Book Spotlights

TWPT:  Tell me a little about yourself and how it is that you came to the path that you’re on now? JM:  When I was in elementary school I was the strange kid in the corner obsessed with the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. Right next to those books in the library were books on vampires, werewolves, demons, and Witchcraft!  I knew who Alex Sanders was by the time I was in the fourth grade!  In the summer between my seventh and eighth grade years I checked out a copy of Sybil Leek's "Cast Your Own Spell" from my local library.  I didn't read all of it, but on the day my books were due back in the library I had misplaced one.  Sensing my father getting upset, I used one of the spells in the back of "Cast Your Own Spell" to find the book I was missing.  Much to my surprise the spell worked, which ended up scaring me instead of inspiring me to practice the Craft!  When I was 21 I picked up a copy of "Celtic Magic" by DJ Conway and within three days I was praying to the Great Goddess and building a Wiccan-Witchcraft practice. "Celtic Magic" is not a great book, but it does lay out the basics of Wicca and that captivated me. From there I just wanted to learn as much as I could about Witchcraft and Paganism!  I've been doing that ever since.    I've dabbled with other Pagan paths before, but Wicca has always felt like home. I like the ritual structure and the freedom it gives me to work with whatever deities call to me.  It's effective when I do things on my lonesome, and works particularly well with small groups. I loved it then and I love it now.  TWPT:  Was writing something that you felt drawn to as well? JM:  When I was 18 I wanted to write fantasy novels, so I guess I've always wanted to write. English and history classes are the only thing I've ever excelled at in school, and my books use both of those disciplines, so maybe ending up as a writer was inevitable.   The only downside to writing is that I don't really like doing it. I love presenting workshops and I love researching stuff, and I love the writing process when it's over, but I don't look forward to sitting in front of my computer and putting together a 120,000 word book.  (And my last two books have been that long! That's like two books for the price of one!)  Click here to read the rest of the interview.

Living Spirits explores the various types of spirits which exist in Western Magic and how they can be approached in a world alive with their presence and power. Living Spirits invites readers to jump off the sidelines and reach deep into the rich soil of a magical world and explore its power and mysteries so as to apply them for the purposes of real and effective magic. The book explores the traditions of the grimoires but goes beyond that and explores spirit magic in a broader current based on building relationships with spirits. TWPT:  How about we start off with an introduction of yourself for the readers of TWPT as to how you define your current path you are on, whether you view it as a magical path or a spiritual path or little bit of both and how it was that you discovered it or how it made itself known to you.  BJS:  I suppose I foremost consider myself a magician. In some regard I would say this answer describes me almost occupationally, magic is the skill set and knowledge system to which I have devoted my time. That said it has also been a part of my life since the start so it’s something I think of as intrinsic to my experience as well. While I don’t think of magic as religion or as spirituality per se they overlap and relate to one another and all are both informed by as well as informants of one’s philosophy and worldview. They all kind of interweave together as far as an outlook or path, or more a structure for being. In that sense I am fairly ecumenical. I am a Gnostic Catholic Priest and a Thelemite, but I also am very tied to traditional Catholicism. I hold Pagan beliefs and am very influenced by Neo-Platonism. Practically speaking my approach to magic is informed and influenced by these things, but my practice of magic is its own thing, itself drawing on many disciplines, and my experience of magic and the mystical helps build my pluralistic experience of religion and spirituality.   Click here to read the rest of the interview.

Living Spirits

TWPT:  Tarot decks are all very interesting these days, quite beautifully illustrated and cover a large variety of subjects but what is the initial impulse in your case that started the ball rolling? DB:  I actually got an email from Barbara Moore at Llewellyn, asking me if I wanted to do the deck! (This hardly ever happens.) I had just done a book called The Witch’s Broom with a cool retro cat/broom/black hat cover, and they’d gotten the idea to do a deck with that sort of theme. I was insanely busy working on both novels and another book for Llewellyn, but how could I say no? TWPT:  You have a series of books with the "everyday" theme so how does you new tarot deck tie in with the concept of your other "everyday" books that you have written so far? DB:  One of the reasons they asked me to come up with the theme for the tarot deck and write the accompanying book was because they liked my general approach, which is both practical and accessible. I know that many modern witches (me included) are busy and torn in many directions, and I try to help them find ways to “walk their talk” as witches and Pagans every day, even if it is only for five minutes at a time. The deck was based on this same concept—I wanted it to be easy to use and understand, and fun, too, even when it was being used for serious matters.   For the rest of this talk click here.

