A Day with Rebecca, or Let Them Eat Cake!

One of my favorite people came to visit on Saturday. I first met Rebecca Elson through her blog The Magical Buffet and other online venues, and then finally in person when she came to visit me one year at the local Spiritual Arts Fair, which I took part in at the time.

Addendum: Rebecca scolded me for not putting up the picture of Magic the Cat's "Oh, no, it's HER again" face. This is the look Magic gave Rebecca when she walked in the door:

 

Rebecca, me, and author Gail Wood, another one of my favorite people

She lives just far enough away that we don't get to see each other nearly as often as we'd like to, but HURRAH! she came to visit for a few hours on Saturday, and we had a wonderful time together as always.

Mostly we just sat and talked, catching up on life stuff, career stuff, and the rest. But of course, she had to try out the new desk.

 Hey--get your feet off of there!

And I made us one of my signature uber-salads (this one had chicken and corn I'd roasted on the bbq, plus avocado, tomatoes, and lettuce, spinach, and herbs out of the garden) and my new favorite discovery, sparkling pomegranate juice. Firefly fans, please note the cool "Brown Coat" hat she is wearing.

As usual, Rebecca and Magic had a serious discussion about whether or not Rebecca gives cats tidbits off her plate. (Magic is in favor. Rebecca is not. Hence the look.)

We had to have a salad, because afterwards we ate some of this, which Rebecca brought with her from her (and now my) favorite bakery, Dolce & Biscotti in Albany.

 

It is apparently called "Ultimate Chocolate Indulgence Cake" and the name is not an exaggeration. It was fabulous and sweet...just like the company.

Of course, being the silly folks we are, this led to a hearty round of "Cake or Death" jokes. (Eddie Izzard, for the few of you who haven't heard this stuff yet.)

I hope you had fun this weekend too, and that you got to spend at least part of it with someone special. And just a suggestion, but if someone offers you "Cake or death," pick the cake. Just saying.

Feline Friday: The Coming Weekend

How the heck did it get to be Friday? For that matter, how the heck did it get to be July 11th? *blinks*

On the other hand, I have fun plans for this weekend--I'm REALLY looking forward to a visit on Saturday from one of my favorite people, Rebecca Elson of the The Magical Buffet blog, which is less about magic that it is about life. (Although she did just do a review of a book on goddesses that sounded so amazing, I went right out and bought it. Thanks a lot, Rebecca.)

I plan to cook up a simple BBQ for us, and as usual, we will probably just sit around and talk for hours about anything and everything. Rebecca will undoubtedly have her usual argument with Magic the Cat about whether or not cats should be allowed on people's laps at the table. And then, of course, Saturday night is full moon, which I'll be observing by myself because everyone in Blue Moon Circle is off doing something or other.

Then Sunday will be all about catching up with the yard, garden, and writing. Big surprise, right?

So what are you doing this weekend? I suspect that around here, we'll have a lot more of this:

 Reading (That's the new Donna Andrews book, The Good, the Bad, and the Emus)

 Napping (not on Saturday, since Rebecca will be here, but hopefully on Sunday)

 And checking out the new desk

I hope you have plans to do something fun!

Fast and Easy Daily Divination

Lots of people read their horoscope every morning, but for many of us, that is the only bit of “checking in” we do. After all, few people have the time (or inclination) to do a full tarot spread with their morning coffee. And mostly, we don’t need that much detailed information. Luckily, there are lots of fast and easy ways to get a quick hint at what your day holds, or what you need to know to make the most of it.

Years ago, when I was practicing with my first coven, my then-high priestess had us do an interesting experiment. Every day for a month, we pulled one rune stone at the beginning of the day. We wrote down the stone, and any flashes of intuition we got when we looked at it, and then checked in at the end of the day to see if there was, in fact, any relationship between the two. Not surprisingly, there often was.

This also turned out to be a great way of learning the runes themselves. I started out having to look up the meanings of each rune in a book [my favorite is Lisa Peschel’s A Practical Guide to the Runes—it’s old, but it is easy to use and understand], but by the end of the month, I was much more familiar with them. If you’re interested in becoming better acquainted with the stones or any other form of divination, try doing something like this. It’s a fun and practical way to learn. Either pull one out of a bag, if that’s what you store them in, or place them in a small bowl and just close your eyes and grab one.

If rune stones aren’t your thing, you can do this with tarot cards instead. If you’re not used to using the cards, I suggest starting with something basic like the classic Rider-Waite Tarot. That’s the one I started with, lo these many years ago, and I have been reading professionally for ages with this one pack. [It’s a bit battered by now, but it works so well for me, I’m rarely tempted to switch to something else, despite the bevy of beautiful decks out there.] However, there are lots of variations on the tarot card deck, and you can pick whichever one seems to “speak” to you the most loudly.

