GUEST POST: Jamie Magee (author of the YA Insight Series)

Good morning, all, and welcome to our next stop on the Romancing Your Dark Side Paranormal Book Tour! Joining us today is the lovely and amazing Jamie Magee, author of the YA Insight Series (including Insight and Embody).

Jamie has always believed that each of us have a defining gift that sets us apart from the rest of the world, she has always envied those who have known from their first breath what their gift was. Not knowing hers, she began a career in the fast paced world of business. Raising a young family, and competing to rise higher in that field would drive some to the point of insanity, but she always found a moment of escape in a passing daydream. Her imagination would take her to places she’d never been, introduce her to people she’s never known. Insight, her debuting novel, is a result of that powerful imagination. Today, she is grateful that not knowing what defined her, led her on a path of discovery that would always be a part of her. 

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Jamie Magee

Hello everyone I’m Jamie Magee the author of the YA Insight Series! It is a pleasure to be here today as a part of the Romancing Your Dark Side tour. When I first came to this blog and read the ‘mission statement’ that said what this blog was all about (A blog for book lovers with open minds and hearts: dedicated to the power of creativity, the wonder of originality, the delight of curiosity, the beauty of diversity, and the joy of imagination.) I felt right at home.

My entire life I’ve surrounded myself with creative people and deep thinkers. I love to hear new ideas and fall into complex conversations about the unknown. When you step into conversations of a dissimilar nature you have to an open mind and be blind to diversity, and use your imagination to see to the world through another’s eyes. Curiosity may have killed the cat – but it has lead mankind to do things that were once thought impossible.

One thing about writing fiction – especially paranormal fiction is that you have the ability to take numerous ideas and myths and create a story around them. I’ve always loved the saying that there are two sides to every story then there is the truth, or even the telephone game where you whisper something into someone’s ear and that story is passed around the circle and in the end – what was originally said is not even close to the end result.

I believe theories and ideas have all traveled a complicated path – and on that path words have been added and some have been taken away. So, in a way I guess you could say that I believe every myth has some truth at its core.  With that being said you may think that I am about to tell you that the Insight series dances with the ideas of vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, witches – perhaps maybe a story of doomsday or what will happen after that point, but that is not what my series is about at all.

The core of Insight series revolves around soul-mates. Not soul-mates that fell in love at first sight at a young age, but about soul-mates that fell in love millions of years ago and have battled the path of life over and over, and each time they find each other in a new life the love they feel is intensified. With that idea in place the theory of past lives is relied on to bring forth a purpose in this life. 

Another theory or science that I used was the Zodiac. This element is used in several ways. One is to demonstrate how powerful a combatable couple can be. Another is the seemingly supernatural power that it is given to the characters in this series. You see, they are not special because of who their parents were, or some life changing moment that gave them power – the power they seem to have was given to them with their moment of birth (a power any of us could possibly have). My theory is that we are all divinely talented and within our birth charts there are traits that we can build on to bring this talent out. The other element that I used the Zodiac for was to outline fate. I do not believe that our fate is stated in the stars – I believe our fate comes into play with our thoughts and actions. In everyday life it is easy to think of moments on a small scale – but inevitably the thoughts you have today are leading you to your tomorrow. So, if the stars line a path for you they are reflecting a path you chose before that moment. I also believe that at any moment you can chose to change your path – your fate - with a simple thought.  In the Insight series the main characters are often told of what lies ahead – and when that moment comes they find that even though the base line of what was predicated came to pass their actions ultimately created the result they were striving for. In effect they discover that they control their fate.

There are several other ideas I danced with in this series such as alternate dimensions and of course the perfect battle between good and evil. Through eyes of my characters I tried to outline how the world around them was largely based on the emotions they feel. There are multiple dimensions in my series and each one reflects how the people as a whole see their world. Some dimensions emanate peace and love – encourage each person to grow their natural gift. Others are oppressive and demand control and obedience from the souls that live there. There are also some that are mentioned that have ideas that have changed some of the simplest aspects of the everyday life we enjoy. The diversity of ideas and emotions were the elements that seemed drive my imagination as these worlds came to life.

As you can see even though the Insight series does not revolve around the myths that captivate each of us it still brings forth ideas and points that could pull you into one of those ‘deep’ conversations I adore to have every day.

So, I leave you with these questions. What is your favorite myth? Do you believe in fate? What ‘power’ do you think your time of birth gave you – what’s your sign?

I want to say thank you again to this wonderful blog for this stop – and tell you once more that what your blog is all about is simply remarkable!

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Thanks so much to Jamie Magee for stopping by. If you'd like to follow her, and the rest of the participating authors, check out her schedule on the Calendar of Events page at The Virtual Book Tour Cafe.

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