20 Questions with Author, Rayna Noire

This month we meet author, Rayna Noire...

Rayna Noire

20 Questions

1. What are you best known for?

Hard to say. It depends on whom you talk to. My daughter would say it was for getting lost. I would like to be known for writing fiction featuring realistic Pagan Characters.

2. How did you get involved in your line of work?

I was writing straight romances about “traditional” people.  A Wiccan friend commented that she couldn't find any books featuring positive Pagan characters and I should write some.

3. What advice would you give someone just starting out in the same line of work?

Get connected with other Pagan authors, communities like the Pagan Writers Community, and search for opportunities to meet with other like-minded folks.

4. What was your last project?

Last project was Initiation, 

5. What’s next?

I am currently editing book two, Revelation. I am writing book three, Declaration. I have already plotted out the fourth book, Affirmation.  On December 6th, I was signing at The Book Rack,  in Kingsport, TN. USA

6. Name a person in the same line of work as you who you admire

Maggie Shayne. 

7. What one thing would you do if you knew that you could not fail?

I do have many ideas for books. I mean hundreds.

8. How do you want to be remembered?

I want people to think of me as an original thinker and willing to venture out into new territories.

9. What do you love/enjoy most about your work?

After editing, I enjoy reading what I wrote. It’s especially good if I can make myself cry. 

10. What was the strangest or funniest incident you’ve experienced?

I witnessed my grandfather die three years before it actually happened. That’s why I am convinced time is not linear.

I did also die this year, or so I was told by the paramedics, and was brought back to life.

11. What do you do in your spare time?

Spare time, what’s that? I garden, walk in the woods, and do research for new novels.

12. Who inspires you?

I do have a friend named Grace, who is probably the most loving and accepting person I’ve ever met. The odd thing is she doesn't know how wonderful she is.

13. Describe yourself in 3 words

Nurturing, Persistent, and Outlandish

14. Favourite colour

Purple

15. If you could have dinner with any 3 people alive or dead who would they be?

Maggie Shayne, Abraham Lincoln, Maya Angelou

16. What would I find in your refrigerator right now?

Diet Coke, drink mixers, and condiments! I need to go shopping

17. What is the last book you read?  

Haunted Salem

18. What is next to your bed at the moment?  

The dog and a Kindle.

19. What would your one “can’t live without it” item be?

Incense. It helps dilute the doggy odor.

20. Favourite Season

Summer because I can swim outside.

***

Rayna Noire is an author and a historian. The desire to uncover the truth behind the original fear of witches led her to the surprising discovery that people believed in magick in some form up to 150 years ago. A world that believed the impossible could happen and often did must have been amazing. With this in mind, Ms. Noire taps into this dimension, shapes it into stories about Pagan families who really aren't that different from most people. They do go on the occasional time travel adventures and magick happens.

Find her on-line...

www.facebook.com/AuthorRaynaNoire

www.twitter.com/raynanoire

www.raynanoire.weebly.com

***

Rayna has also just begun her first official book tour 

'Tis the Season...

'Tis the Season...

Where has this year gone???

I feel like Samhain has only just happened, but yet somehow November is already over... and so the wheel begins to turn towards Yule. 

Yule is one of those festivals that has such close ties with other winter festivals it can sometimes feel like everyone is celebrating together. This can feel great, especially if you are the "only Pagan in the village". In the last week, more non Pagans than ever, have asked me about my religious choices and in particular my religious holidays and what we get up to.

This has led me to think about how I celebrate this season and how I share it with my children. Sometimes when there is so much emphasis on the corporate face of the season it can be hard to find the spiritual centre to this saccharine sweet seasonal candy-cane.

I can sum up my personal beliefs about Yule in this poem...

Yule

This is a time of renewal for all

A time to reflect and hear the Goddesses call

The Sun God is born this Solstice night

And so we welcome the growing light

The dark of the year we have lived though

And we look to the future, and light renewed

The Goddess has rested in darkest slumber

And now emerges with this new-born wonder

Now the sun’s rays will awaken the Earth

It is a magickal time, this time of re-birth

The God did die, to be re-born again

We celebrate his birth, with the lighting of a flame

It’s Solstice night so let us all rejoice

Warm our bodies and raise energy, with the power of our voice 

~ Arietta Bryant, Ramblings & Rhymes ~

I like to keep our decorations on the natural side of things, although who doesn't like a bit of sparkle?
My daughter enjoys helping me to make garlands of popcorn and cranberries to festoon our tree (these are put out on our hedgerow for the birds to eat when the decorations come down) and both children make decorations for the tree each year.

