Angels vs Vampires

Are Angels the new Vampires?

At first I thought Werewolves would be the next big thing with the success of Maggie Stiefvater’s series, The Wolves of Mercy Falls — but it seems the winners are Angels. With Becka Fitzpatrick's Hush Hush, Fallen by Lauren Kate, and Cassandra Claire’s The Mortal Instruments popularity and her new The Infernal Devices, I definitely saw an increase in books with angels in them. I also believe that the success of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series influenced this trend. The idea of forbidden love between supernatural beings and mortals is captivating. We had that with the Twilight saga – and now it’s coming full force with the Angels. Just like their blood-sucking supernatural cousins, angels are the next best thing—and here to stay for a while.

I think these bad boy hotties really appeal to teenage girls. They’re immortal, gorgeous, dangerous, and otherworldly fine creatures. Who wouldn’t want to read more about them? Although my book is not a teen romance novel, it still has romantic elements in it. It’s more of an action-packed-ride with some fragments of the weird thrown in. But hey, they’re guardian angels too…and they kick some serious butt!

I read Clockwork Angel a few weeks ago, and let me tell ya—it was amazing. It’s definitely my favorite Cassandra Claire book thus far. It’s a little more sinister than her Mortal Instruments series, and I thought it was great.

Here’s an interesting articled I found with Anne Rice discussing about if Angels are the new Vampires.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/oct/26/angels-vampires-anne-rice

Happy Birthday Libra!

It is no secret to who anyone who knows me that I have a captivated interest in the Zodiac. When I began writing this interest became one of the elements I depended on –not only for the plot in my first series, but also for the development of every character since then. One of the coolest things(I think anyway)about the Zodiac is that most people born under a certain sign have similar traits in their personality. When I meet a character for the first time I watch them in my daydreams for awhile. When I think I’ve picked up a few traits I turn to my favorite astrology book, and look through the sun signs until I feel that I’ve found the perfect sign for this new character.Once their sign is decided I read further into what people under this sign are like,then,almost magically,a world comes to life around them. Knowing the traits of their sign, I’m able to distinguish a believable reaction to the circumstances in world that was brought to life.

Today for fun and to celebrate the month of October I wanted to build a character who was undeniably a Libra (Happy Birthday Libra!).Now,this may be more challenging than I first thought because as a writer I tend to be a panster(I write by the seat of my pants – never pre-plan a thing) but today, instead I am going to be a plotter –and plan this character into existence. If you’re a Libra – or know one well you will have to tell me how close I came to pinning this sign down.

Ok…let’s see, Libra’s are usually beautiful to look at (intoxicating in fact), there is something about their energy that draws people to them. They’re profound listeners and have the ability to see every point of view clearly – this aspect makes them fantastic negotiators. Libras are known to be brilliant people and never let emotions cloud their analytical way of thought. Partnerships are very important to this sign in both love and business – they use their partner to bounce ideas off of and can fall in to funk if they feel that are not getting enough attention from the people they count on. This sign is also known for its love of the arts (every Libra I know loves music) they also adore the finer things in life – their home will have some kind of luxury that they enjoy. The only downside that I clearly know about with Libra’s is that on the inside they struggle to find balance or that element that will make them feel complete, and at times they’re afraid that their huge social circles will discover this unrest that lies within them.

Without a doubt writing about a character with this sign would be stimulating. I could see a hero/heroin that could easily stand between good and evil. Their power to draw opposing sides to them without effort would bring a steady flow of conflict into the plot. The love they have for arts such as music could provide a bit of an edge that would make their natural classic beauty even more addictive. The internal struggle they have to find the one thing that completes them could steer any love story in a thousand directions. The possibilities an author could create with a person with this seemingly erratic balance are simply too numerous to count.

I admit that so far in my style of a panster writing I’ve never created a character with sun sign of a Libra, but after taking the time to learn more about the souls behind this sign I almost feel compelled to. It’s very clear to me that Libras Rock!

So, are there any Libras reading this post? Do you know any Libras? If so how close do did I come to understanding this sign? Are they as addictive as I’ve imagined them to be?
Once again HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIBRA !!!! Have a piece of cake on me:)

Jamie Magee ~ Author of the Insight Series

Guest Author: Teri Hall

What would you like for readers to take away from your series?

I would love people to be entertained, but also to think about how they define love, or what they would actually do if they were called upon to stand up for something they thought was just, or what they would do if they saw injustice. I would love for them to ask themselves if they might be contributing to injustice through inaction, and in what ways they might be able to change that.

When you first talk about the greenhouse in your writing there is almost a sense of joy or admiration. Do you personally have a love for greenhouses, gardening or flowers? 

Nope. I mean, I think everyone can appreciate a beautiful flower, but I don’t have a personal love for any of those things in the same way that Rachel does.

Was there ever a moment when you wouldn’t trade what you do as an author for the world? 

What was that moment for you? 

