Paris. Isn't that cool? And also a secret cathedral recently discovered underground in Northern Italy. They found it 100 feet down...the creator had kept this incredible work a secret for decades. An insurance broker did this in his spare time. Talk about a double life! You never know the secret dreams of a person, hiding in the subterranean spaces of their life.

In DARK VICTORY, a huge battle takes place in the underground salt mines located outside the Polish city of Krakow. It is a real place, and almost unbelievable. Unknown miners with hidden artistic gifts have been carving a gorgeous underground chapel at their workplace since the 13th century. Everything there is carved of salt, even the chandeliers. "See you in the salt mines" takes on a whole new meaning when you contemplate the incredible artistry of these workers.

In REBEL ANGELS, though much of the ultimate battle takes place in mountains and on battlefields, Magda faces an internal struggle of her own in the Temple of Fire, a Zoroastrian sanctuary that is also hidden, secret, dangerous, and a real place.

One of the joys of writing this series has been finding the magic hidden all around us, in real places, and letting that magic emerge into the stories. Everyone has a secret world within them, vast reserves of strength, mystical connection, and incredible, haunting beauty. What does your secret place of magic look like?

Great question! Thanks, Michele!

Enter to win all three books in the Lady Lazarus Series:

Adventure, romance, and magic on the eve of World War II

Click the covers to read their descriptions

and add them to your shelves on Goodreads!

Click here to submit your entry.*

  

*This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada and ends at 11:59pm Wednesday, April 17, 2013. Winners will be selected at random. Thanks, and good luck!

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post with your email address for an e-copy of The Magic of Fabulous! (International :)

This giveaway is closed and the winner has been selected. Stay tunes for more great giveaways!

About Michele:

Michele Lang writes supernatural tales: the stories of witches, lawyers, goddesses, bankers, demons, and other magical creatures hidden in plain sight. Author of the LADY LAZARUS historical fantasy series, Michele's most recent book in the series, REBEL ANGELS, released March 2013.

Michele is also a lawyer who has practiced the unholy craft of litigation in both New York and Connecticut. She returned to her native New York shortly before 9/11, and now lives in a small town on the North Shore of Long Island with her husband, her sons, and a rotating menagerie of cats, hermit crabs, and butterflies.
Find her on the web and on Facebook.