Southern Fried Wiccan Release Day with Giveaway, Plus Interview with Editor Mary Waibel

Release day is finally here! Southern Fried Wiccan is live today!

Southern Fried Wiccan by S.P. Sipal

Many moons ago, when I first got the offer from BookFish Books, I was thrilled.  Finally, this story I had worked so long and so hard on would be shared with the readers I'd written it for. I didn't quite realize how much more long and hard work I had ahead of me.

But Mary Waibel, as my content editor, and Ellie Sipila, as my line and copy editor, made that work a fun and learning experience. I'm so thrilled that Mary is celebrating with me today by sharing her experience not only as an editor, but a writer as well.

Presenting Workshop on Harry Potter for Writers and Upcoming Blog Tours

It's finally here! The release month for Southern Fried Wiccan!!! And with the March 24 release comes a lot of activity.

Workshop on Harry Potter for Writers at SavvyAuthors:

First off (and this was actually set before my release date for SFW) -- I will be presenting my Harry Potter for Writers workshop for SavvyAuthors from March 16 - April 12. Here's a brief description:

Using Ms Rowling's phenomenally popular series as a base, we will delve below the surface of her prose to determine what made her writing so magical for so many. Learn about giving the reader more, the value of subtext, using mythic themes and structure to advantage, plotting a trail-of-clues mystery, and the business of self promotion.

Check this link for more detailed information and to sign up. This workshop is always a lot of fun, and I do my best to incorporate new aspects that are of interest to the participants.

Withholding Backstory to Ensnare Readers' Interest with Examples from Harry Potter

I once heard literary agent Donald Maass give a workshop on his Writing the Breakout Novel. One thing he said I will always remember -- backstory is called backstory because it belongs in the back of the story.

Too many beginning writers make one big mistake -- loading their first scene, first chapter, first quarter of the book with way too much backstory. They feel that the reader won't understand their protagonist, their plot, their world, unless they TELL ALL upfront. However, this usually deadens the forward movement, the energy of the story, and leaves the reader without any urgent mystery to propel them onward.

One of the most important mysteries you should be pushing your reader to discover is the compelling backstory you’ve withheld. Think about JKR. Her masterful withholding of backstory is the energy that thrust the reader not only through the first book, but the next several to come as well.

Take a look at these key Harry Potter series mysteries, based on backstory, that readers were dying to know:

• What actually happened in Godric's Hollow?
• Which side was Snape truly on?
• Why did Voldemort want to kill a one-year-old baby ?
• What did Dumbledore see in the Mirror of Erised?

The Symbolism behind the Ancient Magic of the Cauldron

In my area of the South, no proper family reunion would be held without Brunswick stew. And, as everyone knows, a proper Brunswick stew is prepared in a cast iron pot over an outside fire. The stew needs that smoky flavor to attain its true heights of deliciosity. Yum!

I've been thinking about these cast iron pots since I incorporated one into a key scene in Southern Fried Wiccan. There's magic long associated with this old, simple cooking implement, and I began to wonder why.

Humans have always eaten, but only in the last million years or so have we transformed our food from its natural, raw state by the aid of fire. Some scientist credit this new cooking technology with the rapid expansion of the Homo brain into the modern humans we now are.

from spicycinderella.wordpress

Imagine for a moment that you are living in days long ago, before electricity, before solidly constructed homes and a reliable heat source. How amazing would the warmth and protection that a fire offers feel to you? Then to add to this magic, the transformation that occurs when tough, bloody meat is roasted over the crackling flames to bring out the tender, savory goodness. Or later, when technology had progressed enough to put a vessel atop those flames - a pot (of leather or baked clay initially) of hot liquid giving new life to leftover bones and discarded scraps of plants. Surely this was magic.

Gundestrup cauldron, from Denmark

Is it any wonder, then, that one of the most ancient, most universal symbols of magic is the cauldron over a fire? This simple, common pot that has nourished people for millennia? Long considered the domain of women and the goddess, the spiritual aspect of food transformation has been associated with Hestia as the hearth goddess of ancient Greece, to the Celtic Ceridwen and her cauldron, to Kamuy Fuchi the Japanese goddess of the hearth and gatekeeper to the other realm. In the mystical beliefs of Islamic Sufis, only those who attained spiritual enlightenment were fully "cooked."