Everyday Witch Tarot

TWPT:  It has been many moons since we last spoke here on TWPT and the last time was about your artwork. I think you were working on a tarot deck back then called The Well Worn Path but you've had another one since then in 2014 called The Mystical Cats Tarot.  How has the Mystical Cats tarot deck been received by your fans?  MM:  It’s been ages, so happy to chat with you again! The Mystical Cats Tarot was a really great project to work on, it was a subject near and dear to my heart. My partner on the project author Lunaea Weatherstone had so many great ideas and marvelous insight into the cat world; it was a joy to create this deck with her. We endeavored to create a tarot journey told by cats that were just being cats while treating these feline spirits with humor, love, and respect. We’ve been delighted with the responses! People seem to really relate to this deck and the cats that live in our mystical world. Many people find cats in the deck that remind them of their own cats. We’ve also had a great number of people that find it works well for them when they do readings.  Every time we turn around these cats bring another blessing, we were nominated for a COVR award at INATS, and have been delighted to see the deck produced in several languages too including Czech, Chinese, and French!   TWPT:  Meanwhile you have decided to try your hand at something new...writing a book. What was it that prompted you to consider writing a book? Was it something that you had been considering doing for a while?  MM:  I actually have wanted to write a book for quite some time. I’ve been writing articles for Llewellyn’s periodicals since 2007 and then I wrote the book that accompanied my Celtic oracle deck Voice of the Trees, so it just seemed like a natural progression to write a standalone book.  When I finished the art for Mystical Cats Tarot I started exploring some ideas for books I had been bouncing around and actually began working on a couple proposals.   Before I really got started on the ideas I had left on the back-burner, there was a call for authors who were interested in submitting a proposal for a book about witch’s mirrors to Llewellyn! I sent the acquisitions editor an impassioned email about all the ways I had worked with mirrors in my practice. She explained that it was part of Llewellyn’s Witch’s Tools series, the first of which was Deborah Blake’s The Witch’s Broom which I had also illustrated. I was delighted when they accepted my proposal for authoring The Witch’s Mirror and I got the contract to write my first book that wasn’t associated with a deck!   For the rest of this talk click here.

The Witch's Mirror

TWPT:  Did you choose which of the holidays that you were going to write about for this Llewellyn series? If so what was it that prompted you to choose Samhain?  DR:  Each of the authors pitched for the holidays they wanted to write - and of course, I think all of us put in a bid for Samhain! The reason I think I got it is because I had explicitly asked for Mabon, because I see Mabon and Samhain as intrinsically connected. Mabon at its emotional core is about sacrifice for the greater good; Samhain is about experiencing loss, facing our fear of the unknown, and the liminal spaces that spirit creates so we can peer into what goes on beyond the veil.   TWPT:  Tell me about the purpose of this series of books and what they hope to accomplish by covering the holidays individually with a book dedicated to each one.   DR:  That you might better ask Llewellyn editor Elysia Gallo since it was her project, one she advocated for a few years. Llewellyn renews a few of its book series every so many years, and the Sabbats are one of the topics that they cycle through as Paganism grows and changes.  It's my understanding that she wanted some fresh perspectives on these often rehashed subjects. For instance, unlike a lot of writers on Pagan topics, I do not identify as in any way Celtic nor do I identify as Scandinavian. I was happy for a chance to sneak in some bits about Slavic ancestry that is still relevant to Samhain, and a bit about days of the dead celebrated outside of a European context.  As to a book dedicated to each one - again, that is a better question to ask the editor. I know part of it was because the books are small and easy "hand sales" in bookstores - they prop up by the register nicely, they are easy to fit in a handbag if you want to read about that holiday discretely and you don't have an e-reader, and they have pretty covers.  Despite the lightweight appearance of each book, the history and lore sections are all rather dense - that might make a tough read all packed into one volume.  For the rest of this talk click here.

