Writing the Magick
My ten-years-old self felt heard and understood when I read Judy Blume’s books. I already loved words, but when she strung them together, she helped me connect to my own feelings. Then, she gave me that glimpse or idea that others could also be feeling insecure and unsure as I. She is and was revolutionary. Starring Sally J Friedman was one of my favorites because the heroine was a confident girl and that was okay. I was one of the girls who started her period early so couldn’t relate to Are you there God, its me Margaret, but even as an 11-year-old girl now woman, I realized the commonality of questioning God. Why do things happen and division occur? Reading Blubber scared me because I had been bullied and I knew how to bully.
Make it stand out
In watching Judy Blume Forever, documentary on my shero author, my heart swelled to see her pour over an archive of 50 years of the letters from kids just like me. They showed interviews with Judy accepting her influence with grace and fire, exactly the woman I imagined wrote the books I so loved. She made children felt they had a friend in this scary world and ignited the fear of book banners and evangelists. I was twelve years old when they began to ban Judy Blume’s books. Of course, that made me want to read them even more. I was an investigator and found Wifey hidden in the garage.
Judy Blume was the incarnation of the Woman’s Movement to me – bold, honest, and talented, alongside Carly Simon, Jacklyn Smith and Marlo Thomas – women with big smiles. Women willing to show their joy. Women who are beautiful because it shines from a warm and kind heart that brightens her face.
Recently in an interview with That Witch Next Door podcast, hostess Dani asked me this intriguing question: How has your Author Self influenced your Witch Self and how as your Witch Self influenced by Author Self?
My thoughts drifted back to my late twenties and Saturn’s Return, ignited a burning desire to write for a living. I dreamed of writing influential children’s articles in Highlights Magazine infused with Judy Blume-esque kindness, animism (Chronicles of Narnia meets Shirley Temple in Bluebird) and consistent conversation with nature and the cosmos woven into every story. Then one day, I would write for National Geographic. My first published article was based on the painful experience of watching a friend suffer from bulimia and self loathing. Inspired and yearning for more, I cast a spell to be published paid writer. A month later, I received the option to write The Wicca Cookbook.
If I hadn’t been an author, I would not have researched the sabbats as carefully, nor the morphing traditions, various deities and their myths, or the myriad of other magickal correspondences. Had I not been a Witch, then I would not have had my first published book, which then lead to nine other books and a streak that I am proud of: 23 consecutive years as an author with books in print. As writing the Magick continues to flows out of my fingers, I have found other channels: two blogs, one magazine column and several articles, and full and new moon newsletters.
Writing the Magick blog began as a newsletter in 2011 when I had to leave full time stay at home mom and Wiccan author to be a single mom working in a marketing office. Writing this and thinking about you the reader kept me going when I didn’t know if I would ever have a writing career again. But then came The Book of Spells and A Box of Magick.
My next project is my opus, a lifetime of research, a string of novellas featuring seven generations of my matriarchal line who all live beside the great Santa Ana River. I plan to spend my winter with six women: Vincente, Mia, Manuela, Eliza, Della, and Catherine. I will begin in 1849 and end in the current time. I have chosen moments, a snapshot in each of their lives, to share their unique and beautiful spirit and how we wove together the tapestry of love between mother and daughter. The good, bad, and the ugly, and finally ending on healing and celebrating women for the circles of love we create, supported by the wisdom of the river to guide us.
Image courtesy of Coastal Conservancy