As with the rune stones, you can start your day by shuffling the deck and picking out a card at random. Sometimes one will even jump out of the deck at you. You can either ask a question (“What does my day hold?” “What do I need to know today?”) or just see what comes up. If you are dealing with something tricky, you can ask a specific question, like “Should I go out on a date with that hunky guy at the office?”

There are plenty of alternatives for those who don’t have or don’t like either rune stones or tarot cards. I have a number of interesting decks that I use for inspiration, answers, or just a way to get in touch with spirit quickly and easily.

One of my favorites, which I’ve used numerous times in ritual with my group Blue Moon Circle, is the Goddess Inspiration Oracle deck, by Kris Waldherr. She’s well known for her beautiful goddess-themed artwork, and this deck is filled with amazing images, as well as lovely descriptions of the 80 goddesses featured on the cards—yet another way to learn while being inspired and guided.

Another one I like is The Gifts of the Goddess: 36 Affirmation Cards by Amy Zerner and Monte Farber.

My current favorite was a Yule gift from my friend Rebecca Elson. She gets to preview lots of great decks for her blog, The Magical Buffet, and she knew I’d love this one when she saw it. The Conscious Spirit Oracle Deck, by Kim Dreyer, has lovely pictures and inspiring affirmations. I’ve taken to pulling one each morning, standing at my altar, and reading it out loud. Then I try to carry its message through the rest of my day. For instance, this morning’s card was number 18: Air Elemental. And the affirmation said, “I embrace the element of air and am open to all knowledge and wisdom.” Isn’t that a great way to start out the day? (Also, I have to do research today, so it makes a certain amount of sense.)

The simplest way to use any of these options is to choose one—runes or tarot or some other form of tapping into intuition—and simply pull one stone or card each morning. Take a minute to focus on it, and you’re done.

If you want to take it a step further, you can keep a couple of different options out where you can access them easily, and pull from whichever one calls to you the most that day. Or do runes one month, and tarot cards another.

To move a little more deeply (and I highly recommend trying this, at least for a month sometime), write down your stone or card, and any thoughts or feelings you have about it, and keep track of them in a small notebook or in your Book of Shadows, if you have one. (If you already journal, you can add this to your daily jottings.) At the end of a day, a week, or a month, take a look back and see if you can make out any patterns that could be helpful.

Asking for guidance and/or inspiration doesn’t have to be complicated or take a lot of time. You certainly don’t have to be an expert card reader to do it. (In fact, many folks like me, who do read professionally, can’t read for themselves at all. Ironic, isn’t it?) You just have to take the same amount of time and effort you would put into reading your daily horoscope. And honestly, this is likely to be a lot more helpful!

New Things for the New Year: Kindles and Cards and Nanos, Oh My

I've started off the new year by getting myself a couple of new pieces of technology that I've been resisting for some time--a Kindle eReader and an iPod Nano. I also have a great new set of Oracle cards, thanks to the lovely Rebecca Elson (who always knows which ones are best, because she reviews them for her fabulous blog The Magical Buffet).

I confess, I'm a bit of a Luddite. I'm not big on gadgets (I still don't know how to text on  my new cheapo cell phone, although in part that's because I can't get reception at my house, so I only use it on rare occasions), although I do have three computers (a desktop and two laptops, one huge old one for editing and the smaller one I'm typing on right now) and a 4 or 5 year old Galaxy tablet (which I got for when I travel, and mostly use to play Words with Friends...).

My old stereo died years ago, and I have mostly been playing music on my computer, since that has the best speakers--Altec Lansing, which I discovered thanks to my father, who is NOT a Luddite--and my portable CD player which is huge, has crappy speakers, and eats D-cell batteries like they were M & M's.

In truth, I don't listen to music a lot in the house, although the car won't move unless there is some kind of tune playing. I blast fun music while cleaning, and I like to have music on outside when I'm gardening, but otherwise, I like the quiet. Still, it was getting frustrating to move to parts of the house where I could barely hear the computer speakers, or drag the portable battery-eater out to the garden. And *any day now* I am going to start going to the gym. So the iPod Nano seemed like a good idea.

Also, my new Honda Fit has a place to plug one in, which seemed like it would be a lot easier than carting tons of CDs around. Ill let you know how it goes, since I'm still figuring out how to download music onto it, and I haven't even tried to play it yet. [See Luddite, above.]

The Kindle came about for two reasons. One, lots of my favorite authors and writer pals are putting out some of their books, novellas especially, only in eBook form, and I was missing out on them. I have a Kindle app on my computer, but I really don't like to read on the computer, since I spend so much time on it anyway, and the laptop is banned from the bedroom. I have downloaded some things onto the tablet, but I never did end up reading them there (among other things, you can only adjust the type to four different sizes, and to change pages you have to swipe the screen with your finger, which eventually aggravates my tendonitis).

