Megan Mackie Interview

Welcome to Ink & Magick. I'm your friendly neighborhood witch. What kind of spell can I get for you today? 

A time looping one would be great, so I can get some sleep and get my second draft done.

I'm sorry. Altering time is serious business. I can not risk the repercussions for such a frivolous reason. Will you tell me about your sic-fi fantasy The Finder of the Lucky Devil?

Rune Leveau, a young woman with a magical Talent for Finding things, is trying to keep her bar, The Lucky Devil, from being foreclosed. To save her bar, Rune decides to do some Finding gigs to earn extra money. Then a cyber-augmented corporate spy comes to ask her help with finding a wanted runaway criminal named Anna Masterson. The problem is Rune is Anna Masterson and he's not taking no for an answer.

St. Benedict, a corporate spy for the Corinthe Corporation, has searched for the last six years for the Masterson Files, a computer program that is rumored to have cracked the code to allow computers to do the impossible, cast magic spells. Such a program would reshape the world. For his own reasons, he's determined to be the first to find it and the mysterious woman connected to it, Anna Masterson. Having exhausted his other options, he is left with a new hope that this Finder of the Lucky Devil can lead him to the prize he has sought for so long. But the Finder is proving difficult and he isn't going to take no for an answer.

Set in an alternate Chicago, where technology and magic are in competition with each other, this fast paced Cat-and-Mouse chase makes The Finder of the Lucky Devil a welcome addition to your urban fantasy/cyberpunk library.

Excerpt:

Rune stood frozen outside of her office door, a rabbit trembling in a trap. With no way to get through the door in front of her and the chances of bull-rushing past St. Benedict being very slim, she felt almost giddy. The years of hiding were over, someone had finally found her. Even as she was terrified, there was also an insane feeling of relief. 

"Did you write this?" she asked, holding out the slip of paper towards him.

His head cocked to the side again. "I saw that the paper disappeared from his pocket, but I couldn't quite work out where it went. Is that a spell or something?" he asked.

"Yes," Rune responded automatically.

"So then, you are the magic user I’m looking for," he said, stepping closer, closing the distance between them. Rune eyed the hand he still had in his pocket, trying to guess whether he had a gun or a knife in there, as if that made any sort of difference at this range. Was he here to kill her? Was he here to take her back? 

"What.... what do you want with me?" she asked as she pressed herself harder against the door.

"I just want my wish fulfilled. I wish to find Anna Masterson.”

"W-why?" Rune asked. 

"I'm not the only one looking for her, and I need to find her first. Has anyone else approached you about this issue?"

That made Rune blink. "You... you wish to find Anna Masterson."

St. Benedict is an interesting name for a character. How did you come up with it?

It’s a combination of things. One is that I like playing around with interesting honorifics, the other is I have heard of the name St. John before and I got to thinking, why couldn’t the st. Thing he applied to other names? Benedict Cumberbatch was also one of the first character models I was using, and I liked how it sounded. 

Oh gods, I can't tell you how much I love Benedict Cumberbatch. Which one of your characters surprised you?

I mean, I think they all did. As you're writing and discovering them, it can be amazing how important some become and others simply do not. Maybe Franklin the centaur actuary the most because he is so small in the book, but he’s become so precious to me. I keep trying to find more reasons for him to be around.

OOOOO centaurs, that sounds fun. Who is your favorite or least favorite character and why?

Rune is my favorite for sure, not just because she is my protagonist but because she chooses to keep doing even when she feels weak. I think it’s the hardest thing to do sometimes, get up and keep going.

Alf I find the most frustrating because I sometimes don’t always know what to do with him until he does it. is he going to be a good guy today or a problem?

Get up and keep going...I completely agree. What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful?

Please review everywhere you can. Being an Indie author is a challenge, but I believe the cream rises to the top and that can only happen if my fans let the world know, this is the book to take a chance on.

Absolutely. What can we expect from you next? I am working to publish the second book in the series: The Saint of Liars in June 2018.

Well, thank you so much for stopping in today. I'm looking forward to what you come up with in the future.

Megan Mackie is a writer, actor, podcaster and playwright. Besides writing, Megan is currently running a satirical podcast called the Princess Peach Conspiracy, about how all of the Super Mario Bros games are really a conspiracy by Princess Peach to keep the war economy going. You can hear it on iTunes, Stitcher, or GooglePlay. She also likes to knit, play games involving dice, and getting into feverish discussions about why the live action Beauty and the Beast is better than the animated version.

You can connect with Megan on her website, and you can purchase a copy of The Finder of the Lucky Devil on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Drive Thru Fiction.

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