Big News for Llewellyn Fans!

So, I promised y'all more good news, and here it is. But there is kind of a funny story behind it, so I thought I'd share.

I keep saying I am not going to write any more Llewellyn books, as much as I love them, because the novels take so much of my time now. Then, of course, I came up with the idea of the 365 Day book, which I'm working on now. But that was ABSOLUTELY going to be the last one.

Then, around my birthday at the end of April, my beloved Llewellyn editor, Elysia Gallo, made a cryptic comment about how she had something for my birthday, and I was either going to love it or curse her name. Huh? I said. And then promptly forgot about it. (I pretty much promptly forget about everything.)

Then, towards the end of May, a package showed up in my mailbox.

The Mysterious Package

 I felt it as I walked up my driveway, and it was clearly a book. But it felt like a hardcover, albeit a small one, so it clearly wasn't one of mine. I was without clue. (Also not unusual.) So I opened the package as I was walking and pulled out this:

DOG Magic? WTF?

 For a minute, I was completely baffled. Elysia knows I'm a cat person. Why on earth would she be sending me a book of DOG MAGIC for my (belated) birthday?

So I read the pretty card she sent with it...and laughed so loudly, I think I scared the birds. (Yes, I was still in the driveway--I was curious!)

My belated birthday card. Isn't it cool?

The Card

Here's part of what it said:

Dear Deborah,
Happy belated birthday!
Your crazy-making gift from me is a new book idea--how would you like to write the companion to this book--but The Book of Cat Magic? Isn't it cute? And it's tiny--only 40K words! You know you want to! Please?

The really funny part? I had literally said in a conversation with my agent Elaine the day before, "And I'm pretty sure the 365 Day book is the last Llewellyn book I'm going to do." Boy, when the universe laughs at me, it isn't even subtle, is it? Snort.

So I called Elaine and asked her if she thought we could squeeze this into my schedule, and she said, "It's the book of CAT magic! You have to write it!"

So I called Elysia and said yes :-)

Apparently I'm doing one more Llewellyn book after all. It won't be out until sometime in 2018 (the tarot deck is coming January '17 and the 365 Day book will be out in the fall of '17, probably), but boy, am I going to have fun writing it!

Anyone else excited about this too? (And yes, I'll be putting together some kind of giveaway to celebrate at the beginning of next week. Any requests?)

WHOO HOOO!

SURPRISE! Meet the New Baba Yaga and Chudo-Yudo

As many of you know, I am hard at work on the next Baba Yaga book (after Wickedly Dangerous and Wickedly Wonderful). I thought you might like a sneak peak at our third Baba Yaga and her (mostly) faithful dragon companion, Chudo-Yudo.

Here is our first Baba and Chudo-Yudo

And here is our second

The first cover is a pretty good rendition of what I'd envisioned, and the second isn't quite what I had in mind, but not bad. Of course, we are a long way from having a cover for book three, tentatively called "Wickedly Powerful" (they won't even start working on it until the book itself is done), but I thought you'd like a look at how I envision our third Baba, Bella Yates, and her dragon is his disguise.

Are you ready? Here's Bella

And here is her Chudo-Yudo, who she calls Koshka (which is Russian for a female cat--kind of an inside joke between them, since he is neither a female or a cat, really).

Surprise! Yes, we finally have a Chudo-Yudo who is a CAT! (Doesn't he look as though he could actually be a dragon, though?) This is a picture of a Norwegian Forest cat--they can grow to be over 30 pounds, although of course Chudo-Yudo is even larger than that.

What do you think? Are you happy? Surprised? Excited?

I'm really pleased to finally be getting a cat on the cover. I hope you are too!

Look What We Did!

Yesterday, I announced the release of the new eBook version of Circle, Coven & Grove


This morning, I woke up to this in an email from my mother:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,582 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

• #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Religion & Spirituality > Other Practices >Wicca & Witchcraft

• #1 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Witchcraft

• #1 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Wicca

•   

  
  Can I get a WOOT?!
  
