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?

Love Stories from Irish Myths Retold in Grá mo Chroí "Love of my Heart" by Ali Isaac and Jane Dougherty

I am so happy to welcome two very special guests to the blog today. Jane Dougherty is one of the most talented writers I know. Her Green Woman trilogy is a vividly written and fantastically dark post-apocalyptic story that breathes old myths to new life. I'm just getting to know Ali through Grá mo Chroí, and love the passion she brings to the retelling of these classic stories. Together, Jane and Ali have written a beautiful collection of love stories that transported me to an Ireland long ago...and yet still alive. And with Valentine's Day approaching, I can't think of anything lovelier to read. So join me in wishing a:

Happy Book Birthday to Ali Isaac and Jane Dougherty with Grá mo Chroí - "Love of my Heart"!

Thank you Susan for letting Ali Isaac and Jane Dougherty (that’s us) use your blog today. On February 11^th, Grá mo Chroí will be released, a joint adventure into the retelling of some of the great love stories from Irish myth.

 Grá mo Chroí

‘Love of my Heart’

Love Stories from Irish Myth

Long ago in a green island surrounded by protective mists, a people lived among the relics of a bygone age of which they knew nothing, not being archaeologists, but around whom they created a mythology. They were a volatile people, easily moved to love or war, and motivated by a strict sense of honour. They had women warriors and handsome lovers, wicked queens and cruel kings, precious heroines and flawed heroes. Magic was in the air, beneath the ground, and in the waves of the sea, and hyperbole was the stuff of stories. They were the Irish, and these are a few retellings of some of their beautiful stories.

Ali Isaac and Jane Dougherty are writers with a shared heritage. Ali has woven that heritage into the fabric of her stories about Conor Kelly and his adventures in the Otherworld. Jane consistently slips references to the old stories and the old heroes into all of her novels.

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.

The Secret Door Through Platform 9 3/4 into a World of Our Dreams

The portal. The secret door. The entry into an unknown and fantastic world. Is there any more cliched trope of fantasy writing no matter how creative the author may get? For L. Frank Baum, a tornado  acts as the portal, transporting Dorothy from her farm in Kansas to the magical world of Oz.  In C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, it was the...well...wardrobe that hid an entrance to Narnia. And as all Potter fans know, it was Platform 9 3/4 that is best remembered as the secret door through which Harry left his Muggle life with the Dursley's to truly enter the magical world (although he'd taken a short dip through The Leaky Cauldron into Diagon Alley).

The Appeal of the Forbidden Secret:

In his book The Writer's Journey, author Christopher Vogler talks about the Law of the Secret Door (p. 112-113) (also related to Carl Jung's "Forbidden Door"). Many myths include a set-up whereby the heroine is told she must never eat from a certain tree, never open a certain box, or never pass through a certain door, upon pain of death. Of course the myths I’m referring to are Eve in the Garden of Eden, Pandora with her box, and Belle in Beauty and the Beast. We all know what happens, what is sure to happen anytime this sort of situation presents itself in a story. If you have children, you probably have this happen quite regularly in your life as well.

The power of curiosity is universal. In the words of the immortal Dumbledore, "Curiosity is not a sin.... But we should exercise caution with our curiosity... yes, indeed" (p. 598, GoF). Whereas later in the series Harry more strongly develops his own driving need to set the world right by stopping Voldemort, in the first three books, curiosity is one of the prime motivators driving on Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Threshold Guardians Challenge the Seeker:

To further drive home the dangerous and important nature of these portals to new worlds or gateways to new challenges, Threshold Guardians are before them to keep the unworthy out. A guardian may be a goodhearted ally of the hero, looking out for his best interest, or he may be an accomplice of the villain, seeking to harm or hinder the hero from completing his quest. Either way, as part of his quest, the hero will be tested by his ability to overcome or win over the many Threshold Guardians he will encounter along the way.

At Platform 9 3/4, it is the guard who, with Muggle ignorance of the wizarding world and his belief that Harry is pranking him, keeps Harry from, initially, finding the hidden door. Harry must not give up, he has to listen for clues and approach the odd family that will provide him entry...the Weasleys.

Why We Can't Let Harry Potter Go

Jane Austen
Margaret Mitchell
JRR Tolkien
George Lucas

How many old stories can you think of that are not only still read, but continue to reside passionately in the heart of its fans? Austen, Mitchell, Tolkien, Lucas are a handful of the rare few who created stories and characters so well loved that people are still passionate about Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, Scarlett and Rhett, Frodo and Sam, and Han and Leia decades and centuries later. While there are numerous works of classic literature deemed worthy enough to be taught in school, only a select few are remembered with passion by dedicated readers well after the last story was told.

With J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, well, it's not been centuries yet, but it has been almost 8 years since the release of Deathly Hallows. And while the fandom has calmed down somewhat since those last frenzied days of July 2007, they have by no means forgotten their Boy Who Lived while pursuing other interests.

Harry Potter Keeps Expanding

Nor have the businesses associated with the Potter empire. Warner Brothers is dropping hints that they are expanding the popular Leavesden Studio attraction of The Making of Harry Potter. Last summer Universal Studios did expand the Magical World of Harry Potter, adding on Diagon Alley. And in November 2016, fans will once again be treated to a movie in the Potter world when the much anticipated Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is released.

Go Where It's Scary -- Into the Abyss of the Hero's Journey

Years ago, whenever I was creatively procrastinating upon a tough job at work, or doing my best to avoid a task that involved conflict, a guy in my office would give me some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten in life: Go where it’s scary.

The only way to work through the problem, to get to the other side, is to face it head-on. Whimping out and avoiding it, as I liked to do, truly didn’t do me any good. It just prolonged the pain.

I’ve always remembered my colleague’s advice, and that phrase, “Go where it’s scary,” comes to mind whenever I find myself dragging toward something I dread but know I must do. This is especially true with my writing. Being the polite Southern girl that I am, I often hesitate to inflict conflict upon my characters, or even worse, have them confront and deal with their innermost pains and fears. In my recent edits on Southern Fried Wiccan, it meant I had to rework a huge section and totally amp the conflict.

As in life, confronting and traveling through our fears is an essential part of being human, it’s even more so with our characters, our heroes. And no part of story construction addresses “go where it’s scary” more directly than the approach to the innermost cave of the Hero’s Journey.

The Hero's Journey

The Hero’s Journey and its Abyss, or Inmost Cave, is a concept described within Joseph Campbell’s groundbreaking The Hero With a Thousand Faces. A comparative mythologist, Campbell studied myths separated by continents, centuries, and cultures and discovered that most shared a basic framework, the hero’s quest, which he broke down into 17 steps. Christopher Vogler, a scriptwriter and film producer, simplified Campbell’s work into 12 steps in The Writer’s Journey, making it more accessible to writers and the film industry. Campbell’s and Vogler’s Journey have been used in storytelling in everything from Star Wars to About a Boy to Harry Potter to insertyourowntitlehere.