Samhain: Rituals, Recipes & Lore for Halloween

TWPT:  How long have you been tarot reader and what was it that motivated you to get involved with it?  BM:  I’ve been studying the cards for over twenty years. I discovered them when I was in college. My degree, history, was designed to be interdisciplinary (which was in vogue at the time; I have no idea if it still is), so I had equal emphasis on art, science, literature, philosophy, etc. and how those areas affected and shaped each other throughout time. I also was part of the crowd who thought they discovered chaos theory and the Mandelbrot Set along with Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, so I was into psychology and mythology, too. All these disciplines, and particularly my focus on Medieval/Renaissance (I also focused on England during the IndustrialRevolution, an influence that shows up later in my tarot career!) studies, madetarot a perfect way to combine all my loves.  At the time, the Internet was in use but not a lot. Even email was still in its fledgling stages. As a person who learns best by reading, I went to the local bookstore and bought every book I could find on the subject and read them. And I kept reading. For a while, my sister and a friend of mine played with the cards a lot together. Just explored and enjoyed ourselves and tarot.  I started reading right away because I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Then I started realizing how much there was to learn, so I froze a bit and quit reading for a while. Luckily I met others and found out about classes and conferences. After sharing and learning and reading for others, my confidence returned.  For the rest of this talk click here.

Steampunk Tarot by Barbara Moore, illustrated by Aly Fell

TWPT:  Most books have their start as a flash of inspiration or as a way to fill a gap where other books don’t quite go. Tell me about what it was that motivated you to begin work on your latest book Pagan Every Day.  BA:  The direct inspiration was a phone call from the publisher. "I like the way you write," she said. "Would you write a book for us? Call it 365 Pagan and put lots of goddesses in it?" I said yes, got in touch with my agent to negotiate a decent contract, and set to work. You'll notice, of course, that they changed the title--it's now Pagan Every Day--but the book is indeed full of goddesses, plus movies and TV, history, feasts and festivals, saints, and whatever else sleeted through my mind during the six months it took me to write the book.  TWPT:  Seeing as how there are quite a number of day books or daily inspiration titles out there what can a pagan reader learn from Pagan Every Day that they could not find in other books?  BA:  This is not your regular goddess-a-day book and it doesn't supply regular sabbat rituals or crafts for newbies. It's not Wicca 101.  Because I think it's useful for people to think about what they think and examine what they believe, I explore a few of our foundational myths and relate pagan ideas to history and culture. I try to give the real story--differences, for example, between the Greek and Roman pantheons--and show that what one religion sees as mythology another will see as history.  I also acknowledge authors and priestesses and zines and web sites and temples that have helped create our neopagan world. For the rest of this talk click here.

Pagan Every Day

TWPT:  Your latest book which just came out this month (July 2010) is called Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook. With the name being very similar to your other book  I’m going to guess that this is related in some way. Tell me about how your new book relates to your other book with the similar name?   DB:  They are companion books, in that they both have the same general fun style and approach, and are both co-written by my black cat, Magic. But you don’t have to have read the first one to use the second. The original A to Z is sort of like a general guide, whereas the Spellbook is, well, a spellbook.  TWPT:  I noticed in the promotional literature that I received the words “thoroughly modern Witch” appears. Could you tell me what the term “modern” means in this context and what it is that makes a Witch “modern” these days?  DB:  That’s a phrase that Llewellyn came up with, I think. After all, any Witches living today kind of have to be considered “modern,” eh? But what they’re talking about is the modern practice of Witchcraft, as opposed to practices that might be more oriented around older rituals and approaches.[Obviously, both approaches are perfectly legitimate—it is just a matter of which one works best for you.] I consider myself to be a modern eclectic Witch, in that I take a little bit of everything that works and resonates with me, and I integrate it into my own personal practice.  For the rest of this talk click here.

Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook by Deborah Blake

Arin Murphy-Hiscock

TWPT:  Wow it has been 4 years since we last spoke, which was when you did the author interview for TWPT back in 2006. How have you been since then? Anything exciting happening in your life? Or even mildly interesting? :)   AMH:  I’ve had to take it pretty easy, actually. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia three years ago, so I’ve been trying to reassess how I live my life. It’s hard to apportion energy appropriately when you’re never entirely sure of how much you’ll have to work with. I’m fortunate in that I work out of my home, so I can control my own schedule. I’ve had to dial down my activity and figure out coping strategies just to stay healthy.  Apart from that, I wrote two more books, one of which has been released (The Way of the Hedge Witch) and one which has not to date (Pagan Pregnancy: A Journey from Maiden to Mother; it’s currently waiting for a more positive economic climate for release), and edited an anthology of first-hand stories about revealing one’s pagan spirituality to family and friends. So I’ve kept busy since we talked in 2006! For the rest of this talk click here.