  

Big Huge Contest--Last Day Push and SURPRISE

As most of you know, I have been holding a Big, Huge, Mega Giveaway CONTEST POST for the upcoming THE WITCH'S BROOM book here for almost a week. We're in the end stretch now (1 day 12 hours as I write this, ending at Friday morning 12:00 AM EST), and I have to tell you that this contest has exceeded my wildest dreams. Seriously. I can't believe how much enthusiasm and participation we've had. I've been happy dancing so much I have scared the cats :-)

Here's where we're at right now:
3,037 entries (yes, that's right--OVER 3,000!) Of course, remember that people can earn up to 32, if they actually use all the options.
2,951 page views (holy crap!)
A few fabulous people put up reviews and/or pre-ordered the book (BIG thanks to you folks) and many people spread the word. The book is actually up to #39 in its category, and it isn't even out yet. You people ROCK.

So, now that we're in the end stretch, I've got one more push...

Look what I just got!

Yes, that's the first of the swag for my novel, Wickedly Dangerous. *bounce bounce bounce* That's a fridge magnet, a card, and a postcard. So here's what we're going to do.
IF we can get the contest entries up to 3,500 by the end of the contest, I'll send all the winners (that's right, all TWENTY of them) their very own threesome of Wickedly Dangerous swag too. You will literally be the first people it goes to. Excited yet?

So, what if you already entered? Don't forget that three of the options (tweet about it, share the news, and put up a review for an existing book) can be done every day. Which technically means you could do each of them today AND tomorrow, before midnight EST. And the "put up a review" and "pre-order the book" options are worth 10 entries each, so if a bunch of people do those, the numbers could go up fast. [Already ordered the book? Consider ordering one for a friend!]

Impossible, you say? There's no way we can get to 3,500 entries. Maybe so... On the other hand, I would never have in a million years guessed that we would get to 3,037. Let's see if we can pull off the impossible. Ready, set, GO!!!!

Gemstone Class, A Big Surprise,and Samhain Pics

As many of you know, I will be teaching my last online class at my Witchcraft and Writing Workshop Loop this month. (Other than the last couple of installments of the ongoing year-long Sabbats class.) Everyone seems to be pretty excited about the upcoming Crystals & Gemstone Magick workshop, and the class is filling up fast! I have decided on a few of the gemstones I will be discussing already: crystal quartz, amethyst, carnelian, tiger's eye, and lapis. But I am taking requests for another couple of stones that people would really like to learn more about. So--if you're planning to take the class (and if you are, I'd register HERE soon), which other stones and crystals do you want to learn about? Now's your chance to tell me!

And speaking of gemstone magick, you're not going to BELIEVE what I stumbled across the other day.

These are all necklaces from my "Spirit and Potential" line of jewelry, that I made for a while to sell in a friend's shop and when I went to Pagan events. They are necklaces (and the occasional bracelet) all designed to work for a specific task: prosperity, healing, protection, peace, or love, and they're made using the stones that are best suited for that task. I was cleaning out the upstairs room [to make a place to put the lizard] and stumbled across a display box full of these necklaces that I had somehow forgotten about. See--cleaning IS good :-)

I'll talk more about these later if anyone is interested.

And because it is Friday, here is Samhain, demonstrating what happens when you try to take a close-up picture of a cat with a camera that has a dangling handle thong.

 I hope you all have a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend. Now, tell me which stones you want added to the class...what about black onyx? Or maybe red jasper? Or turquoise....

Mother Nature: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

As a Pagan, I love Mother Nature. I love oceans and sunsets and the sounds of birds in the morning (except when they wake me up). Of course, living out in the country, nature sometimes can be challenging, like when my garden in invaded by woodchucks. Or deer. Or rabbits. You get the picture.

And I live in Upstate NY, where nature can just be perverse. For instance, this year, the ragweed, which normally kicks my butt from early August until mid-September, STILL isn't dead. We've had a few hard frosts, and even a smidge of snow, but it hasn't been enough to kill of that darned ragweed. *shakes fist at ragweed...and leaf mold, for good measure*

There's the good, which is most of it, really, like how beautiful it is here in the fall

There's the bad, like what the salt they throw on the roads does to an otherwise perfectly good car

(Yes, that is the rust monster, eating away at my lovely Mazda Protege. Sigh. A big chunk of the underneath of the door just fell off the other day.)





And then there is the UGLY, like the sight that greeted me when I went through the mudroom on my way out to work first thing this morning

 Those ugly things are all that remained of about 2/3rds of the beautiful spaghetti squashes I grew (slaved over!) this summer in my garden. I was planning to eat them most of the winter, but clearly, something beat me to it. I've been known to get mice in the mudroom (since the cats aren't allowed in there), but this was no mouse.Unless it was on steroids, and brought 25 of its best friends. I'm guessing a squirrel got in there somehow, although I haven't been able to figure out where the hole in the wall is. I sure as heck found the holes in the squash, though! Sadly, this is just the tip of the iceberg...there were probably 20+ squashes and I have 6 left.

