The Story

“That is utterly ridiculous,” Scandra groused. “Next you’ll be taking credit for the Pandemics too.”
Glance shook her head. “Oh no, that’s all on the humans. We’re lucky they didn’t unleash a zombie apocalypse on us with their germ warfare experiments. Nope, but it did inspire me to take away humanity’s learner’s permit and let me grab the steering wheel. First The Penumbra to shake up the entrenched order, then The Power Up to shake up the populace. And the marvelous ideas I have for what’s next…to quote Al Johnson, ‘You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!’”
- Jack Magic: Other Knights Part One

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF JACK MAGIC

What's it all about?

Jack Magic is a superhero/science fiction/fantasy series presenting the adventures of Jack Magic, a performimg stage magician from Richmond Virginia. The world he lives in is not our own, it's a world transformed by The Pandemics, The Penumbra and The Power Up, which I will describe below. Basically this is a world in which superheroes and supervillains now exist, except you can't call them by those names. The politically correct non-judgmental term is Power Beings. Jack is not a Power Being, at least not at first, but through circumstances beyond his control he is injured at one of his shows and then miraculously healed afterward. Now the world thinks he is a Power Being, and he has the attention of the government, a crazed Power Being and a secret organization of powerful people known as The Outcast. They are not Power Beings, they are actually something older and more dangerous.

It's an adventure. It has twists and turns and surprises. It's a romance, several romances actually. And hopefully heart warming events and lots of humor. I came up with the story and characters for Jack Magic decades ago (which is detailed in the History page), but I started writing the novels during Covid so that affected my world view at the time. Perhaps if I did a reboot of the story in the future I might do things differently, but for now this is the background.

THE PANDEMICS

In the world of Jack Magic there were two major pandemics. The first book was written at the height of Covid and it seemed like it would never end. I was deliberately vague about what the Second Pandemic was, when it occurred or what the aftermath was. I do postulate that an entire segment of society gave up and cocooned themselves, bringing about the arrival of Virtches, people who interact in public from the safety if their homes using what is called an Emissary. The Emissary is a paid living avatar who dresses all in black like Japanese Bunraku puppeteers, erasing their own identity. They wear video screens on a harness over their chest for their clients to see and speak through.

By the time I wrote the second book the worst of Covid was over, and I was afraid I had written myself into a corner with the concept of Virtches. I really had no plan for them to continue, but after thinking about it I found a way to bring them back into Jack Magic: Other Knights. I hopefully assume that the practice would eventually end in Jack's world and those people could emerge into the sunlight again.

THE PENUMBRA

So during Covid I was thinking about what else could happen that would shake up the world. And I came up with the idea of something called The Penumbra. Basically all the dirty deals and tricks that politicians have gotten away with for decades would finally come out. Their files were kept as blackmail and to keep each other in line. If the Penumbra documents ever got put there would be mutually assured destruction of entire dynasties of politicians. And somehow it did and they were all exposed. I hint in Other Knights that the "most hated President and most beloved First Lady" improbably became friends and came forward and dumped the files to the American public.

What happened next was a seismic change in politics. Scandal, mass resignations, trials. Suddenly inexperienced but honest people were running the government. And some progress actually got done, for awhile at least.

Please note that the Jack Magic series is not overtly political. I imagined that the Penumbra wiped out crooks from every party. And the idea itself was incredibly naive in retrospect. People are so divided now that if they were presented with irrefutable proof of a politician with their hand firmly wedged down the cookie jar, most folks would just ask, "Well, is that person one of our guys?"

THE POWER UP

And finally there was the Power Up, an event that ocurred several years before the beginning of the story in Phoenix, Arizona. Again, I am vague and don't go into detail, but there was an explosion with major property damage and loss of life. The aftermath of this tragedy was the sudden creation of hundreds of super powered people. Some decided to act out the fantasies described in comic books and movies, some just hid their abilities and went underground. These super folk were celebrated and exploited, loved and feared. Their was some undisclosed turmoil where it became unseemly and illegal to refer to these enhanced humans as superheroes or supervillains. The accepted politically correct term is Power Beings.

I came up with the name Power Beings decades ago and dreamed that one day it would catch on with the public and used by other writers and creators. Marvel Comics uses the term "Mutants," DC has "Metahumans," Rippaverse has "Except." I like the term Power Being because it could apply to anyone with super power,  or androids, aliens, supernatural entities or even a powerless person who throws on a mask and cape and goes out to fight crime or get publicity.

In the Jack Magic world it is implied that Power Beings have existed throughout history, just in small numbers. And there is an organization called The Paranorm Bureau tasked with examining people with unusual powers. I also introduce the popular trio of heroes in Jack Magic: Other Knights known as Ultraviolet. Purple Majesty, Red Reckoning and Blue Persuasion are quite similar in abilities to people you might know named Clark, Bruce and Diana. But we'll just let that just be our little secret.

THE BIG SECRET

Speaking of secret, there is a REALLY BIG ONE that comes out at the end of Other Knights that changes everything and leads into the series finale. More to come later, but you'll know exactly what that is when you see the title and cover of the last book.