Wednesday 21 February 2018

Carolyn Balbi


Author Name: Carolyn Balbi
Best Known WorkPsychic Witch
Where Can You Find Her? Facebook, Website
Top Writing Tip: The only tip I can offer is this – do not force yourself to write.  I know a lot of authors say the opposite, that you should try to write every day.  But, if I’m not feeling it – I don’t do it.  The work is compromised.  When I feel it and I am in the mood to get in that space, ready to work and lay down those words…they flow and I won’t stop.  That’s when inspiration takes over and what you write is so on point; it’s beautiful!


Hi Carolyn, thank you for taking the time to talk with us!

When and why did you begin writing? 

I began writing at a young age.  I have journals that span from age 7 to now.  I have always loved writing short stories and poetry.  Words seduce me.

When did you realize you were Pagan? 

I realized I was Pagan at age 18, but I’ve always felt witchy.  Out of all of my siblings, I am the only one who never received communion or confirmation.  In fact, the religion teacher basically told my Mother that I was a disruption in class because I, “asked too many questions.”  As a child, I played mostly in nature and mainly alone, I was a bit of an introvert and liked being alone in the quiet.  I enjoyed watching my father work in the garden and I would gather herbs, put them in small jars and pour olive oil on top.  I saw the magick in everything, anything that seemed mundane in the world can and would be magick. To me this was real, not just imagination; fairies, unicorns, elves, witches, trees that spoke to me and being psychic opened me up to so much more, that it only sparked my curiosity. Looking back, I think I have always been a witch in many lifetimes.  I had met my first witch at 18 and she brought me to my first coven meeting – it was there that I knew I was home.

What are your main life experiences that have led to this book? 

I was born and raised on LI, New York and came from a large family of seven.  I had a wonderful childhood – I was very lucky.  I come from a long line of psychics and witches, on both sides of the family; you can read about that in more detail in my book!  My father was raised Catholic but my mother was the spiritualist, so it was all very hush hush.  When my mom passed, I vowed I would write a book about our abilities and our connection to witchcraft.  I wasn’t in the broom closet about it, but my mother was and I just felt pulled to share my experiences regarding my psychic ability and my devotion to witchcraft.  It has truly shaped who I am today.

Is this your first published piece, or have you had work published before? 

This is my first published piece, but I working on my second now.

Are you published or self-published, and what has been your experience with the process? 

I am self-published.  Came very close to being published with Llewellyn but it never manifested.  It didn’t deter me from publishing because I knew I had to, regardless if it was successful or not.  I am proud to say that it is doing well and continues to sell.

Tell us a bit about your story. 

My book discusses my life as a child psychic and how I dealt with it, good and bad.  It also discusses how I got into witchcraft while guiding the reader on how to unlock their own psychic ability while using witchcraft.  It has lesson plans to follow within each chapter, spell work, what steps are needed to find balance in one’s spiritual path and my own personal stories regarding angels, ghosts, spirit and my spiritual gifts.

How did this topic come to you? 

Since I was a child, I was psychic and my earliest memory of my ability was age 2!  Witchcraft helped me to understand my abilities more and even amplified them.  Putting my own experiences, but adding lessons within the book for others to learn while integrating the craft, seemed like a great topic.

Do we see some of you in your book?
Oh absolutely!  Perhaps too much.  It is very personal and holds a special place in my heart.  There are a lot of experiences based on the earlier part of my life, up until I left NY to come to FL.  I wrote it in my mid-thirties and I am now 45.  By the next book, I will have garnered more experiences and new material to write!

Do you suffer from writer’s block and, if so, how do you overcome it?
When I suffer from writer’s block, I do anything else that is creative to get the juices flowing.  I’m also an artist – so I will do artwork, or crafting.  I used to make gemstone jewelry and still do sometimes.  But, once I get creative with anything, I bring myself back to my computer and try again!  It always works for me.

Who encourages/inspires you? 
In all honesty, I kind of carve my own path.  My biggest inspiration is my son though.  He encourages me to be the best and try in all that I do.

Where do you go when you need to recharge?
Nature and anywhere there is silence.  I need to ground usually, but all the elements in nature balance me. Earth, Air, Fire, Water.  So, for Earth – you may find me in my garden, for Air - standing outside on a cliff by the sea, Fire – sitting at a fire pit on the beach staring at the flames, Water – the beach or maybe just soaking in the tub.  

What or who do you enjoy reading?
I have my own metaphysical library so some of the greats are among my collection.  Books on esoteric knowledge, spell work, divination tools, chakras, auras, Native American, Kabbalah, crystals, herbs, oils, candle magick, magick in general, psychic work, etc.  There’s a list and I can’t really say I have a favorite author.  They are all wonderful.  My two favorite books are Reflections on the Art of Living, by Joseph Campbell and as far as fiction, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.  My favorite pagan work is The Spiral Dance by Starhawk.

