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Author Bio
Feel free to share a little about yourself in your own words.
Though I was born in California I’ve spent most of my life in Northern Colorado along the front range of the Rocky Mountains. This is a phenomenal place to live. Perhaps this is why half the people from the state of my birth have moved to my adopted home and ruined it. I earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts which was not a total waste of money, though I should probably have taken more graphic design and pre-press courses while at school. Currently I live with my girlfriend, a small black cat, and a large tortoise shell cat. In the back yard can be found several chickens, none of which are mine.
How did you get into writing?
After college it was my intention to somehow squeeze myself into the comic book industry. This I managed to do, albeit peripherally. Since I was working more or less shoulder to shoulder with the folks that actually published comics I figured this was my opportunity. So I worked up some of the scripts I had knocking around in my head and put together a few submission packets. My efforts went precisely nowhere. Disappointed though I was, I recalled one of my test readers mentioning how much he liked my descriptions of the actions occurring in the comic panels. Since I rather liked them as well I decided to abandon the art all together and simply put my ideas down as prose. As it turns out this proved far more satisfying then I could have hoped.
What can you tell us about your daily routines that help you focus and your creative habits? So, for example how do you come up with some of your ideas and inspiration for your book?
Ideas for books and stories live everywhere. They are in the sky, the trees, the puddles in the street, the nimbus of bugs around a streetlamp. There are so many in fact, that I have to reject a dozen a day. I spend far too much time starting stories, catching a whiff of another narrative, and wandering off to explore this new territory.
As far as my motivation is concerned, well, it’s very simple: Death. Knowing that I am mortal keeps my but in my chair and my fingers at work tying out as many stories as I can manage.
Is this book very personal for you? If so, how?
This latest anthology I’ve edited and partially authored does have its personal aspects. The stories themselves are simply meant to be entertaining, thrilling, titillating, and perhaps a bit thought provoking. The dedication, however, is for my dear friend Karina who was run down by a drunk driver about a year before this book saw print.
Mágissa
How did you come up with the book title?
That is actually covered in the introduction to the anthology. I’ll give you a hint though, ‘Mágissa’ means ‘Witch’ in Greek.
Plot and Synopsis
Can you describe what the book plot and give a detailed synopsis of the book, of course without any spoilers?
Short stories, thirteen of them, all with their own unique spin on magical women. My contribution is set in a Mezzo-American world and involves a young girl who can converse with the dead. My friend Jude Fawley contributed a story about a plumber witch, while a new favorite of mine, Joshua Grasso, adds his own spin to the ‘little old lady who lives in the woods’ concept.
Is there any movie, book, or television series that you can somewhat liken your story to? So for example, some books you can say are like Game of Thrones or Star Wars, what mainstream and popular movie do you think your book somewhat “feels” like? Did you want this to be the case?
Nope. I tried to take this, and all my anthologies, as far off the beaten path as I can.
Themes or Messages
What themes and deeper meanings or messages can we expect to find in this book if any? Is there any deep meanings or philosophical questions being explored in the book?
Ah, now that would be telling. I shall leave it up to the readers to decipher for themselves.
Off the wall question, but would some of the issues being explored in the book relate to us here in the real world?
I shall direct you to the previous answer, if you don’t mind.
Setting
What can you tell us about the setting that we will be seeing in this book?
There are a myriad of different settings and locals! Everything from deep jungles to burning deserts, from Ukraine in the nineteenth century to modern day Korea.
What cultures or societies can we expect to see and can you tell us about how you came up with creating these societies? Was it difficult to get deep into how the societies function?
As multifarious and unique as the locals listed above.
Tell us about the history of the land or world or worlds that we will be exploring through out the book?
I decided to go for a mix of second-world locals as well as recognizable places here on Earth. When it comes to my own work I much prefer to keep things as far from our home planet as I can, but for an anthology like this one I thought it a good idea to ‘ground’ a few of the stories. This way the reader doesn’t have to absorb a completely new world with every single story.
Characters
What can you tell us about some of the main characters and villains in this book?
They are as many and as different as there are people in this world. Some of these magical ladies work their art for good, others for evil. Some are selfless, some are as self absorbed as can be. My intent was to showcase a panoply of different characters each with their own unique and interesting motivations. And, if I may be so bold, I think I succeeded.
Promotional Links
Website:https://wearsowen.wixsite.com/exterusmagazine
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/owen.wears
How to buy
Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13537511.G_Owen_Wears
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