Jeanne Mozier's Blog - Posts Tagged "mysticism"
Authors Interview -- Senate Magic
The Hagerstown Herald Mail sent me an author's interview form. I filled it out. The published my answers unedited. It was startling in print -- a full page in the Sunday paper. It seems a worthy first blog entry.
Jeanne Mozier's new novel deals with love, magic
Author Jeanne Mozier
Jeanne Mozier of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., published “Senate Magic” in 2013, but actually wrote it in 1991.
Posted: Saturday, January 4, 2014 3:00 pm
by Crystal Schelle
Name: Jeanne Mozier
Age: (do I really have to tell you?) 68
City in which you reside: Berkeley Springs, W.Va.
Day job: Another tricky question. Author; owner/operator Star Theatre; arts, tourism and political consultant.
Book title: “Senate Magic”
Genre: political thriller
Synopsis of book: “Primary Colors” meets Harry Potter as told to “Lady’s Chatterley’s Lover” in this contemporary myth of power, sex, magic, darkness and love on a political campaign.
Publisher: High Street Press, Berkeley Springs
Price: $21.95
Facebook: Look for Senate Magic page.
Website: www.senate magic.com
Tell me about what inspired you to write “Senate Magic”?
For most of the 1980s, I served as confidante and political adviser for a personal friend who was the Congresswoman from Rhode Island. When she decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 1990, I signed on and figured I would write a novel about it, which I did.
You’re most known for nonfiction books, such as the award-winning “Way Out In West Virginia”; however, you’ve also won awards for your fiction writing as well. What does fiction writing give you that nonfiction can’t?
Fiction allows the story to be told as I wish it could have been rather than how it was. In “Senate Magic” particularly, it allowed the use of a level of magic and mysticism that transcended what I actually did use on the campaign. Fiction also allows the creation of characters that did not exist — although they could have. “Senate Magic” was my first work of fiction other than a published short story in the late 1970s. Somewhere about chapter three as I was trying to figure out how to turn all my notes into the story, I realized I didn’t have to. This was fiction. What really happened didn’t matter.
Senate Magic” is a hefty book — 603 pages — explain your writing process and how it is different, or similar, to your other projects.
Like most of my projects, I wrote “Senate Magic” straight through. At the time I wrote the book, I was driving back and forth to (Washington), D.C. weekly to exchange movies so I had 8 to 10 hours to lay out a chapter, jot down great lines, make notes. When I got home, I would write the chapter.
And how were you able to balance all your other activities with writing?
I cut way back on everything else I did and warned people I did not want to hear from them unless it was a crisis. I didn’t start until I’d finished planning, producing and promoting the first Berkeley Springs Water Tasting. Basically, I wrote the book between mid-March and mid-November of 1991.
How did you develop your heroine Kat Tomasso? Is there a little bit of Jeanne in Kat?
As with all fictional characters, there is a little of the author in each of them. There were certain attributes I wanted in Kat that did not exist in the real life candidate so I pulled them from my own experiences. Rhode Island has a major Italian population and Kat’s Italian family is a lot like mine. I ransacked all my aunts and cousins for names, attributes, food. Tomasso is my grandmother’s surname. I took my Cornell University education and made that Kat’s. And Kat’s interest in mysticism is from me. Kat’s looks, singing ability and controlled personality are decidedly not mine. Roxy is the character who fits most the role I played in the campaign as friend and speechwriter, walking the beach daily and indulging in Rhode Island’s incredible array of food. Her sexual exploits were not mine.
Which prepared you more for writing “Senate Magic” — being “CIA trained,” as your book jacket reads, or your work on several Morgan County, W.Va., boards?
I’ve worked in elected politics since I was a teenager and studied political science in college and graduate school. I learned to do meticulous research from the CIA as well as plot out scenarios. Most of the factual material came from the decade of working in Congress and on two previous campaigns in Rhode Island.
In addition to your writing, you’re also an astrologer. How important was it to include that aspect in your book, with Kat’s adviser being Max the Magician?
The magic and mysticism in the book from astrological and tarot predictions used to guide the action to the goddess mythology are what sets it apart from the usual political thriller — too much apart in 1991, but the world has changed since then.
There is a lot of me in Max — all the mystical parts anyway. The rest of Max — the stage magic and physical appearance — I “borrowed” from my friend, JW Rone.
Probably the most unusual use of my astrological background was that I created authentic birth charts for the three main characters so they would have consistent behavior and events would be timed to what would have been happening in the lives of three people born the days and times I chose.
Kat as an Aquarian is very intellectual and detached with outbursts of madness. Roxy as a Cancer is soft and caring and obsessed with food and other self-indulgences. T.J. Stuart as a Leo is an archetypal hero. What I did not count on was that once I created these charts, I essentially brought three beings to life and they set off on their own. Most of the time, I seemed to be taking dictation and marveling at their exploits.