Our Yule celebrations at home are always informal, filled with joy and lots of singing (most seasonal carols can easily be adapted to have a more Pagan theme and are easy to join in with since most folks know the tune already). We all light candles to represent the Sun's re-birth and our wishes for the new year. The candles are placed into our Yule Log (As we don't have a real open fire our Yule Log is a large oak log with holes drilled into it to hold taper candles) and are left to burn for the evening.

We each get a gift at Yule and have a special family meal which the children usually choose and we save the rest of the gift giving for the 25th of December when we can share the fun and joy of giving with our non-Pagan friends and family.

 So yes, my children still write to Santa. We did for a while call him "Father Yule" but it was too hard for my youngest to say so we stick with calling him Santa and know that deep down we all know who he is, so it really doesn't matter what we call him.

We do the whole myth, with gifts magically appearing in stockings over night and the children leave out food and drink for Santa & his reindeer, which is perhaps less strange for a Pagan family who are used to putting out offerings for household spirits, fairies and Gods.

Both of my children are firm believers at the moment but as my children get older and start to question the origin of their gifts I plan to share this poem with them which I think sums up the magick & myth of Santa perfectly...

The Child Wonders...

Papa, she said, her eyes full of tears,

will you talk to me and quiet my fears?

Those bad boys at school are spreading a lie

'bout the impossibility of reindeer that fly.

There's no Santa Claus, they say with a grin

there's not one now and there has never been.

How can one man take all of those toys

to thousands of girls and thousands of boys?

But I told them Papa, that they were not right,

that I would come home and find out tonight.

Mama said wait until you had come home.

Please tell me now that I was not wrong.

Her Papa looked down at her questioning face

and sipped at his drink, while his frantic mind raced.

He had put this off for as long as he could,

he had better think fast and it better be good.

Whispering a prayer, he began with a smile...

"Remember at circle how we learned to pray,

asking the Goddess to take care of us each day?

And you know how we say a blessing before every meal?

To this same Goddess whom we know to be real.

Though we never see her, we know she is there

watching her children with such loving care.

The Goddess started Yule a long time ago

when she gave us herself to love and to know.

A spirit of giving came with that gift,

and with her generosity the whole Earth did lift

Man had to name this spirit of giving

just as he names all things that are living."

"The name Santa Claus came to somebody's mind

probably the best name of any to find.

There is, you can see, and I think quite clear

Truly a Santa who visits each year.

A spirit like the Goddess, whom we never see,

She enters the hearts of your Mama and me.

Each year at Yule for one special night

WE become HIM and make everything right.

But the REAL spirit of Yule is in you and in me

and I hope that you are old enough now to see

that as we believe and continue to give,

our friend Santa Claus will continue to live."

~Author Unknown~

How do you celebrate the season of goodwill to all? Why not share your favourite holiday traditions in the comments below or post them on my facebook page 

I will end here by wishing you all a very happy and joyful season ... Blessed Be!

If you have enjoyed reading my blog and liked my poetry then please consider entering my Good Reads Giveaway where you could win a signed copy of my Poetry Anthology... 

Just click on the link below before December 13th 2013

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Ramblings & Rhymes

by Arietta Bryant

Giveaway ends December 13, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

This blog is part of the Pagan Writers Press Winter Solstice Blog Hop

<!-- start InLinkz script -->

 <a href="http://new.inlinkz.com/luwpview.php?id=341550"><img style="border:0;" src="http://www.inlinkz.com/wpImg.php?id=341550"></a>

<!-- end InLinkz script -->

20 Questions with Author, Samaire Provost

Here we are again, the second in our series of 

Small Songs - 20 Questions Interviews...

This month we are looking at Author, Samaire Provost.

20 Questions

1. What are you best known for? 

Thrilling stories

2. How did you get involved in your line of work? 

I've been writing since I was 10, been an avid reader all my life.


3. What advice would you give someone just starting out in the same line of work? 

Write a lot. Read even more.

4. What was your last project? 

The third book in my Mad World trilogy. It's called DESPERATION.

5. What’s next? 

A new book, a vampire thriller, due out by Christmas.

6. Name a person in the same line of work as you who you admire

Stephen King

7. What one thing would you do if you knew that you could not fail? 

Become a best selling author known for her great stories made into movies.

8. How do you want to be remembered? 

See #7


9. What do you love/enjoy most about your work?

It's very autonomous. I get to create stories and worlds and I am my own boss.

10. What was the strangest or funniest incident you've experienced 

Once my husband and I were kissing in a mall and some woman came up to us and told us to stop, that there were children present.

11. What do you do in your spare time? 

Spare time? What's that?

