Creativity Friday: Interview and giveaway with author Mary Sharratt, author of Daughters of the Witching Hill

This Creativity Friday, I am fortunate to have acclaimed author Mary Sharratt as my guest. Mary’s novel DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL was recently released to a bouquet of glowing praise included a coveted starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. I’ll be posting a review of it soon. Short version: DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL is a spell-binding novel, rich and evocative and very moving. Frankly, it’s one of the best books I’ve read in some time. As I read it, I found myself tearing up at the beauty of her writing as well as at the unrelenting hardness of her main characters’ lives.

DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL is Mary’s fourth novel. She is a writer who traffics in myth and magic and folklore — in other words, the manna of my existence. DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL is set during the infamous Pendle witch trials of 1612. It reveals the true story of Bess Southerns, aka Old Demdike, cunning woman, healer and the most notorious of the Pendle witches, and of Alizon Device, her granddaughter, struggling to come to terms with her family’s troubling legacy. Last month, I was thrilled to host a reading for Mary during her and Jos’s recent visit to New York City — we had a wonderful time. (BTW, the reading is available to watch here as part of our ongoing Authors at the Gallery series.)

In this interview, Mary generously shares with us her experience writing DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL —a process inspired by the Lancashire area in which she lives with her husband Jos and horse Boushka: the story of the Pendle Witches unfolded almost literally in her backyard. She also offers wonderful advice for aspiring authors.

More good news: we’re giving away a copy of DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL to one lucky blog commentor. Details at the end of this post. You can also read an excerpt from the novel here; there’s also a wonderful YouTube video featuring Mary and her horse here.

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Kris Waldherr: DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL offers a revisionist version of the Pendle witch trials. I know you spent a lot of time researching and examining the original documents from the trial. How close is your novel to history? How much was invented? Was there any plot point which you changed for the sake of creating a stronger book?

Mary Sharratt: All the major characters and events in this novel are drawn from the primary source material, The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster, court clerk Thomas Potts’s account of the 1612 Lancashire Witch Trials. I also drew on recent scholarship on historical cunning folk and witches in Early Modern Britain, and on the sweeping social changes emerging from the Reformation. Owen Davies’s Popular Magic: Cunning-folk in English History, Emma Wilby’s Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits, Ronald Hutton’s The Rise and Fall of Merry England, and Eamon Duffy’s The Stripping of the Altars were huge inspirations to me. All the charms and spells mentioned in the book are based on documented Lancashire folk magic, taken either from the primary source material or from John Harland and T.T. Wilkinson’s book Lancashire Folklore.

I remained as true to history as I could while trying to craft a dramatic plot structure. But I have taken some fictional liberties. There were so many different Nutter families involved in the story, that I had to change the surnames of all but accused witch Alice Nutter’s immediate family to avoid confusion. I also had to change some first names since there were so many Annes and Johns and Elizabeths that even I became confused. Perhaps the biggest liberty I took was making Mother Demdike the illegitimate offspring of the Nowell clan—this is pure fiction on my part with no known basis in fact.

KW: Many fiction writers talk about the challenges involved in crafting the right voice for their characters, especially when a novel is written in first person. In DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL I found the individual voices you concocted stunningly evocative and heartbreaking, especially for Bess Southerns, or Mother Demdike. I could really sense her physical limitations, her struggles. What was your process in creating these women of Pendle? Did you struggle with individuating them?

MS: Before the actual writing of the first draft came months of research and note taking while I tried to work out who the narrator would be. After much reflection, I concluded that Mother Demdike was the catalyst, the one whose personality stood out most strongly. As I wrote the first draft, her voice just seemed to emerge organically from the primary source material and even from the land itself, her native land that I walked each day, mulling over her story in my head. Her voice came very clearly as I wrote down the tale. Later I encountered a hitch when her voice suddenly stopped and the writing process stalled. And then Alizon’s younger, more uncertain voice took over and I realized that if Old Mother Demdike started the tale, young Alizon would spin it to its end.

KW: Of these characters, who was easiest to write? Who was your favorite, or that you identified with the most? Why?

