Lise MacTague

You never know where an idea will come from. I’m always on the lookout for things I can use in my stories and when I listened to an episode of Lore (Episode 22: Over the Top, to be exact), I was given the kernel of an idea. I’d been listening to the podcast for a while, by that point. It’s one of the many I like to have on in the background while I’m engaged in tedious work. If you haven’t checked out Lore, I highly recommend it. This particular episode was about a mysterious entity who plagued London and England in the 19th century. His name was Spring-heeled Jack.

There are many stories about Spring-heeled Jack. Reported from the 1830 until the 1880s, most of the sightings centered around London and its suburbs, though some occurred in the north of England as well. In these sightings, a demonic-looking man would burst out of the shadows and accost someone, usually a young woman. He was usually described as a devil, or devil-like, with sharp claws at the tips of his fingers. Sometimes he was also said to be wearing a helmet or a black cloak. In other descriptions, he had red, glowing eyes. And he almost always made his escape by leaping away, hopping over tall obstacles as if it was nothing, hence the name.

The podcast episode was an interesting one, and it stuck with me. It was about the same time that I was working on plot and character development for Demon in the Machine. I knew Isabella was going to be a cat-burglar, and I knew I wanted her to have some mechanical leanings. The legend of Spring-heeled Jack was suddenly too good an opportunity to pass up.

I decided to work it in by having Isabella accidentally contributing to the urban legend. One of the items she invented to aid in her burgling was a jump rig. The device allowed her to easily get to roofs and to scale the sides of buildings. It also made traveling through London at night much easier. However, in her pale canvas suit and helmet, making long bounds through various neighborhoods, Isabella also created a bit of a scene, one that was remarked upon perhaps more than she was aware of. Still, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as no one could trace the legend back to her.

A couple of the details aren’t exactly right. Demon in the Machine takes place in the 1890s, by which time the scare had mostly died down. I considered moving the timeframe back a bit to take advantage of the period during which Jack was historically most active, but decided against it. The main thrust of the plot has to do with the rise of the automobile, which happens later in the 19th century. However, given that 19th century English inventions weren’t enhanced by demonic magic either (that we know of), I decided the liberties I was taking weren’t too terrible.

Making things up out of the whole cloth is great, but I do enjoy it when I can take something that existed and borrow part of it for one of my own stories. Steampunk as a genre works well for that in general. In particular, this strange little urban legend helped me add a lot of flavor to my story.

Demon in the Machine, out June 15, 2018

At the height of Britain’s Industrial Revolution, steam power and magic join forces to create wonders the world has never seen. But those wonders have a dark side—one that will soon force a reckoning few could have anticipated.

Half-demon Briar is content with her structured life as an archivist, a far cry from the chaos of her background and upbringing. Briar’s simple and predictable existence is rocked when she discovers something sinister powers one of the grand, new inventions of her era.

Isabella Castel, the only daughter of Viscount Sherard, is far from the brainless socialite she pretends to be. Isabella is everything Briar is not: passionate, creative and impulsive, but with secrets to rival even Briar’s own. Two more unlikely partners should not exist, yet if the women cannot find a way to work together, they will lose far more than their reputations.

Can a half-demon and a debutante work past their secrets before all hell breaks loose?

Isabella Castel is the only daughter of the Viscount Sherard. While Briar revels in the structure of Victorian society, Isabella chafes against it. She was raised in high society, but her mother is not only American, but also highly unconventional in her own right. However, Althea Castel has learned how and when to disguise her differences while Isabella is still trying to get a handle on that.

When Isabella and her brother Wellington were children, their mother insisted tat Isabella was to have access to all the same schooling and tutors as her brother. Isabella discovered that she had an interest, and even better, a talent in building mechanical things. While her brother gravitated more toward the magical side of tinkering, Isabella gloried in the challenge of creating mechanical marvels using as little magic as possible. She developed a number of tools for around the shop, and designed and built what she calls a jump rig.

She was very careful not to let her father (Joseph, Viscount Sherard) know that she was using the jump rig to help her break into the houses of their peers. After Wellington drained the family resources and was sent to Germany ostensibly for school, but mainly to keep him out of trouble, she began supplementing the family’s resources with burglary. The shady past of Isabella’s mother past came in handy when Althea hatched the plan to keep the family from the poor house.

