A.J. Maguire

Author: ajmaguire

  • Fun with Ghosts

    I really hate things that I cannot control.  I am, to an extent, a control freak.  So ghosts scare me.  Anything I can’t pick up a blunt object and defend myself against makes me nervous.  Zombies scare me too, but I’m fairly confident I can bludgeon them away from me if I have to.  That said, I still manage to use them in my fiction sometimes.

    Well, now that I think about it, there are strange apparitions in most of my novels.  Saboteur, however, had more of a “future ghost” thing going on and that was all dealing with magic.  But my favorite ghost from one of my personal novels has to be Baldemor Delgora from the Witch-Born series.

    Why?

    For starters I love his name.  Baldemor Delgora just rolls off the tongue in a pleasant manner.  It sounds old, though the ghost is of a little boy and I find that contradiction fun.  We only get to see him twice in Witch-Born, but the sequel Dead Magic has him turning up again.  (Dead Magic is nearly completed, by the way.  It should be done at the end of November.)  He’s more active in this new novel and he has lost his friendliness — inasmuch as he was ever “friendly” but he does attempt to hurt three different people this time.

    In the spirit of Halloween, I thought I might give a snippet of Baldemor in action.  This is from Dead Magic, which is under contract and will be out sometime next year.  For those unfamiliar with the novels, Witch-Born is set in the world of Magnellum, which is a steampunk/magic blend where Witches are nobility.  The Witches use their magic to hold up the barrier separating Magnellum from what is known as the Wild — a primal force bent on killing everyone inside Magnellum.

    ***

    Valeda had the disturbing sensation of something very cold sliding down her spine.  The only sound came from the waterfalls crashing into the lake just beyond, though Valeda could swear she heard a low, deep humming from the boy in front of her.  He hadn’t answered her yet and the House Witch had given no explanation, so Valeda kept quiet.  If she was being honest, she was terrified.

           There was something malicious about the boy, something intense and powerful that clung to him.

           “In truth, Miss Quinlan, I’m not sure how to introduce you,” Elsie said at last. “The form before you is that of Baldemor Delgora.  Baldemor, however, has been dead for centuries.”

           Valeda swallowed down her fear. “Centuries?”

           “Until recently he talked.  Sometimes he would warn people away from the Lake.  But he’s changed now.  He’s more Wild than anything else.” The Witch tugged at her earlobe and frowned. “The Wild is coming, Miss Quinlan.  Very soon, I’m afraid.”

     

  • Scary Stories

    Given that it is now October it seems appropriate to list my favorite ghost stories.  Or, well, the stories that creep me out the most.  There are many ghosts that populate literature, even if the stories are not necessarily “ghost” related.  Horror is not my favorite genre and I tend to stay far away from it, but I do enjoy Scott Sigler.  Of course, Mr. Sigler is mostly known for his alien football series, but I have read some of his other stuff and they do tend to get under my skin.

    That said, aside from Scott Sigler I don’t really read Horror.  But I have seen some movies so you’ll notice that my list is mostly of those.

    #5 – Edgar Allan Poe – The Pit and the Pendulum as well as The Raven.  Come on, who doesn’t get creeped out when reading “Nevermore.” 

    #4 — Wait Until Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn.  This book scared the crap out of me when I was kid.  Seriously.  I still have a fear of kelp. 

    #3 — Ancestor by Scott Sigler.  Congratulations, Mr. Sigler.  You have managed to make pregnant cows something to fear. 

    #2 — It by Stephen King.  Yep.  Clowns are suddenly horrifying.  This would be one of those that I watched rather than read.  I just can’t sit in a state of fear for the days it would take to read his work.

    #1 —  Rose Red by Stephen King.  This is another one that I watched rather than read.  It was shown in a two-part session a couple of years back and I remember I couldn’t sleep that first night.  I was seriously that terrified.  

    Those are my top five scary stories.  Rose Red sits there at the top of the list because of that horrible night I spent unable to sleep.  Anyone have a better story?

