traveling...(like witches through the dark night sky)

I leave for Europe on wednesday and won't be back until the 31st--arriving just in time to feed the witches, goblins, and vampires who come to the door. Lately I've noticed a decided lack of scary and more of a trend toward vegetables, fruits, elves and fairy costumes in the younger set.

The Celts believed that on this day, more than any other, the dead could mingle with the living because Samhainn, pronounced sah-ween, marked their journey to the underworld. Our November 1st was the their New Year, the time of the last harvest and the beginning of the dark days of winter. The calendar of today was only begun in Great Britain in 1751.

It was after the Christian missionaries attempted to change the religious practices of the Celts that Samhainn became Halloween or All Hallows (holy), a day to honor all the Christian saints. With its emphasis on the supernatural, Samhainn was a pagan holiday, frowned on by Christians who dubbed the otherworld, "Hell".

Despite the missionaries, Celtic beliefs continued, leading the  church to call the followers witches, dangerous and malicious. The Old religion was driven underground and its members went into hiding. But these ancient beliefs persist, even growing stronger with the new Druidic orders cropping up around the world. There are many who prefer the old calendar that coincides with the natural rhythms of nature and seasons that come and go.

For more information go to Tairis.co.uk (thank you, Gaelic reconstructionist polytheist)



I'll be traveling with my computer and plan to blog along the way. And I need to keep in touch with Createspace and Kismet Design. Enjoy this month before the start of the dark time, letting your senses take in the new slant of light, the shorter days. Cozy down by a fire with hot chocolate after raking leaves.

giving up and other wise decisions

As I said, I've given up on doing the website myself--for one thing I don't have time since I'm in the final edit of the first book of my trilogy--and...I'm completely incompetent! anything I could manage would look like shit!

If only IWeb was what they say it is, *sigh*--

Yesterday I got the first sample cover design for The Moonstone back from Createspace. I was very pleasantly surprised. With a couple of small changes I think it will work! and they had done a mock-up of the interior and I like that too! Last night I slept better than I have for many days. Now the push to get the book uploaded...I've been editing like mad, hence the lack of sleep, adding details and funny bits. In the past week I've increased my word count by 5000. At 57,000 it just wasn't long enough and I want the spine to be wide enough to include my little Celtic knot icon to go with my publishing name--Airmid Publishing--you know, the healing goddess?

Kismet Design Group will have a detailed calendar for me when the time comes for THE BIG PUSH. What she talked about is completely alien but I will leave it to her and follow whatever she tells me to do. I have discovered that Web Design is expensive. But honestly in the long run I think it will pay off to have a shazam site.

So...for those of you who are having trouble finding an agent and are on the fence, I say take the reins. What do you have to lose? (besides some cash) And for those of you who have published the traditional way, congratulations! I won't even say that I wish that for myself anymore--Of course, who knows what the future holds? Right now I'm just enjoying having control of the process.