Please help me welcome New York Times bestselling author, Maggie Shayne. Maggie writes paranromal romance, she's written for CBS daytime dramas, Guiding Light and As the World Turns and one of her novels, Eternity, has been optioned for film. Maggie's love of the paranormal extends into her spiritual life too, and she's considered an elder in the Craft, and founded the RavenMyst Circle.
Maggie:
Hi, Witchy Chicks! Thanks for inviting me to be a guest blogger. I just love this site, so I’m extra glad to be here. And I love this topic. I’m going to try not to be boringly repetitive. I think the characters I love best are the ones I want to be, or maybe already am in some hidden part of my psyche.
My absolute all-time favorite paranormal character, besides those I’ve created myself, has to be Endora. Agnes Moorehead played her to perfection in the original BEWTICHED and Shirley MacLaine did her wonderful justice in the big screen remake. I didn’t quite believe Nicole Kidman as Samantha Stephens, but I guess it would be hard to top Elizabeth Montgomery. Why do I love Endora so much? I want to be her, when I get old enough. (I’m not nearly there yet.) I already call all my sons-in-law various versions of Derwood, substituting the first letter or two of their real names for the D. So I have Terwood, Berwood, Merwood, Jerwood and Sterwood. Jerwood isn’t yet official—but they’re engaged, so it’s pretty close. My car’s name is Samantha, Sam for short, and the custom plates read BEWICH. (I was limited on spaces, and BWITCH was already taken. But it makes the point.)
Everyone’s already mentioned BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, and while Spike was one of my favorite characters, for obvious reasons (eye candy, sex appeal, fantasy fodder, call it what you will) I also loved Faith. That bad girl, kick ass chick appeal is something that gets me every time. I want to be Faith, too.
The only other TV series I’ve ever been as passionate about as I was about BUFFY, was HIGHLANDER. I saw the films, too, of course, but I never got into Connor MacLeod (“of the Clan MacLeod”) the way I did his cousin, Duncan. Adrian Paul did it for me all over Christopher Lambert. But again, my favorite character was not the lead. In this one, it was Amanda. I based a character on her—probably more than one. I always thought she and Duncan should wind up together, and I was bummed that it was tough to imagine. I mean, the writers kind of painted themselves into a “no happily-ever-after” corner with that “There can be only one” line. Silly of them.
Oh, and the music! Queen. Ironic, isn’t it, that Freddy Mercury did all those songs about immortality and power (I have inside me blood of kings!) and then died of AIDS long before his time? But I guess he is immortal, as long as those songs live on, and I think they will go on forever.
But I got off the subject there, didn’t I?
Third favorite: The Scooby Gang. Mainly, Shaggy and Scoob. I loved those guys. Best cartoon ever made. I loved the movie spin off. (I hated Scrappy Doo, and I think everyone must have, which made the second Scooby Doo movie even funnier.) I just loved those simplistic, spooky mysteries. And the guest stars they used to have taking part in them. I remember Sandy Duncan, Dick Van Dyke, Cass Elliot. Do you? I loved the obligatory musical-montage-chase scenes. I loved the ghosts and monsters. I think the only thing I didn’t love was that there was always a logical explanation at the end. I wanted the ghost to be for real just once! But I dug Shaggy. He wasn’t afraid to admit he was a chicken (I was one too—still am) and he managed to be cool all the same, and usually saved the day. I shared his appetite too, as a kid. I loved Scooby so much that I have a great Dane of my own. And you know what? When she gets to “talking” she sounds so Scooby-like that I’m convinced the show’s creators must have been very familiar with the breed.
Which is why my very favorite episode of SOUTH PARK is the one where the band Korn guest stars. (The episode is from Season 3 and is titled, “Korn’s Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery) They play their own version of the Scooby Gang to help the Southpark kids solve a Halloween mystery. They emulate everything from the old cartoons, with a Southpark spin. The background music is recognizably Scooby-Doo. The Pirate Ghosts could have walked off one of the old episodes. The band drive into town in a version of the Mystery Machine, a van with a psychedelic, seventies style paint job. And instead of a talking great dane, they have a cute little pet bird of some sort, which they call “Niblet.” It’s adorable. Okay, I guess you can’t call Southpark “adorable.” But this episode comes close.
Of my own paranormal characters, my favorite is Rhiannon, originally named Rianikki, “daughter of Pharoah, princess of Egypt, Goddess among women, desired by men….” And so on. (And that’s her describing herself.) She’s one of my vampires. And part of me. Actually, she’s probably a part I need to pull out and put on and strut with for a while. She’d do me a world of good.
