A.J. Maguire

Tag: Writing

  • 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.)

  • 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.

     

  • Top 5 Villains (Literary Version)

    Since I compiled my list of heroes last week, I thought it only fair to dive into the villains this week.  These are the people I just love to hate.  And in actuality, the villain is what makes or breaks a story for me.  We can go into a huge conversation about the difference between an antagonist and a villain, but I’ll just define it in simple terms so I can get to my list.

    A villain has no redeeming qualities.  An antagonist has a glimmer of the redeemable in him — though he likely continues to make the wrong choices.

    It took me all week to compile this list.  I even had to have help from some Facebook friends.  But here we go!

    1) Professor Umbridge from the Harry Potter series.  This woman just got under my skin.  It was the first villain I’ve read about where I actually wanted to reach into the pages of my book and strangle her.

    2) Iago from Othello.  He gets points for exploiting the human tendency toward jealousy.

    3) Black Jack Randall from the Outlander series.  I picked him because he’s … well … politely sadistic.

    4) Professor James Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes.  This one a friend pointed out to me and I have to agree.  It’s been about 6 months since I read any of my Doyle, but yeah … he had to make a character that could put Holmes through a ringer.

    5) Sauron from Lord of the Rings.  I mean … c’mon.  Dude didn’t have a body and he still tried to take over Middle Earth.

    I do have some honorable mentions!  The first is Dorian Grey, who I think falls more under the “antagonist” category because he starts out just fine and then progresses into evil-bastard via the choices he makes.  The second two are from movies, and since this is supposed to be the literary version I can’t put them up here.

    1)  Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty.  Before you laugh, remember that this crazy lady cursed a baby, spent 16 years hunting a child, and then plotted to hold a man hostage so that he could save the day when he was a decrepit old man.  That, and, well, she turned into a frigging dragon.

    2) Guy de Lusignan from Kingdom of Heaven.  My friend at work suggested this one and my immediate response was to coo.  Because, I mean, did you see the movie?

    That’s my list of villains!  If you’ve got any that you think could beat my villains into powdery-doom, I’m happy to hear about them.

  • Top 5 Heroes (Literature Version)

    Let me start off  by saying that this is not an exhaustive list.  I read every day — to some extent anyway — and therefore my choice of who makes the best hero is likely going to change over time.

    Hero – a man of distinguished courage and ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.  (Author’s addition — someone with the oomph to carry a story for 300 pages or more.)

    Coming in first place is James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser (AKA Jamie) from the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  Taking away the swoon factor of a giant red-headed, sword-and-musket-wielding Highlander, Jamie has this vulnerable quality that just makes me want to give him a big hug.  He’s got bravado and gumption, and I’m pretty sure he’s just as bad at strategy as I am because he sort of just does things.  (Like march into an angry mob and try to save an accused witch from being killed.)

    Second place goes to Kelsier from Brandon Sanderson’s Mistorborn – The Final Empire.  No, I didn’t pick Vin or Elund (the two you might expect me to pick from that book) because they irritated me at some point or another.  Vin because she got a little whiny about where she came from and Elund because … yeah … he didn’t get all that much page-time in the book.  But Kelsier … Kelsier was my favorite.  And my coworkers can attest to the fact that I fairly squealed and spun in my chair a few times during the battle moments there at the end.  (I don’t want to spoil it, but I’m a girl and even I was impressed with the magic fight.)

    The number 3 position goes to Nathaniel Bonner from Sara Donati’s Into the Wild.  Sweet, holy bananas!  What I wouldn’t give for that man to comment about my boots.  There’s nothing particularly extraordinary about Nathaniel, he can’t use magic and he doesn’t use a sword, but he is super smart and I’m pretty sure he makes up for the no-sword thing with the tomahawk.

    Coming in at the fourth position is William Harindale.  I know, I know, he’s 17 or so, but the boy has “hero” written all over him.  He stars in Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices series and he’s the first character to make me cry in a long time.  (No, I’m not going to tell you which part made me weepy. )

    I had a hard time coming up with a fifth hero.  I almost bent the rules and dove into film and TV heroes, which would have given me people like James T. Kirk and Han Solo to pick from, but I’ve decided that film heroes deserve their own segment.  Heck, Star Trek deserves its own segment of Captains to fight between.  So!  I chose for the final hero … Harry Potter.

    Yes, yes, good old Harry Potter.  But there’s a reason why everyone loved him enough to stick with him for 7 books.  Young, fresh, tragic, lost, and pit up against insurmountable odds … Yeah.  Harry counts as one of my top 5.

    That’s it!  That’s my top 5.  Who are yours?

  • “I hate Mars”

    As you know, I’ve been hard at work smacking Deviation into shape.  It’s my first science fiction attempt and, quite frankly, scares the spit out of me.  I am not a scientist, though I do find science interesting.  I’ll be sending Deviation to an editor on the 15th of February and sincerely hope she can point out where her suspension of disbelief was stretched a little too far.

    Also, on March 1st, I will be sending out a submission package to TOR.  It should take them 4 to 6 months to get back to me with the rejection letter and in the interim I will be working with this editor to tighten the writing and story line.  In the slim chance that TOR sends a positive note asking for the full manuscript, it will be ready for them.

    But what about my other works in progress?  I know I can’t leave you all with the way Saboteur ended.  (No, I’m not going to spoil it.  Those who’ve already read it are aware that there is a third book in the works.)  Rest assured, I am creeping my way through Usurper.  It’s slow going because all of the plot lines have to come together.  And it’s frigging huge.  But it is still coming along … albeit only 500 words or so at a time.

    Dead Magic, the sequel to Witch-Born has hit that critical turning point in the story line.  I have the last ten chapters mapped out and am getting approximately 3,000 words done a week on it.  I’d be doing more, but you know I’m in school, too.

    So!  Why have I titled this post as “I hate Mars”?

    I’m so glad you asked!

    While I was doing the dishes yesterday, I caught a “soundbyte” from the Deviation edit.  (Meaning I was imagining a certain scene and a snarky bit of dialog caught my attention.)  Because it amused me, I’m going to put it down here as a snippet —

    “I hate Mars.” Newbill said, his hands busily smacking another magazine into his weapon. 

    “Mars hates you back.” Chamberlain had to shout over the report of weapon fire. 

    “Something always tries to eat us!” Reloaded, Newbill took aim and fired. 

  • Holy Goodreads, Batman!

    So I’ve been following Emlyn Chand of Novel Publicity on Google+ for a while, and she started this thing that I’m just going to call the “Goodreads Karma of Awesomeness” where you basically get to meet all the other authors around and everyone just gets one big introduction circle of warm fuzzies and goodness … And I got to do it today.  It was awesome.  I got to troll a whole bunch of author’s goodreads sites and see what they’ve written versus what they’re reading and … yeah …

    I made a whole slew of new “friends” over there, too.  It was green.  Super-green!  (And now I must go watch The Fifth Element again.)

  • Ode to my Kindle

    I finished a book this weekend and was surprised to discover that I could rate it right from my Kindle. Super-fantabulous! I went in and gave it a review on Goodreads, too, but I had to use my computer for that one. I just thought it was great that I could rate the book right then and there. (Especially since my son was busy playing on Disney Junior — I swear, poor Eeyore will never get that tail back on if my son is in charge.)

    Also, I finished the synopsis and cover letter for my Deviation submission. The package has been sent out to a select few trusted individuals who might be able to give me some pointers to fix before my deadline of March 1st.

    I hope everyone has a fantastic Monday!