The Mystical Emporium
Home to all thing magical in the life of Marie-Claude Bourque, author of mystical romance and fantasy
ANCIENT WHISPERS
AMERICAN TITLE V WINNER
"Infinitally romantic and creative"
RT BOOKreviews
Dorchester ~ Love Spell
ISBN: 978-0-505-52833-9
Available Now
- Bushwhacking, Booze, and Nothing to Lose September 2, 2010Song of the day: Nothing to Lose by Operator Okay, tell me the truth. Do you ever have a moment where you just stop and wonder why it is that you write? Why do you subject yourself to torturous, lonely hours of work, real work, on a book where often there seems so little reward? [...] […]jbrayweber
- A Behind the Scenes Look at the Bustle September 2, 2010Okay, so it’s a horrible pun. But really, if you’re looking at the historical development over time of the bustle, could you resist? The fact remains that one of the classic elements of refined lady steampunk wear is the bustle. But what people seem to forget is that the bustle wasn’t always part of Victorian [...] […]bluemooncomm
Archive for the ‘A Writing Life’ Category
Tarot Inspiration: The Lovers
I though I’d share with you the one Tarot deck I own and love. I am new to Tarot reading and picked this one “The Mystic Dreamer Tarot” just because I love the artwork. As I became more and more into reading (A simple one card draw and following meditation), I realized that this deck made a strong connection with me. I was glad when I read that my Tarot expert friend Arwen gave this deck a high review.
I chose here to show the interpretation of the artist as opposed to the explanation on the actual Lewellyn deck which I like a lot as well.
The Lovers
symbolisme : men and women, 2 trees one with 12 flames representing the 12 signs of the zodiac and the other the tree of knowledge, guardian angel ( changed it into a face in the moon)
the men represents the consious mind, and the women the subconscious mind. guardian angel represents the higher self in ourselves
the lovers means a choise we will have to make, a choise between “following your heart” and “and what make sense” The Lovers remind us that we cannot attain our full potential with our conscious, rational mind alone. We must marry it to our subconscious, representing our emotions and intuition.
SONG OF THE DAY: Die Another Day by Madonna
STATUS: wrote 27 pages on Steam Witch last week! Quite a productive week! Off to my summer holiday this afternoon!
Witches: The Nature of Our Ways
Here is a nice little text from the late Scott Cunningham from his Standing Stones Book of Shadows. I really like to read and reread this.
THE NATURE OF OUR WAY
* As often as possible, hold the rites in forests, by the
seashore, on deserted mountaintops or near tranquil lakes. If this is
impossible, a garden or some chamber shall suffice, if it is readied
with fumes of flowers.
*Seek outwisdom inbooks, rare manuscriptsand crypticpoems if
you will, but seek it out also in simple stones and fragile herbs and
in the cries of wild birds. Listen to the whisperings of the wind and
the roar of water if you would discover magick, for it is here that
the old secrets are preserved.
* Books contain words;trees contain energies andwisdom books
ne’er dreamt of.
* Ever remember that the Old Ways are constantly revealing
themselves. Therefore be as the river willow that bends and sways
with the wind. That which remains changeless shall outlive its
spirit, but that which evolves and grows will shine for centuries.
* Therecan be no monopolyon wisdom. Thereforeshare what you
will of our ways with others who seek them, but hide mystic lore from
the eyes of those who would destroy, for to do otherwise increases
their destruction.
* Mock not the rituals or spells of another, for who can say
yours are greater in power or wisdom?
*Ensure that your actions are honorable, for all that you do
shall return to you three-fold, good or bane.
* Be waryof one who would dominate you,who would control and
manipulate your workings and reverences. True reverence for the
Goddess and God occurs within. Look with suspicion on any who would
twist worship from you for their own gain and glory, but welcome those
priestesses and priests who are suffused with love.
* Honorall living things,for we are ofthe bird, thefish, the
bee. Destroy not life save it be to preserve your own.
* And this is the nature of our way.
excerpted from:
WICCA A Guide For The Solitary Practioner
PP. 111 – 187
1989, Llewellyn Publications
ISBN 0-87542-118-0
SONG OF THE DAY: All The Right Moves by OneRepublic
STATUS: Lots done today including 1200 words added to Steam Witches and the backstory of another character: fallen Victorian lady Lady Clara Lowell
Spell Inspiration: Sectumsempra
I watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with the kids yesterday and we couldn’t remember what this spell did.
It didn’t take long to see it in action.
Sectumsempra:
(from wiki)
Description: A dark spell that creates large, blood-oozing gashes on the subject as if said subject had been “slashed by a sword”. Invented by Severus Snape.
Seen/Mentioned: Used by Harry in 1997 against Draco Malfoy, and then later against both the Inferi in Lord Voldemort’s Horcrux chamber, and Snape used it against George Weasley (was unintentional; aimed for a Death Eater that tried to curse Lupin) in the Order’s flight from Privet Drive. Harry learned it in Snape’s old Potions textbook. In 1998, the spell is said to be Severus Snape’s “signature” spell.
