What to read...

I didn't really know I was weird growing up.  I wanted to be either the witch or the prince in fairy tales.  I read The Hobbit when it arrived and I remember Franny Cohen showing me notes she'd written in runes.  I never got that far. I wanted to escape in barrels, too. I read adventure stories --The Three Musketeers, Robinson Crusoe, Robin Hood.  I don't know when I discovered Ursula Le Guin, but I immersed myself in her stories for a while.  That was when I knew what I was looking for, when I had discovered "what to read". 

The Lathe of Heaven was my confirmation that it was science fiction writers who would help me find the answers to what I was looking for.  I wanted to know more about magic and how to live in the world as a magician.  I had chosen that word to describe a collection of ideas and personal events that I had tried to define since I was a teen.  I had decided that if I had been born in another place or another time, I would have been put to work as some kind of seer.  I couldn't see anyting like that in the world we live in now.  I figured, and rightly, that those skills--the ones that would have been found probably in one or two people in a tribe--had been dispersed throughout the population.  Doctors, nurses, psychologists, ministers, sociologists... all of these and more would have been called shaman, healer, witch, seer.

So, what did I learn in The Lathe of Heaven that gave me a sense of anchoring in the modern world?  The main character, George Orr has "effective" dreams. His dreams change reality.  To keep this from happening, he self-medicates.  This was the first time I saw a glimmer of myself outside of my own head.  I didn't change reality, but my dreams were effective in other ways.

A critical piece of the novel was how Orr found help from inside his chaos.  The chaos came from his ability to remember both the pre- and post-dream worlds.  How do you learn to manage something this powerful and destructive?  With a little help from friends.  And where does one find such helpful friends?  It was the Beatles song itself that helped.  We call it an earworm now, that annoying and persistent presence of some snatch of song we pretend not to like.

From that little bit, I learned to pay attention to what I had learned as a kid was the "still, small voice".  Of course that was before boom boxes and iPods and such.  Heck, that was before rock and roll!

So, this rattling on is apropos what?   What do you read when you need to find your way along the edges of the world?  What do you read when you want to learn how to be different?  Who tells you stories that keep you company on dark soul nights? 

I was inspired to confess my own need for connection by a link to I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I Read?.   

So, what do you read to relieve your sense of being the weird one in the room? Where does your own queerness find companionship?

m

Magic & Music With Fantasy Author Emma Woodcock

We're so pleased to welcome fantasy author Emma Woodcock. Her novel, Darklands, is available now in both paperback and ebook versions.

A Kind of Magic

At fifteen I was 5'8'', all knees and elbows, with a big mane of dyed red hair and army boots half way up my calf. I had started to learn the cello only a couple of years earlier. I was 12th (last) cello in the county youth orchestra, sandwiched awkwardly between the double basses and a gaggle of tiny eight year old cellists all far more accomplished players than me.

Consequently I felt ever so slightly conspicuous as I guessed at tuning my instrument, struggled to find my place in the score, and fudged my way through rehearsal after rehearsal. Despite a week's intense practice I didn't get much better, and my confidence plummeted. I was so worried about playing the wrong thing and ruining the piece, that when it came to the eventual performance at Buxton Opera House I mimed through most of it.

I gave up the cello shortly after that. I have grudgingly had to accept that I am just not a musical person. No one in my family is musical. Words are our thing. And food.

The Power To Mesmerise

Music seems a kind of magic to me. It has the power to mesmerise; to alter moods; to bring exultation or despair, or unlock hidden memories. It is wreathed in a strange coded language that I don't understand. Allegro con molto means as much to me as Abracadabra.

Those who are musically gifted seem very mysterious. I view them with a mixture of admiration, envy, and a sort of distrust – they must be witches! How else could they control and harness that amazing power, and bend it to their will?*

I feel it as a terrible loss in my life that I'm not musical. I love music – all kinds of music. But I don't understand it in the least. What is a fugue? A partita? A canon? A gigue? What is the difference between a rhapsody and a fantasy? A concerto and a symphony? What makes something a prelude? Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun always confused me. I expected there to be a longer piece called 'The Afternoon of a Faun.' There isn't.

