It has been a few weeks since my last Dear Diary and in the meantime we have had the big ole festive period. We had all our children at home for the week along with a yucky cold/cough lurgy thing. Everyone had it except for Pete, needless to say the festivities were quite subdued!
January has begun with a bang, literally bangs and crashes as we are having our bathroom renovated. Bits of the bathroom were incredibly old, the rest was falling apart so it was a necessity rather than a luxury. What it means is that since last Wednesday we have had no bathroom which in turn means no upstairs toilet (thankfully we have a small one downstairs) but also no shower or bath. I hates it (said in a miserable Gollum voice). Sponge baths are the new hip and trendy focus in our household at the moment, although thankfully our daughter and son in law live near by so we have been wandering along to pinch their shower facilities. Even the teenage boy has been complaining about the lack of a shower, so things must be bad. Eric also hates it, he is already nervous being a rescue dog, but very protective when anyone invades his home. He has barked...a lot. To be fair, the crew of workmen have been wonderful, they are incredibly efficient and friendly and work really hard. However the lack of shower facilities, Eric being so upset and the noise all day is very wearing. I am trying to focus on how fabulous it will be when it is all done. In the scale of things it is not a big problem, I know.
In the past few years I have treated January as a recuperation month, time to step back and regroup before launching any new projects or starting new things in February. This year I had pencilled January for book writing as I am a bit behind on my manuscript for the Hedge Witch book (sssh don't tell Fenix Flames Publishing!). So that is my focus for the next few weeks.
I gave a talk this week at the local WI (Women's Institute), it was a bit of a step outside my usual realm but absolutely great fun. I wasn't sure what to expect as I don't usually talk about witchcraft to anyone that isn't Pagan or spiritual. The lovely Ness came along with me as my body guard...ahem...I mean colleague. We received such a wonderful welcome and everyone was so lovely and full of brilliant questions. Of course there was cake...very good cake.
The first deck of oracle cards is with Animal Dreaming Publishing for the edits, this one is focused on magical herbs. I will let you know when I have more details.
Practical Candle Magic was released in December in the USA and was supposed to be released in the UK on 1st January, sadly there was a delay in getting the stock into across the pond and it was delayed. However, stock should now be with the distributors and making its way out to all you lovely people who pre-ordered.
We have a Kitchen Witch production meeting this week (yes, it involves cake and coffee) where we will map out our shenanigans for the coming year. We have had lots of suggestions, some of which didn't involve the words 'bugger off' and will be putting things into action over the coming weeks.
My schedule for 2024 is already fairly full, do check out my events page for details over on my newly re-designed website.
This year I have several books scheduled for publication:
Spring - a special secret squirrel project, more details when I have them
June - Pagan Portals Dragon Magic September - Pagan Portals Sulis Sometime - hopefully when I actually finish writing it, Hedge Witch will be published this year too.
To finish off...the new Pagan Portal Podcast was launched last week. I cannot tell you how proud I am to be involved with this project. The first episode went live on 5th January which was an interview with the very fabulous Morgan Daimler. The second episode will air on Friday 19th January at 12 noon. Two episodes a month on the first and third Friday going forward. The podcast can be found on the Moon Books YouTube channel in video format and in audio format on the usual podcast platforms such as Spotify. Please do have a listen/watch and 'follow' us on Spotify or 'subscribe' on YouTube it really does make a difference.
Sending my huge heartfelt thank you to everyone for your continued support throughout 2023 and wishing you all a very happy and magical 2024.
Listened/watched your first Podcast last friday, while eldest son was having his very first vedic thai bodywork session (wanted his mum onhand because he was a bit nervous - talking about bodyguards ..!!! Haha!) .. i loved it! Morgan was fascinating, and I enjoyed listening to her story - excellent start, Rachel …. Looking forward to the next one! Heather A 💜