And so it is that Briar keeps running across Isabella at various high society functions and balls. Isabella plays the brainless socialite while keeping an eye on the expensive baubles of those around her. While Isabella is pretty good at playing her part, she yearns for more from her life than what she has. She and Briar do not hit it off, in fact, Isabella takes delight in tormenting Briar. Things begin to change when they’re forced to work together, and they realize they have more in common than either had thought.

Demon in the Machine, out June 15, 2018

At the height of Britain’s Industrial Revolution, steam power and magic join forces to create wonders the world has never seen. But those wonders have a dark side—one that will soon force a reckoning few could have anticipated.

Half-demon Briar is content with her structured life as an archivist, a far cry from the chaos of her background and upbringing. Briar’s simple and predictable existence is rocked when she discovers something sinister powers one of the grand, new inventions of her era.

Isabella Castel, the only daughter of Viscount Sherard, is far from the brainless socialite she pretends to be. Isabella is everything Briar is not: passionate, creative and impulsive, but with secrets to rival even Briar’s own. Two more unlikely partners should not exist, yet if the women cannot find a way to work together, they will lose far more than their reputations.

Can a half-demon and a debutante work past their secrets before all hell breaks loose?

My last post was in July. Ugh. Not exactly what I’d been going for when I promised myself I would be more regular with my blog posts. Unless I’m going to post once every eight months like clockwork… No, better not.

The truth is, last year was difficult for me, as it was for a lot of people. My apologies for anyone who doesn’t want to read about politics, but the fact of the matter is that American politics have affected, and continue to affect, me deeply. It’s hard being part of a minority group under the best of circumstances, and it’s been so very much harder since the disastrous election results of this past November.

I heard someone say that liberals are just upset because we lost. That’s not it. I’ve been on the losing side before, we all have. Bush was annoying; Trump is terrifying. I didn’t have the pang of existential dread go through me in 2001 the way it did in November. I’d braced myself for some backlash after the Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling in 2015, but no assuming of crash positions could prepare me for it actually happening. And it continues to happen. The steady erosion of our hard-fought rights, the emboldening of bigots, that creeping, never-ending feeling of dread.

Which is how I ended up in therapy. I had writer’s block for most of 2017. I never thought it would happen to me. After all, I have a ton of ideas for stories. I have enough to keep me occupied for the next 10-15 years, without coming up with new ones. So it’s not that I didn’t know what I wanted to write. I knew very well what I wanted to write, but I couldn’t reach the appropriate mental space for it.

When it comes down to it, I’m a maker. I make things in my real-life job, I write, and I build things, but writing is different. For me, writing requires a certain amount of order in my brain, order that was being regularly disrupted by the malarkey gushing from the White House on a weekly/daily/hourly basis. My therapist says my brain is like a tree, which I can see. One idea sparks others, which branch out and spark still others. She also says that I spend a lot of time delving among the dark roots of that tree. Maybe a little too much time. I happen to disagree. Some of the most interesting things happen in the dark. Bringing them into the light, viewing that struggle to overcome the dark events of our lives is what inspires me to write. I love challenge for the feeling of overcoming it. What is a novel if not one long challenge? And finishing one is a triumph that has little equal.

So what was I to do when I was caught in the dark roots of my imagination? When I couldn’t see how we could move into the light? And that’s why I couldn’t write. I couldn’t see a way through.

Therapy has been helping. I’m learning some coping techniques for the alarms my brain seems prone to raise these days. My therapist says I have generalized anxiety disorder. I think my anxiety is pretty damn specific, given that it wasn’t a problem before the elections. But it’s getting better. I’ve started writing again, though the words aren’t coming as quickly as they have for other books. I’m not sure if it’s because of my writer’s block, my (possibly too) busy life, or the book I’m writing. We’ll see.

For now, I’m continuing with my therapy, continuing with my writing, and trying not to let the hatred and disdain of a vocal minority in our society derail me from doing what I love.

July is going to be a busy month! I’m heading to a conference, and I’m doing a book reading in Raleigh, and I’m moving. So lots of opportunities for you to hear a reading from Five Moons Rising, my new book. You can also check out the reading I did for The Lesbian Talk Show Podcast. But if you want to hear me live, keep on reading!

I’ll be at the GCLS (that’s the Golden Crown Literary Society) Annual Convention in Chicago next week! I’m really looking forward to this. My first one was last year, and I feel a little better prepared for it this year. At least this time I know to leave room in my luggage for the books I’m going to pick up.

