By Michelle Garren Flye (Guest Blogger)
To
understand my obsession with magic, I have to tell you a little
story.
I
was about five years old when I saw my first magic show. I remember
it only vaguely, with flashes of detail. I remember we had to go
downstairs into a basement, and there were small squares of carpet on
a concrete floor. All the kids were supposed to choose a carpet
square and the magician promised to make one of them fly!
I
obediently sat down on a carpet square. I was that kind of kid.
Obedient, quiet, never a rule breaker. I remember there were a lot of
empty squares around. There were several near me. I don’t remember
most of the show. I think he was the typical saw a lady in half, pull
a rabbit out of a hat magician. I know he had a pretty assistant
because she pulled the number of the magic carpet out of a jar at the
end of the show. It happened to a be a tiger-striped carpet square a
little ways away from me that no one was sitting on. I know it wasn’t
mine, but somehow the pretty assistant decided I was close
enough to the magic square to be the one to fly.
How
amazing, right? How splendid that I was chosen. I took my little
carpet square up, thinking somehow it wasn’t right because it
wasn’t the tiger-striped one, but the pretty assistant said it
didn’t matter. And she put my carpet square on top of a tall
pedestal and sat me down on it and told me to close my eyes and
they’d make me fly. But no peeking!
Oh,
how I wanted to peek. I wanted to see myself flying. I wanted to see
the looks of amazement on the audience’s faces, and all the other
kids and my mother! She was there with me, wouldn’t she be
surprised to see me flying? But I couldn’t. I had never not
done something an adult told me to do. I had never disobeyed a direct
order. I wasn’t a rule breaker. And that’s where the real magic
came in, isn’t it? Looking back on that show, I wonder, how did the
pretty assistant know I wasn’t going to open my eyes in the
middle of the act and see the trick?
Even
now, forty-some years later, I’m pretty impressed. But more than
that, I am grateful because that show began an obsession with magic
that I’ve enjoyed for years. I’m not the performing type, but I
do love watching and trying to figure out the trick. I love
researching the ways tricks are done and watching different magicians
perform the same ones. It truly is all in the performance.
It
stands to reason that eventually I would want to translate my love of
magic into my love of writing. Why not write a series of books
about magicians? Magic is romance, magic is fantasy brought to life,
magic is…magic.
Blurb
Carole
Barnes once believed she would make her own way in Hollywood, but
those days are long gone, leaving behind only a dark, slimy secret
that Carole has never shared with anyone. Now she hides in the bright
sunshine of the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. As far away as she
can get from Hollywood. But what to do when Hollywood comes knocking
in the form of a sexy movie star?
Connor Wallace has everything going for him—looks, talent, a successful career—but what he really wants is to perform magic on stage. His love of magic leads him back to his mentor Walt Bryson. At first, he’s pleased when Walt suggests his assistant Carole produce a documentary of his transformation from movie star to magician. He’s worked with Carole before—but the ambitious girl who had a crush on him is gone now, leaving a beautiful, withdrawn woman.
It’s the perfect arrangement. Carole knows she can make a success of the movie and Connor wants to work with her. But as they grow closer, Connor determines to find out her secret. Can love overcome the boundaries of fear? Or will Carole’s past return to plague them both?
Connor Wallace has everything going for him—looks, talent, a successful career—but what he really wants is to perform magic on stage. His love of magic leads him back to his mentor Walt Bryson. At first, he’s pleased when Walt suggests his assistant Carole produce a documentary of his transformation from movie star to magician. He’s worked with Carole before—but the ambitious girl who had a crush on him is gone now, leaving a beautiful, withdrawn woman.
It’s the perfect arrangement. Carole knows she can make a success of the movie and Connor wants to work with her. But as they grow closer, Connor determines to find out her secret. Can love overcome the boundaries of fear? Or will Carole’s past return to plague them both?
Excerpt
Connor
pulled the linking rings back out of their velvet bag and began
practicing with the engagement ring on them. “I may need your help,
too.”
“With
the trick?” She raised her eyebrows. “I’m not sure I’m the
one—”
“Nonsense.
You know how it works. You just have to catch it correctly.” He
tossed the ring to her. She caught it neatly, but the engagement ring
went flying.
“Damn.”
She cursed softly. “I thought I could do that.”
“No,
you weren’t sure. You said so.” He found the engagement ring and
replaced it on the linking ring. He fixed her with a stern look. “Be
certain.”
“Okay.”
She shrugged, but she knew what he was talking about. Every movement
in magic—or any showmanship, really—had to be done with
certainty. No rethinking yourself or doubts allowed. The audience
should never be aware that you might not know what you’re doing.
And so she banished any doubts and looked at him expectantly.
“And
don’t look at me like that.” He twirled the rings in the air,
absently connecting and disconnecting them. She knew how it was done,
but he’d gotten so good at it, she couldn’t catch him.
She
laughed. “Why not?”
He
paused in the act of juggling the rings, caught them and displayed
them all connected with the engagement ring dangling at the bottom.
“Because you make it hard for me to be certain.”
She
tilted her head, wondering what he meant…
About
the Author
Michelle Garren Flye is an award-winning romance author of eleven novels and counting. Her short stories have been published by the romance anthology Foreign Affairs, Opium.com, SmokelongQuarterly.com and Flashquake.com, among others. She has served on the editorial staffs of Horror Library, Butcher Shop Quartet and Tattered Souls. Michelle has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is the mother of three and lives in North Carolina.
Social
Media Links
Blog:
BREATHE: http://michellegflye.com
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/michellegflye
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