When I used to sit at the back of the orchestra I couldn't hear myself play. I had no idea how to pick my own sound out from the multitude of sounds around me. I had no idea if I was in tune, or if I was in time...

The ability to make music; to create one beautiful sound and then to weave it around other sounds, and to build a coherent, wonderful whole seems hardly less astonishing to me than the ability to move objects with the power of the mind.

Given this wonder and envy, it is perhaps not surprising that I have allied music with magic in much of my writing. In Darklands, Inkling is a powerful magician with a particular affinity for music. But he doesn't play a violin, a flute or a piano. He plays the wind. He plays the dry grasses and the branches of trees. He sends the wind whistling around sculpted rocks, creating fluttering arpeggios. He conjures a soft, shushing rhythm from the treetops, and a mournful, clattering tune from living bamboo.

In my work in progress, a musician unwittingly exerts power over the ghostly protagonist, Kikimora. Her magical powers weaken whenever she hears him play, and she becomes visible to humans – which causes problems for them both.

His Inhuman Skill

Music has a long history of association with the uncanny, the fae, the devilish. One of the best known and most evocative examples must be the Pied Piper bewitching the children of Hamlin with his playing, and leading them astray. Celtic lore has fairies closely tied with musicians, particularly pipers. Musicians are far more likely than other mortals to be taken to fairy land.

Some, such as the blind 17th century harpist, Turlough O'Carolan, were said to acquire their musical prowess after spending a night on the fairy knoll.

This echoes the story of the violinist, Nicolo Paganini, widely believed to have sold his soul to the devil in return for his inhuman skill and virtuosity. Early Blues musician Robert Johnson was similarly said to have sold his soul to the Devil – down at the Crossroads.

Both of these musicians knew a good story when they heard one, and they played up the unearthly aspect of their personas – Paganini by growing long wings of hair, and dressing all in black, Robert Johnson by singing such songs as Hellhound on my Trail, Me and the Devil, and Crossroads Blues.

And let's not forget the role music has played in religion down the ages, from Gregorian chants, via plainsong, liturgy and mass, to American gospel music and beyond. Would religion grip the hearts and souls of so many without the uncanny power of music in its arsenal?

To Muddle And Misplace

Some music is so evocative of a certain time, mood or place that just hearing a short passage transports you instantly back there. Much of our unconscious musical associations come from film and TV. There is a certain type of English romantic music (typified by Vaughn-Williams' The Lark Ascending) which never fails to make me yearn for an idyllic rural past that probably never existed. This is thanks to its use in countless period dramas on TV: Tess of the D'urbervilles; the Mill on the Floss, Precious Bane.

Another well used piece is the thrillingly dramatic Carmina Burana, which conjures everything from King Arthur's knights riding into battle (Excaliber) to demonic murder (The Omen) to sexual ecstacy (The Doors).

Powerful music has the ability to imprint a mood into your soul; a mood which can be instantly recalled by hearing the music again. On a more humdrum level this is demonstrated when we hear music from our youth and become misty eyed over all the memories and associations it brings back – even music you didn't like at the time.

When I was sixteen Brit-pop was all the rage; everyone loved Oasis - but I thought they were boring and whiny and not a patch on Sonic Youth or Pixies. I hear Oasis now and I don't remember how I used to complain about them and groan and roll my eyes. I remember how it felt to be sixteen, and think that the world was my oyster; to not wake up every morning with back ache; to be full of hope and dreams and chutzpah that hadn't yet been tempered by dusty reality...

But hang on – is that really what it was like? Or is the music fooling me? Didn't I spend much of my teenage years paranoid and miserable? Didn't I spend long hours obsessing about my intense ugliness, the dullness of my life, and dreaming that one day things would be better?

Music can deceive. It can muddle and misplace, and convince you of things that never were.

