Carole Ann Moleti Talks Witchcraft and Beltane

Today I'm welcoming Carole Ann Moleti to talk about witchcraft. Her short story, Mishmash Magick, appears in the anthology Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft. 

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I'm always amazed at how all religions celebrate similar feasts at about the same times. The Jews and Christians celebrated Passover and Easter in late March, just as the Spring Equinox occurred. The Orthodox Christians are in the middle of Holy Week, with their Easter this coming Sunday. I shouldn't be surprised since we're all descended from the ancients who adopted new customs and beliefs as the wheel of time turned.

Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft was assembled with great care by Rayne Hall to celebrate a varied interpretations of witches and witchcraft by different authors, some of whom are witches, and others like myself who know, love, respect, study, and write about them. I've made many friends on this journey to understanding and appreciation of the Craft.

It's also amazing how my real life's work informs my fiction, and vice verse. I'm deeply involved in doctoral study right now, and it has nothing to do with witches. It's scholarly research—related to my clinical practice—but the furthest thing you can get from fantasy fiction and creative writing in general. But I just found out what I've been doing all my life is a scholarly form called ethnographic research! The investigator immerses herself amongst people or a practice to study the lived experience to gain greater appreciation. Who knew?

I've had lots of practice—and learned a lot by watching and experiencing. Midwives have long been associated with the use of herbs and potions, as well as with witchcraft. Most of my colleagues are not witches, but before the advent of modern medicine, women were called upon not only to assist with childbirth, but also to use their knowledge to heal any number of ills, both physical and psychological, in men, women, and children. When the outcome was not good, or the one expected, the midwife was often accused of witchcraft or sorcery.

Modern midwifery practice embraces all belief systems and incorporates the use of herbs and alternative medical practices and, as such, Wiccans and those with less mainstream religious and spiritual practices often seek our services.

Though divination and connection with ghosts and spiritual beings lies outside the grasp of my mind and abilities, watching those who have the gift do their work has convinced me that all humans have the capacity to use parts of their brain in the same way, but few have developed it. 

The first step is opening one's mind to the possibility, then embracing it with a peaceful, accepting attitude. But in order to transfer that into credible fantasy and paranormal fiction, writers must, at the very least suspend disbelief and, at best, understand and accept it themselves.

In addition to mining my experience and harvesting story ideas from dreams, I've applied my research and journalistic skills to writing paranormal romance and urban fantasy. I begin with the facts. Huh? We're talking paranormal, right? 

Herbology, alchemy, astrology, tarot, and divination are as old as history. Prayers and offerings to deities in exchange for favors, intercessions, and miracles are part of most religions, as well as the belief in an all-powerful being or beings that manipulate events.

I value among my friends and clients many witches, energy healers, and spiritualists who have taught me much about their beliefs, and allowed me to experience how rituals (including births conducted in settings where the space is conducive to spiritual and metaphysical connections) generate energy, and how it is channeled to produce the desired effect or outcome.

I've carefully followed the instructions of a santera on the use of teas, banishing and cleansing, potions, offerings of fruit and burning scented candles to heal both physical and emotional distress (much the same way people use aromatherapy and many Catholics light votives and pray to saints). Just last March I learned to perform divination with stones from Sew Magical at Lunacon. I've studied astrology and Tarot with Mary O'Gara. Witchcraft and magic with Rayne Hall and Deborah Blake. Eastern healing traditions and meditation with Nan Gilbert. Yoga with Ronnie.

Natural phenomena, like observing a woodland full of blinking fireflies, gave me pause to consider the possibility that fairies really do exist. I've talked with ghost hunters about their research and practice and learned how to monitor for electromagnetic activity. I've felt them and been amazed (but never frightened) by them.

I approach research for my paranormal fiction as a respectful traveler who wants to enter the culture to best experience it. Showing up with a camera, pad, and pencil will not allow you to obtain the information you need, nor the context required to translate it into a compelling plot with believable characters. If you're going to ask readers for leaps of faith, you'll need to open your mind take a few yourself.

Bright Blessings!

Check out Carole's writing on her Amazon author page  http://www.amazon.com/Carole-Ann-Moleti/e/B007ASNBVK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_2

Follow her on Twitter or Facebook and watch the book trailer for Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft below.

 

If you enjoy Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft, check out other anthologies in the Ten Tales series, including Spells: Ten Tales of Magic featuring my own short story A Magical Melody.

The Anubis Gates: A Review by Ciara Ballintyne

1802 - the Egyptian gods are a diminished force, and the power of magic fades. Sorcerers, wielding magic only at great expense to their own bodies, attempt to restore the potency of their power by bringing the gods, in all their glory, forward in time. Instead, they succeed only in tearing rents in the fabric of time – the Anubis Gates.

Brendan Doyle, a minor American scholar specialising in a little known poet, William Ashbless, is carried from London, 1983, through the gates of time to 1810, ostensibly to serve as a Coleridge expert. The journey is organised by J Cochran Darrow, a wealthy recluse specialising in odd-ball projects, and funded by the ten guests, each of whom has paid a premium for the privilege of witnessing a lecture by Samuel Coleridge in the flesh. 

The plan consists of a straightforward there and back again journey of only a few hours, but it goes awry when Doyle is kidnapped by an Egyptian sorcerer, intent on learning who is using the gates in time, and how. Having missed his ‘return flight’, as it were, Doyle finds himself stranded in 1810 London, penniless and alone.

While not unlikeable, Doyle is stranded, destitute, and terribly desperate – a desperation which drives him to take ill-considered risks and make less-than-intelligent decisions. But it is his very isolation, his very desperation, that draws me to him – can the reader conceive of many worse situations than to be stranded out of time, in a strange culture, with absolutely no means of support?

