Saturday, April 29, 2023

From 2009 to 2023: "Once Upon A Blog: Fairy Tale News" is Transforming into "The Wondering"!

I see you reading the headline and thinking: "Oh no. What is going to happen to Once Upon A Blog? It's barely been functioning the last few years and now it's going to change?!" 

Don't worry. Unlike most social media "rebranding", I'm doing this the fairy tale way, and transforming the blog to be more of what I intended when I began it. 

That means I'm staying "on mission" with the Once Upon A Blog content you've followed me for, for years, while allowing myself a little more flexibility to explore other avenues of Wonder. 

You might be wondering, isn't Gypsy Thornton all about fairy tales? That's still true, but it's always been more accurate to say I am Wonder-tale-focused. I see Wonder in many places and the influence of fairy tales everywhere. If I can then share that insight and connection, and bring that Wonder into peoples' lives, it feels like I'm making a positive difference in the world. And I've found a way to have both a fairy tale hub and a way to reach out beyond that hub from time to time to spread a little Wonder wherever I go. It's the reason I've renamed the blog The Wondering.

Here is the new description:

The Wondering

Gathering the curious uses and influence of fairy tales and folklore, from pop culture, current events, and the woods beyond to bring Wonder to your doorstep.

It's been 14 years since I created Once Upon A Blog: fairy tale news and it's high time it transforms into something I had always hoped to create, as well as be a little more reflective of this post-pandemic and AI-emergent era. 

It also needs to be in a form in which I, with all that I have been through the last few years, can manage and keep active. After a good year of researching options I think I have finally found a way to do this.

The biggest differences are:

Title:

Once Upon A Blog: Fairy Tale News is now called The Wondering

The header will include a reminder that this is an updated version of Once Upon A Blog: Fairy Tale News.

Online location for new posts: 

The main new content will be published at https://medium.com/the-wondering 

While this blog, here, will remain live and available as long as technology allows, the above is the new main address. There will be occasional posts published here too, but they will most likely be quick updates, letting you know what you might have missed on the main platform.

Blog to publication: 

The blog is now officially a publication and I will be welcoming submissions from writers to be published in The Wondering, free of charge.


This also means it will function in many ways as a magazine, with the main page for The Wondering laid out as such. Each article is kept very clean, ad-free, and easy to read by Medium's uniform standards, which should make for a better reading experience, both for desktop reading and on your mobile device.

Being a publication also means other folks, who join and write on Medium - which you can do for FREE - can submit articles, reviews, and even art, short fiction, or reflective pieces to The Wondering, if they are interested. Current fairy tale news, events, and influences will be remain the priority. I remain Editor and will review all submissions (there will be guidelines to follow under the header in the coming weeks). 

I would love to build a stable of fairy tale writers and voices, to have a diverse, and regularly publishing fairy tale newsroom!

Writers will also have the opportunity, should they sign up for the Medium Partner Program, keep any benefits ($) that they may earn as a result. 

Subscribe to be sent just the free fairy tale news, or more - your choice: 

Your choices are just fairy tale news, articles and stories from The Wondering, by me and other writers whose work I publish, or to be sent everything I personally publish in any publication on Medium, as I aim to spread a little Wonder and magic around in different places, by "following my little chicken-legged mug" and subscribing to me, or subscribe to both

Subscribing to either or both is completely free.

Some articles in The Wondering will have a paywall but not all

I am still working on seeing how many pieces I can publish each week across Medium, but there will be free content every couple of weeks on The Wondering. You are welcome to just read the free stuff, or upgrade to being a Medium member for everything. 

The $5 Medium membership gives readers 100% access to ALL STORIES ACROSS THE PLATFORM - not just what you're joining for and to read the workd of whomever you join through. Medium reader memberships support every writer you read. Put very simply, if you have a membership, every writer whose articles or stories you read, benefits by you just reading through their stories. Your membership fee is distributed between the people you read.

There is a LOT of free content across Medium by individual writers and via publications of all types. From science, to film, to history, to AI, education and more, the focus of different publications range widely, and include many professional journalists. The Wondering is the only publication I am aware of that has fairy tales and fairy tale news as its focus, but there are a lot of facsinating articles and publications. Like all other publications, The Wondering will have a mix of free and subscription-access content.

What's Available To Read Right Now?