The other reason I finally broke down and got the Kindle is because I've been having problems with my eyes for months, which despite all efforts by my wonderful eye doctor (including multiple prescription changes and an attempt with extra reading glasses) has resulted in major eye pain whenever I read or use the computer. [Yeah, I know. That's only about 90% of my day.] I was hoping that being able to adjust the print size would help, and that meant getting some kind of an eReader.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money, since I would still much rather read in paper form, and I wanted something lightweight, for when I was lying in bed. The basic Kindle seemed to fit the bill.

I've only been using it for a week or so, and I have mixed feelings about it. It is definitely pretty easy to use, even for the technologically challenged like me, and I can make the font as large as I want to. But I really don't like the grayish background, which I find difficult to read against at any time, but especially at night in bed. Dammit.

Has anyone else had good experiences with other eReaders they can suggest? I don't particularly want to spend the money on a new tablet, since I only need something to read on.

The last new--thankfully LOW tech--goodie is my Conscious Spirit Oracle Deck, a Yule gift from my pal Rebecca. Written and beautifully illustrated by Kim Dreyer, this deck is one of the coolest ones I've seen. I've been using it as a daily guide of sorts, pulling a card every morning and saying out loud whatever is on it as an affirmation. I also try to be mindful of whatever comes up, as I walk through my day.

For instance, today's card was #24 (Third Eye Chakra), which says: I see the wisdom of my higher self and apply this wisdom to my life. How cool is that? [I liked them so much, I immediately ordered a set as an early birthday present and sent them to my friend Skye.]

I've also been thinking a lot about this blog, and what I want to do with it in the coming year. I've considered making it a bit more personal...obviously, I spend a lot of time talking about writing and magical work, usually in the context of my own life. (And y'all get to hear about fun stuff like rat incursions and kitchen floods.) But I tend to be a fairly private person, so while I often share my life, I don't usually talk much about how I feel, or more personal issues.

And to be honest, I'm not even sure it that is something people would even be interested in reading about. (Seriously--I'm BORING.)

So you tell me: what do YOU want to read about here in the coming year? What are your favorite bits? what do you want more of, or less of? After all, I really write this for you, my readers.

Oh, and before I forget! The new Llewellyn book, The Witch's Broom is ON SALE now, and available for preorder. Once it comes out, it will be $15.99, but Amazon has it priced at $11.99, in case you want to get your copy ordered now. *happy author dance*

Guest Post at The Magical Buffet

Magic the Cat and I are given 10 questions to answer at one of my favorite blogs, The Magical Buffet.

Go check it out, and tell Magic you said hi!

The Magical Buffet

An Interview with Magic the Cat

My co-author, the fabulous Magic the Cat, has finally gotten her own interview over at The Magical Buffet. (Seriously, they asked to interview HER, not me!0

Check it out, and see why, yes, she IS the boss of me.

http://themagicalbuffet.com/blog1/2011/08/15/10-questions-with-magic-the-cat/

A Visit from the Magical Buffet!

One of the side benefits of being an author is that I have made a lot of great friends along the way. One of my favorite pals is Rebecca Elson from The Magical Buffet (www.themagicalbuffet.com )-- Rebecca is a blogger and a reader and a tireless cheerleader for all things me, bless her little heart.

And she lives about an hour and a half from me, so every once in a while we actually get to see each other in person, rather than communicating via email and FB. Yesterday she drove up here so I could do some energy healing work on her, and she brought me yummy lunch from Panera Bread. You can see her here, being ogled by Magic the Cat, who clearly thought there should have been a third sandwich.



Then she interviewed Magic about the upcoming book. It was quite a conversation. I could barely get a word in.



All in all, it was a lovely visit. Be sure to wander over to The Magical Buffet, where Rebecca talks intelligently about a variety of subjects, and go follow her on Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to tell her that Magic the Cat sent you!

The Magical Buffet meets Deadtown author Nancy Holzner

One of my favorite blogs to visit is The Magical Buffet. Blogger Rebecca Elson is interested in lots of things, from Paganism (which is how I got met her), to ghost hunting, to Buddhism, to reading...just about everything. Her blog is always interesting and never predictable, which is one of the things I love about it.

Today's blog post is extra interesting to me, because it is a guest post by author Nancy Holzner. Nancy wrote a wonderful and original urban fantasy called DEADTOWN (which you should run right out and buy, if you haven't read it yet). I'll let you go to The Magical Buffet and read all about it, in Nancy's own words.

http://themagicalbuffet.com/blog1/2010/10/21/the-origin-of-deadtown/

What--you're still here? GO! Go read!

A Magical Buffet of Authors--The signing event

The booksigning at the Saratoga Barnes & Noble went quite well, all things considered. There were five other great authors, and me, of course. And the wonderful Rebecca Elson, of The Magical Buffet blog, who brought us all together. (Not to mention her uber-patient husband, Jim.)

