Imagicka Book Signing Report

As some of you already know, I did a rare book signing at my pal Robert Wandell's shop in Binghamton yesterday. I thought I'd let those of you who couldn't be there get a taste of what it was like.

GREAT. That's what it was like. Okay, that's the short version. Here's the long one.

Rob has been asking me to do a signing at his shop for years, but it is about an hour and 15 minutes from me (which doesn't seem like much, but I don't do long drives because I have an unfortunate tendency to get drowsy behind the wheel after about half an hour) and frankly, book signings tend to be kind of a hit and miss affair unless you are famous. Which I'm not, for all that Rob likes to call me his favorite BNP. [Big Name Pagan.] Snort.

Still, The Witch's Broom has been generating a lot of excitement [side note--it's down to #50 on Amazon now. Pout. Someone go buy a book!], and Rob moved the store to a new location that I hadn't seen yet, and frankly, it's good to get the heck out of town every once in a while. So I said yes, enlisted my best friend Ellen to do the driving--in the new Honda Fit, which she enjoyed--and our pal Jo went with us. Rob suggested I bring some of my jewelry too, so I packed up a box of books, picked out a few pretty pieces of jewelry, and hit the road.

(Here's what's left)

The weather was a little crappy, but the atmosphere inside the shop was warm and lovely. And filled with temptation, since a Pagan/New Age/Cool Stuff store is My Kind of Place. But more on that later.

I was really thrilled with the turnout. Not only were there lots of enthusiastic folks, I got to meet a few people in person who I had only talked to here or on Facebook. The lovely Sarah Mawson drove FOUR HOURS with her family to come see me, because that was all she wanted for Mother's Day. That just made my day. (Waves at Sarah.) Caitlin Disler brought her mom Kathleen Livingston for Kathleen's birthday.

My friends Robin and George, who live nearby, stopped in with my goddess-children Nate and Sophie. That alone made the trip worthwhile! (You can see Jo guarding my table while Rob sells things on the right. Look at all that cool stuff!)

Nate found something he liked. Luckily for his sister, he didn't get to take it home. But he looks like his ready to take on the ravaging hordes, doesn't he?

We had an impromptu tattoo show-and-tell among my fans. (No, I don't have any.) This was my favorite. It was definitely the most relaxed and fun book signing I've ever done! I have the best fans on the planet. Just sayin'.

Rob was really happy I'd finally made the trip. And so was I.

I sold lots of books (including almost all the copies I brought of my older books, which I didn't expect) and a few pieces of jewelry. And everyone had a great time, which is even more important.

Of course, in the end, I did succumb to a few treasures for myself. (Hey--I worked hard! Besides, he had a store full of amazing stones, and I have a major weakness for stones.) I get this fabulous chunk of celestite, which is good for serenity (OY, could I use more of that!) and a wonderful little dragon bowl. I have always been fascinated by dragons, and they are the only thing besides cat-themed items that I could be said to collect. Now that I'm publishing the Baba Yaga books, which all feature dragons (in different forms), I am using that as an excuse to get a few more. Check it out.

Eventually we had to pack everything up and head home, but a great day was had by all.

Well, maybe not all. The cats were a little put out because dinner was late.

Truly, it was a fabulous day.

And speaking of days and fabulous, happy Mother's Day to my fabulous mom, Judy. Love you the most, mom.

Booksigning Reminder!

Just a quick reminder that I'm going to be at Imagicka (a very cool Pagan and New Age and neat stuff shop) at 75 Court Street in Binghamton, NY on Saturday May 10th from 1-4.

I'll have a stack of the new Llewellyn book The Witch's Broom of course, as well as a couple of copies each of all the previous books (including hard-to-find copies of the now out of print Circle, Coven & Grove and The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction).

And owner Robert Wandell asked me to bring some of my jewelry too (which isn't exactly typical at book signings), so I put together a few pieces to bring, including these:

I know a few folks who frequent this blog are planning to be there. I hope if you live anywhere nearby you'll come in and say hello!

Of course, I'll report back here on how it went. You know, as soon as I recover. Have a great weekend!

Back in the Garden(s)

As usual, I am already about 3 weeks behind on the garden. This time, however, it can mostly be blamed on the weather, which has been unrelentingly cold and rainy. At least on the days when I had the time to be outside. Thankfully, yesterday was sunny and 60 degrees, and since it was Wednesday, I wasn't working. So I went back out to the garden. Well, gardens, really. Yay!

I started by planting new herbs (rosemary, lavender, dill, and lemon thyme) in the herb patch I started last year by the back door. All of those are perennials, and I should have still had them from last year, but the brutal winter killed off everything except the chives and the chocolate mint. Still, I was pretty happy when it was done, and I pulled my Mickie Mueller magical cat flag out of the mudroom an "planted" it too.

Then I moved on to the main garden, where I finally got peas and onions into the ground.

 If you look really closely at the picture above, you can see the tiny green shoots of the onion plants. Of course, the peas below just look like an empty bed. But I know it's not!

That's one of the things about gardening that reminds me of writing. In the beginning, a garden is all about potential and hope. You put the seeds in the ground, and they don't look like much. Hell, to anyone other than you, they don't look like anything. But if all goes well, four or five months down the road, you will have a bounty of vegetables (or words) to reap. And maybe even share with others.

Speaking of others, I had some company out in the garden. The goldfish in the little pond are feeling perky (and got even more agitated when I started cleaning the pond and stirred things up).

 I also had a garter snake hanging out by the pond. (Did you know snakes can swim? Yes they can.) I'm not a big snake person (they still make me jump if I come across them unexpectedly) but garter snakes are actually very useful in the garden and outside, keeping down small pests and loosening the soil. 
[Look away if you don't like snakes!]