  • Tragedy

    As I’ve been consumed by Doctor Who for the last few weeks I couldn’t help but start dissecting what it is about that show that I truly love.  Aside from it being funny and quick, the Doctor stands as one of the most tragic characters I’ve encountered.  He is alone, the last of his kind, floating around all of time and space in a blue box that’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, and armed with nothing more than a sonic screwdriver and an indomitable hope for humanity.

    In the midst of all the fun and quirky bits of the show, Doctor Who maintains his tragic streak.  Perhaps the most profound episode I’ve found so far is the one titled Midnight by Russell T. Davies.  This one is in the middle of the fourth season and I have to admit that Davies is a genius.

    WARNING : There are spoilers ahead.  If you haven’t seen that episode, don’t read further.

    Davies put the Doctor in a little box that is not bigger on the inside than it is on the outside with a group of strangers on their way to see some diamond falls.  And then he broke the box — Davies, not the Doctor — and watched as the human elements of the story spiraled out of control.  We get the lady Sky suddenly possessed by some other kind of life-form that learns very quickly by mimicking the people around it.  Granted, it is creepy to have someone copy everything you say as you’re saying it, but the real genius of the story isn’t the alien trying to learn so much as the reactions of the rest of the people on board.

    Basically, we had a whole show that didn’t really move out of the box and managed to remain intense and profound.  By the end we’ve seen a breakdown in humanity as the focus turns from stressful “Well, now we have to wait for rescue” to “Survival of the fittest” until nearly everyone is trying to throw the Doctor out of the ship (where he will die).  The tragedy of this story isn’t necessarily the death of one of the characters, but the ugly desperation that infected everyone.

    These humans that the Doctor finds so much hope and affection for are also capable of horrible things.  He’s not naive enough to not be aware of their capacity for evil, but there is so much disappointment in him when he sees them turn the wrong direction.  So the tragedy comes around when his hope for the best in humanity is tarnished by the actions he sees.

  • Dr. Who & The Sonic Screwdriver

    So I finally got Netflix and I was watching Star Trek Voyager when I realized that … Holy Cow!  I could be watching Dr. Who!  So I started watching it with my son, who actually seems to enjoy it.  In fact, he picked up a laser pointer that we use to play with the cat and proclaimed that it was his sonic screwdriver.  He now “unlocks” all of our doors with it.

    I’ve managed to get through the first two seasons and half of the third.  (These being the set that started back in 2005.  I might try the older generation later, but right now I’m too busy trying to catch up.)  And I have to admit that I am still a Chris Eccleston fan.  He played the Ninth Doctor and while I like David Tennant, the character sort of lost something in the transfer.  Eccleston had more gravity to him.  He felt a little more dangerous.

    But, well, we’ll see how I feel after I’ve finally caught up on all the seasons.  (I do have a loooong way to go yet.)  I did cry at the end of Season 2, which startled my son enough that he gave me the pouty lip.  I had to spend the rest of the night laughing and giggling with him about how Mommy got all emotional over a silly TV show.  (He was properly assuaged via Oreo cookies, so I’m fairly certain he hasn’t been emotionally scarred.)

    That said, I’m pretty much addicted to the show now.  Thank you BBC, you give me all the fun stuff to love.

  • Book Review – Hounded by Kevin Hearne

    So, I’m part Irish.  I’m also part Scottish, which makes for a wicked bad temper and an inability to quit even when everything is screaming that I’ve lost.  But it also makes me curious when I run into Irish or Scottish books of fiction, which is what made me pick up Hounded by Kevin Hearne.  (FYI, I’ve read like … all of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon on the main basis that it was dealing with Scots.)

    Overall I enjoyed the book.  It was funny, it had a different outlook on Druids and gods and things, and it had a dog.  (I’m a sucker for pets.)  In fact, I think Oberon the dog was my favorite character in the book.  Atticus was just too … “I’ve got control here even when it looks like I don’t” … for me.  I never really felt like he was in danger.

    In fact, I was more worried about his dog.  But then again, I sort of got the feeling that Atticus was more worried about his dog than he was about himself, too.  Until the part where the Earth was quasi-destroyed by an overambitious love-god and Atticus got all Druidic and grouchy about it.  And if he was going to get that touchy about it, I would have enjoyed watching him do some gardening or something, showing the connection he had to the Earth and all that.

