A.J. Maguire

Author: ajmaguire

  • Alphabet Soup Blog Thingy

    Alright!  So about a week ago my friend Lisa Janice Cohen — author of The Between — challenged me to write a post about ten things I love that begin with the letter “P”.  It seriously took me this long to come up with my list, but here it is!

    Potatoes!  — Anyone who knows me at all will laugh at that this.  I love potatoes in just about any form I can get them.  Except chips.  I’ll eat chips, but I just … yeah.  Not a huge fan.

    Philanthropy — Honestly, we’re all on this planet together and we have a responsibility to each other.  There’s no reason any child should ever go hungry.  We all just need to step up and help where and when we can.  (I’ll even share my potatoes if I need to.)

    Puppies

    —  Oh, come on.  Who doesn’t love puppies?  Just look at them!

     

     

    Panda’s  — Well, I’m kinda cheating here.  I love Red Panda’s especially.  My local zoo just got a new pair and they are so fuzzy and adorable I would just love to take them home and snuggle them.  If I wasn’t afraid of the big teeth, of course.  They do have some sharp chompers.

    Procrustean — Just the word, I promise.  But I mostly love the word because of the history behind it.  And in case you weren’t aware of it, I think I’ll educate you!  In Greek mythology there was this dude called Procrustes.  He was a bit of a bandit, but not in the fun Robin Hood way.  He would put his victims on an iron bed and if they were too short, he would stretch them until they fit.  If they were too tall, he’d start lobbing off appendages to get everything to conform just right.  Thus leading to the definition of Procrustean as ::  marked by arbitrary often ruthless disregard of individual differences or special circumstances.

    And now I’ll bet you’ll never forget what that word means.  And yes, if I’d been given the letter “H” for this, I would likely have chosen History as one of my great loves.  Since I couldn’t, I get to torture you with that image instead. 

    People — Generally speaking, I love people.  We are all so weird.  I mean, just watch us for a day.

    Patterns — I like ivy patterns the best, but when it comes to decoration I do like anything colorful and patterned to give a sense of diversity to a room.

    The Princess Bride — I’m cheating here, too.  But, eh, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the Princess Bride.  In fact, my son and I just watched it the other night.  He’s insistent that he is the man in the black mask.  But I wouldn’t worry too much.  He insisted that he was Spok when we watched Star Trek, too.

    Paper & Pens — It’s a dangerous thing to let me loose in the office supply section of any store.  Seriously.  I write my first draft via pen and paper.  Every story.  Every time.  I’m sure I’ll have horrible arthritis when I’m older, but for now it works.

    And last but not least …

    Parenthood — There are moments when my son drives me crazy.  When he won’t listen and I have to sit him down and have a discussion with him about what he did wrong and why he can’t do it anymore and all that jazz … but on the whole, being a parent is one of the most fulfilling, wonderful things in this world.

    That’s my list!

  • Travel & Travel Blogs

    One of the things that really helps inspire me are photographs.  It especially helps if these are photographs that I have taken myself, but occasionally I find inspiration in what I see on the Travel Channel or on another person’s blog.

    Oh!

    And let me tell you how much fun I have searching through space photographs!   Just take a look at this image done by gucken over at Deviantart.

    For the Travel Channel, I normally like Anthony Bourdain No Reservations.  He’s just too snarky for his own good sometimes.

    For bloggers who have caught my attention, I’m afraid there are only two.  First there is Katy at her storytellingnomad site.  She has some neat pictures up there of Venice and Europe in general.  I love the pictures, and she adds a bit of the writerly life to her posts by discussing what happened in whichever city she happened to be in.

    The second is Luke Burrage.  You might have already heard of him, and then again you might not.  He runs a Science Fiction Review Podcast that you can get for free on iTunes.  Also, he’s a juggler who works on cruise ships … so he inevitably gets to see wonderful, exotic places.  He is also a photographer and he has some beautiful pictures up on his blog.  (Be patient on his blog link, it’s heavy with content so it takes slightly longer to load.)

    While I would love to visit all the places in the world and experience everything there is to taste, touch, smell and what have you, I’m afraid life is just too short.  However, through these few people I am given a slightly broader scope of experience to work with — albeit vicariously — and I am supremely grateful for the work that they do.

    So!  Kudos to all of you!  And if you, dear reader, know of any travel blogs, pictures blogs, or other forms of art that you think would help stretch my imagination further, then please let me know.

