Friday, October 9, 2020

It's All an Illusion, a guest post by Jeri Westerson

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I've been a fan of Jeri Westerson since way back in mumble mumble when I blurbed one of her early Crispin Guest historical mysteries, a terrific series she describes quite accurately as "medieval noir." This penchant for blurring the lines between genres - or for inventing her own! - has come to fruition in her newest series, the Enchanter Chronicles. Which are historicals. And fantasies. And steampunk. And mysteries!

The second in the series, CLOCKWORK GYPSY, is coming out oh-so-appropriately on Hallowe'en, which gives you time to get started on THE DAEMON DEVICE, which introduces Leopold Kazsmer, The Great Enchanter, and the Special Inspector from Scotland Yard, Mingli Zhao.

Today, Jeri is going to tell us about the fantastical lives of Victorian magicians - and how they inspired her steampunk sensibilities.

 

“Strange how people imagine things in the dark.”

–Ira Erastus Davenport, Showman/Spiritualist c. 1910

 

Yes, they do. That’s most of the magic of the stage magician and, ideally, a magician plying his trade in the late nineteenth century.

 

I was solidly immersed in the medieval era, writing my Crispin Guest Medieval Noir mystery series. Then I made a little side trip in my research into Jewish mysticism and discovered “daemons” (the helpful kind) as opposed to “demons” (the dangerous kind) and all the symbolism behind numbers, colors, and even “magic words” in Jewish myth and mystery.

 

Magic got me to thinking about the fascinating time period of magicians in the late nineteenth century, where séances and the investigation into the next world compelled and enthralled, and science was still crossed with a certain level of mysticism, where maybe magic was a real possibility.

 


 

So I ventured from writing medieval mysteries to steampunk—a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy inspired by the steam-powered era. Technology is strictly steam-powered, even advanced technology, inspired by the works of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, steampunk masters though they didn’t know it. The aesthetic involves top hats, goggles, gears, corsets, dirigibles, magic, and devices.

 

Magicians of the late Victorian era fascinated with their supposed close association to the supernatural world. Sometimes they never dropped character so they would seem all the more mysterious to the public. Like nineteenth century African American William Ellsworth Robinson who went by the stage name Chung Ling Soo. He played his part so well no one knew he was American, let alone a black man.

 

 As magician Fred Kaps once said, “Misdirect all the time.”

 

 

Strangely enough, Chung Ling Soo is best known for the failed bullet catch trick…that killed him. On stage. During a performance.

 

Howard Thurston, another American magician known as “The King of Cards”, was a champion of card tricks. “My object is to mystify and entertain. I wouldn’t deceive you for the world,” he said, all the while deceiving you. That was the trick, after all. To make it appear as if it really were magic. As if there was no trick at all. The more dangerous the conjure, the more amazing the magician appeared as he walked back onstage after escaping certain death without a scratch on him.

 

Charles Joseph Carter performed his tricks on stages all over the world. You might recall his posters that bragged that “Carter Beats the Devil”. In fact, many of the colorful posters of magicians of the past—including Carter’s—featured demons, little devils, and ghostly apparitions.

 

Some magicians bragged that they used the help of spirits in their acts in a time when spiritualism was at its zenith, and many mediums of the day included the illusionist’s art when staging their own private performances that they called séances. The veil between magician and medium was very thin indeed.

 

It was little wonder I got the idea to make my magician, Leopold Kazsmer a man of Jewish/Romani blood and ashamed of both, and styled himself as an English gentleman. He knows how to perform illusions but also the dangerous art of summoning Jewish daemons in order to perform real magic for his act…and to occasionally save the world through sleuthing for Scotland Yard.

 

French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, father of modern magic, (and incidentally where Harry Houdini got his stage name), said, “A conjuror is not a juggler; he is an actor playing the part of a magician…I may even add that where sleight-of-hand is involved, the quieter the movement of the performer, the more readily will the spectators be deceived."

 

I think writers have a little magician in them, especially mystery writers. Readers trust what we write. They believe. They are misdirected…if we can keep the reader from seeing just how the trick is performed.

 

And hey, if I have to summon a daemon or two to get the job done, I will. Nothing up my sleeve. Promise.

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Los Angeles native JERI WESTERSON is the author of historical novels and fourteen Crispin Guest Medieval NoirMystery novels, a series nominated for thirteen national awards from the Agatha to the Shamus. Jeri also writes the Enchanter Chronicles, a historical fantasy/steampunk mystery series, the latest of which is CLOCKWORK GYPSY. See her other paranormal series and historical novels at JeriWesterson.com. You can also friend her on Facebook, follow her on Instagram as @jeriwestersonauthor, and chat with her about books on Goodreads.

48 comments:

  1. This is fascinating, Jeri . . . .
    Congratulations on your new series . . . being settled in with “Clockwork Gypsy” sounds like a perfect way to spend Halloween night . . .

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    1. Thanks, Joan. It's a bit of fun and a bit of an adventure. Enjoy!

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  2. Hi, Jeri! Fascinating stuff, which I only knew a little about. I love the Crispin books, so it sounds like I'd better check out this series, too.

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  3. Well said and fascinating, Jeri. I really enjoyed reading this. Decades ago, I took a mystery writing class with a teacher who was also an amateur magician. He did an illusion for us in class, and then broke it down-the performer directs the audience to look over THERE, while he is creating the illusion over HERE. And ended saying, "That's how you structure a mystery." Yes, great advice.

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    1. So true. It is a magic trick.

      Triss, I received your package, thank you!