It can also inspire. Artists of every sort find inspiration in music. Marcus Sedgwick has described how Midwinter Blood is based on Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. My above-mentioned work in progress, Kikimora, was directly inspired by a 'fairytale for orchestra' of the same name by Anatoly Lyadov.

Magic

Music can be mind-altering, reality-altering. It can affect the listener mentally, physically and spiritually. It can transport you through time and space. It can unlock memories long forgotten; it can sometimes trick us into believing things that never happened.

If that's not magic, I don't know what is.

* Just prior to submitting this post I noticed a previous post on this site from only a week ago, saying, “Cecilia Bartoli does things with her voice that must have come from some kind of witchcraft.” See? It's not just me.

Emma Woodcock is the author of young adult fantasy, Darklands:

When 15 year old Sophie finds herself mysteriously transported to a parallel world she can barely believe her luck. The sun always shines, the people thinks she's fantastic, and their impossibly handsome King dotes on her. But as the seemingly idyllic Darklands reveals its grim secrets, the fate of both worlds relies on Sophie escaping the despotic King and finding her way back home.

www.emmawoodcock.wordpress.com
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005JDBN22/
www.facebook.com/YAFantasy
Twitter: @elwoodcock

Creating Magic by Kate Policani

We're very pleased to welcome today's guest, author Kate Policani! Be sure to head over to her release party for more fun and prizes.

Creating Magic

Making magic in fiction is a tricky endeavor. If you make it too real, it doesn’t feel magical. If you make it too imaginative, you lose believability and you have trouble being consistent. Fortunately there are lots of ways to season your magic with enough reality to give it life. Here’s how I did it.

Don’t Judge a Book By Its Magic begins my first series in which Colleen Underhill has stepped outside the boundaries of normality. She is still attached to the regular life in which she grew up, but she just can’t return to it. With a seemingly harmless introduction to what she thinks is an imaginary world, everything she thought she understood is turned upside-down. Before the day ends, she is dragged into SPRU, a secret university for people with powers like hers. And they won’t let her leave. The magical community is called The Convergence. They are exclusive, secretive, and very protective of their privacy.

I based the supernatural actions of The Convergence series on loose interpretations of physics and String Theory. But I didn’t start out that way. I’m not a big physics buff, but it’s a passion of my hubby’s. Combined with his adoration for comic books, I have a dependable and knowledgeable resource for what to write and what not to write about supernatural forces. In the early stages of writing the first book, I talked with him about my ideas and my concepts sparked a really cool conversation about everything he was learning about physics. With his coaching, I formulated the rules for the magic in my story.

In Don’t Judge a Book By Its Magic, the first book in the series, Colleen plunges into a world of different perception and a hyperawareness of the connections between herself and the world around her. All of the concepts I used are really just my interpretation and then wild flight of fancy based off of what I understood from conversations with my husband and occasional episodes of NOVA.

There are two kinds of energy described in the book: The Tximar is the energy of all living things and the Teimnydd is the energy of those who can wield it, called Teimnydduus. All this energy is interconnected in a universal “tapestry” called the Txenarjuma. The Teimnydduus can perceive the energy and the Txenarjuma and then use it to affect the world around them using individual threads called Txenar. These concepts are based loosely around Quantum Field Theory.

I also included a magical river flowing through the city called the Tximarshu. This was influenced by several different stories I’ve read where characters use ley line energy for magic. I smushed the idea of ley lines and the concept of Tximar together and used it as an element of Colleen’s transformation into a Teimnydduus.

The main character and protagonist, Colleen, reads a stray book that was left in the library and is transformed when its descriptions activate her latent Teimnydd. At a different time in her life, this wouldn’t have been possible, as seen by the fact that her father, the person from whom she inherited the Teimnydd powers, cannot activate them by reading the book.

In addition to the Teimnydd and Tximarshu, Teimnydduus with special training can manipulate “pocket dimensions” which they call Vyxhepiocht. Using this kind of power, Convergence Agents are able to secretly transport Colleen’s gear from her home to her dorm room instantly without arousing the suspicions of the neighborhood with a moving truck. “Pocket Dimensions” and other dimensional concepts come from String Theory also.