My pal Bobbie, one of the Blue Mooners, and I left my house around 10 AM and got to Saratoga at 12. She took off to visit a friend for a while and I met up with author pal Gail Wood (3rd from left, in the multi-author pic, Rebecca is the one kneeling and holding my book!), Rebecca and her hubby, and we all had lunch at Panera Bread. Yum.

Then we went back to the B &N where I spent much too much money on books. Big surprise there. But in tiny Oneonta, we only have a mini-Borders and a small Indy bookstore, so being let loose in a large bookstore is always a big treat.

The signing went from 2-6, with each author having a half hour to talk. I signed and sold a bunch of books and my "chat" went well, with lots of laughter and questions. [Okay, some of the laughter was because my sister Sarah and niece Addy were there, and in true sisterly fashion, Sarah kept asking embarassing questions...thanks so much, S'ra!]

It was great to see everyone, and I got to meet a Twitter friend, a Facebook friend, and one of the "Betties" from Lucy March's blog where I spend so much of my time these days. And I had a few fans come up and tell me how much they loved my books and give me big hugs. Always nice to be appreciated.

All in all, a great day. Thanks to Rebecca, for putting this together, and to all the folks who came out to see me. This is what makes the working of writing worthwhile.

Save the Date! September 11th in Saratoga

Hi All!

If you live anywhere near Saratoga, NY...

I hope you will join me and six other spiritual/Pagan/paranormal Nonfiction authors at the Magical Buffet of Authors event at the Saratoga Barnes and Noble on Saturday, September 11th from 2-6.

Here is the link to the B&N site with specifics http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/3044002

This event is the brainchild of fabu blogger, Rebecca Elson of The Magical Buffet (if you have never checked out her blog, by golly, you should! http://www.themagicalbuffet.com/ )

The other authors include Ellen Evert Hopman, Gordie Little, Lama Willa Miller, David Pitkin, Maria Kay Simms, and my pal Gail Wood (who some of you might remember from The Spiritual Arts Fair here in Oneonta).

I hope to see some of you there!

Interview and Review

I had a rough night last night, but this morning made up for it in spades. When I went online, I found a great review of my newest book that I wasn't expecting, and there is an interview with me up at The Wiccan/Pagan Times. Go check 'em out, and if you'd like to come back here and comment (and leave comments there, so I don't look pitiful and friendless), I'd really appreciate it!

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday (or whatever day it is where you are).

Deborah
(you may have to copy and paste the links, since I can't seem to make the insert links command work)

http://www.twpt.com/everydaywitchblakespotlight.htm

http://themagicalbuffet.com/blog1/2010/07/11/the-deborah-blake-bias-a-book-review/

A Magical Buffet of Authors

If you live within driving distance of Saratoga, NY or will be there on September 11th, you will want to check this out!

http://themagicalbuffet.com/blog1/2010/05/18/a-magical-buffet-of-authors/

I'll be there :-)

Hope you will be, too.

Fabulous First Friday and the Spiritual Arts Fair

I have been putting a lot of time and energy lately into being on the committee for a new venture in Oneonta: Fabulous First Fridays. The idea here (which has been done very succesfully elsewhere) is to have a number of arts and culture related events on the first Friday of every month to draw people downtown.

The kick-off date was last Friday, May 7th, and it went pretty well. The Artisans' Guild (the shop I run and have my jewelry at) held a "Meet the New Artists" reception, featuring the seven artists and craftspeople who had joined the shop in the last year. Here's a pic of me chatting with a few of the other artist-members of The Guild.



The next day, Saturday the 8th, was the 6th annual Spiritual Arts Fair, held at the local UU Church. I took a bunch of books to sign, and did mini-tarot readings all day long. That's a fun activity--but a lot more draining than you might think, especially when you run into a streak of people with real issues, as I did this year. Still, at least I could help.

The highpoint of the day for me was getting to hang out with Pagan author pal Gail Wood [check out her books, if you haven't already and you're interested in Witchcraft--they're wonderful!] and blogger Rebecca Elson from the Magical Buffet http://www.themagicalbuffet.com/. Both ladies live just far enough away that I only get to see them on rare occasions. So this was a real treat.



That's Rebecca on my left, and Gail on my right. The next time we'll be together will be at major multi-author booksigning event that Rebecca is putting together for the Barnes and Noble in Saratoga, on September 11th. I can't wait!

Of course, the downside of all this activity was that it seriously cut into my writing time.

Twitch, twitch.

Luckily, I made up for it with an unusually productive burst on Sunday, ending up with 5K words by the time the day was over. That's possibly a personal best for me (I usually average 1,500-2,000 words in a day). This puts me well over the 2/3rd mark on the manuscript at 68,500 words. I'm aiming for about 88K, which should take me about 2 weeks to hit, if all goes well.

I'll keep you posted!