Etymology: Latin sectum, “cut”, and semper, “always”.
Notes: The spell can apparently be used against any object, but was not effective when used against Inferi because they could not bleed. The movement of the wand seems to affect how someone is cut, suggested by the erratic patterns of slashes left on Draco Malfoy’s face and chest, produced by Harry Potter’s wild wand-swings while using the spell against Draco. Wounds caused by this spell can be healed as proved by Severus Snape who after Harry hit Draco Malfoy with this spell he healed Draco’s wounds and told him to go and get treated with dittany at once so that he would even avoid any sign of any wound. However it seems that it depends on the caster’s magical abilities because Molly Weasley could not heal and restore George Weasley’s ear that was cursed off by this spell.
“Blood spurted from Malfoy’s face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backward and collapsed onto the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand. “No —” gasped Harry. Slipping and staggering, Harry got to his feet and plunged toward Malfoy, whose face was now shining scarlet, his white hands scrabbling at his blood-soaked chest.“
Song of the Day: Hello Seattle by Owl City
Status: Learnd great time management tricks from Kerri Nelson in her Celtic Heart-RWA online class. Had a chance to write a few pages on my heroine’s journal. Maybe her backstory, her past.
Spell Inspiration: Bending Lightning
My kids are really into Avatar: The Last Airbender and they told me about lightning bending yesterday, where a really high level Firebender could channel lighting through his body. The hard part, the kids told me, was to channel the lighting while avoiding the heart. Very difficult.
I though that was a pretty clever spell so here is more:
Bending Ligthing:
(From wiki)
Also known as “the cold-blooded fire”, certain powerful Firebenders are able to generate and manipulate lightning. Lightning is considered the most powerful Firebending technique, and the use of lightning is available only to a select few Firebending prodigies and masters.
Lightning generation:
Lightning generation is the ability to generate and direct lightning. It requires a complete absence of emotion and peace of mind. Only three Firebenders in the series have shown the ability to use it: Azula, Iroh and Fire Lord Ozai.
Lightning redirection:
Iroh, in a technique developed after observing the energy re-directing techniques of Waterbending, is able to redirect the course of lightning strikes by absorbing it through one arm, guiding it through his stomach, and out his other arm. Only he, Aang, and Zuko have shown the ability to redirect lightning.
Iroh is the only known Firebender to perform both techniques.
——-
Song of the Day: Fireflies by Owl City
Status: Still doing a lot of writing planning and regular life planning. I’ve done a lot of brainstorming again to get deeper into my characters, their conflict. I’ve taken the good old Dond Maass workbook to test my conflict and characters. They do need work!
Remember this now…
A image of Quan Yin to remember to breathe and find joy in the moment.
1) Song of the day: Cherry Bomb by Joan Jett
2) Status: Another day of not being able to write and too much obsessing searching the web for solution to things I can’t change. Writing is indeed not for sissies.
Mothers, Buddhism and Writers
I stumbled on a new book at the library this week-end on Mothers and Buddhism called: Buddhism for Mothers of Schoolchildren: Finding Calm in the Chaos of the School Years and read it pretty much in a whole day.
It was quite a good book, plus it had the added bonus of a list of the 14 precepts taught by Thich Nhat Hanh who has been a great inpiration to me since I discovered him in my twenty.
The writer, Sarah Napthali, had some great points on mindfulness and on how we process our thoughs daily to add even more stress. She talks about the double arrow, where we may encounter a small kid’s crisis (say they refuse to go to bed-first arrow) but then we add to the stress in our mind by assuming that this is aweful, happens every night (not always true) and will happens every night for the rest of our life (second arrow). Our mind, if we do not pay attention, basically causes this huge feedback loop which increase our stress tremendously.
She also talks about a phenomenon that happens when mothers (or dads) starts to interact with other parents at school, a phenomenon that I found very timely for writers trying to promote. Most people have this tendancy to “want to be seen” i.e. the need to be told that we exist, say for a mother to be acknowledged by other mothers at the playground. For writers, that is obviously the case since we want to be read and need the approval of readers.
As the same time, most people also need to be left alone and do their own thing without having to deal with the constant onslaught of other parents wanting a chat. In writing, we have the same duality. We often want to break away from the constant chatter of the internet, Twitter and Facebook to write our book.
Imagine freeing ourselves from this desire to be seen, no more checking our Amazon ranking and Goodreads, no more sleepless nights over bad critiques and contests scores, not more worries about reviews and no more doubting ourselves from rejections. Just simple acceptance and a desire to do our best, to write for the love of the process.
The key is to acknowledge our feelings, our thought (hey, I’m sad, I’m upset, I’m crushed) then stop dwelling on them and move on.
Not a bad idea! Worth a try in any case!
Writing Magic…
I’ve been thinking a lot about my writing lately and after reading many books and reading various blog post, I do know I have to focus on one thing and write it well…
But oh..sigh… what is that? Romance? Sexy? Fantasy? I have so many interests. But that is when it hit me. I always write about magic. I love it, loved reading the fantasy with Wizards of D&D, loved Harry Potter, can’t get enough of all the magic movies I watch with the kids and of course, my latest find Jim Butcher.