There are many! I think the latest one was talking to a group of kids about what we would do in given situations where we might need to take action in order to stand by our convictions. For example, we talked about how hitting is wrong, and what we would do—what we would really do—if we saw a parent hitting a child in a store parking lot. We all knew we should go talk to the parent, but when we thought about whether we actually would, we discovered that this might be harder to do than we think. We talked about what it means to just watch when something bad is happening, and about whether that makes the watcher complicit. Watching the kids figure out that saying nothing is almost as bad as doing the wrong thing, watching them as we talked about how we might be better prepared to act if we need to, it was great!

Is there one book that has had an impact on not only your writing, but on you personally? 

Well, there are many. Too many to name any fairly, but I will anyway—Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro), The Road (Cormac McCarthy), The Cage (Audrey Schulman). All three wonderful writers, with books that you can get lost in, that also explore important ideas.

You started writing dystopia just after the big bang in Young Adult novels and before the big bang in Dystopias. What is it like seeing your genre doing so amazingly well? 

Hmm I love that dystopia is doing well, because I love to read them, but I don’t really think of it as my genre. I like writing them, but I like writing other things too.

Tell us something most people don’t know about you!

I could but then I’d have to kill you.

Thank you for joining us Teri! 

Not Exactly Angelic

The idea of angels and demons warring for our souls has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. I've envisioned that every time we're faced with a decision - big or small - there's an angel fighting for us to do the right thing. And sometimes, when we're faced with our hardest challenges, especially life or death, that angel goes into intense battle with the fiercest of demons.


I've imagined them fighting these battles almost continuously, although we are completely unaware. Our human minds only perceive what's in front of us - the physical world we know - but it's not the only realm. The veil between our world and theirs is thin, but we've never managed to cross it...at least not until we die.

In my mind, these warriors are armed to the teeth - sometimes with teeth, very big ones, at least for the demons. They are muscular and hard-bodied and have multiple swords and daggers. Their long hair whips in the wind and their wings are enormous. And, yeah, they're swoon-worthy. The angels are, anyway.

These are daydreams I've had for years that come up whenever people talk about angels. Although there might be some that do nothing but glow and sing on high all the time, my angels are warriors. They don't shy away from a fight and the more vicious it is, the better. Not exactly what most people consider angelic. After years of thinking about them, they've finally manifested themselves into a story.

That story comes out this month - Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella. It's a prequel to my main series and takes place over 2,000 years ago. The main series is set in today's world and tells Alexis's story, but as her heritage came to me, I knew I had to share the beginnings of her secret society, especially when I learned how angels and demons play into it.

I'm incredibly excited that all that daydreaming has finally paid off and I get to share it with everyone in just a few weeks. Of course, it is only from my imagination. I have no idea if angels and demons truly exist, although I'd like to think they do. I'd like to believe there's someone fighting as fiercely for us as the angels in Genesis.

The Bucket List

Something a lot of my friends and family are always asking about is my ever-growing bucket list. If someone wants to go do something with me and it is on by bucket list I am like a kid in a candy store. No better yet, a toy store because getting too many of these goals doesn’t make me sick, just completely overjoyed.

Some of the goals sound strange to people like: having a picnic under a willow tree, riding an elephant and a camel, touching a ‘bird of prey’ with bare hands, star gazing under a harvest moon, volunteering at a hospital to hold a baby or planting a carnation and watching it grow from seed to bloom. So you may wonder how my full list came to be (which is TONS longer than what I wrote above). When I came to Washington and my life changed I realized a lot of things, one of them being that unlike most people I hadn’t had any goals in my life, not real one that I actually wanted to pursue.

People would tell me about their goals, their dreams and what they wanted out of life and I would nod along and be so happy for them because they had something to achieve in this life and I believe that anyone who has a goal that feels so important to them and that they feel passionate about can achieve that goal. So my fiancé (BF at the time) realized I didn’t have any and asked me to make one. It took us ages to figure out what to choose and from there, it slowly grew. I started writing them down a few months ago when I realized how different my goals were than what I would have expected.

I realized that while I wanted to see the world and experience so much, I still wanted, more than anything, the one thing I had always wanted: to help, inspire and make amazing memories. This is where the ‘how my list ended up odd’ part happened. I tried to think of beautiful memories. Things that I could imagine looking back on fondly like I look back on the one time I went horseback riding with my mother, lavender gardens with my future mother-in-law and getting up to watch the sunset over the docks with my fiance. The goals start simply: I have always loved carnations and recently have found a love for watching plants grow from a seed (above mentioned fiancé gardens), wanted to know what a owl, falcon or eagle’s feathers felt like, wanted to know what it felt like to ride on the back of an animal used for so many years in different parts of the world I have never been to. Naturally, any precious memory I could/can imagine having, holding and never letting go of goes on my list as something I want to make a reality.

Do you have a bucket list? What type of life goals do you have? Can you tell us the strangest one?