BooksChatter: ℚ Magic Forgotten: Magic [1]

Today we have the pleasure of meeting up with author Jack Hillman to talk about Magic Forgotten (15 September 2017, Running Wild Press, 295 pages), an Urban Fantasy set in Eastern PA; book one in the Magic series.

Magic Forgotten is the story of a paraplegic, freelance writer who has withdrawn from the world only to be dragged back out by the appearance of two strangers in his back yard. They are a Sidhe, the old elves of England, and a human wizardess, a captive of the elf, and they are here to take over the world.

The writer and the wizardess have to stop the elf from achieving his plans.

|| Synopsis || Teaser: Excerpt || Author Q&A || About the Author || Giveaway & Tour Stops ||

A very warm welcome to Jack Hillman; thank you for joining us on BooksChatter!

What was the inspiration for Magic Forgotten?

"The inspiration was years of reading Celtic mythology and sitting around with a bunch of writers when someone asked ”so where did the elves go when they left England?”"

How much of yourself is reflected in this book, and how?

"Probably more personality than anything else. Being handicapped myself it’s easier in some ways to write a handicapped character. The trick is not turning the character into some sort of superman clone and just showing how capable he is even with his limitations. But professional skills do come into play as well since I am a freelance journalist as well. So those parts were easy to write."

The first thing that draws me to a book is its cover. Can you tell us about your cover for Magic Forgotten - why you chose that concept and who the artist is.

"The cover was a result of a contest run through the publisher. I must admit I do not know the name of the artist but my publisher has a computer ID of that winner.

The scene is one I described for the artist to draw, taken from the end of the book and containing three of the main characters. I chose this image since it best described what I had asked for. And it’s well done too!"

Why should we read Magic Forgotten and what sets it apart from the rest? What makes your book unique?

"The uniqueness comes from mixing mythology with a modern setting. If elves, or Sidhe, did come back to Earth, they would almost certainly be surprised at what we’ve done with the place. Not necessarily pleased, you know, but surprised.

The idea of mixing the mythology with modern had been done before but not quite in this way. And certainly not in Pennsylvania, which has a high number of Gaelic immigrants in its history."

Can you tell us something quirky about Magic Forgotten, its story and characters?

"Quirky? Hmmm. Well the main character is named after an uncle of mine who was a family doctor until he retired at age 100. I’m sorry he never got a chance to read this since he died at 105 years of age. Some of the comments and such are things Uncle Buck would have said, or done, or confused.

The rest of the characters are a mixture of names I took from prior personal history, but nobody special and some random name generator findings.

The wizardess is named after a book I read so long ago I don’t even remember the name of the book but remembered the name of the character. I changed it a bit just in case."

Who would you recommend Magic Forgotten to and what should readers be aware of (any warnings or disclaimers)?

"I would recommend this book to any adult level reader, male or female. Be aware I took certain things from Celtic mythology and changed some of them to fit the story, so they are not accurate (if you can confer accuracy to mythology). But some of the old stories are referenced in some ways and shifted around in others.

Overall the book is at least PG-13 so I doubt I’ll offend anyone too much, unless you don’t believe magic exists. In that, case you’re on your own."

If you could / wished to turn Magic Forgotten into a movie, who would be your dream team?

"Dream team: Director- Ron Howard (he did such a good job with Willow).
Dan Braden- Tom Welling .
Thook- Jennifer Lawrence.
James Raymond- Jeremy Renner.
Annwynn, daughter of Maeve- Angelina Jolie.
Ian Goodfellow- Daniel Radcliff."

What do you like to write and read about? Do you stick to a particular Urban Fantasy or do you like to explore different ones?

"I write science fiction, fantasy, horror and mystery as well as a wide range of nonfiction subjects, so it’s kind of “what’s my next deadline for?” and that’s what I’m writing.

I also read in all those genres as well and tend to go through about three or four books a week, depending on the schedule.

You have to read what’s out there, not only to see what people are writing but to see what kind of ideas are catching the market. It’s also a good idea to read old stuff since good ideas can be changed, molded or twisted to make interesting stories."

What is your writing process?

"Unless I’ve been asked to write something specific, I start with getting an idea from so many places I couldn’t even list them. Then I sit down and plan out a storyline in my head as to where the story is going and, in general, what will happen. I try to outline, but to be honest, the outline tends to change a lot as I write. But I usually wind up at or near the ending I had in mind, just by a different route."

What is in store next?

"I am in process of writing the next book in the Magic series- Magic Forbidden.

Dan and Thook are back on Earth and Thook is learning more about how the world now works. The two get involved with a murder investigation and Thook finds some other people who have retained magic the Sidhe thought they had taken from Earth.

Someone is doing things they aren’t supposed to do and Dan and Thook are the only two who might be able to stop them. Not the end of the world, but it would really mess things up if left untreated. Looking for a 2018 release for this one.

2019 will see the release of Magic Inquiring, where Thook decides to open a “finder” shop. Not really a detective, but sort of."

And as a final quirky thing, to get to know you a little bit better... do you have a pet or something that is special to you that you could share with us?

"I have pet cats (who really run the house), a pet dragon and a pet wolf. The dragon comes with me to some of my book signings and helps out.

The photo below is from last year."