journal | Blue Haven Press

Illustrations for Book Lovers

by Wendy Hawkin | Nov 6, 2016 | journal, writing and publishing

Some beautiful illustrations of fairytales via Kristen Tardowski… Many thanks, Kristen:)

Though writers paint pictures with words, actual images can enhance books in surprising and poignant ways. As a collector of children’s books and as someone who is very ready for the US elect…
Source: Illustrations for Book Lovers

Banned and Challenged Books

by Wendy Hawkin | Nov 5, 2016 | journal, writing and publishing

We need to find ourselves in books, in characters, in themes, in situations, in thoughts, in fantasies.
via Kids explain how banned and challenged books helped them and even saved their lives / Boing Boing

Living in Hidden in Libraries

by Wendy Hawkin | Nov 1, 2016 | journal, writing and publishing

Another fascinating post from Kristen. Have you ever wanted to be a library keeper?

Witches are…

by Wendy Hawkin | Oct 31, 2016 | healing, journal, mythology

Witchcraft has long been sensationalized and misunderstood.
This negative campaign reaches its pinnacle each Halloween with the image of the black-robed, black-pointy hat wearing crone. Old, ugly, evil. But…
Samhain is the witches’ new year. It is our time. A night the veils are thin between the worlds and the mind ripe for reflection.

fanpop.com

Witches are not EVIL. They LIVE…deep.
Witches are:
Sometimes silent; sometimes not.
Often apolitical, until pushed. Fierce proponents of social justice.
Reverent of Nature. Celebrate her, cry for her and fight for her; understanding that without her, we are nothing. Witches sing and dance for joy, appreciate her bounty and her beauty, and raise power in her divine goodness.
Observant. Revelling in the revolving wheel of the seasons.
Realistic. Accepting the certainty of death and rebirth; acknowledging the elements and appreciating their power.
Mindful. Witches meditate, craft, and heal. And seek to do no harm.
Energy-workers. They know that energy is mutable, can be bent and shaped by vibration, by words. They understand the power of manifestation, and know that thoughts cast out, come back three strong.
Healers of body, mind, and spirit.
Enamoured by numbers, symbols, myth and story.
Truth-Seekers. Casting ancestral memories back through time, they search their mother’s remedies for simpler, less invasive ways to heal and to live well.
Nurturers. Witches grow clean simple food, work with animals, herbs, and stones.
Creators of art, music…children. And so, envision a better future.
Intuitive. Listen to their internal voices and trust their feelings.
Strong and loving. Witches are not just women and not just men, but creatures whose sexual identities shift and shimmer in the changing winds.
Hopeful. Finding strength in each other, witches send hope into the world.

Reading Lovecraft for Halloween

by Wendy Hawkin | Oct 30, 2016 | journal, writing and publishing

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” – H.P. Lovecraft
I love this quote. Fear is what drives us. It lies at the core of our being in the cells of our ancient brain and arises when triggered. We cannot help but respond. We fight, we fly, we freak.
I recently attended a workshop with thriller writer, Michael Slade, on writing dark fiction. Slade recounted some of our deepest fears:

death
dismemberment, disfigurement & deformity
the dark
closed in spaces
crafted people, dummies & dolls
creatures & monsters
the Other
and most frightening, I think,
fear from within

Am I going insane? Sci-fi horror writer, HP Lovecraft delves into several of these fears in his stories, often combining them to create the ultimate fright.
In this post, Kristen Twardowski, provides insight into Lovecraft and his work.
Though Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s …
Source: Reading Lovecraft for Halloween: 4 Short Stories and Other Fiction