The Wondering already has four "stories" available, with more added all the time:

 - Cravings - a short story based on Rapunzel

 - What If Your Dad Is the Animal "Bride".. and More Beastly Than The Beast?  - a spoiler-free book review of "The Crane Husband" by Kelly Barnhill

 - The Black Folklorist Who Accurately Predicted the Science in Voodoo & Unearthed Tales We All Need To Hear - an expanded and updated profile and tribute to Zora Neale Hurston

 - Fairy Tales vs fAIry Tales (I)  - the first installment of a multi-part article and experiment using AI and fairy tales. (I asked ChatGPT to write me an original fairy tale, analyze it, then adapt it per the Great Fairy Tale Tradition... oof!)

And that's the news!

I hope you follow my wandering, chicken-legged coffee mug to the new site.
We'd love to see you there. 

All fairy tale readers and writers are welcome.

Small disclaimer: I am getting this up and running as quickly as possible so expect some refining of the site over the first few months to make it clearer and easier to navigate, to subscribe to the newsletter, and for potential writers to submit to, but the publication is live and active! 

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Warriors In Gowns and Other Plot Twists by Gina Pfleegor

Gina Pfleegor
"Plot Twist" (oil paint on panel)

 Gina Pfleegor is a "pop-surrealist" artist we've recently discovered, thanks to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine's RAYMAR Traditional Art Award contest, 2021, in which the delightful painting above was chosen as a finalist. 

We adore the title: "Plot Twist", which is the perfect introduction to the series this painting belongs to

While not focused completely on fairy tales, it's both fitting and not surprising to find fairy tales referenced; specifically, The Frog King, Beauty and the Beast, and Rapunzel but also alluding to Fairy (Tale) Land in general. The series endeavors to reconsider femininity and heroism (or heroine-ism); exploring the struggle between defining strength (for women especially, but the struggle isn't limited to those who identify as "she/her") and just what being female - or how to incorporate a sense of femininity in one's life, means.

“In this series of paintings, I found myself drawn to a subject I know well; that balance of feeling strong yet feminine as a woman in our society today. Attempting to depict a sense of authenticity regarding what this can often feel like, I used symbolism to show that we can be both without sacrificing the other. Sensual can be strong, determined can be vulnerable, and sometimes warriors wear gowns into battle.”

Gina Pfleegor (Artist statement on the series via West End Gallery)

Redefining the narrative is what this series is all about and that becomes very clear when you learn the titles for each of the pieces. We found musing on the paintings in conjunction with their titles so fun we thought we'd share our personal commentary. Please note, the artist hasn't commented much on her intent for each piece so every viewer is free to see what they wish... ;)

"Plot Twist" gives us a sinister but refreshing and cathartic ending to The Frog King (more popularly known as The Frog Prince). The lily pad wallpaper, with its sperm-like design seeking to devour its fellow "lily pads" shows the futility of doing so against this princess. One eyebrow is raised in challenge to the viewer, while the little crown is left on the plate for her to consume, take or leave as she chooses. 
"Plot Twist"
"And She Lived Happily Ever After" focuses on a very satisfied looking Beauty (or Belle, since the yellow dress, and jowls above are both a Disney callback), with the Beast almost out of frame, behind her, no longer an obstacle but a trophy, even as her own story continues (with a lot more to come, judging by how big that book is!). 
"And She Lived Happily Ever After"
"Slay" portrays a Rapunzel with lopped-off hair, (we like to think she did it herself with that sword!), looking post-battle sweaty, sunbeams shining down triumphantly as she sits, sword remaining at the ready, a dead dragon relegated to her background. The dragon might be closer to her than the tower she was once trapped in, but it's still left well behind as she looks to her future from her (literal) rock-solid base. 
"Slay"
The tea-drinker, ear cocked toward the flying bluebird is titled "Do Tell" and, while not obviously referencing a particular fairy tale, clearly bears the marks of one. (Snow White came to mind immediately with the combination of domestic and "ladylike" motifs being disrupted as well as her obvious affinity to nature but she could easily represent quite a range of fairy tale heroines.) Birds in fairy tales are not only linked to the soul but are agents of transformation, and bringers of knowledge. The savvy princess, also in blue like the bird - a color strangely rare in fairy tales - even as she drinks tea, pinky finger held just-so as per the rules of polite society, she has her ear attuned for secrets and knowledge. Whether via gossip or riddling out tidbits of information from strange sources, the blue hints at the supernatural; a connection to nature and knowledge beyond the norm, (and, we like to believe, a sign of potential happiness), while the orange-gold not only suggests class but that underneath lies a resistance to rules, perhaps even a rebel on the rise. Curiosity, the thirst for knowledge, is both women's hallmark of agency and, traditionally, the "vice" warned against for leading her to female downfall. The bird and woman sharing blue speaks of trust, and a bond that works together against opposing forces, while the orange marks them as rebellious collaborators. There's a lot suggested in this piece but clearly, the woman is poised for something new - be it knowledge or action. No passive princess here.
"Do Tell"
We wanted to include another piece that not only has a clear connection to the land of the Fairy Tale but holds an additional clue to its potency that the average viewer might easily overlook. The title for the piece is "Charmed", and it appears the queen here has charmed the serpent, instead of it being the other, traditional, way around. Behind her head, though, the sun holds another clue: the Latin words "amor et melle et felle est fecundissimus" meaning "love is rich, with both honey and venom*". This is not a girl to underestimate or a woman to be ruled over by another. She is just as potent as the creature she holds gently around her neck and in her hands and meets the viewer's gaze shrewdly and confidently. She is the fairy tale heroine with agency, with personality and if her nemesis - or partner - is given a name, you can be sure she will have one too.
"Charmed"
Just like the direct gaze of these female characters challenges the viewer to reconsider their first glance at these pieces, the narratives implied by the symbolism used in each, ask that you redefine and rewrite the assumptions - something very central to women's issues, as well as issues of narrative, today.