More physics-based concepts are represented in the book and I’ve planned more for future volumes in the series. My book isn’t all about the physics, though. There is a lot more involved in changing a person’s whole perception of reality than just the mechanics of the transformation. That’s what I love to write about most. To see how Colleen adjusts to her “magic”, you’ll have to read the book!

Buy Don’t Judge a Book By Its Magic on Amazon

Buy for Kindle

Buy in all ebook formats on Smashwords

About the author:

Even though Kate Policani wasn’t born in Seattle, Washington, she’s a native at heart. She should have been born here, but some bizarre mistake started her out in the Midwest. That error was rectified, though, and she’s spent more than twenty years in the rainy, gloomy, chilly land where she belongs, loving every minute of it. The long dark days and unwelcoming weather make for the perfect environment to stay inside and write.

A mom of three and therefore a coffee addict, she writes her books over a hot mocha in the rainy season (Fall-Winter-Spring) and an iced mocha during the six weeks of summer. That is, she writes when she isn’t shuttling her progeny to school or youth group or playdates. In a pinch, she writes while she waits to pick the kids up from school, and sometimes even in the middle of the night when the ideas wake her.

Kate has found her footing with her writing and is no longer interested in just writing a few books. The list of ideas is long, so she’ll be cranking out the Sci-fi and Fantasy (and maybe some others) for the long haul.

http://katepolicani.com/

Interview with Fantasy Author S.A. Hunter

The spirit of the forest, Elanraigh, speaks to a young girl, whose own spirit rides the wind in the body of a Sea Hawk.  Oh, I love the magic in that image.   I enjoyed reading this new YA Fantasy, Elanraigh – The Vow and getting to know the author, S. A. Hunter.  Please note, Sandy is also presenting to one lucky commenter an ebook of Elanraigh.

Cover Art: Amanda Kelsey

Welcome Sandy to the Salon,

Elizabeth, thank you so much for this opportunity to present Elanraigh to your blog members and fans. I was so delighted to find your site, and meet some more great folks who are fans of fantasy.   

How long have you been writing? What was the spark that started you to take up writing seriously?  

I’ve always had an imagination working in overdrive. That being said, I was in my late 30’s before I finally submitted anything to a publisher. I was taking a creative writing class at Douglas College and at the instructor’s suggestion submitted a science fiction short story to On Spec, where it was accepted. Since then I’ve had other fantasy short fiction and poetry published, Elanraigh, however, is my first novel 

 Elanraigh was six years plus to write in its original form (I later adapted my first  manuscript to YA). I was working full time with lots of night meetings, so Sunday was only available time to write. I’d usually try to get a least four straight hours in. I’m very grateful that in those days I belonged to a fantasy writers group, we met once a month and I was determined to submit chapters each meeting. Published authors all, their critiques were always of value--the meetings kept me highly motivated.  

What was the inspiration for this book? 

In 1995 I read an intriguing article in the Vancouver Sun, titled “Lumber firm wails the blues over “singing forest”. Apparently a local tree planter had a spiritual experience in a forest near Tenise Creek; she says, ‘something akin to the voice of angels rose from the landscape.” I tucked the thought provoking article away and some years later, was sorting through my tattered old file full of various newspaper and magazine articles, the “Story Idea File” and read the “singing forest” article again. I began to type and wrote, “The Elanraigh quivered with deep unease. Forest-mind sifted the westerly wind and breathed its warning.” And so a sentient forest came to be both a major character and the setting for my YA fantasy.                      

 What was the most difficult part of writing this book? How did you get through it? 

