Nanowrimo and Halloween

Nanowrimo is nearly upon us! For those of you who've been thinking about writing a story but haven't gotten to it yet, this is for you. It is also for those who have begun a story and stuck it in a drawer somewhere--bring that sucker out and finish it! And for those who doubt yourselves and don't believe it's possible to write a 50,000 word book in a month, get to work!

You don't even have to join to participate, just do the daily word count! And don't edit! Editing is for later when the month is over.

If you've been reading my last few posts you'll know that I've been doing writing prompts by way of pictures. I have two for you today and they fit with Halloween. One is a sentence, the other is a picture --combine or not, this is your chice. Write on!


If I had only known before I walked through that door. But once my feet had crossed the threshold...

Once my feet had crossed the threshold it was as though something alien had taken hold of my psyche. I couldn't explain it even it I wanted to, that sensation of losing myself. I couldn't think, couldn't do anything but follow the hallway toward the stairs that looked too rickety to hold me. But despite my practical mind screaming NO! I was climbing upward toward a blackness that seemed too dense to be
merely an absence of light. My mind screamed at me to turn around and go back, but my feet kept moving upward, upward until I was inside that darkness, my mind going blank as I was taken beyond what my brain could process--lost in a place that could not exist.

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.