Judge Not By The Covers

Tianna: Hey guys!! We had the pleasure of interviewing Jamie Magee, Author of the Insight series and the Indie Author being spotlighted on the My Home Away From Home bookpage!!!! Read on to learn more about this amazing author and leave a comment to be entered in a special giveaway (to be posted later!)

1)      Which character do you most closely relate with??

I would have to say a part of every character has a little bit of me in them, but I tend to relate to Willow the most. I feel her more intently simply because the story is told from her perspective, and the fact that she was the first character I ever heard in my thoughts!

2)      Where were you or when did the idea for INSIGHT first hit you??

If I remember correctly I was wrapping Christmas presents. I have always let my mind drift into a daydream when I’m doing tasks that do not involve much thought. Willow’s daydream came to mind without any effort on my own. What I saw, the scene, it carried so much emotion that I stopped what I was doing and just stared forward as I watched Willow’s world come to life around me.

3)      How many books are you planning to write in this series??

This is a hard question. At first I thought there would be ten, but now I have a new series that will weave into this one, and I know there will be more that will weave into this story as well. There is no way for me to even guess how many books will branch off this one love story, but I know one thing – I can’t wait to write them!

4)      Which one of your characters would you consider doing a spin off series with?

Most of the main characters in Insight. Drake, Willow, and Landen have already appeared in my new series. When I finished Insight five I realized that Dane and Clarissa will find their way into an entirely new series.
If you think about it in life we all weave together in some way. How many times have you said “it’s a small world”? With that idea in mind and the fact that Willow and Landen have had lives that have stretched across four million years, there is no telling how many people, legends, or myths that they have created or influenced. Every character is very diverse and has a different perspective on this darkness they are fighting. The possibilities are endless!

5)      When you envision a story, which part comes to you first? Beginning, middle, end?

Every story is different. With Insight I actually saw the end of Embody when I began to write. So, I wrote Insight from beginning to end trying to reach that point, when it did not come I began with that scene when writing Embody, and wrote that book backwards. With Image the story came to life in scenes, once the scenes were complete I had to cut and paste and then link the scenes – oddly this created a very fast paced story. With my new series – they have all been written from beginning to end, but these books are so fast paced that I tend to write them within three weeks, and they are not small, all of them rank around 100,000 words. The characters are the ones that state the order, and how fast my novels come to life.

6)      What inspired you to become an author?

To this day I have hard time calling myself an author. I feel more like a daydreamer who is sharing her imagination with good friends. When I decided to write all I was doing was capturing the details of my daydreams for others to read.

7)      What do you need when you write?? I.E. Certain music… certain foods…

I love music – and have to have it, the louder the better! I am also addicted to Red Bull, so that beverage is usually close by!

8)      What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

To write, not to worry if anyone will love or hate it, just let your story speak to you and follow the path before you.

9)      Who are some of your favorite authors/ What are your favorite books to read?

I’m a bit of a geek. I love nonfiction, mainly philosophy. My nook is filled with books and essays by Joseph Campbell, Freud, and Carl Jung. I love to analyze dreams so I follow authors like Lauri Loewenberg – I also have countless books on cities like New Orleans and Salem. If there is a legend or theory about anything I want to know about it!

10)  A random fact about yourself?

I tend to dream about life changing events before they happen, sometimes years before they happen.

11)  The way you describe your different dimensions are so vivid and imaginative, where did the inspiration come from?

The stories come to life around me. I really can’t pin point a visual aid or place I have visited that brought any of the worlds in my series to life – I’m just lucky to have characters that are very vivid.

12)  Are there any personal aspects of your life that are included in the books?? Like someones house or car?? Or the way someone looks or talks??

If there is someone in my life that carries a particular sun sign I watch the way they react to situations in their life and try to work that in. I have two examples. My husband is a Pisces. People with these sun signs tend to have a dual personality ( like the sign) meaning the man I know at home is completely different than the man he is in his career. Landen is the one I know – Drake is the one the others know him by.
The main male charter in my new series ‘See’ is a Taurus. After the first read by my beta reads I was told they expected him to be angrier if he was a Taurus ( I’m a lucky girl – my betas love astrology as much as I do!). When I wrote him I focused on the voice that sign has – how hypnotic it is. Once I had this feedback I found the first male Taurus I could in my life and basically interviewed him in a roundabout way. I put forth scenarios to him – ones that happened in my first draft, and guess what the beta readers were right – I could see the anger in my Taurus friends eyes as he imagined the things in the books happing to him. You could see the control he tried to have, how his eyes would reflect that emotion even though his words and actions were calm.
I think all writers are people watchers. I pull from every area in my life, no doubt.

13)   What’s your favorite part about being a writer?

The rush of the story, knowing that I am the first one to step into this world. I’m always eager to share my work, but I adore those alone moments I have with my story.

14)  Who is your favorite character in this series?

Like would be like choosing a favorite child – impossible. They all have their moments that steal my thoughts away!

15)   If Insight were to be made into a movie, Who would play Drake?

That is a question I would love to ask my fans. I have not come across ‘the one’ yet!