Do you know, the majority of the writing was a joy—I was a ‘seat of the pants” writer and the story and my characters carried me along with them. I’d get in a mind-space where things flowed…sometimes how it all came together amazed me. What was difficult was adapting the original 120, 000 wd. story to an 80,000 wd., so as to be more suited to a Y.A. market. Cutting whole scenes hurt and certain characters just had to go. However, I had to get through it and get it copy edited in time for Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Contest, so I got ‘er done. I didn’t win the category for the contest but I had a polished manuscript ready to submit queries on. 

 Was getting the language for this time period difficult? How did you go about getting it down for the book? Can you describe what it felt like during that period of writing? 

I’ve read a lot of fantasy that has had “historical” settings, particularly a medieval feel…perhaps you absorb a feel for the cadence of appropriate speech…I found it easy to write. With the “common folk” I allowed more of a ‘dialect” to be present, however, on the advice of an astute beta reader, I did delete the “thee’s” and “thou’s” in my original manuscript. As my beta reader pointed out, very few people truly know how to properly use those today—best to leave them alone. I’m very grateful for her advice. I do have a great affection for Mary Stewart’s Arthurian novels, especially “The Crystal Cave” and “The Sword in the Stone.” I’ve read those books many times, and much admire the writing. 

 What was the most important stage of writing this book? Can you describe what it felt like during that period of writing? 

I believe I’d say it was the final third of the book…from the critical battle off shore, and on. Now is when the threads must be gathered to weave the final pattern…the battle scene was vivid in my mind as I wrote and the elements came together well, however, two new characters, Duke Ambraud and the Besteri Mage came into being and I found myself fascinated with them… I knew I must either play them down, or a sequel would be in order. I enjoyed writing them so much (villains are such fun to write, aren’t they?); I decided I would indeed carry the story on in a second book. 

 What do you like about your characters? Are they like anyone you know? Anything like you? 

 Thera, my protagonist embodies many of the qualities I would love to meet in a person, well seasoned, however, with human flaws that have the potential to become strengths. It was critical to the story that Thera have both the ability, and grace, to learn from those around her. I like her; I hope my readers will too J  

I must admit I was an only child blessed with wonderful parents--my father exemplified to me all that was best in a good man;  Thera shares some “only child” traits (some good, some not)  and in my characterization of Duke ArNaronne, the Duke shares some characteristics of my father.  

That being said, there are many of my secondary characters I became extremely attached to, and had great fun with, and I’ve been thinking of delving more into their back stories. 

How did you come up with the names of your characters? 

I wanted to keep something of a Celtic flavour to names, and in many cases to perhaps give my  reader a hint of that person’s character…Duke Leon (lion); Lady Fideiya (fidelity); Nan (just has a homey feel to it). Of the elementals mentioned, particularly the Elanraigh forest (pronounced Ellen-ray) I wanted something sounding both Celtic and haunting. The little wind elemental, so helpful to Thera, is named Sussara (as susurrus, is the sound of a gentle wind). For the villains of the piece we have Memteth which is more Sanskrit of origin, referring to reptilian-like.  I think naming is a fun component in writing fantasy. 

  

What advice would you give aspiring authors?

Read everything you can; both the genre you love, and other works, especially the classics—read for enjoyment and what you can learn—how did the author go about engaging you and creating a great story. Write always--if you’re not engaged in creating a work at present, then journal. Personally, I found belonging to writers groups helpful-- a “Fellowship of the Pen”-- and a source of mentors and friends. Critique groups are another matter, and not for everybody. If you have a work completed, or even an outline…and if you can possibly afford it… get to a Writers Conference! The workshops are an invaluable source of information and inspiration. Practice pitching your idea to actual editors/publishers/agents; a sweaty-palmed experience…something akin to walking barefoot over coals; however, after, you’re forever changed. 

Write what you love to read—don’t just pitch to the current commercial trend.

What can we expect new from you?  

A sequel to Elanraigh; The Vow is currently underway.  