You can see the rest of this series by Pfleegor HERE and stay up to date with her projects and appearances through her blog on Facebook HERE. To finish we found an earlier fairy tale-themed piece, from 2018, titled "The Sorrow Of The Snow Queen" that we insta-loved. While it doesn't really fit into the spirit of the current 2021 series it also says a lot more than what you see at first glance. Instead of telling you what we see this time, though, we'll let you think about what it says to you.
"The Sorrow Of The Snow Queen"

*To be accurate the full quote, by Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus is:

amor et melle et felle est fecundissimus;

gustui dat dulce, amarum ad satietatem usque oggerit.

Which translates as:

“Love exceedingly abounds both in honey and in gall: it yields sweetness even in a taste, and produces bitterness to sufficiency”.

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Timeless Tales Going on Hiatus (possibly looking for new ownership!)

(Written by Tahlia Kirk, founder of Timeless Tales Magazine)


I've been avoiding this announcement for months, but it's finally time. The TLDR is: I'm putting Timeless Tales into long term hibernation. I'm strongly considering shutting it down permanently or transferring ownership to someone new. 

The backstory

Hades and Persephone cover
2020

This is what's been going on with me behind the scenes: Back in March 2020, I was woefully behind with responding to Hades & Persephone submissions. I'd just landed a promotion at work that exponentially increased my responsibilities. When the big Covid lockdown hit, I was relieved beyond words for an excuse to slough off my social engagements for a month or two and focus on the magazine. 

After Hades & Persephone published in Summer 2020, I gave myself permission to take a nice long break. We'd decided that 2021 would be the year we'd move from Austin, TX to Sacramento, California and I wanted my entire focus to be on moving. 

Confident that I'd return to magazine business after we moved, I announced our Arabian Nights issue and left the submission window open for 9 months, making it very clear I wouldn't respond until April 2021 at the earliest. It was good plan and theoretically should have worked. 

2021

We bought a house and moved to California in February. In April, I received another promotion at work. Although, I needed to start reading Arabian Nights submissions, lockdown was finally ending and I was eager to get back into the world again. I was fully vaxxed and ready to PAR-TAY! Surely those submissions could wait a little longer?

We bought a house!

Tahlia Kirk

For a while, I thought I could compensate for the lost time by spending my extra income on expanding our staff. But there was only so much I could easily outsource and it takes time to find and train new people. 

Over the past 10 years, I've managed to keep TT running because my day jobs have historically been dull. Those jobs gave me large chunks of downtime that I filled with magazine work. However, the entry level tech writing job I accepted in 2019 has somehow blossomed into an actual career. I have a team full of nerdy coworkers. I've been managing a small group of technical writers. I'll soon be getting promoted AGAIN to become our writing team's first full-time trainer. Huzzah! 

My celebratory flowers in our freshly painted dining room

Celebratory flowers for my promotion

This is all wonderful news for me, but not great for the magazine. I needed to stop kidding myself and take a hard honest look at when I'd have time for the magazine again. I've already waited too long for that future day when I'll actually have free time again. The truth is that the magazine simply isn't compatible with my lifestyle anymore.

So while I'm sad to say goodbye to TT, at least it's not out of any personal tragedy. And who knows, I may find a way to either bring it back someday or stay involved after it finds a new owner. 