    I imagine that it wouldn’t really be cool to watch a hot guy in Celtic tattoos do his gardening for several pages, but the dude was so busy killing giants or getting hit on by seductive goddesses that he really didn’t do much Druidic.  He drew his power from the Earth, true, but that just wasn’t enough for me.

    And … yes … I was slightly annoyed at the werewolves and vampires making a showcase on the pages.  Honestly, I’m happy that other people are happy reading about the undead and pack animals’ masquerading as people, but it’s just not for me.  (As horrible as this sounds I really can’t understand the appeal of the undead.  I’ve always equated it as some weird form of necrophilia.)

    Thus, as much as I enjoyed Oberon the dog and his amusing comments, I can’t give the book more than three or four stars on the meter.  But don’t let that bother any of you.  If you like vampires and werewolves and witches, or if your Scottish-Irish like me, then you should give the book a chance.

  • Witch-Born Giveaway

    I promised that in October I would run a Giveaway of the novel Witch-Born, and so I’ve gone ahead and started it.  Or, well, it hasn’t started quite yet.  It starts September 8th and runs all the way through October.  I’ve put in the widget already, so you can click on that and go straight to Goodreads, who is hosting the Giveaway.

    Thank you, Goodreads!  You are super-fabulous!

    Anyway, as this is the first time I’ve given away Witch-Born, I figure I should take a moment to give a little background information on the novel.

    So!  There I was getting ready for National Novel Writing Month back in 2008, and I had this great outline for a straight Romance novel.  (I love National Novel Writing Month.  Seriously.  If you know anything about them then you know they are out there promoting literacy and everything in young people.)  But then a funny thing happened.  November 1st showed up and I simply could not write the novel I had mapped out.

    It was infuriating.

    I had taken all of October to create that outline and suddenly I couldn’t use it.  So I threw it aside, grabbed the two main characters (in my mind it was by the throat, even though I’m pretty sure both of them could have killed me with a wink) and let them lead.  By November 3rd I had a better idea of what the story was about.  My straight romance novel was overrun by witches, dirigibles, snake-like creatures that attached to people and took over their minds, and assassination plots.

    It was pure mayhem.   And I loved every second of it.

    I didn’t want to make Witches into the hunted creatures tradition has placed them in.  So, I decided to make a world where Witches were in charge.  This made for a strange, convoluted society that separates the Witch-Born from the Untalented, but resembles the familiar fiefdom we have in our history books.

    I barely won National Novel Writing Month that year, but I did win.  (First time, too.)  And then I took all of December to complete the novel.  For the next year I edited it.  Then I threw it out on the market where it was picked up by Double Dragon Publishing.  It was published June of 2011 and its sequel (Dead Magic) is currently under contract with Double Dragon.

    It’s actually quite appropriate that I give away Witch-Born now, since I should have Dead Magic completed by November.  (That’s not the publication date, just the day I’ll finish working on it before the editors at Double Dragon start ripping it apart.)

    I’d give you all a teaser of Witch-Born, but if you go to the Amazon page you can get the first chapter and a half for free.  So instead I’ll put up a quick snippet from Dead Magic.  (Not much, mind you.  I don’t want to get in trouble from the publisher.)

    ***

    “Are you taking me to the ark?” Valeda asked bluntly.

           Elsie smiled some more, careful not to show her surprise.  Regardless of her good nature, Miss Quinlan was a reporter.  The last thing Elsie needed was another news report about Delgora matters.  “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about, Miss Quinlan.”

           “I saw it last night.  From my window.” Valeda’s soft gray eyes narrowed at her. “On the southern ridgeline.”

           Elsie chuckled and turned away, resuming their hike before she answered. “First of all, Miss Quinlan, you’ll notice the position of the mid-morning sun is directly to our right.  You, being an educated woman, are well aware of the sun’s rotation from East to West, which would make our current trajectory due north of Delgora Manor.”