Here’s the Book Blurb:

Only Thera of Allenholme hears the voice of forest-mind…and heeds its warning . Thera doesn’t know why the Elanraigh forest-mind chose her, of all the Allenholme folk, to hear its voice and to awaken her gifts of mind and spirit. The Elanraigh sends a warning dream; black sails swooping toward Allenholme from across the western sea—the Memteth, an ancient enemy, armed with blue fire that hungers to consume life. As Thera awakens to her gifts of bonding with raptor birds and reading hearts, the knowing; she also awakens to love. Will she choose Chamakin the young Ttamarini warrior who is a kindred in spirit to her, or the polished young nobleman who covets her beauty even more than her estate? Forest-mind is aware she is yet too young for such power and responsibility. It has no choice—the lives of all Thera’s people and the existence of the Elanraigh Forest itself, depend on Thera fulfilling her destiny. Can she learn what she must of gift, and heart, to survive what comes their way? 

Click on Amazon to buy.

Author Bio:

BR Photography

Sandra attended school in Victoria, B.C. and later graduated from the University of British Columbia with a B.A. in English Literature. After her daughter came along, she chose to work close to home and indulge her love of animals by working for an amiable, if thrifty, veterinarian. She believes in promoting the right of all creatures to live the existence that Nature intended. This value is strongly evoked in her novel.

Sandra’s always lived at the edges of ocean and forest, so it came naturally to have a sentient forest as a major character in Elanraigh: The Vow. She loves kayaking the scenic Island coastline, swimming and walking. She has a ready sense of humor and an optimistic outlook (a good thing when you’re a writer).

Her publications include Dark Fantasy short stories in pro magazines and she is currently working on a sequel to Elanraigh: The Vow.

Follow Sandy here:
Facebook
Sandy's Blog
Twitter

Thank you Sandy for the interview and for writing this enchanting book.

Don’t forget the giveaway, one lucky commenter wins a copy of Elanraigh – The Vow, so drop us a line. 

Till next time,

Elizabeth

DreamGiver

I had to share this awesome short animation film. It's called "DreamGiver."  It’s by a student at BYU, but don’t let the word student stop you from watching this film. The production level is high and the storytelling is enchanting.   Tyler Carter does an amazing job of creating a 2D animation of the real world and a 3D animation of the dream world.   Watch it and be thrilled by the beauty of the film.

Here is his blurb: “A regular night of dream delivering turns into a literal nightmare when a boy's book of ancient mythology comes alive.”

What did you think? 

Till next time,

Elizabeth

A Letter From Your Muse

We are honored to have P. June Diehl in the Salon today.

P. June Diehl is the Editorial and Senior Editor for Virtual Tales, the Senior SF Editor for ePress-Online, and also coaches authors.

She has a Bachelor of Science (Education) degree from Madison College, a Masters of Education from James Madison University, and taught in several public schools systems.

Author of THE MAGIC & THE MUNDANE: A Guide for the Writer’s Journey, she teaches and mentors writing classes online at Savvy Authors, Writer’s Village University and for Pearls of Writing as well as having conducted workshops on various elements of creative writing both online and locally. She is enrolled in UCLA’s Writing Program, focusing on long and short fiction.

Dear Writer,

Yes, it’s me—the Muse. You’ve been complaining for a while that I’ve been absent. How many times have you said something like “I can’t get in the flow” or “My muse has deserted me”?

Maybe you guessed that I went on an extended vacation. Or that I’ve simply disappeared.

Well, I’m here to tell you that I’ve been here all this time. I know you find that difficult to believe, but it’s true. The Muses don’t lie. Never.

We take our work seriously.

You think the work of the Muses is easy? Fun? Magical?

Wrong. Wrong. And wrong.

Flow takes work. Writing takes work. And magic? That’s how you feel when you’re in that powerful creative flow. And yes, getting to that magical element takes work. It’s not something you can order, like pizza.

Think about it. Musicians practice. Athletes practice. Artists practice. A lot. It’s a commitment. So what is it with writers who expect to sit themselves down and just do it after not practicing their craft in a while?

As a Muse I like order and focus. I am available to those who commit themselves to their craft. Your actions and commitment create ENERGY and that energy FEEDS me.

