1) Tell us about your book Breadcrumbs and Glass Coffins is my retelling of Hansel and Gretel from the viewpoint of the witch. It sets up her tragic backstory and what led her to go after the children. There are some very dark elements in it. 2) What made you start writing horror? I've always loved horror movies and spooky stories. They can really affect a reader and stay with them long after. Most of my stories lean toward the dark anyway, but horror stories are fun to write. 3) Who are your favorite horror writers? I love Stephen King, Susan Hill and Anne Rice. I like ghost stories and horror stories that make you think as opposed to gory horror. 4) What is next for you? I am working on finishing up a witch series and I have a few short stories to write for anthologies. I love writing for anthologies because it gives me the chance to write something different. Kat Gracey writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels featuring her two favorite supernatural beings - witches and werewolves.
She currently resides in the UK, where she enjoys yoga and catching up on her favorite shows. You can learn more about her books via her website:
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Short stories can be a great way to showcase your writing, without tying yourself to writing a series. I join and organize multiple anthologies every year. It is a great way to get those creative juices flowing.
You may think that short stories are easier to write than a full length novel but you would only be half right. Yes, it is less work overall, but with less space to let your story unfold, you need to work hard to make sure it is paced correctly. Short stories are often a snapshot into your character's life, while a novel or a series may span years of their life. Most anthologies have an upper word limit, which means you may only have 20,000 words for example to tell your story. Some anthologies want stories under 5,000 words. So you can imagine how hard it is to decide what goes into the story and what must be left out. I find with short stories that it is better to have a limited cast - 3 people at most. It will also likely take place over a short space of time - a few hours at most. In a novel, you can add the backstory to your character. In a short story, you need to be able to cut out what is unnecessary. One of my recent short stories took place in a twenty minute window. The main character was running away from her abusive boyfriend and waiting on a train to take her to her parents' home. This added tension to the story. We learn in a few lines why the character is waiting on the train and what her boyfriend did to her. The rest of the story revolves around the character's paranoia as she waits for the train. Less is more in short stories, which is why show don't tell is more important than ever. Keep the story moving forward toward the goal you have set. Many readers can fill in the blanks when it comes to certain elements of the character's backstory. When you have completed the story, always get feedback on it before submitting, whether that is through your editor or a beta reader, as they can offer some insight into the story and help make it better. Happy writing! An opening hook is just that - a way to hook your readers right from the first line and draw them into your book.
It is not an easy thing to do and I see many new writers believing that the first few pages of their story needs to be an info dump about their character and the world they live in. Don't fall into this trap. Think of your opening like an overheard conversation or walking into the middle of a crazy scene. It is supposed to entice the reader and even confuse them so that they feel the need to stay and get their answers. Here are some examples - In 1984 we have - It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen In The Gunslinger we get - The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. The Lovely Bones has - My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. Something unusual is happening in each of these and we have questions. Questions are good at the beginning of a book, it is what makes the reader keep reading. You can also have a line of dialogue to start your story. Here are some examples I have created - "We always knew it would end this way. With your death." "What do you mean my mother was a vampire?" "This is the last time I risk my life to save that damn cat." Always remember to start your first chapter in the middle of the scene, show the action and give the readers a mystery to solve. Why is the character doing that? Who is chasing them? How can the character be telling the story if they're dead? We all have a natural curiosity and a need to know more. But don't feel overwhelmed with finding the perfect opening line and let it stop you from actually writing the story. You can always come back and rewrite it later. Take your time with it and know your target audience. Check out a few books in the same genre for inspiration. When done right, you can keep those readers hooked, hopefully, to the last page. Happy writing! When it comes to crafting your story, one important aspect is picking the right name for you character. There are many things to consider such as the meaning of the name, the time period and the setting.
For example, you are unlikely to find a Lola in medieval times or have a character called Nigel who was born in 2015. Nigel is in fact a name in danger of going extinct. Of course there has been a huge revival in recent years of older names being used for babies - Alfie, Archie, and Doris for example. These are all easy to check in the lists of most popular baby names by year. If you write fantasy books, you may want to choose unusual names for your characters or names that represent what they are. For example naming a werewolf Nuntis. Of course there are no hard and fast rules. You can just as easily call your werewolf Bob. Picking names can be a fun thing to do, but remember that not every name needs to be unique. Having a John or a Sarah is perfectly fine for a side character or person who only pops up once in the story. It makes more sense to have a mix of names, unless your story is set in an entirely different world. Baby name sites are a great place to look and there are lists on places like Pinterest. You also want to be aware of the names you choose to be sure they do not all sound the same and end up causing confusion for the reader. Jimmy and Johnny are very similar. As are Jan and Dan. So unless it is important to the story to have similar sounding names, avoid them. If you have siblings and opt for names that start with the same letter, make sure they are distinct - Prue, Piper and Phoebe come to mind. Names are important, but don't agonize of picking them. I do see people panicking because they can't find the perfect name. Choose a filler name for now and come back to it later. Never let anything stop you from writing that story. Happy writing! Happy New Year!