  • Flame Balls

    I’ve been having great fun this week as I near the completion of my first science fiction novel — and I do mean the completion, this is the final draft.  And yesterday, as I was re-writing a particular scene, I allowed an explosion to take place on a space ship.  Which led me on this wild chase to find out how fire behaves in space.

    Which led me to flame balls.

    That’s right, they’re called flame balls.  They don’t burn as hot or as wild as here on Earth, but in zero gravity fire turns into a spherical blob that gives off no light and no smoke, so you can’t find them.  Look here at this wonderful explanation on flame balls!

    The discovery of flame balls has led me to several problems.  First of all, I really wanted to use them, but I can’t.  Not completely anyway.  You see, I built an artificial gravity system on board this particular space ship, which means that they aren’t really in zero gravity.  However, the artificial gravity is … artificial … and located in the flooring, not the ceiling, so the little flame balls can do an upside down teardrop sort of shape.

    Secondly … an explosion on board a space ship while it is in space is hard.  More than one thing gets affected by the explosion.  Compression, airflow, hull integrity … all of it has to come into play.

    But one of the really cool things about a flame ball is that they don’t move like fire here on earth.  They let the oxygen and fuel come to them, instead of spreading to consume everything in their path.  So they’re like little invisible sand-glasses, sucking the oxygen out of a particular place and putting a time limit on any living, breathing person nearby.

    However, I need at least one of the characters in this scene to survive.

    Lucky for me I still have two weeks before school starts again, so I can devote my energy into problem-solving flame balls in space, explosions, and countermeasures that might be taken to keep the entire ship from destruction.

    Oh!  By the way … you can totally fire a gun in space.  (The right kind of gun, mind you, but a bullet nonetheless.)

  • Geeking Out

    These past few years have been wonderful for my Geekdom.  First there was Iron Man, then Iron Man 2, then Thor, then Captain America … and finally, Marvel Avengers.  Seriously.  I’ve been in heaven.

    But I did miss out watching X-Men First Class in the theaters.  Luckily for me, I was able to snag a copy of my own and watched it tonight.  I’ll admit to a bit of trepidation walking into another X-Men film.  Story-wise, the previous X-Men films were sound (and by that I mean the plots made sense and came to logical conclusions), they just weren’t … well … they just weren’t the X-Men I had grown up with.  Rogue, for example, was one of my all-time favorite characters and … yeah.  It just didn’t jive for me.

    Though I confess Hugh Jackman as Wolverine was brilliant.  (Never has a man looked so good with so much hair.)

    What drew me to X-Men : First Class — aside from the fact that it was the X-Men — was really James McAvoy.  I’ve loved that actor since Children of Dune.  I would faint if the man ever read one of my works for an audiobook production.  (Which, by the way, is a crap ton more work than you would imagine.  I’ve been running Deviation through practice runs just in case I do give it out on iTunes for free as a podiobook, and it’s a headache and a half.)

    Anyway, Mr. McAvoy has a very distinctive voice.  And when I saw him as Professor Charles Xavier, I got a little weak-kneed.  Professor X absolutely has to have a distinctive voice.  Why do you think they chose Patrick Stewart to play the role in the other films?  Now there’s a man with a voice you can’t forget!

    So, McAvoy lured me into this new X-Men movie and I loved it.  The tension between characters was wonderful, and I admit that I was rooting for Magneto in places where I probably oughtn’t to have been.  But then again, the really compelling part of the X-Men for me as a reader had always been the struggle with prejudice.  So even in the comics I was often rooting for Magneto … or at least rooting for a way that there might be a peaceful resolution for his character.

    But anyway, this is me geeking out.  I loved the movie.  And I loved the Avengers, too.  (I took my son to see it on opening weekend and it really is a riot.)

  • For want of a compliment …

    It’s amazing what a compliment can do. I went to the post office on Friday to deliver the books for the Goodreads Sweepstakes winners – Hurray! I hope the winners enjoy their copies! – and found myself standing in a line. (I know, big surprise there, right?) Anyway, as I was standing there, this lady got in line behind me. She seemed … well … angry. And considering the length of the line, I couldn’t really blame her.

    Some older people up in front of the line were talking about the “good old days” when Truman was running amok, and I eavesdropped for a bit before the two were helped and left. Finally, after ten minutes of ho-hum-drum-silence, I turned to the angry lady behind me and told her I liked the color of her sweatshirt. (It was robin’s egg blue, by the way.)