I have very little concept of what London was like in 1810, but Powers paints a compelling picture with few words, creating less an image of the physical place, than a sense of the people who populate it; the desperation of its denizens, the danger they exude, and the grinding poverty that drives many of them. That sense, that feeling, creates a more visceral setting than any mere description of buildings could do. 

This is not to imply the book lacks description, for Powers describes events, and many settings, with phrases evocative enough to turn me green with envy. 

London is peopled with a host of characters – who can Doyle trust? Who might he rely on in his time of need? Knowing exactly where the poet, William Ashbless, should be, he hopes to appeal to that man’s generosity, but the poet is mysteriously missing. Has Doyle upset the events of history by returning from the future? 

What of the clown, Horrabin, who offers Doyle a job amongst his beggars? His very name hints at horrible unknowns. Is young Jacky more trustworthy? He warns Doyle away from Horrabin, and suggests a place amongst the rival beggar crew. Can Doyle use the Egyptian sorcerers to return to 1983? What does he have to bargain with, except his own life? What of Dog-Face Joe, a rumoured werewolf-type serial killer, to whom Doyle comes perilously close? 

And who, on the streets of 1810 London, is whistling Yesterday by The Beatles?

Events come dangerously to a head when the poet, Ashbless, reappears in a startling and unexpected way, setting Doyle’s feet on a path that takes him even further into the past, and then eventually to Cairo. Events now follow the course of history Doyle is familiar with, and he begins to anticipate what comes, thinking he knows how events will unfold – or does he?

The book careens from one disaster, to another ill-conceived decision, to bizarre and yet wildly appropriate plot twist after plot twist. The foreshadowing is impeccable – the clues are there if you know to look for them, but you won’t, until events come to pass. Instead, each new revelation, each new horror, each new clever outcome, will keep you turning page after page to find the answers until, before you know it, you’ve finished the book. 

If I were to tell you any more, I’d ruin all the surprises, and they are well worth the wait. They are many, and they are varied, and each new discovery delighted me at its appropriateness, at its suitability, at the way in which each of the puzzle pieces fit neatly together – until the picture, of which Doyle only has a vague outline from 20^th century history books, becomes a complete illustration rendered in loving detail. 

I read this book in about two days – it was literally unputdownable. The story is exceptional, and the book well-written. The odd waver in the writing barely caused a hitch in my stride, so desperate was I to resolve each conflict, only to find I had dove headfirst into the next. 

If you didn’t read this book for Club Fantasci, then you must. 5 stars – I give this book 5 stars. Do you know how often I say that? 

Not very often at all. 

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If you missed October's Hangout and the discussion of The Anubis Gates, you can find it here.  Also, don't miss the review of The Anubis Gates by my fellow Club Fantasci co-host, Dionne Lister.


Don't forget to join us next month for Club Fantasci's Hangout. November's Book of the Month is The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice, so the Hangout will be limited to 21+. I expect discussions may get a bit scandalous!

In other news, my short story is now available for purchase as part of the anthology Spells: Ten Tales of Magic, available here at Amazon and Smashwords. 

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to check out my previous posts if you haven't already. If you're finding yourself here often, you might as well join as a member, sign up to the blog through RSS or email, or sign up for the newsletter.

Don't forget to share the love and spread the word on Twitter, Facebook or StumbleUpon (or other social networking site of your choice) if you know other people who might also enjoy this.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting with us.

Author Line-Up for Spells: Ten Tales of Magic Anthology

As announced in my last post, my short story A Magical Melody is appearing in Spells: Ten Tales of Magic, an anthology edited by Rayne Hall, and released 28 October. You can find it on Smashwords and shortly on Amazon.

Being as it's ten tales, there are nine other authors apart from myself.  All of my readers are, of course, well-acquianted with me; opinionated, dragon-obsessed, friendly neighbourhood writing adviser, usually juggling any impossible number of writing projects with an insane number of workshops, and still trying to help out my fellow writers with beta reading and critiques. 

If you'd like to know about the other authors, some of whom have impressive credentials, you can check them out here on the blog of fellow Ten Tales author, Jeff Hargett.

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to check out my previous posts if you haven't already. If you're finding yourself here often, you might as well join as a member, sign up to the blog through RSS or email, or sign up for the newsletter.

Don't forget to share the love and spread the word on Twitter, Facebook or StumbleUpon (or other social networking site of your choice) if you know other people who might also enjoy this.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting with us.

Spells: Ten Tales of Magic

Spells: Ten Tales of Magic is an anthology edited by Rayne Hall, released 28 October - and my short story A Magical Melody is part of the collection!

Some of you may have seen an earlier incarnation of A Magical Melody on my blog as part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge, but Spells: Ten Tales of Magic will feature the revised (and therefore improved) version. The original (first draft) version is no longer available on my blog, pending the release of the anthology. A publication date is not yet confirmed, but is expected to be later in October.

I'm delighted I was asked to submit a revised version of A Magical Melody, and even more pleased to have it accepted. The story did deserve a bit of polish - and in fact, the concept of the world intrigues me enough I'll probably revisit it in future for a novel of its own. 

I've shared the cover here with you, but the official cover reveal was done yesterday on the blog of fellow anthology author, Cherie Reich. You can find the original launch, complete with an interview with the cover artist, here.

You can find the anthology on Smashwords and shortly on Amazon.

In the meantime, another anthology in the series edited by Rayne Hall, Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts is free at Amazon from 23 - 27 October. If you're interested, you can find it here for US Kindle and here for UK Kindle. 

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to check out my previous posts if you haven't already. If you're finding yourself here often, you might as well join as a member, sign up to the blog through RSS or email, or sign up for the newsletter.

Don't forget to share the love and spread the word on Twitter, Facebook or StumbleUpon (or other social networking site of your choice) if you know other people who might also enjoy this.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting with us.