I was out there for about 2 1/2 hours (which is as long as I can manage without falling over) and feel like I got a reasonable amount accomplished. Now I'm only two weeks behind :-)

Signs of Spring

It's the first week of May and in theory, we are solidly into spring. The reality at my house is a little less...springy. It was 35 degrees out when I woke up this morning, and my heat had kicked on. Between the cold and the constant rain, I've barely gotten anything done in the garden. Lettuce and spinach went in a few weeks ago, and are barely showing bits of green above the soil. Last weekend I put in about 180 strawberry plants, thanks to my friend JC. Other than that, I've done a little clean up, but that's it. I don't even have peas in yet. (Hopefully this afternoon after work.) If it wasn't for the garlic, planted last fall, it wouldn't look like a garden at all.

But slowly, I'm starting to see signs of spring, so hopefully it will really show up at last. (They're calling for warmer temps by the later part of the week and weekend...along with chances of rain every day. Sigh.)

Still, there's this, seen out the living room window. I have lots of rabbits in my yard, and I often see them chasing each other around at this time of year. They're playing, right? Right?

 And chives, poking out of the ground through last year's leaves.

 The first crocuses.

Frogs in the garden fish pond.

 The return of a couple of last year's beautiful kestrals (a kind of small hawk). I had a family nesting in a hole in the side of the barn, and it looks like I may get a repeat this year.

 And then there is the ultimate sign of spring...shedding cats.

I spent about 20 minutes brushing Magic the Cat (Queen of the Universe, Shedder Extraordinaire). You can see the result. That's A LOT of fur. (She clearly thinks I did a sloppy job grooming her, and is finishing up the rest herself.) And no, you're not seeing things--my black cat sheds gray fur. Hey, she's MAGIC. Her brother and mother are both gray, and Magic has a gray undercoat, which is most of what she sheds in the spring.

This makes it official...spring really is here.

What signs of spring are you seeing?

The Beltane Circle Project

Blue Moon Circle came over to my house today for a belated Beltane celebration and instead of doing our usual ritual, we worked on a spiritual project instead: tearing apart and rebuilding the outside circle we use for rituals during the warmer part of the year.

My friend Ellen (now a BMC member, and someone who came to rituals as a guest for years before she decided she was actually Pagan and joined officially) and I built the original circle the first summer I was in the house, 12 years ago. Blue Moon Circle has been using it since we started practicing together 10 years ago this spring. That's a long time. Not only was the circle in not-great shape (many of the rocks in the 9-foot-around circle sank into the ground and were mostly covered with grass) but a number of different people had come and gone in that time.

We decided it was time to freshen up both the circle itself and the energy in it, starting anew with both the folks who have been there since the beginning and those who were new to the group. We started out by cleaning up the post-winter mess, cutting back the brush that had overgrown the edges, and digging out the old rocks.

 This is how the circle looked when we started. (Our supplies are off in the left hand corner.)

Needless to say, we didn't wear our usual cool garb :-)

Once the debris was gone, we re-dug the fire pit, replaced the stones and found a few new ones to fill in the gaps, and planted flower and seeds around the edges to symbolize the growth and abundance of the season.

 Then we had a quick ritual to consecrate the new circle, complete with a (very small, because there were 30 MPH winds)) fire in the fire pit.

It's amazing how happy it made me to look at the end results, and to feel the great energy in our lovely revitalized sacred circle.

We "planted" our old group staff out in the circle. I'll go out later and move it to the edge of the area, and eventually it will fall apart and go back to the earth, along with all the old energy it contained. And when we're ready, we'll make a new one.

Sometimes it is good to reinvigorate old patterns, or to let go of even treasured things to make room for something new. What have you started anew lately?

BOOK SIGNING! And Feline Friday

I don't do many book signings--there aren't too many places near me to do them, and I don't travel much. But my friend Rob Wandell has a fabulous Pagan/New Age/Cool Stuff shop in Binghamton, NY, about an hour away, and he's been asking me to come do one for years.

So if you live anywhere near upstate NY, I hope you'll join me next Satuday, the 10th, from 1-4 PM. I'll have copies of The Witch's Broom
as well as a few copies of my earlier books (including a couple of rare copies of the now-out-of-print Circle, Coven & Grove and Pagan Anthology). I might even bring a few pieces of my handcrafted gemstone jewelry!

Here is a link to the Facebook event page Imagicka Book Signing
The address is 75 Court Street, Binghamton NY

I hope you'll come by and say hello. There will be food, and cool things to look at in the shop, and well...ME.

What do you think--do you live close enough to come? If you are there, be sure to tell me I know you from here!

Magic the Cat says "Be there or else!"

Angus says, "SNACKS!"

I hope I get to meet a few of my online peeps. See you there!

Happy Beltane!

Today witches and Pagans celebrate Beltane, also known as May Day. Passed down to us from an ancient Celtic fire festival, Beltaine is a celebration of life, love and fertility. The sun has returned, and the land is blossoming. The God and the Goddess are at the height of their youth and vigor, and they renew the Earth with the consummation of their love. 

I spent last weekend at a local gathering, full of spirit and joy, despite the almost non-stop rain. Luckily, it stopped dripping on us long enough for people to dance the traditional Maypole dance. 

Blue Moon Circle will be observing our own (slightly belated) Beltane this coming Sunday. When it is also supposed to rain. But even if it does, there will be joy.

Happy May Day to you. May the coming season bring you prosperity and abundance. I hope you dance!