And those are my paranormal favorites. Click on the comments button and tell us yours!
Maggie Shayne
http://www.maggieshayne.com/
http://www.storybroads.com/
My absolute all-time favorite paranormal character, besides those I’ve created myself, has to be Endora. Agnes Moorehead played her to perfection in the original BEWTICHED and Shirley MacLaine did her wonderful justice in the big screen remake. I didn’t quite believe Nicole Kidman as Samantha Stephens, but I guess it would be hard to top Elizabeth Montgomery. Why do I love Endora so much? I want to be her, when I get old enough. (I’m not nearly there yet.) I already call all my sons-in-law various versions of Derwood, substituting the first letter or two of their real names for the D. So I have Terwood, Berwood, Merwood, Jerwood and Sterwood. Jerwood isn’t yet official—but they’re engaged, so it’s pretty close. My car’s name is Samantha, Sam for short, and the custom plates read BEWICH. (I was limited on spaces, and BWITCH was already taken. But it makes the point.)
Everyone’s already mentioned BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, and while Spike was one of my favorite characters, for obvious reasons (eye candy, sex appeal, fantasy fodder, call it what you will) I also loved Faith. That bad girl, kick ass chick appeal is something that gets me every time. I want to be Faith, too.
The only other TV series I’ve ever been as passionate about as I was about BUFFY, was HIGHLANDER. I saw the films, too, of course, but I never got into Connor MacLeod (“of the Clan MacLeod”) the way I did his cousin, Duncan. Adrian Paul did it for me all over Christopher Lambert. But again, my favorite character was not the lead. In this one, it was Amanda. I based a character on her—probably more than one. I always thought she and Duncan should wind up together, and I was bummed that it was tough to imagine. I mean, the writers kind of painted themselves into a “no happily-ever-after” corner with that “There can be only one” line. Silly of them.
Oh, and the music! Queen. Ironic, isn’t it, that Freddy Mercury did all those songs about immortality and power (I have inside me blood of kings!) and then died of AIDS long before his time? But I guess he is immortal, as long as those songs live on, and I think they will go on forever.
But I got off the subject there, didn’t I?
Third favorite: The Scooby Gang. Mainly, Shaggy and Scoob. I loved those guys. Best cartoon ever made. I loved the movie spin off. (I hated Scrappy Doo, and I think everyone must have, which made the second Scooby Doo movie even funnier.) I just loved those simplistic, spooky mysteries. And the guest stars they used to have taking part in them. I remember Sandy Duncan, Dick Van Dyke, Cass Elliot. Do you? I loved the obligatory musical-montage-chase scenes. I loved the ghosts and monsters. I think the only thing I didn’t love was that there was always a logical explanation at the end. I wanted the ghost to be for real just once! But I dug Shaggy. He wasn’t afraid to admit he was a chicken (I was one too—still am) and he managed to be cool all the same, and usually saved the day. I shared his appetite too, as a kid. I loved Scooby so much that I have a great Dane of my own. And you know what? When she gets to “talking” she sounds so Scooby-like that I’m convinced the show’s creators must have been very familiar with the breed.
Which is why my very favorite episode of SOUTH PARK is the one where the band Korn guest stars. (The episode is from Season 3 and is titled, “Korn’s Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery) They play their own version of the Scooby Gang to help the Southpark kids solve a Halloween mystery. They emulate everything from the old cartoons, with a Southpark spin. The background music is recognizably Scooby-Doo. The Pirate Ghosts could have walked off one of the old episodes. The band drive into town in a version of the Mystery Machine, a van with a psychedelic, seventies style paint job. And instead of a talking great dane, they have a cute little pet bird of some sort, which they call “Niblet.” It’s adorable. Okay, I guess you can’t call Southpark “adorable.” But this episode comes close.
Of my own paranormal characters, my favorite is Rhiannon, originally named Rianikki, “daughter of Pharoah, princess of Egypt, Goddess among women, desired by men….” And so on. (And that’s her describing herself.) She’s one of my vampires. And part of me. Actually, she’s probably a part I need to pull out and put on and strut with for a while. She’d do me a world of good.
And those are my paranormal favorites. Click on the comments button and tell us yours!
Maggie Shayne
http://www.maggieshayne.com/
http://www.storybroads.com/
Posts
14 comments:
Maggie,
Thanks so much for blogging with us! I love, love, love your books.