MS: Both voices, once I had “found” them, just seemed to flow with a will of their own. I passionately love both women for different reasons. Bess for her indomitable strength and will and love. She is the epitome of a woman whose character was so strong that others found her scary. Alizon was more hesitant, uncertain, and doubtful, and I identified with her uncertainties, her questing for the deeper meaning of all her family had to endure.

KW: These women’s lives are incredibly difficult — toward the beginning of the book, Bess begs for food until she becomes aware of her healing gifts, which brings her a better life for a while. So much of her family’s rise and fall was tied into King James’ obsession with the occult. Did other women (or men) have similar experiences (whether or not they were practicing witchcraft)?

MS: Whether or not common folk had reputations as witches or cunning folk, they had a hard struggle for survival in East Lancashire. One bad harvest could result in famine and starvation.

East Lancashire had long been a poor backwater, never very prosperous as far as agriculture was concerned—the land was better for grazing than for farming. This was why, in the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution was born here. There were many hands and not enough paid work. These common people, struggling to feed their families, provided the cheap labor for the world’s first industrial cotton mills.

KW: Bess has a rather intense relationship with her familiar, a seductive male named Tibb who also appears as a hound. Only she can view and hear him, though. What did you make of Tibb? Did you think he was real? Or a hallucination? What parallels, if any, are there between Bess’s relationship with her familiar and the shaman’s relationship with the spirit world as healers?

MS: Modern people are allowed their skepticism, but for people in Bess’s era, the spirit world seemed very near—an active presence in daily life. Tibb was real indeed, as far as Bess was concerned.

In traditional English folk magic, no cunning man or cunning woman could work their charms without the aid of their familiar spirit—they needed this otherworldly ally to make things happen. Emma Wilby’s book, Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits, is a comprehensive scholarly study of cunning folk in Early Modern Britain and their perceived relationship with their familiar spirits. She has drawn some interesting parallels between cunning folk and shamans in tribal societies, and has even compared a cunning person’s life-long relationship with their familiar spirit to that of Siberian shamans’ relationships with their spirit wives or spirit husbands. The spirit was generally, but not always, the opposite gender of the spirit worker, and the familiar spirit often appeared in a very intimate, seductive guise.

Wilby also links the belief in familiar spirits to the Fairy Faith, the lingering belief in fairies and elves that existed alongside Christianity. This connection was also noted by scholars in the Early Modern Period. In his 1677 book, The Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft, Lancashire author John Webster mentions a local cunning man who claimed that his familiar spirit was none other than the Queen of Elfhame herself.

KW: You’ve written other novels — THE VANISHING POINT, which was also set in the seventeenth century, THE REAL MINERVA, and SUMMIT AVENUE, which uses fairy tales as part of its structure. How did your process for writing DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL compare to them? Easier or harder? Better or worse?

MS: My goal in writing fiction is to spin tales with much truth in them, hence interweaving my narratives with myth and fairy tale. I once did a storytelling seminar with Hugh Lupton who said that, “Myths are timeless stories and their function is to tell the truth.” SUMMIT AVENUE draws on dark, raw fairy tales mirroring a young woman’s coming of age in early 20th century Saint Paul. THE REAL MINERVA is a female retelling of The Odyssey—in small town Minnesota. The teenage protagonist’s name is Penelope and she is both the one who makes the journey and the one who waits. Set in 17th century Maryland, THE VANISHING POINT, a tale of star-crossed sisters and their quest for love, drew on the lore of the Green Man and the Vanishing People—the fey folk.

DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL was a departure for me because it was based not on folklore intertwined with fiction but on historical events and the lives of real women and men—a tale of heroism and tragedy that unfolded where I now live. My truth-telling mission here was to right ancient wrongs, to allow these unjustly maligned women to speak through me and finally tell their story in their own voices.

KW: Many of the people who read my blog are also writers. What sage advice would you give to them about the creative process of writing a novel? What do you wish you knew then that you know now?

MS: The primary rule of sustaining a career as a writer is that you’re in it for the long term and you won’t get any reward out of it unless you love the process of actually writing. The end result may bring nothing but rejection letters and rewrite after rewrite. You may have to put aside entire manuscripts before you come up with the one that speaks to a larger audience that finally lets you break through into publication. But even then, this is a highly competitive and volatile business. Great books often get mediocre sales for no particular reason. Love what you do and do your best to support other struggling authors. Buy their books and go to their readings. Help create the kind of writing community that will also welcome you when you get your first book published.