    In five seconds flat, the angry demeanor and unsociable attitude melted away from this woman and she smiled at me. For the rest of the wait, we talked about listening to those older people talk about Truman and discussed just how interesting it was to hear the way things used to be. (For the record, I am not old enough to remember Truman, but I do know who he was.)

    The wait was enjoyable when conversation was finally started, and all it took was a little compliment. This got me to thinking – what if everyone, everywhere, found something nice to say about whoever was standing behind them in a line, or sitting beside them on the bus or … you get it. As a society, we seem to be horrified at the prospect of talking to strangers. I mean, it’s one of the first things we’re taught as children; “Don’t talk to strangers!”

    But there comes a point where we all grow up and realize the persons surrounding us aren’t all serial killers and potential rapists; we shouldn’t be so terrified that we can’t give someone a small compliment.

    And good heavens! What is so wrong about smiling at someone as you pass them?

    Because of the post office lady, I decided to try another experiment … I walked down the sidewalk and smiled at everyone who walked by me. All but three people smiled back. One actually said; “Good afternoon.” Granted, I might have looked like a grinning lunatic to some of them, but I promise I am fairly harmless looking.

    This experiment left me feeling rather sad. I’ve decided to blame the unsociable attitude and general lack of response to the fact that it was finals week. Finals can make everyone unsociable. I’ll try again in a week or two.

  • Eating Bugs

    I am having a blast being a mother.  I admit that I didn’t think I would.  For a long time, kids scared the crap out of me.  However, now that I have this little rough-and-tumble four-year old boy, I find that I am allowed a certain amount of freedom that I never had before.  I’m allowed to roll in the grass without people looking at me like I’m insane.  I’m allowed to shout; “Oh, no!  Quick!  Hot lava is coming!  Run to the bench!”  and no one will report me to the police for disrupting the peace.

    Inasmuch as I love playing with my son, sometimes there are moments that are just plain embarrassing no matter what.  Point in case, yesterday as I was giving Hazen a piggy-back-ride from the park, I inadvertently ate a bug.  The darned thing flew right in my mouth as I was saying; “Yes, Buzz Lightyear!”  I tried to cough it out, but I think the thing had targeted my tonsils.

    As disgusting as it was, I managed to laugh it off, counting it as another adventure in motherhood.

    Then we went into a restaurant to have ice-cream.  The very good-looking waiter that has frequently tended to us when we make a stop in there was happy to explain what choices they had for desserts.  And, bless my son’s little heart, Hazen had to inform the waiter that; “Mommy ate a bug!”

    I was mortified.  And amused, but mostly mortified.  Especially when the waiter asked; “Well, did it taste any good?”

     

  • Moral Compasses

    One of the joys of writing a character whose moral compass goes askew is that you never know exactly what is going to happen.  For instance, blackmailing a woman into a marriage would be completely wrong in my book, but to my sordid character Faxon Mylonas it is business as usual.  (For those familiar with the Sedition universe, you might recognize that name from the first book as the pipe-smoking shady character who gave Prince Brenson a hand when it was needed.)

    Writing Faxon has been a challenge and a blessing.  I’m not one to say that my own moral compass has always pointed true North, but there are certain boundaries that I’ve stayed away from.  When exploring Faxon’s character, his thought process opens up a whole slew of possibilities that I would never consider.  A prime example is in the scene I just wrote for him this week, where he “stretched the truth” in order to get an extra few vials of blood from someone.  (Don’t ask, it’s a complicated mess of Blood Magic.)

    But he got me to thinking about all those characters who I love whose moral compasses go a little wonky from time to time.  They aren’t necessarily villains, because they are mostly-kinda-sorta on the right side of the story line to be considered a good guy.

    The first one that comes to mind is Dexter from … yeah … that creepy serial killer TV show called Dexter.  If there ever was a character who made my sense of morality sit back and cry, it is Dexter.  (For those unaware, Dexter is a serial killer who hunts serial killers.)  By the end of each episode I was in a bizarre state of moral shock, condemning myself for rooting for this guy.

    The second shady character I can think of is Jack Sparrow.  I mean, we all know he will eventually lean on the right side of things, but there are moments where you just don’t know.  I also have to note with good old Jack that his moment of redemption at the end of each of the movies is just plain wonderful.  (Thank you, Mr. Depp, for always keeping me guessing as to which way this character was going to fly at any given moment.)

    The third character on my list is John Cleaver from Dan Wells’ I Am Not A Serial Killer.

    And after reading my list again, I’ve decided that there are too many titles in my life with “serial killer” in them.  I’m going to go read The Chronicles of Narnia or something.

