A Conversation with My Character - Mama Moo

Guest post by IE Author T.E. Lane
Title: JuJu Justice (coming this fall from IE)

Available Fall 2025 from IE Publishing in print and ebook

My book: JuJu Justice
My story:  A gritty mystical action drama set in the belly of the New Orleans voodoo culture, pitting a juju priestess against her dangerous childhood nemesis in a war between good and evil. 
My character: Mama Moo

Mama Moo is a legend in the riverbottoms of Louisianna. Known to the locals as "the swamp witch" she provides unscanctioned medical advice, potions, and magical remedies for all that ails you. She is timeless, powerful, and mysterious. In the story, the reader doesn't really know if Mama Moo is good or evil. Why don't you decide for yourself?

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A conversation with my character, Mama Moo

You live on a raft in the swamp. You mess around with voodoo and magic. People are scared of you. But my question is - what are YOU scared of?
That someday I'll have to make a choice that will kill me.

Wow, that sounds ominous. Can you elaborate and tell us more?
{Mama Moo spits tobacco]. Why don't you mind your own business.

How did you learn about voodoo?
From the dirt. From the wind. From the fire. From the water. From my ancestors.

I've heard that your son, Mister, sells potions at the market. What are they used for?
[Mama Moo spits tobacco juice in the dirt again and shrugs.] Cheating husbands, hungry gamblers, violent lovers, lonely widows. But mostly, folks want to cure a fix.

A fix? What's that?
A fix. A curse. Somebody whose put the juju on you.

Were you ever in love?
[Mama Moo stares at me for a very, very long minute.] Were you?

What's important to you?
You mean beside the dirt, the wind, the fire, and the water? Maintaining my power. Without personal power, you might as well be dead.

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Want a sneak peek of JuJu Justice? Read the award-winning short story by T.E. Lane!

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Follow the author on Instagram, Facebook, and Goodreads @telane_author

T.E. Lane is the award-winning author of The Cornbread Letters, a paranormal mystery published by IngramElliott, Winner of the 2024 Independend Press Awards in the Paranormal Mystery/Thriller Category. The novel was also a Finalist in the 17th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards for New Age Fiction, and a Semi-Finalist in the 2023 CIBA Clue Book Awards for Suspense Thrillers.

JuJu Justice is based on an award-winning screenplay, also by T.E. Lane and Second Rounder at the Austin Film Festival, Official Finalist in the 2024 NYISA Best Feature Screenplay Award, and a Quarter Finalist in the Manchester FIlm Festival Screenplay Competition.