KW: Finally, I understand that you’re working on a novel about Hildegard von Bingen. Can you tell us a little about it? How does it compare to writing DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL with its female healers and cunning women? When can we expect to read it?”

MS: My current novel-in-press, KNOW THE WAYS, will reveal the dramatic life of Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), Benedictine abbess. She was an incredible character, a polymath who composed an entire corpus of music and wrote books on subjects as diverse as natural science, medicine, and human sexuality—she’s credited as the first person to describe the female orgasm in depth. A mystic and visionary, her prophecies earned her the title Sybil of the Rhine.

Her story arc is amazing. Her parents offered her as a tithe to the Church at the age of eight when she was enclosed—literally walled into a claustrophobic anchorage—with another young girl, Jutta von Sponheim, who probably would be diagnosed with anorexia if she were alive today. Yet Hildegard triumphed to become one of the greatest voices of her age. And she’s not so far removed from my historical witches as people might think. She healed with herbs, crystals, and gemstones, and was guided by visions. I suspect that if she had been born a few centuries later, she might well have been burned as a witch.

I think it will take me another year to finish the novel.

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Thank you, Mary, for an amazing interview! As I mentioned above, Mary has generously given us a copy of DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL to raffle off here. To win it, simply leave a comment by midnight, April 29, 2010.

The rules: Only one comment per person. Book can only be shipped to U.S. or Canadian mailing address. Winner will be chosen at random and announced here April 30 next Friday. Good luck to all!

• Filed under creativity, friends and colleagues, giveaways and raffles, mythic living, studio and gallery | 13 Responses

The Most Romantic Week on the Blogosphere: The Most Inspiring Love Story Ever?

To finish my “Most Romantic Week on the Blogosphere” featuring the Love Tarot app, I am compelled to share with you what I consider to be possibly one of the most inspiring of love stories — the tale of Dante and Beatrice. On top of that, we’re giving away a copy of the Love Tarot app and one Amor and Beatrice print (autographed by me) to two lucky blog commentors. Details at the end of this post.

It’s not too late: You can still enter the giveaways from earlier in this week! Here’s what you can win:

Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland.
The Lover’s Path by Kris Waldherr.
The Queen of My Self by Donna Henes.
Goddess Tarot deck and MP3 of The Tarot School’s teleclass for The High Priestess from Ruth Ann Amberstone.

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“Why Dante and Beatrice?” you may wonder. After all Dante never got his girl. She didn’t love him in return. Heck, the poet hardly spoke to her, if we’re to believe what he wrote. Nor did he send her any notes or any other indications of his affection. The truth was that Beatrice Portinari never knew how much Dante Aligheri adored her when she died prematurely in her twenties. Dante’s infatuation with Beatrice was one which he nurtured with subtle stares during church services, cherished greetings during accidental meetings — and transcendental poems shared with everyone but the object of his affection.

Most people know that Dante lived in thirteenth century Florence and wrote The Divine Comedy, an epic poem describing his vision of a journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven. The first part, the Inferno, is the liveliest part of the work. Once you read it, it’s hard to forget its intensely visceral imagery and the sense that the poet is settling some serious political scores. Though Beatrice appears within The Divine Comedy as his guiding angel, she was also the subject of his first book, La Vita Nuova (“The New Life”). It is in La Vita Nuova that Dante fully recounts his love for her, and of how she inspired his art.

In a lot of ways, it’s easy to just consider Dante’s love for Beatrice a courtly love contrivance for his art — but what art! Here’s an excerpt from a poem he wrote about her death:

Great anguish do my sighs give unto me,
Whene’er my thought unto my heavy mind
Doth bring her to me who hath cleft my heart.
And thinking oftentimes concerning death,
There comes to me so sweet desire therefor
That it transmutes the color in my face.
When this imagination holds me fixed,
Such pain assaileth me on every side,
That then I tremble with the woe I feel;
And such I do become
That from the people shame takes me away:
Then, alone, weeping, I lamenting call
On Beatrice, and say: “Art thou, then, dead?
And while I call her I am comforted.”