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    2. I was at the Magic Castle in LA once, sitting very close to a man doing card tricks that I was participating in. I watched him sooooo carefully, watched his OTHER hand...and still could not see how he did it. I think he WAS magic.

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  4. Jeri, I admire your originality! Your choices of venues and characters are as fascinating as the mysteries themselves.

    I've always been drawn to the Kabbalah, although I still know very little about it. Was that part of your research? There are more things under heaven...

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    1. Oh yes, though mostly commentary about it since reading it wouldn't help me understand it. And a fabulous book, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism. It's chock full of so many fascinating details that gave me scores of ideas.

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  5. Jeri, welcome to JRW and congratulations on your new book. It sounds like your research for this series took you in unexpected directions and I am very interested in seeing how it all fits together.

    Julia, thank you for introducing us all to a new genre. I think I will love it.

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    1. Thanks, Judy. Research ALWAYS takes me in unexpected directions. That's the fun of it. And yes, a hearty THANK YOU to Julia for her continued support.

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  6. What a wonderful image - mystery writer as illusionist/magician. Congrats on the new book.

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  7. I'm going to go in search of The Daemon Device right away, as this series sounds excellent! I love your blurring of the lines of genres, Jeri. I was just reflecting the other day about how I have had mixed experiences with fantasy, and what I really need is a guide pointing me to the good ones. It's like the gods whispered in the ear of the Reds and ta-da, here you are!

    Side note: has Blogger been behaving oddly for anyone else? Yesterday morning I couldn't get into comments at all, and then in the afternoon and again this morning I did eventually get in, but it took a full minute or more to open. Just wondered if the problem is unique to me.

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    1. I just bought it! It may even leapfrog to the top of the TBR list...

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    2. I'm glad you mentioned this, Susan. It's been super slow to open or update for the last few days for me, too.

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    3. Also having trouble opening up. Very slow to open. Yesterday and the day before too as well as today.

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    4. Thanks, Susan. Enjoy. As for blogger, it's taking me forever to upload it and these replies to comments. Their software seems just as creaky as in the days when I had a blog.

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    5. Yes, we are all having BIG problems. Trying to figure out what's going on!

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    6. Blogger has been very slow for the past few days, but right now it's back to acting like its usual self. Strange . . . .

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  8. Your books sound wonderful, Jeri! I just bought The Daemon Device and am looking forward to reading it. Congratulations on your new book.

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  9. How positively delicious! I love stage magic, steampunk, and real magic, too! I'll be off to order as soon as I can sort out some computer issues. Good luck with this series, Jeri!

    Yes, Blogger has been super-slow for me, too.

    Song of the Week fans, what else could I do but a little Screamin' Jay Hawkins? https://youtu.be/82cdnAUvsw8. Great sax solo, too.

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    1. Love Hawkins, Gigi. What a fitting end to this crazy week!!!!!!!!!!

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  10. The ebooks are 99 cents. Just sayin'!

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  11. Jeri, I just bought The Daemon Device and pre-ordered Clockwork Gypsy. What enormous fun!! I love steampunk, and magic, so I think it's a brilliant combination. You're probably familiar with Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series (season 2 of the adaptation hopefully coming in November!) but have you read his Sally Lockhart books? They are Victorian steampunk and really wonderful. So lovely to see you here today!

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    1. HI Deborah! Nice to talk to you again. I've been following His Dark Materials but haven't gotten the Lockhart books yet. I've been working on notes for another YA steampunk series that is more steampunky and having a great time putting together the details.

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    2. Jeri, I think the Lockhart books as pegged as YA, so you might want to have a look. I really enjoyed them, especially the first two.

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  12. I'm confused. What are people referring to?
    I see three short paragraphs and that's all.

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    1. Wow. Talk about magic.
      I wrote that comment and then scrolled back to the top and found the whole article had suddenly appeared!

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  13. We'e working on this! Something is wacko with our blog software--we're on it!

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  14. Oh daemons/demons--I didn't realize that!

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  15. Failed bullet trick. That seems so on point for a news story these days...love the post, Jeri! I am absolutely picking up The Daemon Device and jumping into this series. Yay!

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    1. Cheers, Jenn. You are absolutely in no danger of the bullet trick these days. They didn't share how they did tricks (mostly don't to this day), so each magician had to figure it out. That was NOT the way to do it.

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  16. Julia, I'm late to the party again. Just woke up with an headache!

    Jeri, welcome to Jungle Reds. I googled steampunk and it seems to be a subgenre of science fiction. Congratulations on your new novel. I thought of Deborah Harkness' Discovery of Witches trilogy with witches, daemons and vampires.

    Diana

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    1. This is a bit different from that. It's a subgenre of science fiction because of the tech. It's all powered by steam. But otherwise, it certainly can be categorized in fantasy. I'm comfortable calling it gaslamp fantasy (there are so many different names for it. Historical fantasy is another.)

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    2. Gaslap fantasy is a new to me tern

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  17. It's loading faster now, but all the cool images are gone. At least what I can see.

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  18. I just bought The Daemon Device for my Kindle, too. I think that both of us will read it. Irwin and I share a lot of books these days.

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  19. Congratulations on your new novel, Jeri! Sorry for the late response, I haven't been able to access Reds for a few days. Perhaps Microsoft should be steam driven LOL.

    Cringed at the failed catch the bullet trick - on stage no less. I'm always amazed at what the Victorians got up to, but also in love with the Steampunk era.

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    1. As I said in another comment, each magician had to figure out how other magicians performed their trucks. He didn't do it right.

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  20. Sounds fascinating. Must read this one. Best of luck with the new series.

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