The critter, whatever it was, also gnawed a hole in my bags of pellets for the pellet stove, even though they aren't edible.

Nature. Yay.

Surprise! The Early Morning Version

Upstate NY weather is nothing if not changeable. There is a saying around here: "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute." And it is only partially a joke.

We've had unseasonably warm weather here the last few days. It actually was in the 60's yesterday and Sunday. (Normally, it would be 40's to low 50's at best.) That's kinda nice, except that the ragweed, which normally is killed off by about mid-October, is still hanging around and kicking my butt.

Still, wait a minute...

Here was the sight I saw yesterday morning when I woke up (way too early, because I haven't adjusted to the time change yet). Beautiful, isn't it?

And here was what I saw this morning

SURPRISE!
(And oops...time to start parking the car in the barn again.) And really, still beautiful, just in a different way.

The snow isn't expected to stick, and the rest of the week is supposed to be in the 20's and low 30's at night and the 40's during the day, which is much more what you'd expect around here in mid-November. Of course, the drastic change has the fibromyalgia kicking up, but on the other hand, hopefully the ragweed will finally DIE.

Bwahahahahaha.

On a more positive note, the final polished manuscript went off to my agent Elaine Spencer and four special first readers (waves at Skye, Lisa, Alex, and Judy). Whew. More about that tomorrow. Wait until you hear what I did...

So, what kind of morning did you wake up to?

Friday Feline--The Vet Visit Version

Magic, Mystic, and mom Minerva giving me the evil eye. They must have know I was going to take them to the vet on Wednesday for their yearly check-ups and shots.

Three REALLY unhappy cats, ready to go. You'll note that Mystic has to have an extra large carrier :-)

In general, the visit went well, other than the yowling (them on the 15 minute trip there and back, and me, when I had to write the check) and the discovery that poor Mystic had a broken tooth and some tartar build-up that was causing gum irritation. The tooth doesn't seem to be bothering him much in general (it hasn't stopped him from eating!) but it clearly hurt when the vet pushed on it, and there is always a risk of infection. So in a week and a half, he gets to go back and get the tooth pulled. Cue the yowling.

In the meanwhile, though, everyone was pronounced healthy and looking great for their ages (10 for the "kittens" and 11 for mama). I'd reduced their food a smidge since they aren't as active, and everyone had lost a little weight and was now in perfect form. Mystic, who at his largest weighed over 18 lbs, is down to a svelte 14.8 -- and thankfully, the broken tooth is at the back of his mouth, so taking it out isn't going to ruin his stunning good looks. [And that also explains why I didn't notice it, before the vet pointed it out.]

Now I just have to hope that people start doing some early holiday shopping at the Guild or My Etsy Shop, so I can pay for the $300 kitty dental bill. Sigh....

That's okay. They're worth it.

So what unexpected stuff cropped up for you this week?

IT'S OUT! (Surprise!)

The anticipated release date on EVERYDAY WITCH BOOK OF RITUALS wasn't until October 8th, but apparently it got sent out earlier than anticipated. So that when I checked Amazon and Barnes & Noble, there they were!

The book is out!!!!
Amazon even already has a note that says "ONLY 6 LEFT"!
B & N will have it at some brick and mortar stores in their New Age or Spirituality sections, and also online, of course. And both Amazon and B & N have it on sale, although I don't know how long that will last.

If you would rather support your local Independent bookstore, any store can order it for you, too.

Or you could get it right from Llewellyn

And if you live near Oneonta, NY there are a few at The Artisans' Guild (I know, because I brought them in this morning.)

OMG--I'm so excited! What should I do to celebrate this unexpected early release day? (Besides shouting about it everywhere?) I hope you'll all celebrate with me by spreading the word that...IT'S OUT!

Happy book release day to me!

A Little Too Much Nature

We're been having a Wild Kingdom kind of week around here.

Outside, the usual assortment of rabbits, woodchucks, and a raccoon (the rabbits tend to leave the garden alone, believe it or not, but the woodchucks...I'm having to spend close to $500 on a new shiny better fence).