When I think of all the art, poetry, literature, and (yes!) lovers who have been inspired by Dante, it amazes me. Everyone from Dante Gabriel Rossetti (though one has to pity poor Elizabeth Siddal, whom he plucked out of obscurity to be his Victorian-era Beatrice/Kate Moss) to, well, moi. Dante’s work has been illustrated by Sandro Botticelli, William Blake, and Gustave Dore. On the music front, Rossini and Schumann set his words to music, and it inspired a symphonic poem by Liszt. As for modern poets, Dantesque imagery found its way into the works of Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot, Gabriele D’Annunzio, and more writers than I can possibly list here.

All these influences and sources – and this is without even mentioning the films and novels and other art forms that owe Dante their due.

Why is the poet’s love story still so compelling, seven hundred years later? My theory is that Dante and Beatrice reminds us of the power of loving for love’s sake; of the beauty that pure devotion to another can inspire. And what can be more romantic than that?

So here’s the chain of events: Beatrice inspired Dante. Then Dante inspired everyone else. And that is why I consider Dante and Beatrice to be the most inspiring love story ever.

In closing, here’s my retelling of Dante’s devotion to Beatrice, adapted from The Lover’s Path Tarot; this account was based on his La Vita Nuova:

Beatrice was nine years old the first time Dante gazed upon her, he slightly older. Her presence made such an impression that he felt as though his spirit had been infused with light. From that moment, Dante adored Beatrice above all others. Through the years as they grew into adulthood, Dante sought to meet Beatrice, too overwhelmed with love to do nothing more than stare at her. He noticed that Beatrice was so full of grace that any who saw her experienced a happiness which could only be described through sighs. All this convinced Dante that Beatrice was truly an angel. Since he said nothing, Beatrice did not suspect Dante’s love; she thought him dumb with shyness. But her warm greeting never wavered no matter how awkwardly Dante acted.

When Beatrice turned fifteen, her parents arranged her marriage to a wealthy merchant. The first time Dante saw Beatrice after her wedding, she was accompanied by two of her bridesmaids as they walked along the Arno River in Florence. Overcome by the knowledge that she was now another’s wife, Dante turned his face from Beatrice to hide his tears. Beatrice’s bridesmaids misunderstood and thought the poet had insulted their mistress. They jeered at him as they led Beatrice away.

That night, Dante retreated to his chamber in anguished shame. While he slept, a vision appeared to him in his dreams as the stars reached the ninth hour of the night. From a cloud the hue of fire emerged a god-like figure. This being, who identified himself as Amor, the spirit of love, held a woman whom Dante recognized as Beatrice. Amor also held a heart, which he told  Dante was the heart the poet had irrevocably given to Beatrice.

Dante awoke from his dream resolved. His love for Beatrice would be no earthly passion to expire when they died. Instead, he would immortalize Beatrice with poems that would last forever. As their lives unfolded, Beatrice was honored by Dante’s verses as no woman had ever been. The poet’s fame spread—and with it, the story of his love for Beatrice.

Over the years, the story of Dante and Beatrice has inspired many to give their hearts just as completely.”

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TODAY’S GIVEAWAY: I have one copy of the Full version Love Tarot app and an autographed Amor and Beatrice print, which reproduces the drawing for the card shown above. To enter, simply leave a comment for this post; please indicate whether you’d like to be entered for the app or the print. Or both. For a double entry, tell us your about your most intensely romantic experience.

It may not involve another person — for example, I was enraptured during my first trip to Venice like a Victorian heroine overcome by Stendhal Syndrome. Or it might. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that romance is all around us — Valentine’s Day should be a celebration of that, rather than a marker (and marketing ploy) for happily we’re partnered off.

The small print: You have until midnight EST on February 14 to leave your comment. Winner will be chosen at random and announced on this blog Monday, February 15, 2010. Sorry, but this giveaway is limited to U.S. only.

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Top art: Dante and Beatrice from the Love Tarot app by Kris Waldherr.

More about the Love Tarot app: Considered to be the most romantic app in the App Store, the Love Tarot app offers gorgeous tarot readings inspired by famous love stories, such as Tristan and Isolde and Cupid and Psyche. This five star-rated app was recently relaunched to include a tarot journal for users to save their readings and other inspirations.