Where the astrology really played a part was in publishing this book. As you may have noticed, I say that I wrote it in 1991, which I did. It was the first book I wrote. “Way Out” and my other published writing came later.
When I could not get it published in the three months I allocated to the task, I moved on.
In 2012, magic intervened and people appeared who motivated me to consider publishing it. I took out the manuscript and read it to see if the story was dated. Not only was it not dated, but it was so resonant to today and the cosmic patterns at work now, that I was astounded.
Apparently, the world was not ready in 1991. Seven years later, Harry Potter came along and made it acceptable for magic to be part of daily literary life. Many such books followed.
Even after nearly 40 years of doing annual lectures predicting the year to come, I was amazed at how prescient much of “Senate Magic” was. I made no substantive changes in the content and for that reason resisted editing it down to a more “reasonable” length.
However, nothing prepared me for the date forecast. Once I decided to publish the book, I went back to review my notebooks because I assumed someday someone would ask me what parts of the story were true and what fiction. After 22 years, I could scarcely remember. I was looking at entries made in mid-August 1991 when a sentence jumped out at me: that there should be a note at the beginning of the book saying it was published in 2013 for the 12th birthday of Kat’s daughter. I was shocked: 2013.
Had I known how powerful my off-hand note would be, I would have chosen a much earlier date. Then I went back to finish reading the entry and discovered something even more amazing — I had arrived at 2013 through an error in addition — 1991 plus 12. From that moment on I was relentless with myself, my editor, proofreader, publisher — it had to be published in 2013 or the magic would be lost.
What upcoming projects are you working on?
First on the list is selling the book — I’m available for author talks, book club appearances and other public lectures. People who’ve read it want more Roxy stories, but I don’t know how soon that will happen. The list of future projects is always endless but the 4th edition of “Way Out” was released in mid-December so that won’t have to be dealt with for a couple years. Probably first to be written is a small book on Berkeley Castle and then collecting some later stories and articles into a “best of Jeanne.” I’m also planning to turn my play “Last Hanging in New Jersey,” a family story (of my Italian family) set in the early 1900s into a true crime novella since I just discovered there was such a genre.
Is your book available in bookstores in our area? Where? If not, how can a reader buy a copy of the book?
“Senate Magic” is available at Berkeley Springs Memories, Panorama at the Peak and the Ice House Co-op Gallery in Berkeley Springs. It’s at Winchester Book Gallery, Four Seasons in Shepherdstown and Turn the Page in Boonsboro. It is available in both trade paperback and ebook version through www.senatemagic.com and on Amazon and other digital sellers.
Jeanne Mozier's new novel deals with love, magic
Author Jeanne Mozier
Jeanne Mozier of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., published “Senate Magic” in 2013, but actually wrote it in 1991.
Posted: Saturday, January 4, 2014 3:00 pm
by Crystal Schelle
Name: Jeanne Mozier
Age: (do I really have to tell you?) 68
City in which you reside: Berkeley Springs, W.Va.
Day job: Another tricky question. Author; owner/operator Star Theatre; arts, tourism and political consultant.
Book title: “Senate Magic”
Genre: political thriller
Synopsis of book: “Primary Colors” meets Harry Potter as told to “Lady’s Chatterley’s Lover” in this contemporary myth of power, sex, magic, darkness and love on a political campaign.
Publisher: High Street Press, Berkeley Springs
Price: $21.95
Facebook: Look for Senate Magic page.
Website: www.senate magic.com
Tell me about what inspired you to write “Senate Magic”?
For most of the 1980s, I served as confidante and political adviser for a personal friend who was the Congresswoman from Rhode Island. When she decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 1990, I signed on and figured I would write a novel about it, which I did.
You’re most known for nonfiction books, such as the award-winning “Way Out In West Virginia”; however, you’ve also won awards for your fiction writing as well. What does fiction writing give you that nonfiction can’t?
Fiction allows the story to be told as I wish it could have been rather than how it was. In “Senate Magic” particularly, it allowed the use of a level of magic and mysticism that transcended what I actually did use on the campaign. Fiction also allows the creation of characters that did not exist — although they could have. “Senate Magic” was my first work of fiction other than a published short story in the late 1970s. Somewhere about chapter three as I was trying to figure out how to turn all my notes into the story, I realized I didn’t have to. This was fiction. What really happened didn’t matter.
Senate Magic” is a hefty book — 603 pages — explain your writing process and how it is different, or similar, to your other projects.
Like most of my projects, I wrote “Senate Magic” straight through. At the time I wrote the book, I was driving back and forth to (Washington), D.C. weekly to exchange movies so I had 8 to 10 hours to lay out a chapter, jot down great lines, make notes. When I got home, I would write the chapter.
And how were you able to balance all your other activities with writing?