About Arabian Nights

If you submitted a piece to TT for our Arabian Nights issue, you should have received an email from me about a month ago, politely returning it to you unread. I did my best to email everyone who submitted, but if I somehow missed you, I apologize that you're just hearing this news now.

The future

Originally, I didn't want to announce my hiatus without a game plan for the future in place. But it's become clear that I'm not ready to make a final decision on anything yet. I'm currently in talks with a potential new owner that has a lot of potential, but I want to take time to explore my options

Right now, I'm open to fully transferring ownership to the right person/team, but I'm also not opposed to staying involved in a much more scaled-back capacity. 

If you have ideas or an interest in running Timeless Tales, send me an email at timelesstalesmagazine@gmail.com. Do NOT leave a comment on this post. I don't get email notifications for comments, so I may never read it. 

Here are some of my basic qualifications for What I'm Looking For In a New Owner:
  1. Computer skills: 
    1. Google Suite: You need to be comfortable using Gmail, Google Docs, Calendar, Google Drive, etc.
    2. Website updates. TT's website is run on Wix, so no coding knowledge necessary, but you must understand basic SEO concepts and generally be good at tinkering with tech.
    3. Social Media: Even if you hire someone else to handle the daily churn (which I highly recommend!), you should have an understanding of how to write content that boosts engagement. 
  2. Disposable income: TT's Patreon page doesn't bring in much money. Maybe you can change that someday, but you must be prepared to cover upkeep costs yourself. I want someone dedicated to continuing the site's quality and committed to paying our authors/graphic designers.
    • I'll talk nitty gritty budget details with serious candidates, but I currently pay approximately $2000/year in annual expenses + $1500 per issue. If you want to grow the magazine's reach, you'll want to budget even more for advertising.  
  3. Free time: It takes countless hours to publish each issue and maintain a thriving community between issues. I'd hate to hand the reins over to someone who's stretched too thin to devote large swaths of attention to this project.

The current state of the magazine:
  1. The website with the actual magazine hosted via a 3rd party service called Issuu. 
  2. 2600 Facebook followers
  3. 1050 Twitter followers
  4. 840 subscribers to our newsletter (and growing daily)
  5. A struggling Patreon account 
  6. A GoodReads account (it gets a surprising amount of engagement considering how new the account is and we haven't spent a ton of time growing it). 

Be prepared to wait a very long time for a response. Nothing magazine related will be happening in a timely manner and I apologize in advanced if you're stuck waiting for weeks or months.

On an unrelated, lighter note, here's a video of my 2020 birthday where I got to hit a pinata!


If you want to follow my next adventures online, here's my info:
  • Blog: missmystra.wordpress.com
  • Instagram: @tahlia_mk 
  • Personal Twitter: @MissMystra

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Carterhaugh’s "Spellcraft" Is Like Joining A Wizarding School Especially for Fairy Tale Writers (+ Bonus Interview w/Drs. Cleto & Warman)

"Books are a uniquely portable magic."

(Stephen King)


You've heard this.


You nod your head in fervent agreement every time you do.


And you not-so-secretly wish to hold "portable magic" in your hands that you created.


But - and this is a perfectly logical thought: if books are portable magic, do I need to be a witch or wizard to create one? 


Yes. Yes, you do.

And YOU CAN BECOME ONE.


Writing books, especially ones that draw powerfully on folklore and fairy tales, seems like a special, magical talent, beyond the ability of regular mortals but here's a secret: if you're reading this, if you're curious about writing and love folklore, you can learn to be a Word Wizard. Words are spells. And you can learn how to wield them to create magic. You can become a Word Witch. Anyone who truly wants to - and is willing to get themselves a little magical learnin' - can.


Best of all? There is now a course for wannabe Word Witches and Wizards that anyone anywhere in the world can take. 


You can learn how to be a Word Witch or Wizard and use your love of fairy tales and folklore to springboard you into your new magical role!

Your course?

Spellcraft: Write Like A Witch


The place?

The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic


You can think of it as an inclusive, accessible "Wizarding School for Fairy Tale and Folklore Writers"; with award-winning Word Witch Professors who have hundreds of hours of Spellcrafting under their belts as your guides, different tracks for Word Witches and Wizards looking to specialize, magical reading lists, a uniquely beautiful Spellbook you can literally add your own spells to (available in digital format to type or touchscreen-scribe on, with instructions should you wish to transform it into something to hold in your hands to use with your favorite quill and ink), an enchanting group of peers - all with great magic potential - who will cheer you on and point out magic they've found in the world along the way, and much more!