The Way of the HedgeWitch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock

Maxine Sanders

TWPT:   With the upcoming publication of Fire Child readers will finally get to hear your perspective on your life with Alex Sanders and your life since those times. What was it that motivated you to finally sit down and write this account of your life? MS:  America.  Last year I met American witches from different traditions of modern Craft who asked good questions and were not afraid to ask the sensitive ones.  They made me see the impact Alex and I have had on the Craft. They had the right to ask and I felt obliged to answer. Writing 'Fire Child’ was the perfect opportunity. TWPT:  When you began work on Fire Child did you have in mind how you wanted to organize the story of your life and present it to your readers? Were you able to stick to this plan as you started to put thoughts to paper? MS:  It was in 1994 that I first thought of writing the autobiography. Emotional turmoil and soul misery were the inspiration. When it was finished, the manuscript was put aside and practically forgotten. Several years later, I read it and found it badly written, self indulgent and absolute rubbish. For the rest of this talk click here.

Fire Child by Maxine Sanders

Margot Adler

TWPT:  Drawing Down the Moon was first published in 1979 and that means it has been in print for the last 27 years.  When you were writing this book did you ever think that it would strike the chord that it did in the hearts and minds of all those who have read it during the last 27?  MA:  I had no idea the book would have such an impact! In fact, it is an amazing thing to have a book that has a whole movement behind it. I know this well, because my other book, “Heretic’s Heart,” which is a 1960’s memoir sells a few copies a year – and you would think the 1960’s would be of interest to people…but Drawing Down the Moon is in a whole different category, precisely because it is a book about our movement, and our movement has grown exponentially over the last 15 years, and it still remains the only real history of our movement. Hutton’s book is clearly the history of the movement inBritain, and in some ways goes much deeper, but as for theUSA, DDTM remains unique. For the rest of this talk click here.

Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler

Foundations of Magic by J.F. O'Neill

TWPT:  For those out there who may not be familiar with you as an author could you give us a capsule view of who you are in terms of where you are currently on your magical path and how it was that you began your study of magic in the first place.   JO:  I am what in many traditions of the magical arts is called a solitary. I practice alone and, except when teaching in a seminar or workshop, I pretty much keep to myself with regards to magic. This works best for me as it has worked best for a handful of practiced neurotics throughout the ages. (I don‘t use neurotic derogatorily by the way. A well-chosen neuroses or two can add seasoning to one’s life. Just choose well.) My interest in magic has been there since I was young, but I put off pursuing it in any serious way for years. Then a decade or two ago I picked up a particular book on the subject, read it and was hooked. (I don’t wish to mention the book -  each important book has to find it‘s own readers ) At the time I was between life philosophies and so I dug in. I really immersed myself as I’m want to do when I’m truly interested in something. Needless to say, all these years later I’ve found it a valuable tool in life as well as a general door-opener. Or to be more precise, a great door locator. Most of us will open a door if it’s right there in front of us, but we don’t even know to try if we don’t know it exists. Magic made a lot more doors visible to me. For the rest of this talk click here.

The Foundations of Magic by J.F. O'Neill

Kristen Madden

TWPT:  When last we spoke it was during your appearance in the Author’s Corner interview when your book Shamanic Healing was coming out which was way back in 2003. Would you be so kind as to bring our readers up to date with what’s been happening with you since last we spoke and what is it that has been keeping you busy these last couple of years. KM:  Actually, that book came out in 2002.  Since then it has been picked up by book clubs in theUS and theUK and has been translated into Danish for distribution inDenmark.   Oh my goodness, what's been keeping me busy?!  Well, other than loads of writing and teaching, I've been homeschooling, training raptors, rehabilitating mostly raptors, roadrunners, and hummingbirds, and caring for my mother, who has been incapacitated since last December.  I'm still the Dean of the Ardantane School of Shamanic Studies and a member of the faculty council for Ardantane.  I'm still a tutor for the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids.  I've been doing a great deal of traveling, though I try to keep it down to less than 4 months per year for my family and menagerie. For the rest of this talk click here.