Can you believe its 2025? Crazy to think its been 25 years since the millennium. I feel old. What are your resolutions for the new year? I don't make any personal resolutions, but I do make resolutions regarding my writing. The key is to be realistic. Its very easy to make crazy goals when its January and you have the whole year ahead of you. But before you know it, months have passed and you are no closer to obtaining your goal. For me, I have so many books I want to get written. Too many in fact. Normally I would fill out my calendar leaving no room for time off. I had to stop doing that in the last year or so, due to chronic pain. It is not sustainable. So instead, I have five short stories for anthologies in 2025 and I am going to write 3 books this year. Of course, if it goes well, I will likely add more to that, but I will wait and see how I go. Writing is one of those jobs where it can take a long time to complete. It can get frustrating, but it is worth it when you hit publish on that book. Here is some advice for the year ahead. Always be realistic about your goals. Don't feel bad if you don't hit certain targets - life can get in the way and we all need rest. Celebrate the wins and reward yourself for you hard work. If you need help, don't be afraid to ask. Never lose your passion for writing. It is okay to step away from time to time, but always remember why you fell in love with writing in the first place. Good luck for 2025! Here are a few book recommendations to keep you entertained over Christmas.
Thanks for joining us for our Witch event. We will have brand new events for you in 2025! Winter Solstice/Yuletide Jar Spell Introduction: The Winter Solstice, also known as Yuletide, is a winter celebration with Neolithic and Germanic origins. It’s held on the shortest day of the year with both the least amount of daylight and the longest night. Since Yule is a celebration of the sun, rebirth, and renewal, candlelight and fire are featured in many rituals. One way to welcome in the season is by creating a jar spell to help celebrate and also set your intentions for the coming year. The ingredients and steps listed below are general guidelines to create the jar spell. However, you are welcome and encouraged to modify them in any way to make the spell hold more meaning to you. When in doubt, do what speaks to you. Ingredients:
Preparing Your Space & Spell Circle
Ending the Ritual
Erin Casey (she/her) is an urban fantasy writer and author of The Purple Door District series. The first completed trilogy follows the stories of parahumans (werebirds, vampires, werewolves, fae, witches, magi, etc.) living in safe havens called Purple Door Districts.
An advocate for mental health, she openly talks about her struggles with depression/anxiety/ADHD/CPTSD/eating disorder on her social media platforms and supports the LGBTQIA+ community. She firmly believes in supporting fellow authors be it through offering writing lessons, literary tips on social media, or providing encouragement to those seeking to find their creative voice. And, of course, she’s a devoted bird mom to six feathered kids. To learn more about her and her books, visit erincasey.org. I was a huge fan of witches as a child. One of my favorite movies growing up was The Craft. I started reading up about witchcraft and I loved learning about the different types of herbs, crystals and spells. One of my favorite elements of witch stories was that of familiars. My first series features a witch called Tempest Knox who has a black cat as her familiar. She is shocked to learn that he is actually a witch who was cursed to become a cat by one of her ancestors. It was great fun writing those characters. Familiars are said to be animal companions to witches. They were supposed to guard or help a witch. While they looked like animals - cats, birds, frogs etc, - they were said to be spirits or demons who worked alongside witches. Nowadays we know that witches work with nature and many witches choose to take care of animals of all varieties. My favorite animal is obviously a cat! I have had a few cats over the years and they all had very different personalities. In an upcoming book, I plan on writing about a different kind of familiar - a fox. There are so many cool idea that can be incorporated into stories and I think it helps to connect with readers if they are animal lovers too. If you would like to find your animal familiar, then try this spell courtesy of Wicca Academy. Summoning a FamiliarSummon Familiar SpellIf you do not have a physical familiar and are interested in summoning one, you may try this spell. You will need: A dream journal A photo or figurine of an animal that embodies your characteristics An amethyst or azurite crystal Instructions:
https://wiccaacademy.com/get-to-know-your-familiar/ About the Author
Kat Gracey writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels featuring her two favorite supernatural beings - witches and werewolves. She currently resides in the UK, where she enjoys yoga and catching up on her favorite shows. You can learn more about her books via her website: www.witchesandwerewolves.co.uk Potions & Margaritas is set in a magic bar although Cal, the bartender, doesn't know it at the beginning of the story. And as the bartender, Cal needs a signature drink. I chose lavender margarita which is nicknamed "Midnight Moon" because it had spooky feels that were suitable for a magical bar, but also the aspirations of being liked by thousands. With her magic powers, Cal creates it in such a way that will sooth any temper as all her drinks. If you're ever near Eclipse, give it a try. On the house! https://www.thepurplepumpkinblog.co.uk/lavender-margarita-purple-cocktail-for-halloween You can find Maria's book here -books2read.com/margaritas Ancestor