12. Who inspires you? 

My imagination is inspired by so many things. I read voraciously and I am inspired by my two favorite authors: Neil Gaiman and Stephen King

13. Describe yourself in 3 words 

Giddy Imaginative Author

14. Favourite colour 

Green

15. If you could have dinner with any 3 people alive or dead who would they be?

Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Ray Bradbury

16. What would I find in your refrigerator right now? 

Food of various sorts. Diet Pepsi

17. What is the last book you read? 

"Twentieth Century Ghosts" by Joe Hill

18. What is next to your bed at the moment? 

The current book I'm reading: "Dr. Sleep" by Stephen King

19. What would your one “can’t live without it” item be?

Ice, I love crunching it all day long. 

20. Favourite Season

Winter and Christmas

***

Samaire Provost is a novelist living in California. Author of the Mad World Trilogy:

EPIDEMIC ~ SANCTUARY ~ DESPERATION

check out her books on Amazon worldwide, in both Kindle and Paperback formats.

If you would like to be interviewed for the Small Songs Blog then you can contact Arietta here 

or via her Facebook page

Bibliomancy, Rhapsodomancy, Stichomancy & Bookcase Poetry

Divining for Poetry

[From Wikipedia] According to the Oxford English Dictionary,^[1] the word Bibliomancy (etymologically from biblio- "books" and -mancy "divination by means of") "divination by books, or by verses of the Bible" was first recorded in 1753 (Chambers' Cyclopedia). Sometimes this term is used synonymously with Stichomancy (from sticho- "row, line, verse") "divination by lines of verse in books taken at hazard", which was first recorded ca. 1693 (Urquhart's Rabelais).

Bibliomancy compares with Rhapsodomancy (from rhapsode "poem, song, ode") "divination by reading a random passage from a poem".

I have always used forms of bibliomancy for divination purposes and also as a means of sparking ideas and inspirations for my own writing, so I was intrigued and inspired yet again, when I found out about the Sorted Books project.

Started in 1993 but with no specific end date, and using books from personal, private and public collections the idea is simple...  Searching though piles of books, finding particularly inspiring titles, and then putting the selected books into a sequence which is photographed, and when read from the top or the bottom creates a lyrical, poetical, aesthetic.

Taken as a whole, the clusters from each sorting aimed to examine that particular library's focus, idiosyncrasies, and inconsistencies — a cross-section of that library's holdings. At present, the Sorted Books project comprises more than 130 book clusters and conceptual artist Nina Katchadourian’s playful photographic series is available now from  http://www.chroniclebooks.com/sorted-books.html

Pictured above: A Day at the Beach

Pictured above: Primitive Art

And so I thought I would have a quick go myself, but being short on time I thought I would try to create something using just the books within arms reach

(which in the house of a bibliophile is quite a few) 

And this was what I came up with...

Growing Up Pagan - by Arietta 

Growing up Pagan:

Magical tales,

Listening to trees

Ramblings and rhymes

Celebrating life

Ancient ways

Beneath a mountain moon

I rather like the outcome and I feel that this will become quite an addictive habit, and a useful tool should the dreaded writers block hit...

...So give it a go and please please please do share your creations with me

***

P.S...

Here are the links to the books I used should you want to look at more than just their spines...

Growing up Pagan - Raine Hill

Magical tales - R. J. Stewart

Listening to trees - Thea Holly

Ramblings and rhymes - Arietta Bryant

Celebrating life - Tzipora Klein

Ancient ways - Pauline Campanelli

Beneath a mountain moon - Silver Ravenwolf

Repost from... Pagan Parenting UK: Magick Milk

I wanted to share this poem with you, I don't think it needs anything by way of an explanation or introduction, but suffice to say that it is about motherhood and in particular, breastfeeding...

Magickal Milk

At first the tearful hungry infant

Suckling at the engorged breast

Leaves me tearful, fearful, tired

Will this tiny succubus ever be fed? 

But days and weeks to months they blur

And babies grow and live and learn

My goddess given gift of a child

Is sustained by this magick milk of mine

The bond grows stronger and we wonder

At the child before us now

He is walking, jumping talking

With messy curls upon his head

Year one done we journey on

Learning, growing, all the time

And still this sacred special liquid

Keeps him healthy all the while

Year two passes all too fast,

Babies are not made to last

Here he is, my little lad

With a smile so like his Dad's

And so year three arrives with fanfare

Cake and candles, gifts and friends

But in my heart there is a burning

This is where my baby ends

No more magick milk for Ozzy

He is not a baby now

I must not be seen to feed him

He must drink milk from a cow

I just wish that they would tell you

When you start upon this path

To treasure each and every feeding,

For they vanish all too fast

So though my breasts are full and heavy

The time has come for us to stop

tears of sadness fill my eyes now

I have to let my baby grow up

Original posted on Pagan Parenting UK: Magick Milk 13/11/13

(C) Arietta Moon / Small Songs
13/11/13

Follow me on facebook too :)