Exploring the Pagan Path edited by Kristen Madden

Shelley TSivia Rabinovitch

TWPT:  For those of our readers who may not be familiar with you or your writings could you give us some background on yourself and how you came to write Pagan books? SR:  My first awareness of "pagans" was while my family was living in Arizona. In 1971 I had a Wiccan and a neo-Satanist in my creative writing class, and boy, was I ever confused!   "A witch and a satanist...what sort of weird city have we MOVED TO?" thought I! That's where I came in contact with my first coven - a sort of Gardnerian/Alexandrian mix, which met in a local park.  I studied with them for about a year but didn't ask for initiation at that time.  Like many others, I went on a search for a spirituality which fit me personally, since I was having more and more problems with the religion of my ancestors (Judaism). When I was 16, I had a death experience which profoundly changed my world. Without going into too many specifics, I can attest to the fact that the Presence which was waiting for me on the other side was FEMALE, and not the God of my ancestors.  I'd have to say that's when my Path shifted away from the monotheism of Judaism. For the rest of this talk click here.

An Ye Harm None by Shelley TSivia Rabinovitch and Meredith Macdonald

T. Thorn Coyle

TWPT:  Hello Thorn and welcome to TWPT's book spotlight. We are going to be talking to you about your new book Evolutionary Witchcraft which was released last week but could you give our readers a little history of your journey along the Witchcraft path and what initially attracted you to it. T. Coyle:  Hello. I first discovered Witchcraft when I was 13. Some friends had a kooky book, but we couldn’t figure out how to find a temple who’s floor we could whitewash before painting a nine foot pentagram on it! Then I got scared off for a few years, finally starting to study at age 16. Like most Pagans, it felt like “coming home.” The idea of animism and immanent deity was what I found most attractive. Goddess In All Things made more sense to me than God Out There. Plus, a religion that honored the body, sexuality and multiplicity was very appealing. I quickly discovered ways into my own strength, which I needed badly. TWPT:  What was it that inspired you to begin work on the project that became your latest book Evolutionary Witchcraft?   T. Coyle:  First of all, the work in the Anderson Feri Tradition has been of such help to me, personally, that I wanted to pass it along. So I teach a great deal, traveling throughout the country with occasional forays abroad.  I saw the effect this work had on my students and I started getting more and more letters from people seeking the same. I’ve always been a writer, and it made sense to address this hunger by writing some of what I teach down in one place. Hence the book. For the rest of this talk click here.

Evolutionary Witchcraft  by T. Thorn Coyle

Ciro Marchetti

TWPT:  Would you please tell us a little bit about yourself ?  CM:  I was born in Italy, brought up from a very early age in the UK, and in my late twenties I moved to South America. From there onto the US where I have been based since 1992. I am a professional graphic designer with my own company here in Miami, Florida, offering a full range of marketing related services to a number of multinational corporate clients. Quite removed from the worlds I deal with in my own personal illustration work. TWPT:  How does a "Photoshop Guru" get into designing a Tarot Deck?  CM:  My experience with digital media is a obvious consequence of the corporate design work I do. Applying the same tools to the style of my personal illustration work was a logical evolution but one that evolved over many years as the learning curve is steep, and involves technical as well as artistic input. What started as a personal pastime when time in between client obligations and deadlines allowed, has over recent years enjoyed some recognition both from my peers in the form of various Adobe Photoshop Guru and other awards, design magazines etc, but also with the general public via my web site and sale of fine art prints. I occasional teach or give lectures on digital imagery and illustration at the Art Institute. As if I wasn't busy enough, my wife talked me into submitting my work for various Art festivals in South Florida where I will now be participating.  For the rest of this talk click here.

The Gilded Tarot  by Ciro Marchetti

Ashleen O'Gaea

TWPT:  Your new book is called Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Samhain to Ostara, let's start with an obvious question what motivated you to write a book about the seasons instead of some other topic? AO:  The publisher invited me to write this book -- these books, really, 'cause there are two of them; and I was pleased to accept. TWPT:  Tell me about your approach to the material that makes it different than some of the other books that have been published about Wiccan/Pagan celebrations. AO:  Well, of course I like to think my style is unique ... but apart from that, and this addresses your next question, too, one difference is that this set of books takes the old perspective on the year, dividing it into two halves, Winter and Summer.  Beyond that, rather than focusing exclusively on old lore or trying to talk about a wide variety of Pagan celebrations, these focus on modern interpretations of the Sabbats' significance, and on Anglo-Celtic celebrations.  These are also the first books, as far as I know, to talk about Druidry and Asatru and their relationship to Wicca and their perspectives on Wicca's Wheel of the Year.   For the rest of this talk click here.

