|
Lori: Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Ms.Macela: I’m a native Texan, born on Galveston Island, and lived most of my life in Texas before business took my husband and me to Minnesota—The Frozen North—of all places. Getting used to snow and cold was quite an experience for this Gulf Coast “flower.” Now we’re in the Chicago suburbs. It’s just my husband and me, no children.
I’ve read all my life, and I don’t read what some people consider “good literature.” (No offense meant to those who do—it’s just not my thing.) I read books with plots, interesting people, exciting situations, and, most of all, happy endings—mysteries, sci-fi and fantasy, and, of course, romance.
I’m not in the “work outside the home” situation any more, which gives me time to write. I have the utmost respect for those who can juggle a job, children, and whatever else and still produce good books—I’m not sure I could.
I like to travel and because of my husband’s work, I’ve been able to go to China and England as well as numerous US cities. I love lying on a beach or snorkeling in the Caribbean. I like to play role-playing computer games, especially the sword and sorcery type. At one time in my life, I played Dungeons & Dragons, whose influence may be evident in my stories.
Lori: Is this your first foray into the world of the paranormal?
Ms. Macela:
Yes, this book was the first paranormal story I wrote. Daria came out of the questions: What if there were people among us who could do magic in their everyday jobs? What if a magic practitioner couldn’t cast a spell on anyone but herself? What problems would she encounter? How would she make a living? How would she turn lemons into lemonade?
Then came the idea of the “soulmate imperative,” this ancient force that brings practitioners together whether they want it or not. What if the hero wasn’t a practitioner and didn’t know what to expect? And things just went forward from there.
Lori: All of your characters have a very real feel to them. Do you base them on people you know?
Ms. Macela: No, not really, but I’m very happy to hear they seem real. I’ve had a number of years in the business world, and some of the types are universal. All it took was a little individual embellishment to create those people Daria and Bent meet at his company. Of course, I did name one of my villains after a certain computer application that crashed my hard drive <G>.
The Morgans themselves sort of leaped out of my head fully formed—although, now that I think of it, Antonia may have more than a little of my own mother in her.
Lori: Can we expect to see more of Bent and Daria and the Morgan clan?
Ms. Macela: I certainly hope so. Medallion is looking at the second in the series. This book involves Clay, Daria’s computer-wizard brother. Francie, the heroine, is not a practitioner, and to make it worse, she doesn’t believe that magic exists at all and refuses to entertain such a notion. Clay has his work cut out for him. They’re after a man who’s hacking into the company Francie works for, so there’s a villain here too.
The third, which I’m working on now, involves the other sister, Gloriana. In this story, she and Marcus are both practitioners but at opposite ends of the magic spectrum. In my world, soulmates think alike and have many of the same interests. How can Gloriana and Marcus be soulmates when they are so different? They start out in a debate over the proper way to cast spells—an argument that involves the entire practitioner community and ends in danger from those determined to have it their way. And Marcus, for reasons of his own, doesn’t want to have anything to do with either a soulmate or the imperative.
The Morgan parents are in all of them, of course. As Alaric, the father, says, “Being soulmates just gets better all the time.”
If those books fly, I have three more in mind that explore other facets of, and possible pairings by, the soulmate imperative. These stories bring in practitioners who go after evil magic items and can throw fireballs. (See, that’s the D&D influence.)
Lori: Did you pick the setting of Texas because you once lived there?
Ms. Macela: Yes, I’m most comfortable writing with a Texas location. I lived in Houston many years, went to Rice University, and spent untold hours at the Galleria shopping. The first two books are in Houston. The third is in Austin and the Morgan herb farm between Houston and the capital. Once a Texan, always a Texan, I guess, no matter where you live otherwise.
Lori: I noticed on your website that you’ve had several careers. How did your past experiences lead to writing paranormal and contemporary stories?
Ms. Macela: I’ve taught at the public school and college levels, been in marketing and PR, and written computer documentation, annual reports, and sales/advertising copy. Contemporary fit my voice and my inclinations.
Even though I have several degrees in history, I knew I couldn’t write a historical. I’d start writing history instead of fiction, and bringing in all these facts that I find fascinating, but which would bore readers to tears.
At the same time, I’m fascinated by magic, its philosophy, and its use and misuse. I read fantasy before I read romance, so I’m steeped in various kinds of fictional magic.
The idea of everyday magic in the present day, combined with people in real jobs, appealed to me. I think reading Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle’s books also influenced me in both regards.
I couldn’t write “dark” paranormal at all. Maybe I’ve studied too much war and bad times in my history days. Maybe I just can’t put together such stories. At any rate, my work is light, humorous in spots, and pure escape, I hope.
Lori: Do you have any experience with the practice of magic that you based your story on?
Ms. Macela: Only “the oldest kind,” which is love, of course. My husband and I met at a Halloween party. He was a wizard and I was a witch. Somebody’s spell worked! We’ve been married twenty-two years. <G>
The magic practiced here is, for the most part, everyday magic to get the job done and involves the use of the caster’s internal energy. It’s not tied to a religion, and it’s not the magic of a certain boy wizard or gods and goddesses. Using magic has a real cost in my stories. As I wrote, I realized I had to work out how my magic functioned. If I didn’t, the magic would be incoherent. For example, what did it cost a practitioner to cast a spell? The result was a complete document, “A Theory of Magic,” that I’ve posted on my website. Anyone who’s interested can read it to see how my magic world operates.
As for the existence of practitioners? Think about it. There are prodigies who seem to have a “magic” touch with whatever they do—from business to the arts. How many times has someone been described as a “born engineer” or mechanic or cook or writer or whatever, or seemed to find so easy what you find so difficult? Who’s to say these people aren’t working a little magic?
And wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to cast a spell to help you do your job better? What spell would you cast?
Lori: Who is your favorite author and genre?
Ms. Macela: I’m an eclectic and voracious reader, mostly of romance, sci-fi/fantasy, and mystery, but I read some history and biography to bring me back to the real world. My husband is a reader also (sci-fi/fantasy), so neither of us complains about the number of books we have.
I like so many romance authors—Jayne Ann, as mentioned, Linda Howard, Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, the list goes on and on. If I start listing, I know I’ll leave someone out.
On the sci-fi/fantasy side, I absolutely adore Lois McMaster Bujold. And David Weber’s Honor Harrington series is great.
Mysteries are like romance—too many to count.
Lori: What are your hobbies?
Ms. Macela: I don’t have very many outside of reading. I do like to garden some and ride bicycles when we can. I am active in a couple of organizations (besides RWA). I also love to travel and am hoping to arrange some booksignings or conferences to combine two interests.
Lori: Can you tell us a little about future books?
Ms. Macela: In addition to the “Magic” books mentioned above, I’m trying to find a home for a contemporary, non-paranormal, single-title, stand-alone novel entitled “Windswept.” This one involves the journal of a plantation mistress before the Civil War and the rumored “terrible secret” within that will ruin the present-day family. This book allowed me to use some of my history background without getting bogged down in history itself. It also gave me the excuse to visit Louisiana and a number of the plantations there—I love to do research. “Windswept” finalled in five RWA contests, so I have high hopes for it.
I’d love to hear from my readers, so send me a note at
ann@annmacela.com. I hope you
all enjoy my book.
Thank you for your time Ms. Macela. Be sure to catch the review for The Oldest Kind of Magic on our website.
(Click here for a review
of THE OLDEST KIND OF
MAGIC)
|
