Q+A with Terry Maggert
E.J. When did you begin writing?
Terry: I’ve always written, even since childhood, but everything changed for me when I began to explore writing horror and fantasy. My first novel was actually a grim romance, but I decided it was a bit too odd for public consumption. I blame that on monster movies I watched as child (and too much food coloring or paint chips in my diet).
EJ: What brought you to the paranormal genre?
Terry: I grew up on fantasy and science fiction—love it, have always loved it, and I’ll never stop reading it. I’m old enough to remember when vampires were bad, then good, then bad, and now, maybe somewhere in the middle. I fell in love with Anne McCaffrey’s dragons a long time ago, and that started me on the road to devouring all of the fantasy I could read. I really like clever stories—to me, being clever is much harder than being detailed, and a lot of paranormal stories are actually quite complex. I hope that my books meet or exceed that standard. As for my own series--I’m not a true Southerner, but I found that I love the culture. I mean, sweet tea? Biscuits? Pinto beans? I accept! There was one “southern” thing that was completely new to me-- roadside crosses at places where people died in car accidents. I started wondering, “What if someone, or something used a roadside cross for a very dark reason?” I wrote a story about a ghoul and her human helper, who roam the American Midwest using a roadside cross to lure teenagers to their death. From that, I created characters that would hunt that ghoul, but with a dollop of humor and a relationship that is unusual, to say the least.
EJ: If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?
Terry: Oh, without a doubt I would like the power to make my six year old eat on command. Trust me, I’d be a kajillionaire.
EJ: Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.
Terry: It’s funny, it’s sexy, and it has characters from today as well as the past that make us realize the world is a lot more complicated than we might think. I like villains who want to be good, and heroes who enjoy being bad. Delphine is one character who took me by surprise—I love her and the conflict that she feels. She has to feed from humans, but she doesn’t want to, and deep down, I think she has a very pure soul. Elizabeth is evil. Period. But why she’s evil interests more than just the fact that she is consistently trying to create chaos. I like that Waleska is stunningly beautiful but has terrible manners, and Risa is smart but loves bad music, and Ring loves them both and knows just how damned lucky he is.
It might seem unusual to write about three lovers who really fit, but when you see how their lives are woven together, it works. They love each other because they understand how hard it is to kill. Another point to my story is my belief that we expect a certain degree of cruelty from beautiful women. I hope that my stories address that assumption by showing that evil can be beautiful—or in other words, don’t judge a book by its cover (unless I’ve written it!).
EJ: If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?
Terry: Ring looks like Jim Caviezel, but much funnier and not as serious. I mean, he’s in a three-way, there isn’t much reason to mope. Waleska, or Wally, as we know her, is the perfect tall blonde with freckles, and she’s crude and funny. Without hesitation, I would cast Jennifer Lawrence, I know she could pull it off. Elizabeth is beautiful but cold—I see Kate Beckinsale pulling that role off quite well. For Risa—that’s probably the toughest, because she’s an Israeli, she’s smart, dusky, and has the kind of intelligent beauty that is more subtle. Risa is also quite petite, so Natalie Portman or Mili Avital would be great in that role. The blonde bombshell, Delphine, is really tough, but in a pinch, I think I would ask Scarlett Johannson to dye her hair and have at it.
Mask of the Swan (The Fearless #2) by Terry Maggert
Killing immortals is easy. Becoming one is hard. When three lovers (Ring, Waleska, and Risa) take a vacation after losing a fight with an elegant monster named Elizabeth, their time for healing is cut short by a new threat, and this time, innocent blood will spill. Reaching for the crown of Hell, Elizabeth gathers Archangels around her to fuel her power-mad ascent-but she has powerful enemies who will fight her every step of the way, including Delphine, the 2400 year old succubus hooker who knows that inside her beautiful body rests a very human soul. Joined by an honorable priest who finds himself in the middle of a war he never knew existed, and a demigod and his partner, the stage is set for another round in the battle to determine how much of Ring, Waleska, and Risa is still human, how tough their immortal side can be-and how far they are willing to go to protect the people they love from the reaches of a creature who would burn their world to ashes.
Release Date: February 5, 2014
Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy
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Thank you Terry for joining us here today at From the Shadows!
To learn more about Terry Maggert and his books, please visit his website.
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