I always forget about Faith (Eliza) on Buffy. She was so very good at being a bad girl.
And I can't believe I left Scooby Doo out of my own post. Our part great dane/english mastiff is named Scoobie. (IE because she's a girl.) :-) My kids named her but I didn't fight very hard to change it.
Rhiannon is such a powerful character. I can totally see why you would pick her.
OOOOH - Queen! I still have a bunch of Queen albums and they're some of my favorites.
Thanks for coming to blog with us!
I enjoyed being your guest for the day.
Speaking of Rhiannon, last night I went to see Stevie Nicks perform live for the first time. She looks and sounds amazing. I got a signed copy of Rhiannon's book to one of her roadies, who swore she would get it to Stevie. After all, her songs not only inspired that character, but the entire series, right down to the "Belladonna" antigen.
I so enjoyed seeing her up there! She's been such a part of my life's soundtrack, you know?
Maggie
Hi Maggie!
How fun you came to play with us!
Oh yes, Endora was priceless and I always loved Agnes Moorehead who I thought played the character so well.
I totally forgot about Highlander! Don't know why either because I love the show. Peter Wingfield's character was my favorite there. Not enough coffee in me for me to work effectively. Queen is in my car's CD player so you either hear that, Celtic Woman or Pirates.
It's always amazing who inspires our characters, isn't it?
Linda
Hi, Maggie, and welcome!!! Thanks a million for blogging with us. I love your books - there's a stack of them in my "keepers" shelf.
Faith is such a strong character, and I love Eliza Dushku. I just watched the Buffy episode "Bad Girls" the other day. It's one of my favorites.
Scooby...can't believe we all missed that one! As for the ghost being real, did you see Scooby Doo on Zombie Island and/or Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost? Both are great, full-length movies where the monsters are real. Wicca even gets a positive nod - though with a silly, genetic spin! - in Witch's Ghost.
And I'm soooooo jealous you saw Stevie! That must have been amazing.
Thanks again for taking time to visit, and please come back again anytime!!!
Lisa
Hi Maggie!
I have some fond memories of your vampire books (when I used to steal them from my mom's collection to read *grins*) Rhiannon was one of my favorite characters.
Thanks for coming to visit.
Katy
Oh, come on Katy. It couldn't have been THAT long ago, could it? You stole them from your mom? Okay, lemme thing, Twilight Memories was first released in 1993, I think, so that would be . . .
Ugh, 14 years ago? OMG. I was only 16. Isn't it amazing that I was publishing books at such a tender age? ;)
Hi, Maggie:
It's so great to have you here - and I love your post. I've been thinking - once I finish the book that's due August 1 - I'm going to re-watch all the Buffy series from start to finish. Now I'm even more tempted.
As for the TV series of the Highland, my favorite character (because he's one of my favorite men, actor, great blues singer and he lives in my town so I see him all the time) is Jim Byrnes. You just reminded me of him again.
Kate
Kate--Is Byrnes actually in a wheelchair, or was that just part of the character? I was never sure, he played it so convincingly.
I have all of the Highlander series on VHS. It's old. I have all of Buffy too, of course, but on DVD. =)
Maggie
Maggie, it's good to see you here--I know all our readers appreciate it too. I loved the movie Highlander, but couldn't get into the series, for some reason. And I love Buffy!
I think we may actually have similar music tastes...I like classic rock but really like grunge/alternative. :)
Yazza
I like classic rock, too, as well as Godsmack, Metallica, Disturbed. I loved the group Kitty's album "Spit" but that was pretty edgy stuff. Great anger music. You need anger music now and then. Alanis before she got all zen was great. Jagged Little Pill, best album she has. =)
*falls over laughing* Uh-huh Maggie!
Hi Maggie, Witchy Chick on deadline here. Sorry I'm popping in late to say hello. It's so great to have you blogging with us. I realized while I was reading your blog that even your blogs are compelling reading. Love your names for your sons-in-law. LOL. Keep writing those wonderful books. See you in NJ in the fall.
Annette
Hiya Maggie! Witchy Chick with stupid-ass-computer problems here! I loved seeing you here, too.
I have only sons, and somehow I don't think I should forget the names of my future daughters-in-law if I want to have good relationships with them. LOL. Female relationships tend to be more complex than that, don't they.
You saw Stevie live? Be still my heart!
Mad {madly!}
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