I’m participating in a panel called Not Your Mama’s Paranormal on Thursday, the 6th. This is one I’m really looking forward to. The other panelists are RG Emanuelle, Jeanine Hoffman, D. Jackson Leigh, Alex Westmore, and it’s being moderated by none other than Barbara Ann Wright!

My actual reading is the next day (the 7th for those following along at home). Last year’s experience was great. The audience was super engaged and asked fantastic questions. Best of all, I got to rub elbows with more authors, including the incomparable Lee Lynch (She told me she liked my reading and I about died right there!)

Then of course, there’s the author autograph session. That was fantastic! It was definitely a high point for me, and I’m an introvert. Sessions like that are usually my kryptonite, but the excitement of all the readers rushing around the room to get everyone’s signature, and those who were seeking out their favorite authors, well, it was contagious. I’m looking forward to it again this year.

So that’s GCLS, but that’s not all! I’m doing a reading for the Queer Women’s Book Group at the LGBT Center of Raleigh, or as I like to call it the LGBT Library, since that’s how I know it best. Five Moons Rising is the book for July, so I get to meet with the group, do a reading and chat about the story. It sounds like it’s going to be pretty low key and super fun!

And then the move. We bought a house, so I get to move to my fifth address in five years. My wife promises me this is going to be the last one for a while. So even though I’m sick of moving, I’m excited to be heading to a more permanent address. And there’s the fact that not only am I down to a minimum of stuff (except for my workshop of cosplay-making stuff), I still have the original boxes I moved everything in the past few times. I don’t even have to relabel! So a couple of silver linings there, but I have to try to shoehorn this in around my other stuff.

That’s it for now! Keep it tuned, as I have some exciting news coming up in the next month or so (once the boxes are all unpacked).

What is up in 2017? As usual, I have lots of plans for my writing, and as usual, that’s the easy part. It’s becoming painfully obvious that the writing-adjacent stuff is as important as the actual-writing stuff, and I need to be more diligent about it, too.

So the writing stuff… This year, Five Moons Rising comes out. Already, I’ve been working with my editor on getting it polished up for publication in June. In fact, I returned the manuscript to her for the final time yesterday, now it goes to the proofers. I’m extremely excited about this one. It’s a departure from Jak and Torrin’s story, but I guarantee the readers will fall in love with Malice and Ruri like I did.

I’m also working my way through drafts of my next novel: Demon in the Machine. I don’t have a publication date for it yet, but I’m thinking either very late 2017 (which is probably a stretch), or more likely 2018 sometime. This one is a lot of fun. It’s not nearly as dark as my offerings to date, and since Five Moons does stray into rather dark territory on occasion, that’s probably a good thing. This one is steampunk set in Victorian London and features a half-demon archivist and a cat-burgling debutante.

I’m working on one short story right now, and I have plans for at least one more this year, maybe more. Like last year, these will probably be a combination of brand new characters/locations, and revisiting old worlds. That I’ll have to play by ear…

And of course, I’ll be starting another big project, once Demon is in the can and off to Bella. I have a lot of ideas (as usual), so picking one is going to be the hardest part. My little book of notes and ideas gets more and more full as time passes. If I ever lose it, I’m sunk.

Finally, the writing-adjacent stuff. On the fun end of the spectrum, I’ll be continuing to review books for The Lesbian Review, and I’m working with The Lesbian Talk Show on a new project! That’s right, Andi Marquette and I have teamed up to put on a podcast!! It’s called Lez Geek Out! and it explores where the lesbian community overlaps with popular/geek culture. Our first episode is up, and the next one should be out next week. I’m looking forward to this little adventure.

I’m going to the GCLS conference again this year! I had a really great time last year, and I got to meet lots of readers and fellow authors. This time, I’ll be going with a fresh new release, and I couldn’t be more excited!!!

On the less fun end of the spectrum is the beast I’ve been wrestling with since the publication of my first novel. That’s right, I still need to slay the marketing beast. But! I’ve been talking to people, and I have some ideas, so all I have to do now is implement them. Watch this space for an email newsletter. It’s my top priority once I get my current project put to bed.

So that’s it for me. I’m sure I’ll pick up some extra things as I go along, but for now, that’s the plan!