           From the corner of her eye, she saw Valeda look to the sky and frown. “That doesn’t deny what I saw last night.”

           “Secondly,” Elsie continued without acknowledging the comment, “Even if I were inclined to divulge Delgora House matters to you, Miss Quinlan, my better sense knows that your profession cannot be trusted.”

           “I’m a reporter, not an idiot.  If you required my silence you would have it.  I’d never cross a Witch.”

  • The End of Camp NaNoWriMo

    Alright … so … it’s after 9PM on the final night of Camp NaNoWriMo and I am quite exhausted.  My end word count is 32,764.  I was hoping to get to at least 40k before the end, but the stars just did not align.

    But that’s fine!  Because I knew when I started this that I couldn’t win with all my obligations at school and everything.  (There was a solid week and a half where I couldn’t write due to finals and what have you.)  And to be honest, it was just plain fun to work on something new and different.

    So!  As promised I will be setting Tapped aside to be finished after I have completed Dead Magic and Usurper.  For those of you who follow my books, Dead Magic is the sequel to Witch-Born and Usurper is the third book in the Sedition series.  My Alpha Readers will be extremely pleased to hear that Dead Magic should be finished by November.  And I suppose if I put that in writing I should be prepared to suffer the consequences should I fail to meet the deadline this time.

    (In my defense, deadlines have been given quite a bit of leeway due to school.  And honestly, I broke a character in Dead Magic and she was driving me nuts, so I needed time away from the work to figure her out.)

    I’ve taken down the Camp NaNoWriMo page given the fact that … well … it’s done.  But come November — if Dead Magic is finished and I’m feeling particularly feisty — I might put a new one up to follow the regular National Novel Writing Month for the year.

    To those of you who participated in Camp NaNoWriMo … congratulations!  Even if you didn’t reach the goal, you still got words down on paper, and a story plotted out in your mind, and you deserve a cookie just for that.  Writing a book is hard.  It takes guts to even try.  So, well done!

  • Snow White and the Huntsman

    Fridays are normally my homework days while I’m in school, but this week was my first week on my little summer break (it’s only two weeks long before the Fall semester starts) and I decided I was going to treat myself to a movie.  (A three dollar movie, but hey, it’s the one I wanted to see.)

    Why did I want to see it?

    …. Uh … to be very shallow, because Chris Hemsworth was in it.  

    Honestly, I became a fan when I saw Thor.  (Even though Tom Hiddleston, who played Loki, is sort of identical to my character Nelek Dyngannon.)

    But to get out of the shallow waters, I tend to watch anything fantasy/fairy tale-ish.  I watched Mirror Mirror, too.  And have almost every version of Robin Hood that has been made in my lifetime.  So, Chris Hemsworth + Snow White tale = I should see this movie.  The only reason I didn’t see it when it first came out was because it looked too scary to take my 4 year old son to, and my Fridays were occupied with school work.

    Let me first say that Charlize Theron was surprisingly terrifying.  I didn’t think she could pull off psycho-evil-queen, but she did.  And I actually felt bad for her (the character, not the actress) with the back-story they gave this lady.

    I have long been a fan of Theron.  I think she’s absolutely beautiful, and in this movie she was able to turn that beauty into something really tragic.  Well, tragic and scary.  Let’s face it, she does some pretty nasty things in this movie in order to keep her vitality and all that.

    Now … I have to admit that I twitched when I heard Kristen Stewart was playing the role of Snow White.  Especially when I spotted her in a poster wearing armor.  I could get Stewart as Snow White if the character was a little wimpy, awkward, and incapable of speaking above a whisper level.  But this Snow White was being portrayed as someone with the strength to fight the almighty Queen portrayed by Theron.    

    This just didn’t work for me.  I can’t fully explain why, but something was off in this performance.  I fully admit that I am not a Twilight fan, but that has nothing to do with the movies and everything to do with the fact that I read the first book and didn’t care for it.

    (Twilight fans, I’m glad you like them, they just weren’t for me.  They were a smidgen too angst-driven for me, and that always gets under my skin.  But then, not every book is going to appeal to every reader, so I wish you all well of them and sincerely hope you enjoyed the series as a whole.)