Celebrating the Seasons of Life  by Ashleen O'Gaea

TWPT:  How long have the two of you known each other and what was the impetus to write together?   LN:  We've known each other for....what is it, 4 years now? It seems like longer! We met in the aftermath of a Long Beach WomanSpirit Samhain ritual.  Also I had put out a flyer for a Goddess 2000 event I'd planned in our home town. Dee rung me up and we were soon cohorts in crime.  Not so coincidentally, I had asked during the ritual for some new and interesting friends to manifest in my life. The impetus for writing this book for me was having a writer for a friend who made me do it! LOL! A year after our initial meeting, Denise and I were sitting together sipping martinis at a Long Beach Vampire/Goth event....again close to Samhain. And I innocently suggested how cool it would be to have a book about the archetypes we were into, mostly the 'darker' sort. Dee took me at my martini influenced words and "The Dark Archetype" was conceived.  DD:    Ask Lori and she’ll say it’s all my fault. I say it’s all HER fault for putting out that flyer announcing a Goddess 2000 event in Redondo Beach. I was astonished; an event that close to home? Anyway, I participated in her sand-goddess building ritual and she was Art Director of our first collaboration, which was the poetry and art anthology, Isis Rising: The Goddess in the Year 2000 which we edited together for the Temple of Isis Los Angeles. We later founded, along with Stephania Ebony, the Iseum of Isis Paedusis, an Isian study group headquartered here in the South Bay. And those were green apple martinis, by the way! For the rest of this talk click here.

The Dark Archetype  by Denise Dumars and Lori Nyx

TWPT:  Your new book is called the Wicca Herbal, give me a little background as to when the idea first occurred to you to write this book? JW:  About ten years ago I was practicing looking for my aura between my fingers (ala Celestine Prophecy) when I saw a green spark of light line my finger. This was immediately followed by the presence of a green leafy man standing behind me. I asked for his name, but did not get it until the next day when a friend told me about the Findhorn experience where the people honored, acknowledged and listened to the plant devas and Pan the spirit of vegetation. The herbs and flowers responded by growing extraordinarily. Pan, of course, was the presence I had sensed. I was at once intrigued by this connection to plants and herbs. In my research for the first book, The Wicca Cookbook, I found no herbal that detailed our connection with nature that satisfied this dirt worshiper. The Wicca Herbal filled a void that appealed and outlined our connection to Mother Earth: one that spoke to a true tree hugger's delight. For the rest of this talk click here.

The Wicca Herbal by Jamie Wood

TWPT:   Your latest book Full Contact Magick: A Book of Shadows for the Wiccan Warrior sounds just a little bit on the aggressive side, tell me about the title of this book and how it represents your approach to Wiccan practice. KC:  I wanted to capture people's attention with that title.  Once you start reading you discover that it isn't about being aggressive, though it is partially about being assertive.  There is an old adage in the martial arts:  Chi (energy) follows intent.  This could be used as a definition of magick, and that is where the idea for the title came from. I found that many people who attended the workshops that I did following the release of Wiccan Warrior didn't have the first idea how to raise energy and do magick even though many of them had been practicing Pagans for years.  There are too many "cook books" out there that reduce magick to simple formulas:  Light a candle, recite some bad poetry and snap your fingers.  Full Contact Magick takes you back to basic principles and teaches you how to raise and direct energy.  It shows you how to become more effective magickally and take charge of your life. For the rest of this talk click here.

Full Contact Magick by Kerr Cuhulain

TWPT:   You've just recently released your latest book called Perfect Trust. What's Rowan Gant up to in this latest book? MR:  I don't want to give too much away, of course, but those who have been following the series know that Rowan has been through some fairly rough times-- especially in Never Burn A Witch. He is, to say the least, not exactly stable. <Grin>. Because of this, when he ends up literally sleepwalking into another murder investigation, he's more that a bit rattled by it. In truth, he ends up questioning his own sanity. What I was really wanting to accomplish was to illustrate that Rowan is just a human being, and even though he is a practicing Witch, with some very practiced psychic abilities, he still stumbles and falls. If I didn't go this route, Rowan would have ended up being painted almost as a superhero, and I certainly don't want that impression running about. He's just an average guy with some above average abilities, that aren't necessarily within his control. I wanted to show that he has foibles, problems, and questions himself. From the reactions I've received, I think I might have gotten the point across. :-) For the rest of this talk click here.