Yes, there are even t-shirts if you want them. (For real!)


Magic is rarely easy. It takes work, effort, and persistent concentration. Sometimes it even makes you sweat. Writing is no different. But then there are also times where it feels like you've stepped through a portal, lost time, and emerge with a world and characters on a page that never existed before. It really is Magic. But how can those two things both be true at the same time?


Spellcraft will show you how; how to survive the first and harness the second. Now there's a way to learn how to become a real Word Witch or Wizard, so that your spellcraft becomes - not hit or miss- but a solid skill, with you becoming more capable of accessing real magic more often. 


So what does Spellcraft: Write Like A Witch have that no other writing book or course has?

  • it's designed specifically for folks who love fairy tales and folklore and want to write
  • the course comes with TWO built-in fairy godmothers to guide you personally (if you wish)
  • you get invited to be part of the inclusive Carterhaugh community, many with similar Word Witching goals to you
  • you have front-row access to scholarly insight into how folklore and fairy tales can richly inform your writing (any writing)
  • it includes a magical library's worth of writing resources specially curated for folklore and fairy tale folk, like you
  • it goes beyond the book - Spellcraft is intrinsically attached to the extended resources and community of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic, so, if you do the course and complete the workbook, it really is like joining a Wizarding School!

We assume, if you've been following Once Upon A Blog even a short amount of time that you familiar with who and what Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic, is, so we'll just add that Dr. Sara Cleto and Dr. Brittany Warman are very active writers themselves, continually publishing creative works, as well as scholarly ones, in various journals, magazines, and books, even while they’re teaching; these women can teach AND can do! (If Carterhaugh School is new to you, or you need an overview-refresh, please click HERE.) 


Perhaps, though, you're wondering if this new writing book-and-course is really for you. Perhaps you're thinking "but what if this is too niche/not niche enough?" or "how could my love of fairy tale and folklore possibly help me with 'real' writing that will get me published?"

Dr. Brittany Warman (standing) & Dr. Sara Cleto
The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic


We thought we'd take some of the questions to our Magical Professors friends of Carterhaugh, Dr. Brittany Warman and Dr. Sara Cleto, and ask them directly.

~*~*~*~*~

Hi Brittany and Sara!


Thanks so much for taking the time to answer some questions about Spellcraft. It's a HUGE resource - over 100 pages, with bonus options on top too - so we want to be sure our OUABlog readers get a good idea of just how unique Spellcraft is, and how it's been created specifically for writers just like them.


First of all, how would you "elevator pitch" Spellcraft to a folklore and fairy tale fan who's looking for a way to access the wizardry of story writing?


Accessing the magic of writing can be like trying to capture a will-o’-wisp (complete with getting lost in various swamps of despair)! If you’ve read a library’s worth of advice and none of it can connect your love of fairy tales and folklore to writing the stories of your heart, we get it. Enter Spellcraft: Write Like A Witch. We created a tailor-made grimoire for writers who prefer a little wonder in their world, and it's filled with keys to help unlock quality "spellcraft" that’s unique to you. Words are spells  - as certified folklore and literature experts we can prove it! - and writers are witches. If you’re wishing you could find that elusive portal to the magic of writing and you’re passionate about creating fairy-tale and folklore-infused work, Spellcraft is for you!


How is Spellcraft different from other "how-to-write" books and courses?


We made Spellcraft: Write Like a Witch because writing is hard enough without pretending it’s just for melancholy bros. Because there are tools, prompts, and inspiration galore for writers who steep themselves in magic, folklore, and fairy tales and we’ve pulled them together just for those writers. If you want to write with confidence and to feel like writing is fun again, this is for you!


Why will writers who love fairy tales and folklore find the writing tips and exercises in Spellcraft more relatable than regular books?


The prompts and tips in Spellcraft were all written with lovers of fairy tales and folklore in mind. It’s literally custom-made for you. There are sections titled “20 Ways to Start a Fairy-Tale Retelling” and “Folklore & Worldbuilding.” You’re just not going to see that kind of focus in other writing books.


I love folklore and fairy tales but what if I don't really want to write a fantasy novel, a fairy tale retelling, or kid lit (which is what people usually think about when they hear you've written something using folklore or fairy tales)? What other genres can Spellcraft be used for?


