I'm a Cover Model--This Month!

As some of you know, I am actually on the cover of the next Witches & Pagans Magazine, and the lovely C.S. MacCath does an in-depth interview with me inside. The magazine has just gone to print! And there is a 72 hour special advance-buy price, if any of you are interested in getting a copy.

(Mom, I'm looking at you.)

ORDER A COPY

Gee, that woman sure looks familiar....

Here's the summary, snitched from the newsletter (but really, it is all about me, I'm sure you agree). Let me know if you're going to be getting a copy. I'll probably do some kind of W&P giveaway...

The new Witches&Pagans magazine issue
“Wicca & Witchcraft” is at press.

Order in the next 72 hours, you can get this issue at a special introductory price of $6.45!

A short descripition:

Meet Magickal Witches: Two charismatic ladies light up this special issue concentrating on Witchcraft and Wicca. In “Craft of the Wise” we meet a reigning Queen of Gardnerian Witchcraft, the distinguished Wiccan elder Patricia Crowther. Ms. Crowther has been part of the Craft for over fifty years, and in this conversation with Michael Night Sky, she remembers back to the days of Gerald Gardner when Wicca was new and shares her observations on the state of witchcraft today.

Deborah Blake specializes in teaching her readers how to bring magick to everyday life. In this interview, "(Not Just) Your Everyday Witch" we sit down with the charming and vivacious author of seven books on practical magick to find out how she keeps her own world magickal. (Spoiler: she's got a black cat named "Magic" who helps out quite a bit.) Find out what makes Deborah tick — and what new projects are in the works for her — in this exclusive interview by C.S. MacCath.

Chase Down the Great Beast — in London? Nomadic magickal travel writer and explorer Natalie Zaman recently crossed the Atlantic to hunt for traces of the mysterious magician Aleister Crowley. Follow her as she day-trips around London on the trail of the Golden Dawn and find out what she uncovered in "Wandering Witch Goes to London."

Explore the Heart of Wicca and Witchcraft: What is the one piece of liturgy that most Wiccans share? The answer is the “Charge of the Goddess.” Sable Aradia parses the poem for the deeper meanings that illuminate the heart of Wiccan theology. Is Wicca an ancient tradition, or a new religion? Ivo Dominguez, Jr. helps untangle the ways in which the history of Wicca reveals the heart of this magickal path. Mike Howard discusses the roots of traditional British sorcery in “Witchcraft before Wicca.”

The Culture of the Craft: Catt Foy investigates what’s actually in that Witches’ cauldren in Shakespeare’s MacBeth.
What’s in your Spellbook? Cory Thomas Hutcheson uncover the secret depths of the magician’s book of wisdom.

PLUS: Our columnists speak out: Raven Grimassi extols the value of unwritten tradition; Archer shares the lore of magical elixirs ; HecateDemeter incites us to consider the radical acts of witchcraft while Ashleen O'Gaea introduces us to her tradition: Adventure Wicca. Jason Mankey claims the title of “Witch;” John Michael Greer challenges us to embrace a Pagan view of time; and Fritz Muntean excoriates mythical origin stories. Plus two new columnists: Diotima Martinea introduces a new column on Pagan astrology; and rabble-rousing activist H. Byron Ballard introduces us to her flavor of down-home Southern witchcraft. Plus letters, reviews, Pagan poetry and lots more! 88 pages, published in December, 2014.

I'm a Cover Model! (For Witches & Pagans Magazine)

Whoo hoo! I can finally share some great news I've been sitting on for a while. (It's a little squished, but still fun.) I'm going to be a cover model!

No, not on the cover of one of my books (although there are folks who think that the picture of Barbara Yager, my first Baba Yaga, looks a bit like me on the cover of Wickedly Dangerous -- yes, my abs look *just* like that...snort). And not on the cover of Time Magazine as Witch of the Year, although really, I'm not sure why not.

This is what I'm talking about:

Witches & Pagans Magazine's Next Cover Girl. Look familiar?

Yes, that's me (and Magic the Cat, of course) on the cover of the upcoming issue of Witches & Pagans Magazine. Color me seriously excited. Possibly bordering on the ecstatic :-)

As some of you know, I write a regular column (Everyday Witchcraft) for the magazine, and I have been a dedicated reader for many years. So it is pretty thrilling to be featured on the cover and in the wonderful interview inside written by my Pagan author pal Ceallaigh MacCath (you may remember that I wrote the introduction to her fabulous collection of Pagan tales and poems, The Ruin of Beltany Ring and that we were both included in The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction).

I'm very grateful to publisher/editor Anne Niven Newkirk for putting me on the cover, and for my friend Bobbie Hodges for taking thousands of pictures in order to get a couple of ones that were good enough for us to use without making me want to hide under the bed. (She also gave me the broom I'm holding in the picture.)

I hope that some of you will reward Anne's faith in me by making this the Most Popular Issue Evah. If you don't already have a subscription (what?!), you can get one, or preorder this particular issue by clicking on this link:
The Deborah Blake Cover Girl Issue!
Of course, the preorder price of $6.45 is a deal, so you know you want to get a copy. (Mom, I'm looking at you.)The magazine will be out in December.

And just for fun, here are a few of the shots we didn't use either for the cover or inside. Which one do you like best?

So tell me, are you going to be getting a copy of the magazine? (You don't have to, of course. I'll probably forgive you. Now Magic, on the other hand... Nah, just give her treats--she'll be fine.)