Seasons of Magic Interviews - W.M. Dawson

1) What Wiccan Sabbat are you writing about, and why were you drawn to it?

I am writing for Beltane and Lammas. I really enjoy the idea of Beltane being the opposite of Samhain, the clearing of energy in the spring heading into summer. A thinning of the veil, beautiful bonfires, and a fresh start for the early part of the year. Also, many benefits of fertility from a fresh start. I love the thoughts that go with that, and it was fun to come up with a story that brought together a lot of those concepts. Lammas is a very different holiday. It is known for baking and for starting the harvest festivals, a much quieter holiday between several more well-known holidays, and I had ideas for a darker story about someone going through changes that Lammas could represent. So both stories are very different with each Sabbat.


2) Tell us about your story.

My Beltane story is more lighthearted and fun: a witch who doesn’t seem to be able to do much right, from a perfect family that just wants the love others have, and who casts a spell on Beltane to find her true love. She finds her love, a normal fellow who certainly doesn’t believe in magic, and is pulled into the magical world with her challenges. He changes, and she grows in the story, finding love and change. I had a lot of fun bringing them together in “Magical Matchmaking.”
My Lammas story is about a woman running from her past, finding magic to help her move on from a challenging past, and learning about regrowth and change from one life to another during Lammas. She is reflecting on her life and what it means to become a new person. Lammas helps her during this time of great change, which is important during Lammas to help her reflect, and she has new abundance to draw from others.


3) Did you learn anything interesting while researching your story?

I enjoyed learning more about Lammas and the different ways to celebrate, beyond just baking a loaf of bread, and what other symbolism could be happening during the holiday, since I didn’t know all the meaning behind Lammas. There is a lot more than just baking; there is more about community, which helped me build the story to help my main character grow and learn to lean on others during her growth, which is important during most Sabbats.

4) If you could cast a spell (and hopefully it didn’t go wrong!), what spell would you cast?

Helping the community grow and release what they are holding on to during Lammas now. I didn’t know that was part of what Lammas was. I know about having more abundance for the winter, but allowing people to release their anxieties and help them move on with fewer issues would be awesome. I would love to help people with that. Help a whole community, especially right now, be less full of anxiety and stress, totally want that. 

5) What are you working on next?

I am working on several novels that will be published this year. I am a busy writer, but I love it so much and thank everyone for reading and supporting!

W.M. Dawson lives with her husband and tailless cats, who all think they run the house. Now that she is writing full-time, her fiction runs the gamut of horror, fantasy, urban fantasy, and romance, whatever comes to mind in her overcaffeinated brain. Raised in the southwestern part of America, she hides from the desert sun in the writing cave, avoiding being set ablaze as a redhead. She also writes under Wendy Cheairs and Sage Knight.
Social Links: https://linktr.ee/wcheairs​