If you could pick one book you wished you had written, what would it have been?
I would have written Mists of Avalon,  that was on the NY Times best sellers list for months!

What are your future plans for writing? 
I’m working on my second book now and it’s going very well.  My goal is to get at least 1 bestseller!  Either way, I’ll keep writing.  We need more metaphysical writers out there, so when I see new writers cropping up – it makes me happy!  It’s the same thrill I get when a witchy shop opens up.  We need to keep moving forward. 

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Thank you, Carolyn, for giving us a glimpse into your passion and your experience! We wish you the best of luck with this book and your future work!


Tuesday 20 February 2018

A.Hanson

Author Name: A.Hanson
Best Known Works:  A Dream of Unknowing
Where Can You Find Him? Amazon, Tumblr
Top Writing Tip: My top tip would be my own mantra: don’t stop. Writing can be mind-numbing, exhausting and sometimes soul destroying (especially when you get negative feedback). The trick is to write for yourself and not worry about what other people think.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with us!

When and why did you begin writing? 

I started writing poetry as a teenager and it just developed from there. The reasons why, I am not sure. Perhaps because I wasn’t really able to articulate what I saw and felt to myself, so it needed writing down, rearranging and made real in the world, for me to be able to make sense of it. 

When did you realise that you were Pagan? 

In my 20’s I came back to the UK and went to live on the Isle of Mull. There I tried to research as much as I could about Celtic paganism and spirituality and realised many aspects were in tune with my own personal beliefs. I met some folks from Findhorn, made pagan friends, and together with a person who became very important to me spent a lot of time over that two year period camped out on wild beaches or on hilltops ‘looking for that little bit more’. 

Tell us a little about yourself, what are the main life experiences that have led to this book?

I was born in the UK but because of my father’s job, I grew up in the Middle-East, Africa, India and the Caribbean. I was always interested in writing and began writing poetry at an early age. This developed into wanting to tell stories that, a bit like poetry, offered more than just a good yarn.  

Is this your first published piece or have you had work published before?

A Dream of Unknowing is my first published work. However, when I was living in India I published a collection of poetry which was read by about six people (I had to buy the other 94 copies from the publisher at cost to keep him happy) so doesn’t really count. Hopefully, sales will be a bit better this time.

Tell us a bit about your story, key characters, and plot. 

A Dream of Unknowing is basically four separate tales detailing events that took place in and around the villages of Osikovce, where I now live, and Konkusova Dolina in the Carpathian Mountains of Slovakia over a 400 years period. My stories are reworkings of older tales from the region, and bits of legend that I have stitched together to suit the purpose of the book. The region where the book is set has a long history of paganism/witchcraft which still exists to this day; and the essence of my book is about how this traditional paganism, rather than the reinvented paganism, survives to this day. The title story, the first of the four, is said to be a parable and there were quite a few people in Osikovce who did not want it written down or published.  

How did the topic of your book come to you? 

I moved to the Carpathian Mountains of Slovakia about 9 years ago and the rest...well, it’s in the book. 

Are you published or self-published, and what has been your experience of this process?

Self-published. A couple of smaller publishing houses offered me a contract, but they always wanted me to subsidise the process. If I had the money I probably would have taken them up on the offer, but as I don’t...

Who encourages/inspires you? 

My eldest son is nine years old and loves listening to old stories. We are fortunate to live next to a beautiful forest and on long walks, we tell each other tales of what might be happening just around the next bend or over the brow of the next hill. He is my greatest inspiration in all things, not just writing. 

Where do you go when you need to recharge? 

About a fifteen-minute walk from my house there is an old abandoned spring called Marta’s Well. This place features quite prominently in one of the tales but is not nearly so…disturbing. The spring is dry now, but it’s still has a cool dampness about it which still makes you think of it as a watery place. There are thick ferns, violets and beautiful mosses all over the old stonework. During the summer it’s one of the best places I know to while away the day.

What are your future plans for writing?

My next book, The Fall of Petarov, is almost finished. This is a more personal look at my time in the Carpathians, how I came about the stories in A Dream of Unknowing, and how the book itself got written. It’s not a biography, but more like a fictionalised telling of what I’ve been up to in Osikovce. The events, people, and places are real, but I’ve added a bit of padding to make it more readable. It also looks at some of the traditions, rituals and pagan goings-on that happen here. 

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Thank you again for giving us a glimpse into your passion and your process! We wish you the best of luck with this book and your future work!