How to begin? Take action. Write. A lot. Act as if, when you sit down to write, that you do this ALL THE TIME. That you have already begun. Write as if you ARE in the flow. As if I’m with you in this magical movement of ideas and thoughts and words that flow out of you as STORY.

The top two things that block me from BEING with you when you write are: your inner critic and YOU.

The inner critic has a place. When you are analyzing what idea to develop into a story, he is helpful. When you are planning the storyline, he is helpful. When you are revising, he is helpful. When you are writing, send him off to do some errand or send him to Arizona. Just sent him away for this part of your writing process.

That’s right. You are your own worse enemy. You create resistance. You come up with all kinds of excuses not to write. You put off your writing as long as you can. Why? Because writing is like stepping out of your comfort zone. Writing is action. You are DOING something. (And it FEELS good!) So ask yourself: What’s stopping you? (HINT: Many times the response has to do with some FEAR.)

Somerset Maugham, when asked if he wrote on a schedule or when inspiration stuck, responded: “I write only when inspiration strikes me. Fortunately it strikes me every morning at nine o’clock sharp.”

Do you see what he’s saying? He’s committed. He takes ACTION. He’s practicing his craft. He’s connected.

What are you waiting for? (And when the excuses tumble out of you, ask yourself: WHY?)

The more you write, the more you HEAR me, UNDERSTAND me, and FEEL me. The more you write, the more you are CONNECTED to me, your Muse.

Without action, there is no connection, no flow. This is when you can’t find or feel me. This is when you feel deserted. So sit, write. I’m here…waiting. Always.

Writing in the flow is not magical; it CREATES the magic. And this is flow. I’m here, ready, waiting. What about you?

The Muse




P. June Diehl

http://LiveYourWritingDream.com/

Available at http://epress-online.com/DIEHL/The-Magic-And-the-Mundane/sales-page.htm
and
http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Mundane-Guide-Writers-Journey/dp/1934258229/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305849479&sr=1-4

Thank you, June for stopping by.

Are you and your muse communicating?

Till next time,
Elizabeth

Magic Is As Magic Does

I am not a witch. Nor am I a sorcerer, occultist, or enchanter of any kind. But I am totally obsessed with magic. I have a collection of magical texts that most wizards would be pretty proud of, yet I've never attempted a single spell. Its all used as reference material for stories and inspiration for memorable characters. Some of history's most interesting and influential people have been practitioners, and groups from the Golden Dawn to present-day Wiccan covens have shown us new ways of looking at the world around us.

Magicians fascinate me and I've read up on most of them: Apollonius of Tyana, Ramon Llull, Agrippa, Giordano Bruno, Cellini, John Dee, Eliphas Levi, Arthur Edward Waite, and many more. Their practices varied, but they were all innovative thinkers who pushed the boundaries of conventional beliefs. They were also diligent scholars and extremely dedicated to improving their craft, just like their contemporary counterparts.

Magic is hard work. Sure, we love reading stories about special characters with unique abilities and talents, but even the most inherently gifted wizard has to put in their seven years at Hogwarts and then some. There are no short cuts when it comes to performing powerful works. You must practice, practice, practice and eventually you're able to gradually coax the extraordinary into being.

It got me thinking about a phrase I've heard often since I began writing and learning that particular craft. In various forms, it basically states that determination is more important than talent when it comes to being a successful author. Of course, we all want to be good. No one starts a novel hoping it will turn out to be mediocre. We want to write something that people will love, read over and over with joy and exalt to anyone who will listen. Just as we cherish our favorite stories, study them, emulate the author's voice so that we may find our own, knowing that if we could just figure out how they acquired the divine spark of genius that created such greatness, then we would have the secret to making our own masterpiece.

But it's not that easy. As we figuratively sweat and bleed our way to the boot camp finish line at the end of the month, I hope everyone participating will recognize the importance of the journey itself. While bits of magic will surely emerge here and there along the way, it all comes down to the true grit of being a writer and all the toil and persistence required to be a really good one.