This is not the Bewitched kind of magic that I write, but a dark, fantasy like magic set either in modern time or like my new project in a Steampunk world.
So here I have it, my unifying writing theme, magic and the mystical.
Which explains yet the change in blog theme, and the new layout. Hopefully, I can focus this blog a little better by talking about what I am so passionate about.
And what a great time to change then when everyone is gone to the RWA conference. The silence is helping me think about these things while I am working hard on the steampunk novel and brainstorming a new Ancient story.
Blessings!
Doubts, doubts, doubts…
1) It amazes me how much better I feel after I wrote my scene of the day. I try to do it early. If I don’t, I try to squeeze it in when my boys are busy as I did today.
If I don’t make it I feel awful for the day.
When I don’t, truly, it’s usually because I question the usefulness of this. Here’s a secret, having published one novel doesn’t make you more confident.
You still question if this is the best use of your time, still wonder if you have the right to do this, take that time just for you. It’s particularly difficult when you also face the disbelief of those nearest you.
But the truth is, once you get pass this notion that your writing should be a money making affair, the doubts evaporates. Why not write? Just because it makes you happy? Great if it sells! If not, it’s still a great time and it does keep you sane!
2) Currently listening to Drive by Incubus
3) Just finished Much Ado about You by Eloisa James. I think her Essex sister series is my favorite so far.
More seduction, more hero/heroine scenes… I’m learning.
4) I’m preparing a small workshop at Romance Diva with the Lolitas of Steamed! for next week.We’re just taking about Steampunk. What it is to each of us, then giving our favorite reading list. Should be fun!
Just watched…
… Percy Jackson.
I’m doing a sort of marathon of kids/youth movies these days and we just saw that one last night.
Now I probably couldn’t do better, and the boys loved it, but it seems everything was wrong with this movie.
I heard such good things about the book, that I now have to rush to read it to see if it’s the whole story that’s wrong or the screenwriting.
Now the special effects were great and there were a couple of moments when Percy control water that gave me a little tingles but this is a movie that could have made me weep in so many places, ans it utterly failed.
First the mom was a wimp. The ugly guy they gave her was just impossible to believe (she was much too cute) and she was so weak I didn’t care much about her. Yet the whole plot revolves around Percy saving his mom.
When after a bunch of unbelievable actions, Percy finds himself a Demi-god, surrounded by weird strangers, thinking his mom dead and he just shrug “whatever… kind of cool”
Totally unbelievable.
Then just like that, with very little struggle he touches water and can defeat a whole group of trained soldiers (and the cute girl) He hasn’t suffered one bit yet. It’s just not hard enough! He can’t get the big gift yet.
So I need to read the book because I’m convinced the book is great! It has to be!
It’s quite fun to watch and study plot that way. Toy Story 3 had the perfect plot. All the elements were there, everything we want from the Barbie Ken show down, to “how on earth can they survive this” and the “super perfect happy ending” yes I cried at Toy Story 3. But Percy Jackson… Ick!
As I’m writing my own, struggling to remember what I’m actually writing about, I see these movies and tell myself: the characters have to suffer more, they need to be much stronger, memorable, all of them. Things have to be more difficult so that the reward is more heartfelt at the end.
Grit grit grit, and heart, that’s what makes a good story.
Ideal reader…where are you?
Stephen King talks about writing with his ideal reader in mind. I think it’s his wife.
At first when I started writing, I wrote for myself, with a look over my shoulder in fear of anyone finding out what I did. (What? She wants to write novels? Who does she think she is?)
Then at the online critique group, the same 3 people started reading and commenting on my work: John, Candi and Jenn. My ideal readers. From then on, I wrote thinking of what they would say of the latest new twist. It was a whole lot of fun. “Let’s up the action for John!” “I wonder what the girls will think of this sex scene”
Now after all the reviews, I’ve lost thinking of my ideal readers. All I’m hearing in my head is critiques. Argh!
It’s sucky, as my boys would say, because i’m finding myself playing it safe. And I don’t want that. When I wrote things in Whispers that I felt were unsafe at the time, now as I see them again, they feel fresh and just right.
I’m afraid the current WIP may be quite bland. I got too many naysayers in my head. As if I’m writing a scientific article not a wild steampunk ride.
I’m not blogging about this to complain. I’m just learning here. Publishing a first book, receiving feedback from readers and reviewers, worrying about the next books, it’s all so new.
It’s a learning curve. With everything new you do, you learn. I’m stepping back now and observing, taking notes. I see where my time is well spent, where it’s not so much.
In this case, I see that in my head I’ve lost my trusted ideal readers and replaced them with too many outside voices. I need the small circle first. The one that allows me to write wild things, take me and the story out of my comfort zone.
I’m about to write an action scene now… I better pack it in to make John go “wow”!
