Magnus Blackwell Series, #1
by Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor
Date of Publication: January
17th 2017
Publisher: Vesuvian
Books
Cover Artist: Sam
Shearon
Genre: Paranormal Thriller
Hell
has a new master
In the late 1800s, handsome, wealthy New
Englander, Magnus Blackwell, is the envy of all.
When Magnus meets Jacob O’Conner—a Harvard
student from the working class—an unlikely friendship is forged. But their
close bond is soon challenged by a captivating woman; a woman Magnus wants, but
Jacob gets.
Devastated, Magnus seeks solace in a trip to
New Orleans. After a chance meeting with Oscar Wilde, he becomes immersed in a
world of depravity and brutality, inevitably becoming the inspiration for
Dorian Gray. Armed with the forbidden magic of voodoo, he sets his sights on
winning back the woman Jacob stole from him.
Amid the trappings of Victorian society, two
men, bent on revenge, will lay the foundation for a curse that will forever
alter their destinies.
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Leaving the firelight, he headed
toward the water, eager to learn more about the woman. Beyond the glare of the
bonfire, his eyes were better able to take in her figure. Her nightdress was
torn in places and had dark splotches on it in others. She stood at the water’s
edge, her feet hidden below the surface of the bayou. As he drew closer, Magnus
got a better view of her exquisite face. Her pale, snowy skin glowed in the
darkness, and her features were perfect except for a scar above her right lip.
He ached to help her, to guide her from the water and back to the warmth of the
fire.
“Are you all right?”
She titled her head to the side as she
examined him. Then without saying anything, she held out her hand to him.
Magnus could hear a woman’s voice
saying, Magnus, come with me, in his head, but her lips never moved. He was
entranced, drawn to her, and just as he was raising his hand to take hers,
another hand clamped down on his wrist.
“Magnus, no, don’t touch her,” Madam
Simone called out.
The spell was broken, and the woman in
the water faded away.
Magnus gawked at the water. “What?”
“I told you to stay close to the
fire,” she admonished.
He pointed to the water. “You saw her?
Who was that?”
Madam Simone let go of his arm. “You
mean what was that, don’t you?”
“I don’t understand.”
She waved her long stick out over the
water. “That was a spirit called by the ceremony. She often appears when we
perform our rituals on the bayou.”
“You know her?” The shock was evident
in his voice.
“She’s the spirit of one who
sacrificed herself for love many years ago. She was the quadroon mistress of a
wealthy white man who spurned her and her unborn child.”
Magnus removed his hat and wiped his
hand over his brow, feeling shaky. “So you are telling me I just saw a ghost?”
Madam Simone chuckled at his reaction.
“The world is not everything you see, Magnus. Ghosts are as real as you or I.
They are the impression left behind by a life ended in misery, pain, or
confusion. The spirits trapped or bound to earth are the ones who haunt. The
ones who have found peace are the ones who leave.”
“Where do they go?”
She gave him a sad smile. “That all
depends on what you believe. Heaven, hell, paradise—take your pick. We have
more names for the world that comes after than we do for the one we currently
inhabit. I think that speaks volumes about our capacity for hope.”
Magnus took an unsteady breath as his
eyes returned to the water. “What about her? The girl in the water? Will she
ever find peace and move on?”
“No.” Madam Simone shook her head and,
gathering up her skirt, took a step away from the shore. “She has chosen to
remain here.”
“Chosen?” he shouted. “Are you telling
me she had a choice?”
“We all choose in life and in death,
Magnus.” She glanced back at him. “That is why we have souls—to make that
choice.”
Magnus could still hear the voice of
the spirit calling to him in his head. “I think she spoke to me. She knew my
name.”
“Spirits often bring messages from the dead.
Do you know anyone who has recently died?”
He shook his head. “No, no one.”
Madam Simone motioned ahead to the
bonfire. “Let’s get back to the fire.”
Returning his hat to his head, Magnus
followed her up the bank. “I’m not sure what I witnessed, Madam Simone, but I
no longer think I’m a skeptic.”
She grinned as they walked along.
“Good. Then the ceremony served its purpose.”
“What purpose?”
Madam Simone kept her eyes focused on
the firelight. “To prepare your soul for what is to come.”
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MY INTERVIEW WITH ALEXANDRE WEIS
How would you describe you style of writing
to someone that has never read your work? I am all about characters. My books
are character driven, and I get into the why’s of what drives a person. So if
you like dark, thriller, paranormal reads, that is what I do.
What mindset or routine do you feel the need
to set when preparing to write (in general whether you are working on a project
or just free writing)? I just sit down and write. If the story is in my head,
it will flow.
Do you take your character prep to heart? Do
you nurture the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do
you people watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character
during story creation? I build the story and characters during the writing
process. I get the foundation and then go back and fill in the depth to the
story and character. Sort of like an artist filling in the details of a
painting.
Have
you found yourself bonding with any particular character? If so which one(s)? I
think the first book I wrote and the character described there, To My
Senses-The Nicci Beauvoir Series Book 1, resonates most with me. She has always
stuck with me.
Do you have a character that you have been
working on that you can't wait to put to paper? No, they pretty much
all flesh out. The stories are what take a little more thought, but I figure it
out eventually.
Have you ever felt that there was something
inside of you that you couldn't control? If so what? If no what spurs you to
reach for the unexperienced? I am disciplined when it comes to many
things. I chalk that up to a childhood in competitive show jumping. What I
reach for in the underexperienced is things I wish to learn, or experiences I
want to draw on. Most of the time I stumble on such experiences.
From New Orleans, Alexandrea Weis was raised
in the motion picture industry and began writing stories at the age of eight.
In college, she studied nursing. After finishing her PhD, she decided to pick
up the pen once again and begin her first novel. Since that time, she has
published many novels and won several national writing awards for fiction.
Infusing the rich tapestry of her hometown into her bestselling books, she
believes that creating vivid characters makes a story memorable.
Alexandrea Weis is also a certified/permitted
wildlife rehabber with the La. Wildlife and Fisheries. When she is not writing,
she rescues orphaned and injured wildlife. She is married; they live in New
Orleans.
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