The great thing about fairy tales and folklore is that they are “all genre friendly”! You can find fairy tales in fantasy, mystery, sci-fi, literature, ad copy, scripts, romance, horror, YA.. all of them! The tools in Spellcraft can be customized for any genre that appeals to you.


That said, while there is a ton of material in Spellcraft about fairy-tale retellings in particular, there are also tips and exercises about other genres. We talk about “The Art of the Ghost Story,” for instance, and how fairy tales can help shape memoir. There’s also a lot of writing advice and tools that aren’t genre-specific - as long as you’re interested in fairy tales and folklore, these are materials that will resonate with you!



Can Spellcraft help me with my non-fiction?


Absolutely! Folklore is a huge part of everyday life, so it can also be a powerful force in non-fiction. And there’s tons of writing advice and inspiration that can be applied to non-fiction, from discussions of folklore itself to tips for writing dialog to guidelines on starting a writing group and giving (and getting!) useful feedback.


I want to write a memoir but my life isn't exactly magical, even though I love reading fairy tales. How can using the Spellcraft workbook and doing the course help me write something like that?


There’s a prompt and corresponding exercise in Spellcraft that will help you do exactly this! It will help you see your life, and all its non-magical events, through the lens of a fairy tale. We’ve used it with dozens of students, and we’ve seen its power first-hand!


Then again, what if I really DO want to write a retelling of a fairy tale or folktale - a GOOD one - how will Spellcraft help me write something fresh and, well, "good"? Can Spellcraft help me avoid the dreaded cliched fairy tale retelling pitfalls?


Yes! We talk a lot in Spellcraft about what makes something a good fairy-tale retelling, and we take a look at what can make a retelling fall flat, too! Between the many (many) fairy-tale prompts, the close-ups on some of our favorite fairy-tale retellings, and a deep dive into a retelling that just doesn’t quite work, you’ll be armed with a ridiculous amount of knowledge and strategies for crafting your own successful retelling.



Can
Spellcraft help me get my fairy tale/folklore-based work published?


If you’re interested in publishing your work, we put together a special package called Bewitch: Getting to Publication, which you can grab along with Spellcraft! If you don’t know where to begin or you're feeling discouraged after another rejection or maybe you'd just like to figure out how to make publishing easier and less stressful, Bewitch is definitely for you! Bewitch gives you access to our submission tracker to keep your pieces organized, a publication-ready checklist to make sure you're setting your submissions up to succeed, insider knowledge on some of our favorite fairy-tale-friendly markets, and a template for submitting your work.



I want to write but I seriously-no-joke have
zero time. I can't even watch Netflix like regular people! Is there some magical way to write anyway? Does Spellcraft have something that can help me too? What about if what I truly want to write is a novel? Can Spellcraft help me do that or am I forever doomed to write flash fiction and short poems until I a) win the lottery or b) can free up hours of my schedule?


Oh yes. If you’re in this place (we call it the “I’m going to die if I have to write today but I will also die if I don’t write today” place), we’ve whipped up another toolkit for you called Magic Momentum: Master Your Writing in 15 Minutes a Day. It’s basically all the tools, rituals, and mindset practices that we used to write and finish our dissertations for our PhDs (basically - 300+ page books that we revised a million times.) It was BRUTAL, and we wish we’d had Magic Momentum at the time - but it’s our hard-won knowledge of how to write and keep writing when the situation is dire!

Finally, if Spellcraft was a magical helper in a fairy tale, who would it be (and why)?


Pretty sure Spellcraft would have to be Cinderella’s fairy godmother. There’s even a fairy godmother pep talk in Magic Momentum to help you get to the ball/ finish your manuscript!


Thank you for answering our questions about your new (incredibly expanded) Spellcraft course and workbook! 



Spellcraft:

Write Like A Witch

is AVAILABLE NOW


- and you can begin making your own portable magic immediately.


JUST CLICK HERE FOR A WONDERFUL OVERVIEW & TO BUY



Words are spells.

Writers are witches.



Writing

is

magic!

Image credits from top: photographer/artist unknown, The Secrets by Mikeila Borgia, Personal by Valeria Heine Photography, Neverending story by Patryk Morzonek, Fiction by Dasha Pears, Official Carterhaugh Portrait of Dr.s Warman & Cleto, Floating Books/Red Library (cropped) by Zuzana Uhlíková, Every real story is a neverending story by Joan Carol Photography, With books by Elena Tatulyan, Carterhaugh's promotional pic for Spellcraft, Spellcraft Workbook Cover by Carterhaugh. official logo of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic