Nancy K. Duplechain - Dark Trilogy 02 - Dark Carnival (23 page)

Book 3:

Dark Legacy

by

Nancy K.

Duplechain

He
hesitantly turned around so that she could see what he was talking about.  They
looked like tiny shards of amethyst struggling to break away from his shoulder
blades.  She lightly traced a finger over one of them.  He bristled.

“Does
it hurt?” she asked.

“Feels a little sore.”

They looked so much
like gem stones that she was expecting them to feel jagged and rough, but they
were soft and yielded to her touch.

“I can’t believe this
is happening,” he said sadly, and pulled away from her, putting his shirt back
on.

She leaned back
against the wall, bringing her knees up into her chest and resting her arms
across them.  She watched as he nervously paced the room, and then she smiled
softly.  “I think it’s beautiful.”

“Nadia, nothing about
being like them is beautiful.”

But it was time to go home.  My
niece’s mom and grandmother offered to take me in while I got readjusted to
life in South Louisiana (I had forgotten how prehistorically-huge the insects
were down here).  What I thought would be a few weeks with my family turned out
to be a few months.  For that, I am deeply in gratitude to Martha Milligan,
Angell Duplechain and of course, Lyla. 

I was surprised to find myself
seeing my home town of Ville Platte in a new light.  I began to get involved
and loved it.  I would like to thank my home town for welcoming me back with
open arms.  I especially want to thank the wonderful people at the Evangeline
Parish Library for setting up my first book-signing event.  They sure know how
to make a girl feel special! 

Just like Leigh Benoit, I too grew
up taking quite a few trips to New Orleans, but also sticking to the tourist
spots.  At some point, I knew I’d have to take a really in-depth trip to the
city if I was to accurately describe it.  For this, I’d like to thank my good
friend Chris Boudreaux, who knows NOLA more than I do.  One day, I went to meet
him at his home in Lafayette, and then we drove to New Orleans for an
over-night trip, but it felt like several days.  We hit nearly every
neighborhood of this fantastic city, and I felt it paid off.  Thank you, Chris,
for being my tour guide.

New Orleans is one of my favorite
cities.  The culture and cuisine are unbeatable, though my part of Louisiana
does give it a good run for its money (proverbial wink).  Voodoo is still
practiced here, but my version of it is somewhat exaggerated when it comes to
Ruby, though I should remind you that Ruby throws in some dark magic.  The Voodoo
religion is not in any way evil.  It’s easy to be mystified with exaggerated
tales of Voodoo rituals and abominations.  It’s like any other faith; you have
good people who practice it and bad people who practice it.  With that said, I
had to do a bit of research for certain spells and rituals.  For this, I’d like
to again thank Cheré Cohen along with her writing partner, Jude Bradley, who
wrote “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags & Sachets.”
 While this book isn’t about Voodoo, specifically, it does give a very nice
overview of magic in different cultures and provides a step-by-step guide oh
how to make gris gris bags, just like the ones Cee Cee makes.  I also consulted
“The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook” by Denise Alvarado.  I highly recommend this book
to anyone interested in Voodoo.

As for zombies … I simply couldn’t
resist.  A Voodoo practitioner cannot bring the dead back to life and, to the
best of my knowledge, no one else can.  I could have easily gone the vampire
route—yes, there is quite a bit of vampire lore in the Crescent City—but I
thought this would be more fun.  Can you blame me?

Finally, I’d like to thank all of
you who let me know how much you liked my first novel and couldn’t wait to read
my second one.  I hope I didn’t disappoint.  You’ve all encouraged me to keep
going amidst my topsy-turvy life.  Thank you.

-Nancy K. Duplechain