Inside, a workman moved my stove last week, and must have disturbed a mouse nest, because my cats have caught FIVE (count them, five) mice over the course of the last four days. Each time involves me chasing after the cat (or cats) with a shoebox in hand, trying to rescue the mouse before it is murdalized--something at which I have had mixed success. The mouse is then removed to the outside world, where it belongs.

Because this apparently wasn't enough for Mother Nature, who clearly needs to get a TIVO or something else to provide her with entertainment besides me chasing critters all over my house, this morning, the cats cornered THIS in the bedroom.

It's a harmless garter snake -- they're all over my property, and I don't mind them much when they are OUTSIDE. It must have come through a crack in my stone foundation...which I will now have to find and block off. I caught it fairly easily with the shoebox you can see in the picture (which had previously been used for all five freaking mice) and a pair of kitchen tongs. Note to self: wash kitchen tongs.

I have a --I think very reasonable-- NO SNAKES INSIDE rule. This is just a little too much nature for me, thank you very much. Gah.

Going outside to work in the garden now. You know, where nature actually is supposed to be.

10th 5 Star Review--with a Twist!

I saw yesterday that I was up to ten reviews for my paranormal romance ebook over on Amazon--all of them 5 Stars, which is very gratifying indeed!

(If you're one of the folks who left a review, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. With ebooks, this is even more important!)

I was reading the 10th review, which was very cute and very funny, when I discovered a surprise twist towards the end. It kind of tickled me, so I thought I'd post it here.

5.0 out of 5 stars Entrapment!, February 7, 2012

By

Harvey L. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Witch Ever Way You Can (Kindle Edition)

Entrapment! That's what it was. I get this innocent-looking e-mail, shamelessly promoting Deborah Blake's new novel, "Witch Ever Way You Can", and an invisible force causes me to click on a link that takes me to the Amazon website. I am invited to "look inside", but why should I? I rarely read novels and I never would read or watch anything dealing with the paranormal. I wasn't even slightly interested in checking into Harry Potter. But I'm slightly curious about this book, for reasons that I will explain later. So I click and get drawn into this hilarious opening scene of a midnight call from the world's 4th (or 5th) richest man to this sex-starved and skeptical witch (living with five cats) who tries to flip him off. Okay, so it's reasonably interesting. Let's see where this is going.

She decides to shove her cynicism aside and go to NYC to see him. But what will she wear. Like an old jock like me would give a damn? But here comes this vividly colorful scene of a gaggle of coven-mates rummaging through her closet in search of the right outfit. I can't wait for the motion picture. I hope Deborah held on to the movie rights. Now, drawn into the 3rd chapter, we have a titillating dinner scene (with her Hollywood idol, no less) that seriously challenges "When Harry Met Sally." But just when it gets interesting - she starts to stroke his leg with her shoeless foot - Whoops! Please deposit $2.99 for the rest of the story. Is this legal? It's not fair!

I'm hopelessly hooked. I'll sacrifice a bottle of the finest Two-buck Chuck to see where this goes. I call down to the wife "Hold all my calls and cancel my appointments. I'll be tied up for a while."

Now, in the way of full disclosure, I will shamelessly admit that the wonderfully talented and weird author is my eldest daughter. But still, you can't make this up. I don't read novels and I haven't the slightest interest in the paranormal. But I can't put this book down. And neither will you.

Tee hee. Now that's what I call a review. (Thank the GODS this isn't one of my books that has actual sex in it!) If you want to see the others, or check out the book, you can follow this link:
http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Ever-Way-You-ebook/dp/B006HWZPGO

More Trick than Treat

Here in Upstate New York, Mother Nature seems to be taking the "trick" in "trick or treat" a little too literally...

I was hoping for BOO! Not boo hoo... And it is just getting started.

Hope you're all warm and safe.

Look What Came Today! (Oooh, Shiny...)

I came home today to find an unexpected Fed Ex package on my doorstep. Opened it up to find the first copies of the new book, due out in September. Ooooh, shiny!

There's nothing like that new book smell. Or the sight of a book cover with your name on it. Yay! (And big thanks to Becky Zins, my production editor, for sticking these in the mail for me, so I didn't have to wait for the official shipment.)

Isn't it perty? Dontcha want to run right out and buy one? You know you do...

http://www.llewellyn.com/product.php?ean=9780738721361