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

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Book Review: Kitchen Witchcraft, By Rachel Patterson.

Kitchen Witchcraft, By Rachel Patterson.

This book is part of the Moon Book collection called "Pagan Portals" 

On the surface you might think that this book has nothing to offer the experienced craft practitioner but I can guarantee that there will be a nugget of gold to be found by all who read it

As I have come to expect of a book published by Moon Books, this book is well presented and well written, the author has a personable style and writes with familiarity over formality, a quality I enjoy in this kind of book. The reader feels as though they have popped in for a cuppa at Rachel's house and are being given a little tour of her kitchen and garden. 

I would recommend this book to those taking there first steps into kitchen craft as it is in my option one of the better guides available, and for others with more experience in kitchen craft I would still recommend it, especially if they own other Pagan Portals books and wanted to add to their collection.

This book should live somewhere easy to reach, once you start using these techniques for a more Magickal life you will dip back into these pages again and again. 

20 Questions with Author, Mel Massey

Ok guy & gals... Here it is, the very first Small Songs - 20 Questions Interview...

Thanks must go to Author Mel Massey for being our first interviewee

Her book Getaway is available on www.Amazon.com from today!

Synopsis: When Lisa goes to visit her parents, she comes home to an empty house. Or so she thinks. As a storm rages outside, Lisa tries to getaway from something unknown that's hiding in the shadows.

 20 Questions

1. What are you best known for? 

 Well, I don’t think I’m known for much just yet! However, I am the witch that writes about witches, magick and all things paranormal. The witches that are the most important in EARTH’S MAGICK are gray witches and that’s fun and unique to write about. 

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

I’ve been writing for years. I’ve only recently plucked up the courage to let others read it. 

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

To simply write their story. Whatever that is, just write it. Worry about all the other stuff later on. Get it on paper first then make a plan for it. 

4. What was your last project? 

GETAWAY, the short scary story for Halloween/Samhain is my last completed project. I’m currently writing book two in the EARTH’S MAGICK series. But I’ve come to love writing short stories as well. I’ll be putting out a few companion novellas in between novels. 

5. What’s next? 

More EARTH’S MAGICK, novellas and possibly some short stories as they pop up. 

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

Oh, that’s an easy one, Anne Rice. We all know her books, love them or hate them she’s amazing at her craft. More importantly, she’s a huge supporter of other writers. She’s an advocate of indie publishing and human rights. She’s just an all-around fabulous woman. I sent her an email, after I signed with my publisher, thanking her for her constant encouragement of fledgling writers. Ms. Rice has put out YouTube videos and interviews all full of advice for us newbie writers – and I watched every single one of them. I thanked her for that and do you know what? She wrote me back. She congratulated me and wished me all the luck in the world. I genuinely love that beautiful lady. 

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

Write a screen play. I looked into it because, for a while, I had a few ideas for a movie. I gave up after I saw what an overwhelming undertaking that is. Sheesh…those people deserve all kinds of credit. 

8. How do you want to be remembered? 

As the witch that wrote about witches and held nothing back while doing it. 

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

I think writers write because we have to. We have imaginary friends pounding on the inside of our minds just fighting to live the imaginary life we plan to give them. I love that the most. The constant conversations with my imaginary friends. 

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

Oh goodness, I surround myself with the super strange. But if we’re talking about my writing life, I’d have to say the editing process of one of my books. My editor, Kate, left the BEST editorial notes. Sometimes a simple, “SNORT” at funny parts but once, I wrote, “Her face melted into pure joy.” To which Kate responds, “EWWWW”. I laughed for real when I read that and realized what she was trying to tell me. Her EXPRESSION melted into that of pure joy. If her face actually melted, well, that’s a plot twist! 

11. What do you do in your spare time?

I’m a mother of two very active kids so I write while they’re at school and then play chauffer, soccer mom, football mom, etc. for the rest of the evening. 

12. Who inspires you?

Not really a who but a what- Being able to freely practice as a witch gives me the most inspiration. Every time I light incense, candle or spend time in meditation I feel revived and ready to write. 

13. Describe yourself in 3 words 

Witty, Passionate and Impulsive 

14. Favourite colour

Green, but deep, earthy green. 

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

I love this question. This one is easy; Bill Maher, Jon Stewart and Anne Rice. What a merry dinner that would be! 

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

Leftovers, lots of carrots (not sure why), almost empty milk, almost empty juice and cheese. I need to shop… 

17. What is the last book you read? 

SHE by H. R. Haggard (My favorite) 

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

A pile of clean laundry. 

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

Oh gosh…..coffee. If I can’t have coffee in the morning the entire day just sucks. Of course, the same could be said for wine in the evening. If I don’t have wine my nights are all stress and chaos. 

And finally...

20. Favourite Season Spring. 

I love the spring time colors and green everywhere. 

So there you have it... Mel Massey in a nut shell, but if you want to find out more about Mel or her books then please head on over to her facebook page and give her a big thumbs up. Also remember that her recent project Getaway is available for only 77p on Kindle and includes a free sneek peek at her next book Earth's Magick too!

If you would like to be interviewed for the Small Songs Blog then you can contact Arietta here or at her facebook page

Book Review: A Deed Without A Name: Unearthing the Legacy of Traditional Witchcraft

A Deed Without A Name: Unearthing the Legacy of Traditional Witchcraft

By Lee Morgan

Reviewed by Arietta

( www.facebook.com/Arietta.smallsongs )

I was unsure what to expect of this book.... 

As a Wiccan, I was worried that this book might just be a dig at those of us whose traditions do not have an unbroken lineage to trace back though. However, thankfully and surprise, my fears were unfounded, and this book turned out to be a real find!

"A Deed Without A Name" is in fact a delightful mix of historical and anecdotal tales, sharing information on the origins of the Witch in every form, including a look at the misuse of the word and what the word can mean to different people.

The bestiary section was an especially interesting read giving an insight into the many and varied "creatures of the night" which have been recorded and connected with tales of witches.

The author has drawn on the writings of Eva Pocs, Emma Wilby & Carlos Ginzburg, to name a few, and has put their work into her framework and context,  building upon it to great effect.

Whilst the £11.99 price tag for a paperback of less than 200 pages might seem a bit much for some, I find that the collected knowledge within those pages is honestly priceless and I would recommend anyone with an interest in the craft of the wise to take a look at this book. Be you a seeker or a sage you will find something new in here.

    

A Deed Without A Name: Unearthing the Legacy of Traditional Witchcraft is available from Amazon worldwide

Book Review: Journey to the Dark Goddess - How to Return to Your Soul

As promised and in a refreshing change from blathering on about the books and projects I am working on, I have recently been given the opportunity to read some other people work and I would like to take the time to share this experience with you...

First up was "Journey to the Dark Goddess" by Jane Meredith.

This is a book which is long overdue, being one which takes the sometimes scary concepts of looking within oneself, of the long dark night of the soul and of the Dark Goddess herself and puts them in an accessible but beautifully written book.

 I could not put it down and devoured it in a couple of days. I then went back and read it again in a more piecemeal fashion, dipping in and out of gloriously enveloping and descriptive stories of ancient Goddesses and Jane Meredith's easy to follow rituals. Rituals which I felt had a strong grounding in reality whilst still being wonderfully mysterious and magical.

I enjoyed the layout of the book too, it being split into four sections each dealing with a different stage of the journey 

I really don't want to say too much more as the authors words speak to the reader of a deeply personal amd individual level... but I highly recommend you grab a copy for yourself...The author bares all and dares the reader to do the same!

"Journey to the Dark Goddess" is published by Moon Books and is available in paperback and ebook.