Maggie Havoc lives in Oregon with her unsupportive pets, crammed in a hobbit house overlooking the majesty of the Columbia River. She currently writes about damsels in distress, rescued by unapologetic alpha males that leave you hot, flustered, angry, but always craving more. All the while, her heroines harbor supernatural secrets that make them more powerful than their rescuers. As our Author of the Day, she tells us about her book, A Divine Invite: Ancients.
Please give us a short introduction to A Divine Invite: Ancients
A Divine Invite is book one in a series about a woman who feels down on her lot in life. She struggles with low self-esteem, but aspires for so much more. The tides turn when Ellie saves a man’s life, drawing the attention of the heavens. God extends an invite to join the ranks of the divine, with the caveat that the offer will draw the attention of the devil, and she will need to refuse him before she can proceed.
Her memory is wiped clean, and Ellie is gifted with divine sight, the ability to see beyond our mortal plain. In no time she stumbles across the Soufull Tavern, a bar run by hell’s most notorious soul scout and debt collector, Johnny Knight. Her ability to see his crew confounds him, and he sets off on a mission to discover who, or what she is that gives her the ability to see the undead. Her escapades catch up to her, and Ellie is caught, dragged to hell, and thrown at the feet of the devil. God will send his most revered divine being to her aid, but not before she passes her final test.
What inspired you to write this story? Was there anything in particular that made you want to write this?
I’ve always been insatiably curious about religion, and love all things supernatural. The way the story unfolds was my way of picking apart the many layers of religion and how it impacts those of faith, and those without.
Why did you pick a life-saving incident as the catalyst for your story?
One of my favorite tropes is that of the superhero. I think it would take a profound level of courage or self-sacrifice to draw the attention of the heavens.
I also picked a fire because a slightly similar incident happened to me. Not nearly as blown up as Ellie’s. But I chose this particular event because I felt I could articulate best, what it was like to be in Ellie’s shoes during that event.
Tell us more about Ellie, what makes her special?
Ellie’s character is so complicated, and it took a long time to pick her apart, to have her express herself in ways that people can relate to. Ellie is flawed, with real-people flaws. She’s overweight, and contrary to societal norms, that one is supposed to love themselves at any weight, she cannot. She has low self-esteem that stemmed from abuse as a teenager at the hands of her father. As book one progresses, her character is peeled apart to show readers how that abuse played out later in her personal life.
This is one of the first renditions I had done of Ellie now, in the front (right), and behind her, is Ellie in the future (end of book 2).
What makes Johnny Knight so irresistible to Ellie?
Ellie’s low self-esteem makes her feel she is not attractive to anyone. But that’s the fallacy that traps people with self-esteem issues. Johnny Knight is used to getting what he wants, and in Ellie’s case, he sees right through her self-esteem issues and deals with it his own way. Johnny makes fun of everyone, and Ellie is no different. He’s used to insulting people and getting away with it because, with his magic coat, there isn’t much anyone can do. To Ellie’s delight, she finds his personality charming, and his banter hilarious. Johnny makes her laugh, and the fact that he is smoking hot, only helps her fall for him all the more.
Besides writing, what other secret skills do you have?
I have competed in boxing, kickboxing, martial arts, and mountain biking. In my youth, I was very active. Age and wisdom have slowed me down and now I like to create characters that I can live vicariously through.
Interesting cover. Please tell us more about how it came to be.
I think I was the luckiest person in the market that day. I had decided at the last minute to hire a company to create a cover for me because I wasn’t happy with the one I had. They promised a turnaround of two weeks. Two weeks passed and they produced the worst first version I could imagine. I panicked as book one was slated for release a week later, and continued my search. I found a designer that had the perfect cover already so I struck gold. The cover, I think, depicts Ellie’s journey in book one perfectly.
What was your greatest challenge when writing this story?
I ran with Ellie out of the gate, and put her through some incredible experiences, and some terrifying ones also. But along the way I failed to articulate why Ellie behaved the way she did, and what caused her to make the decisions she made. I had to dig very deep into character building to pull out the reasons why Ellie had self-esteem issues. It’s been a very long process, but one that has given me a much better understanding of life, and the decisions some people make.
Readers say the book is a page-turner. How do you manage to keep pace throughout?
Put rather simply, I am an over-writer. Prolific. I wrote book one in two weeks. Prolific shouldn’t be confused with good, however. Book one was originally 160,000 words, but I was told there were parts that were long and drawn out. I quite literally pulled the scenes out that did not impact the story, then stitched it back together. It may have taken two weeks to write the original story, but it took me several years to perfect it.
Ellie is a very relatable character. How did you pull this off?
Years of research, and understanding what makes people tick.
This is the 3d model I had done of Ellie now (on the right) and Ellie in the future, on the left. It's very difficult working with an artist. Even though you tell them what you want, they always add what they think looks best, and Ellie on the left looks a little too Scify. But I didn't have the heart to tell the artist that, so I tried my best to write it into the series, which wasn't easy as in book two Ellie is dumped in a world full of dinosaurs!
When starting on a new book, what is the first thing you do?
This is my first book, so I can tell you what route I took to get motivated. It took about six months for the story to percolate in my mind. I drew a line on a whiteboard and wrote in about 6 plot points. I think this is how I ran out of the gate with it. I had spent months thinking of the storyline ahead of time.
Do you have any interesting writing habits? What is an average writing day like for you?
I have always been an early-to-bed, early-to-rise person. I am most motivated and productive in the early hours of the morning. I think this is because I am easily distracted. I get up between 4 and 6 AM. I write my best work when the world is still asleep.
What are you working on right now?
Final edits for book 3, which I am releasing episodically on kindle Vella first.
Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?
I absolutely love hearing from readers. I can be reached through my website. If you want to engage me on social media, I can be found on Facebook primarily, but I also have Twitter and Instagram.
Dreaming of more than her lot in life and blaming her shortcomings on the body she was born with, Ellie’s opinion is challenged when she receives an invite to join the ranks of heaven’s elite warriors. Captured, a despondent Ellie is brought to her knees in front of Hell’s most nefarious soul. God will send his most revered divine being to her side, but not before Ellie passes the final test.