In Southern Fried Wiccan, I employed the symbolism of this cooking vessel by two women who each use it to perform their own brand of magic. Mother Faith, the Wiccan priestess, uses a small altar cauldron to help her young witches focus their minds and energy on what it is they truly want to achieve, whereas G-ma, the protagonist's grandmother, uses the food and drinks she lovingly prepares to heal and strengthen all those she comes in contact with.

In modern times, women have fought to free themselves from the enforced bonds of hearth and home. Which, as someone who knows full well how time-consuming proper food preparation is, I 100% agree with. But I also believe it important to understand and embrace the original associations of this ancient symbol...for ALL sexes. The cauldron and the fire were born from the awe of those who wielded the magical abilities to transform one substance into something new and delicious. It's a symbol of power and knowledge.

Southern Fried Wiccan Cover Reveal!

The day is finally here! The day I get to reveal to you the awesome cover for Southern Fried Wiccan, which releases March 24. The lovely team at BookFish Books and Anita Carroll have done an incredible job creating a look that perfectly conjures my heroine, Cilla Swaney, during one very memorable, and eventful, scene from the book.

I'll be sharing a few teasers from the story in the weeks to come, but for now here's the blurb. And....(sound of cracking thunder and cackling witches as drums roll)...here's the cover!

Click cover for Goodreads

In honor of my new cover, I've redone the design of my blog and website a bit. How do you like it? And would LOVE to know what you think of my cover!

Thank you to the following bloggers for being a part of the cover reveal tour!

• Kai Strand 
• Erin Rhew
• Trisha Leaver
• Jane Dougherty
• Little Bit of R&R
• Melissa Petreshock
• Ashley at Parsimonious Pash
• Deek Rhew
• S. Usher Evans
• Teenage Book Reviewer
• Jen's All About Books

Thank you all!

Be sure to check Southern Fried Wiccan out on Goodreads!

The Snake and the Wand -- Are They Related?

Can you think of a more cliched article of fantasy writing than the wand?  What witch, warlock, mage, or sorcerer would not be properly attired without the final touch of this powerful weapon, whether it be a traditional stick of wood or a staff of power...or perhaps even a light saber. 

I've been fascinated recently with the wand and its origins. While some people believe the origins of the wand lie in a symbolic representation of masculine power, a phallic symbol, I've been pondering another source. This is the result of the major edits I just finished with Southern Fried Wiccan, which is releasing in March. One of the things I had to work on to get just right was my description of an ancient goddess who gets some screen time on the page (in her mini-sculpture form).

The Snake Goddess of Crete (from ~1600 BCE) is an awesome example of the power of the goddess in antiquity. Not only is she holding two snakes, but she holds them upright, in a display of power, with her breasts -- her female reproductive and nurturing power -- fully bare. She is not a goddess to mess with.

But it is the way she holds the snakes that got me thinking about other early examples of snakes used as rods of power and their origin.

Look at this example of a couple of royal serpents on a staff carried by Thoth, the ancient Egyptian god of knowledge and writing (yes!).

Or this one of a pine cone staff associated with the Egyptian god, Osiris, god of the dead.

There were many examples of snakes wrapped around sticks from ancient Babylonia and Egypt which eventually made their way into the representation of the caduceus of Hermes.

Other examples:

• the snake on the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden (admittedly, a rather large staff)
• the staff of Moses and the pharaoh's magicians, which turn to serpents as an example of their power
• the Babylonian god Ningizzida represented by two snakes entwined around a staff

Many of these symbols were not only associated with power, but with medicine and healing as well Handling snakes has long been a dangerous, but in many areas of the world, a necessary occupation. The snake handlers of India are still called upon in rural villages to remove venomous vipers from people's home. Even today in Appalachia, the tradition of snake handling is still practiced in some churches. Those who fear the snake (me!) look with awe on anyone who is fearless enough to engage them with their bare hands.

We know that snake worship was practiced in many ancient societies, and most believe it was due to the snake's symbolic nature of death and renewal through the shedding of its skin, plus it's representation with the underworld as it lives underground. But from a real practical viewpoint, I wonder -- did the wand originate from snake handling? Is that why so many of the earliest depictions of wands and royal staffs frequently incorporate a serpent image as well?  Perhaps people, even in ancient times, who wanted to adopt the power of the snake charmer without...you know...actually touching a snake, picked up a stick and magically assumed its power.

What do you think?