and Deity Offerings Made Easy Not that long ago, I found everything about offerings really confusing. It wasn’t so much what to offer—that seemed easy enough—but how long to leave offerings for and how to dispose of them once their time is up. Naturally, the information I found online was contradictory with different people saying different things. How are you supposed to figure out the right way to make offerings when everyone tells you something else? Well, fortunately for you, here’s yet another post weighing in on the subject… though hopefully this one will clarify things rather than raise more questions. What are offerings? If you’re only familiar with offerings in a church context, where a collection goes around and everyone offers money, don’t worry—deities and ancestors generally don’t care about cash, though exceptions exist. If you’re more comfortable offering a few coins every day/week/month, you can do that, but please don’t feel you have to (especially if money is tight). To put it simply, you might make an offering to a deity, an ancestor, or another spirit in exchange for a favour. They give you the strength to get through a difficult situation, you share a slice of your favourite cake in return. It’s really no different to when a friend does you a favour and you want to do something nice for them to show your gratitude! You might also compare it to having a job: you work all day and in return, you’re paid. In a way, offerings are a simple exchange. Having said that, I much prefer to think of them as an exchange between friends, or something you do because you want to without expecting anything in return. It’s okay to make an offering just to make an offering. In fact, I recommend this. We’ve all known someone who only talked to us when they wanted something, and it probably didn’t make any of us feel very valued. I’ll be the first to admit that I probably lack reverence, but my personal take is that, if you see deity or ancestor work more like a friendship than worship, you’re off to a good start. Think of offerings as presents. Just as you might give a little gift to a friend to show that you’re thinking of them and appreciate them being in your life, you can make offerings to deities or ancestors (and whatever else feels right to you - if you want to make an offering to Nature in a more general sense, don’t let anyone stop you). That’s really all they are: gifts to show you care. Offerings don’t need to be expensive, but it’s always good practice to not gift something the recipient hates. If your best friend’s birthday is coming up and you know they’re allergic to flowers, you’re not going to gift them a bouquet. If you’re unsure what the recipient likes, you can’t go wrong going with your instinct. As with all gifts, it’s the thought that counts as long as you mean well. In most cases, you can also do some research to figure it out, but more on that below. Naturally, you will never find your offerings have disappeared overnight because an ancestor or deity has spirited it away while you slept. Think of them instead of spiritual offerings. The recipient enjoys the essence of your offering. If you leave your ancestor’s favourite fruit on their grave and it’s gone the next day, it’s because a wild animal has sniffed it out and eaten it (with gratitude, I’m sure). Your ancestor probably won’t be angry about this unless they really hated wild animals, and it saves you the question of when and how to remove the offering, too, so it’s not a problem. Who are offerings for? Usually (read: in my experience), when witches speak about making offerings, we make them to our deities or our ancestors. However, not all witches work with deities or honour their ancestors, so if that’s not for you, don’t worry. Maybe you’ve always felt drawn to bodies of water and want to show your love to a nearby river or lake? That’s fine. Perhaps you’ve always considered nature to be your happy place and want to leave an offering to all of nature in a general sense? No problem. Maybe you’d like to work with this ancestor or that deity, but you don’t know how to begin? An offering is a lovely start. (It’s also more polite to not start that kind of relationship by saying, ‘Hello, I know we’ve never talked but I need a favour now.’) Just like offerings can be a nice way to start working with any type of spirit, they can be a nice way to end a relationship. Whatever your reason may be for no longer wanting to work with a deity or an ancestor, making one last offering and showing your gratitude for your time spent together ends it respectfully. Imagine working with someone for however long, and then one day they just disappear on you! No one likes that kind of uncertainty. Nicer to let them know what’s happening and why. What to offer But WHAT do you offer? Does it have to be valuable, like money? Does it have to be incense? Well, that’s entirely up to you. Making an offering to an ancestor can be the easier place to start, especially if you knew that person when they were alive. For example, if your ancestor loved a glass of whiskey every Friday night, you can offer them a glass of whiskey every Friday night. If your ancestor loved roses, you could offer them freshly cut roses, petals, or even a spray of rose perfume—and it doesn’t matter if they’re shop-bought or home-grown. It doesn’t have to be anything physical, either. If your ancestor loved a particular piece of music, for example, you could play them that song. Personally, I love making tea for my friends when they come to visit, so my go-to first offering is a cup of tea. For me, it’s easier to get to know someone over a shared cuppa (provided they aren’t a complete stranger and I actually want to get to know them)! Making an offering to a deity doesn’t have to be difficult, either. You’ve likely