  • Podcasts

    I am lucky enough to have a day job that allows me to listen to my iPod 95% of the day.  While I love my music and my audible books, I have found the resource of podcasts to be invaluable.  Most of them are free and they are full of educational goodness in an entertaining way.  Through podcasts I have learned astronomy, how to shrink a human head, tons of history, and how to improve my writing. 

    Since I have found so much enjoyment and so much information through these podcasts, I thought it a good idea to share my personal top 5 podcast list. 

    #1 – Writing Excuses – Thank you Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells for your enlightening discussions on the writing craft. 

    #2 – Stuff You Missed In History Class – These ladies are awesome and there is no telling what jump through history you might take when you listen.  

    #3 – The Bugle – John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman are just plain hilarious.

    #4 – Stuff You Should Know –  This is where I learned how to shrink a human head.  There could be debate on whether I needed to know that or not, but I’m sure I will use the information wisely … In my writing, I swear!

    #5 – Mysterious Universe  – Just a forewarning, this podcast did give me a nightmare once.  Some of the stuff they discuss is just plain creepy. 

    That’s it!  That’s my top 5.  If anyone has a podcast that they think I should check out, I’m happy to do so. 

     

  • Books I Re-Read

    This morning was particularly dreary.  I woke up early because my son had crawled into bed with me at some point — he’s only four years old and he’s allowed to do that for a little while longer — but he managed to shove me off at 7:45AM.  I figured that was as good as it was going to get for sleep so I made my way to the living room, powered on my fake fireplace (Oh, how I love that little space heater) and rummaged through my bookshelves for a book.  

    I knew I should read one of my textbooks because … well … because I’m still in school and I’ll have to read them at some point, but it was 7:45AM and I simply was not going to exercise my brain like that before I’d even managed to have breakfast.  Now, normally at this point I’ve already re-arranged my bookshelves, dragging books out of storage to replace the ones that have been occupying shelf-space for the last six months — I do this twice a year and somehow still manage to surprise myself with a book I forgot I had.  However, it’s been nine months since the last purge/replace and I was a little bored with some of the titles I ran across.  

    But it got me thinking about the books that never go into storage.  These beloved volumes are the one’s I read and re-read and simply cannot go without.  As I was going through the shelves, I discovered that there are only eight of these books in my collection, and seven of them belong to a series.  They are the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, and Into the Wild, by Sara Donati.   

    These eight volumes are always on my shelves.  All the rest take their respective turns in storage each year.  As I started reading The Fiery Cross (one of the Gabaldon novels) I had to ask myself what it was about Gabaldon’s writing that had me coming back.  The story hasn’t changed.  The characters are the same.  Yet, there is a richness to the tales that beckons me back.  

    If you’ve never read any Gabaldon, I highly recommend that you do.  Her books are generally thick, so you’ll have to devote some time, but they are well worth it.  

    I was struck with the realization that many of the scenes I was reading today weren’t particularly necessary to the overall plot of the book.  As an author, I know that it has been pounded through my thick skull many times that if a scene doesn’t serve a purpose, you should cut it.  And yet, as I was reading, I couldn’t envision the book without that snippet, that detail, that moment.  

    In popular fiction today we’re taught to keep the writing tight, to let everything point toward that end goal or moment.  Gabaldon’s massive books seem to scoff in the face of that logic.  Maybe she’s found a niche or something.  Honestly, I’m just glad she wrote them in the first place.  There’s history, love, violence, and humanity written on every page and I absolutely love them. 

  • Jane Eyre

    I have fond memories of this book.  I read it while I was in advanced training in the Army.  I even remember a Drill Sergeant seeing it in my locker and asking me what in the world I was doing in the military when I read things like that.  (That’s not to say that today’s military doesn’t read, just that this particular kind of book falls out of the norm for someone you’d see in training.)

    When the movie came out last year I was so excited to see it … but didn’t.  You know, money, work, school, raising a child … oh, and writing … and I just couldn’t get out there to see it.  But I found it in the store yesterday and snatched it up.

    Needless to say my four-year-old wasn’t all that into it, but I figured I’d suffered through a gazillion hours of Cars 2 and Monster’s Inc. to deserve this little reprieve.

    And I loved it.

    I understand that they can’t fit everything in the book into a neatly packaged 2 hour film, but they did a really good job of putting the core elements of the story up there.  I’m not going to give any spoilers or anything like that, but I am going to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It’s a “big girl” story, showing us the restraint needed to respect ourselves and the hope of something better for when we do.