Here at Mystery Playground we love magic almost as much as we love books. Sharon Long recently caught up with magician, TV personality and novelist, Andrew Mayne, to get the story behind his magic.
I am curious what made you decide to combine magic and illusions with writing? Which do you enjoy more?
Both of them are forms of storytelling. I think I like writing a little more right now because I can go anywhere with it.
I am always fascinated when a male author has such a strong female character. How did you come up with Jessica Blackwood? Is she based on a real person?
She’s based on a few people I know. I’ve dated some very intelligent women and have always been fascinated about how they experience the world versus how I do. I’m oblivious to so much of what they have to go through.
In Angel Killer, I really enjoyed the body appearing as if it was coming out of the grave, plus the plane with the dead pilot who had died years ago. Where did you come up with these great illusions?
As a magician, I try to come up with things that are very visual but hit you on an emotional level. For those crimes, I wanted something that would set the media on fire in the story and be something people had to talk about.
In Name of the Devil you combine religion, demons and the cartel. What kind of research did you have to do for that book?
I did a lot of reading on the cartels in Mexico and South America. For the religious component, I based some of it on case histories and insider points of view to the church. The demonology stuff was a lot of internet searching and few old books on the topic.
I know you are finishing the third Jessica Blackwood novel now. Will there be more books in this series? How do you classify this series? Mystery? Thriller?
I call it a mystery thriller. I have many, many more adventures planned for Jessica Blackwood!
Here's a little about Andrew:
Wildly innovative, highly visual with a little bit of mischief thrown in, Andrew Mayne is at the forefront of the next generation of magic. Star of A&E's Don't Trust Andrew Mayne, he’s performed his unique brand of illusion on five continents, his YouTube videos have millions of views and he’s cultivated thousands of fans for his magic, books and podcasts calling themselves ‘Mayniacs’.
Taking magic in a new direction, Andrew created his own style of magic called “Shock Magic”; combining the impact of large-scale illusion with the in-your-face approach of street magic. It’s fun, it’s irreverent, it’s the next evolution in magic. Andrew’s effects range from making ghosts appear on cell phones, shrinking himself to one foot tall and making a town think they were besieged by UFOs. His magic has even been performed for astronauts on the International Space Station! Andrew has invented over 400 magic effects and published 45 books and videos on the art of illusion. On the leading edge of magic and pop culture, he was among the first to invent magic for the iPhone (even before there were apps) via his website iPhoneTrick.com – that’s since been performed on millions of people.
He’s worked behind the scenes creatively for David Copperfield, Penn & Teller and David Blaine. In 2011 Andrew was invited to China on behalf of the legendary Beijing Circus to share with Asia’s leading magicians his modern approach to illusion. His 2012 tour brought him to Europe and the Middle East.
Andrew started his first world illusion tour while he was a teenager and was soon headlining in resorts and casinos around the world. With the support of talk show host and amateur magician Johnny Carson, Andrew Mayne started a program to use magic to teach critical thinking skills in public schools for the James Randi Educational Foundation. Andrew’s Wizard School segments, teaching magic and science to children, aired nationwide on Public Television.
Beyond magic, Andrew Mayne is also the author of five bestselling mystery and thriller books. His recent thriller, Angel Killer, the story of a female FBI agent with a background magic, was the fifth best selling independent novel in the United Kingdom in 2012. His podcast, Weird Things is also one of the top science and nature podcasts on iTunes.
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