Perfect Trust: A Rowan Gant Investigation by M. R. Sellars

TWPT:  What is it about Halloween or Samhain that attracts such attention in our society from  those who are outside of the Pagan belief system? Gerina:   Undeniably, Halloween/Samhain is a holiday unlike any other and I think non-Pagan society is attracted to it for various reasons. Children, of course, are fond of the costumes and candy that are a part of Halloween's trick-or-treat custom. Masquerading has always been a popular element of this holiday and I think many people, both young and old, enjoy the freedom that Halloween gives them to temporarily step outside of their mundane roles and routines and, through the "magic" of make-up and costumes, become someone or something else. By the same token, Halloween allows other individuals to shed the facades and masks that they wear daily and, for one night of the year, be who or what they really are or want to be. On a psychological level, this can be very liberating. For the rest of this talk click here.

The Pagan Book of Halloween by Gerina Dunwich

TWPT:  Tell me about the need that you saw for the material in this book when you sat down and began to outline and create the framework for The Craft. DM:  One of the key factors here had to do with the exorbitant amount of requests I’ve received for teaching – many of them from those in the age range of 11-17.  This presented several problems for me.  For one thing, my current deadlines and appearance schedule no longer allow the time necessary for developing solid student/teacher relationships.  For another, legal ramifications have always prevented me from teaching minors.  The information in The Craft –based on the lessons I taught to my neophytes many years ago – just seemed like the perfect solution to both.  :) TWPT:  Do you follow a set pattern when starting a book project or is each one completely different than the last? DM:  Each one is completely different.  So much so, in fact, that I nearly made a critical error early in my writing career.  While reading through the first200 pages of a working manuscript, I decided it was garbage and nearly deleted it from the hard drive.  Fortunately for me, I waited until the next day.  I discovered that the problem wasn’t in the message at all.  It was in the fact that I hadn’t written the chapters in the correct order.  And once I moved them around, everything changed. Good thing, too!  That particular book – In Praise of the Crone – went on to win the 2000 COVR award for Best Biographical Memoirs!  Chuckle! For the rest of this talk please click here.

The Craft: A Witch's Book of Shadows by Dorothy Morrison

TWPT:  Tell me about your introduction to Witchcraft. JK:  Some fifteen to twenty years ago, I was an angry young agnostic totally disillusioned with Christianity.  But agnosticism/atheism didn't work for me.  I sensed there was some marvelous power in the universe, so I began to seek for a new way to express the feelings of reverence and awe I had for life. During that time, I happened to read an newspaper interview with Laurie Cabot of Salem.  What she had to say about witchcraft totally intrigued me. So I went out and scoured the bookstores, searching for a book that described  the sort of witchcraft she'd talked about.  I found the wonderful Earth Magic  by Marion Weinstein.  So I began, as a solitary, to practice the religion I found described there.  TWPT:  Did it require any major revisions in the way you thought or was it something that was inherently familiar to you? JK:  No major revisions. It was incredibly freeing to begin think of God in feminine terms, to think that women were equal in power to men, and no less holy. For the rest of this talk please click here.

A Novel  The Burning Times by Jeanne Kalogridis

TWPT: Your latest book is entitled The Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft, where did the idea for this book come from?

RG: In part the idea for the encyclopedia was born out of frustration at having to use so many different sources while doing research on basic Wiccan/Witchcraft topics. I wondered why no one had put it all together in an encyclopedia, so I thought I would attempt the feat.

TWPT: Did it require some in-depth research on your part or was this more life experiences?

RG: Much of it seemed to be already in my head due to some 25 years of study and practice. However, I wanted to bring some historical and cultural material to support the entries and this did indeed require extensive research as a backup.

TWPT: Was the Encyclopedia written from any particular perspective as far as Trads or belief systems?

RG: I tried to reflect the "consensus" of opinions within the general Wiccan/Witchcraft community concerning the basic material. Naturally an author cannot help but to bring his or her own perspectives into play, but I did make a sincere attempt to be as unbias as possible. I'm not saying I succeeded, just that I tried very hard.

TWPT: Who is it that will benefit most from this Encyclopedia?

RG: This is the first enccylopedia, to the best of my knowledge, to present the Craft without a Judeo-Christian backdrop or filter. Instead it presents Wicca/Witchcraft as a religious and spiritual system. I purposely did not include what others encyclopedias on the topic do, namely demons, witch hunter bios, and all the stereotypes associated with the Judeo-Christian view of Wicca/Witchcraft. This encyclopedia is for modern Wiccans/Witches, written by one, and is also useful for anyone interested in the view of those who actually practice the Craft.

For the rest of this talk please click here.