    In any case, Stewart did manage to pull off one thing for the story as a whole, which is why I was still able to enjoy the movie.  Compared to Theron, Stewart was extremely small (and I mean that character-wise and not just physical attributes).  This made for a drastic sense of Stewart and her fellows being up against insurmountable odds.

    And I do so love stories with insurmountable odds.

    Now then, back to being semi-shallow … Chris Hemsworth pulled this movie together for me.  Not only because I loved him in Thor and was willing to see what else he could do as an actor, but because he put a real sense of “goodness hidden by grit” into the story.

    Let me explain that ….

    The story shows us a place where evil Queen Lady has overrun all the good people.  She’s sort of a disease that just infects the land itself.  Trees turn all black and dead, the castle walls suddenly look darker, and everything good is covered by this festering sense of death.  In such a place as this, you would be hard pressed to find someone of good moral character.

    Enter the Huntsman, whose bitterness at a personal loss has managed to overshadow the real man he is.  He’s a mirror to the world itself, and you get the sense that if he can overcome his loss and break free, then the rest of the world can follow with him.  (I’m a writer, I read into things.  It’s totally possible that this isn’t what anyone else saw from his performance but … hey … it’s all relative.)

    So!  I have to say that I enjoyed this movie.  If I were ranking it, I’d put about 4 stars on it.  I liked the concept — even if it was darker than my usual fare — and I enjoyed the performances.  It was just missing something to push it into the 5 star rank.  Nevertheless, I’ll probably buy it for my collection when it comes out for sale.

  • Camp NaNoWriMo Week 4

    Alright!  So I’m sitting at 28043 words.  After a small amount of calculation, I’m pretty sure I won’t be winning this year.  But, I did have finals for school and all of that earlier this month so I knew I probably wouldn’t be.  We’ll see what my end count is a week from today, but I can say that I love the story.  There are a lot of holes I know I need to fix, a lot more character building and world building I need to do for the setting, but I enjoy the story-line immensely.

    For this particular story I decided to challenge myself and stick to only two Points of View.  The result has been a beautiful story about a mother and her son.  We get to see both of them in action, hear their thoughts and their misunderstandings, and watch the strife that comes about when a harsh truth imposes itself in their relationship.  I admit that it is strangely difficult to write only these two POV’s since my very Third Person Limited writing style keeps begging me to go into someone else’s brain for a minute, but I believe this story will be better for the limitation.

    That said, at the end of this month I will be setting Tapped aside (regardless of where I am in the plot) in order to pick up and finish Dead Magic and Usurper.  (Dead Magic first.)  These two are on contract and do require my attention.

    But it has been great fun writing something at break-neck speed, heedless of every caution my internal editor’s voice kept trying to shove in my way.  While I admit that this leaves me with a lot more editing to do later, there is something to say about being able to put the shell of the work down.

    Seven days left.  Let’s see how many words I can slam onto paper before September.

     

  • John Carter

    I know that John Carter is the creation of Edgar Rice Burroughs, but I haven’t actually read the books.  I spotted them, but never picked them up.  I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing yet.  Because I loved the movie.  Normally, I hate the movie but love the book.  (Like Timeline by Michael Crichton — good heavens, if ever a book was murdered by a movie, it was that one.)

    I will read the books, but for right now I’m happily hoping that they resemble — at least in part — what the movie showed.  And this movie showed a strong, capable man whose major flaw was his compassion.  That compassion of his got him in more trouble than his mouth ever did, which was refreshing.  And he had a seriously tragic event lining his history that explained why he was desperately trying to kill off that compassion.

    But aside from the hero — who I fell in love with as a writer — I have to admit that I loved the monster dog creature, too.  And the aliens … I guess I can call them Martians since they live on Mars.

    I’m not going to give spoilers to the movie or anything, but I will say that I loved it and highly recommend it to any science fiction/ fantasy fans out there.  Ignore the science, suspend your disbelief, and watch the very human elements in the story.