got your reasons for wanting to work with that particular deity, so making a related offering is a great start. If you want to make an offering to a particular deity or an entire pantheon but don’t know where to start, there’s plenty of information online and in books. It’s good practice to research the person/people you’d like to work with at least a little. You can get creative, too! For example, if you’re thinking about working with a deity related to animals, perhaps you can adopt that animal in their name, volunteer at a shelter, or, if you already have that pet in your life, you could offer their shed fur. How to leave your offering This also depends on your preference. Some people have an altar where they can leave their offerings - this works whether you’re working with a deity or an ancestor. Leaving an offering to an ancestor on their grave is also a great option; however, when you’re leaving anything in nature, always make sure it’s biodegradable and not harmful to any animals who might be around. If you can’t have an altar (or just can’t be bothered - I don’t judge), there’s nothing wrong with subtlety. You can light a candle for a deity, and if someone asks you why you’re burning that candle, you can just say it’s because you like it. (Don’t leave burning candles unattended; that’s a fire risk.) Most people won’t question something as common as this, however. I assure you no deity is going to be offended if you do what you can - as I said above, it’s the thought that counts. An honest offering is always better than one you don’t really care about. (Think gifting a friend something small you put a lot of thought into compared to giving them the first socks you found because you had to give them something.) When is the offering… done? This and the adjacent question of ‘… and what do you do with it?’ were my biggest hangups. Using a cup of tea as an offering sounds easy enough, but how long do you leave it out for? An hour? Until you’ve finished your own? Until it’s gone off? And once the offering has served its purpose, what do you do with it? Throw it out? Drink the tea yourself? These questions are also where I found the bulk of the conflicting information. Some will tell you that you can safely throw the remains in the bin, others that this is the most disrespectful way to dispose of an offering. Some will say you must bury offerings, but what if your offering isn’t perishable? Crickets. Some will tell you it’s best to consume the offering yourself, others that you must never do this because it was meant for someone else, not for you. There are different schools of thought on this, and the best answer - like so often - is to do what feels right to you. If you’re not comfortable consuming an offering once it’s done its thing, you can throw it out or maybe bury it if it’s biodegradable. If you have a compost bin or heap, that’s an option (but do your research - not all food is fine to go in the compost). If you feel that the offering is now done and exhausted, you can throw it out. Another option is to consume the offering yourself, the thinking being that it is infused with the deity’s or ancestor’s energy, so by consuming it yourself you’re taking some of that energy into yourself. This is what I do, too. I hate wasting food or drink, and I’m not about to wash a perfectly good (if now cold) cup of tea down the drain. When you’re leaving food, you don’t want it to go off (would you be thrilled to receive rotting food?), so leaving it for a day or even just an hour is perfectly fine. It’s common in some traditions to invite your ancestors or deities to dinner, so cleaning up their plate when you clean up yours makes perfect sense. The important thing is that you do whatever you decide with respect. You can likely find out what the commonly done thing was for the deity or pantheon you want to follow. It’s fine to adopt the original tradition into your practice, and I would argue that it’s another way of being respectful. How long to leave the offering for in the first place depends. You can simply leave smaller candles and incense until they’re burnt out. Larger candles you can snuff out and light again another time, and scented candles can be a great way to share a scent you love with your ancestor or your deity - especially if you know your ancestor loved the same scent! Whatever you decide, you can always thank the offering for its now-ended service when you remove it. That way, you remove it on a physical as well as on a spiritual level. If you make an offering and know you can’t leave it for long, you can clarify this when you leave it. Don’t overthink it As with everything, be honest in your approach, be yourself, be genuine, and I’m sure your ancestor or deity will appreciate no matter what you do. *** To learn more about Sarina and her books, visit her website at sarinalanger.com. About the Author
Sarina Langer is a dark fantasy author of both epic and urban paranormal novels from the delightfully cloudy South of England. She is as obsessed with books and stationery now as she was as a child, when she drowned her box of colour pencils in water so they wouldn’t die and scribbled her first stories on corridor walls. (‘A first sign of things to come’, according to her mother. ‘Normal toddler behaviour’, according to Sarina.) In her free time, she has a weakness for books, pretty words, and spends what’s probably too much time playing video games. She believes that the best books are those where every ray of light casts a shadow |
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About the Author:S. K. Gregory is an author, editor and blogger. She currently resides in Northern Ireland. “Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.” Archives
December 2024
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