I cut way back on everything else I did and warned people I did not want to hear from them unless it was a crisis. I didn’t start until I’d finished planning, producing and promoting the first Berkeley Springs Water Tasting. Basically, I wrote the book between mid-March and mid-November of 1991.
How did you develop your heroine Kat Tomasso? Is there a little bit of Jeanne in Kat?
As with all fictional characters, there is a little of the author in each of them. There were certain attributes I wanted in Kat that did not exist in the real life candidate so I pulled them from my own experiences. Rhode Island has a major Italian population and Kat’s Italian family is a lot like mine. I ransacked all my aunts and cousins for names, attributes, food. Tomasso is my grandmother’s surname. I took my Cornell University education and made that Kat’s. And Kat’s interest in mysticism is from me. Kat’s looks, singing ability and controlled personality are decidedly not mine. Roxy is the character who fits most the role I played in the campaign as friend and speechwriter, walking the beach daily and indulging in Rhode Island’s incredible array of food. Her sexual exploits were not mine.
Which prepared you more for writing “Senate Magic” — being “CIA trained,” as your book jacket reads, or your work on several Morgan County, W.Va., boards?
I’ve worked in elected politics since I was a teenager and studied political science in college and graduate school. I learned to do meticulous research from the CIA as well as plot out scenarios. Most of the factual material came from the decade of working in Congress and on two previous campaigns in Rhode Island.
In addition to your writing, you’re also an astrologer. How important was it to include that aspect in your book, with Kat’s adviser being Max the Magician?
The magic and mysticism in the book from astrological and tarot predictions used to guide the action to the goddess mythology are what sets it apart from the usual political thriller — too much apart in 1991, but the world has changed since then.
There is a lot of me in Max — all the mystical parts anyway. The rest of Max — the stage magic and physical appearance — I “borrowed” from my friend, JW Rone.
Probably the most unusual use of my astrological background was that I created authentic birth charts for the three main characters so they would have consistent behavior and events would be timed to what would have been happening in the lives of three people born the days and times I chose.
Kat as an Aquarian is very intellectual and detached with outbursts of madness. Roxy as a Cancer is soft and caring and obsessed with food and other self-indulgences. T.J. Stuart as a Leo is an archetypal hero. What I did not count on was that once I created these charts, I essentially brought three beings to life and they set off on their own. Most of the time, I seemed to be taking dictation and marveling at their exploits.
Where the astrology really played a part was in publishing this book. As you may have noticed, I say that I wrote it in 1991, which I did. It was the first book I wrote. “Way Out” and my other published writing came later.
When I could not get it published in the three months I allocated to the task, I moved on.
In 2012, magic intervened and people appeared who motivated me to consider publishing it. I took out the manuscript and read it to see if the story was dated. Not only was it not dated, but it was so resonant to today and the cosmic patterns at work now, that I was astounded.
Apparently, the world was not ready in 1991. Seven years later, Harry Potter came along and made it acceptable for magic to be part of daily literary life. Many such books followed.
Even after nearly 40 years of doing annual lectures predicting the year to come, I was amazed at how prescient much of “Senate Magic” was. I made no substantive changes in the content and for that reason resisted editing it down to a more “reasonable” length.
However, nothing prepared me for the date forecast. Once I decided to publish the book, I went back to review my notebooks because I assumed someday someone would ask me what parts of the story were true and what fiction. After 22 years, I could scarcely remember. I was looking at entries made in mid-August 1991 when a sentence jumped out at me: that there should be a note at the beginning of the book saying it was published in 2013 for the 12th birthday of Kat’s daughter. I was shocked: 2013.
Had I known how powerful my off-hand note would be, I would have chosen a much earlier date. Then I went back to finish reading the entry and discovered something even more amazing — I had arrived at 2013 through an error in addition — 1991 plus 12. From that moment on I was relentless with myself, my editor, proofreader, publisher — it had to be published in 2013 or the magic would be lost.
What upcoming projects are you working on?
First on the list is selling the book — I’m available for author talks, book club appearances and other public lectures. People who’ve read it want more Roxy stories, but I don’t know how soon that will happen. The list of future projects is always endless but the 4th edition of “Way Out” was released in mid-December so that won’t have to be dealt with for a couple years. Probably first to be written is a small book on Berkeley Castle and then collecting some later stories and articles into a “best of Jeanne.” I’m also planning to turn my play “Last Hanging in New Jersey,” a family story (of my Italian family) set in the early 1900s into a true crime novella since I just discovered there was such a genre.
Is your book available in bookstores in our area? Where? If not, how can a reader buy a copy of the book?
“Senate Magic” is available at Berkeley Springs Memories, Panorama at the Peak and the Ice House Co-op Gallery in Berkeley Springs. It’s at Winchester Book Gallery, Four Seasons in Shepherdstown and Turn the Page in Boonsboro. It is available in both trade paperback and ebook version through www.senatemagic.com and on Amazon and other digital sellers.