Available in Lite and Full versions, learn more here. Or download the Full version on iTunes now.

• Filed under giveaways and raffles, iPhone apps, lover's path, mythic living, tarot and oracles, the art world | 5 Responses

On life, love and loss

“I refuse to think of death. I decide that every day is going to be my best day ever. And it is.”

— Joyce Iris Miller (1930 – 2009)

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The abruptness of my last blog entry suggests that something sudden and unfortunate occurred here in Art and Words land. And it had. My mother-in-law, Joyce Miller, passed away on the evening of December 9th at the age of 79. Since then, we’ve been thrown into a land of bereavement and its aftermath, both emotional and practical.

It’s amazing how much time and energy loss takes. I’m certainly old enough to know loss in my life. But this one has really cut to the bone. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so hard if Joyce’s death had been expected. But it wasn’t — she had a sudden heart attack and died instantly. Otherwise, she was a vital force until the end, full of good humor and joy (as her name suggests). Besides a husband of 56 years, she left behind a daughter and a son — my husband — and two granddaughters.

How can I describe her without sounding like a hagiography? But all this is true — she was simply an extraordinarily generous person who saw the beauty and good wherever she went.

She gave her time and talents to numerous non-profits organizations, including the Library of Congress and the Women’s Democratic Club. She was someone who gathered friends everywhere she went and kept them. Joyce was also the best grandmother to my daughter Thea. Filled with patience and playfulness, she always had some special surprise to greet Thea with every time we visited her in Washington, DC, where she lived. She was always ready to tell a story or to give a hug.

Joyce also loved to have fun and enjoyed beautiful environments. Before her death, we had talked about taking a trip to Monticello and Newport to view the mansions of the rich and famous. She also enjoyed a good gossip and a dry vodka martini, preferably on the rocks with olives. One of my favorite Joyce quotes: “I gave up guilt. It wasn’t that hard to do.”

Joyce Miller was one of my favorite people in this world, and possibly the kindest person I’ve ever met. Last week, we laid her to rest in a grave we covered in peach-colored roses, not far from where John Philip Sousa was buried.

I miss her greatly already. But I feel blessed to have known her.

Joyce Miller with Tom in Rome, sometime in the 1970s.

• Filed under art and words, mythic living, queens, the world around me | 9 Responses

You’re invited: The Goddess Tarot app blog tour!

It’s summertime, so I’m currently on the road until mid-August. During this time, I hope to catch up with family and friends who live on the West Coast. Nonetheless, I have my semi-trusty laptop with me and will be posting periodic updates.

Along with this, I’ll be visiting blogs in August to celebrate the launch of The Goddess Tarot app. Already, I’ve gotten some press for the app — check out this article on Brokelyn.com in which I am queried about how to make an iPhone app. But for the tour, there will be much more: articles, interviews, even a podcast, along with giveaways galore!

Without further ado, here is a list of the blogs taking part in The Goddess Tarot app tour:

Monday, August 3rd — Tarot by Arwen

Tuesday, August 5th — New Age Journal

Thursday, August 6th — Only Tarot

Monday, August 10th — The Tarot Dame

Friday, August 14th — At Brigit’s Forge: A Blogue by Lunaea Weatherstone

Tuesday, August 18th — Art NYC: Marshall Sponder on the NYC Art Scene

Thursday, August 20th — Joanna Powell Colbert’s Gaian Tarot blog

Saturday, August 22nd — Owl’s Wings: The Blog of Beth Owl’s Daughter

Tuesday, August 25th — Elizabeth Genco

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BTW, if you haven’t downloaded The Goddess Tarot app yet, here are links to download the free Lite version and the paid Full version. You can find out more about the app’s features and visuals here.

Though it’s only been on the market for a week, already The Goddess Tarot app is garnering great reviews on iTunes. Here are excerpts from what people are saying about the Full version:

I’ve gotten a few tarot card apps so far and none of them can touch the Goddess Tarot for beautiful layouts and smart interactivity. It even has an animated shuffle — so clever!… Be sure to get the full version which has a variety of layouts.”

“Even if you’re not into tarot, this deck is for you. The artwork is enchanting. This is one of my most favorite decks and now it’s even better.”

“This cool app did not disappoint! As well as giving good readings — uplifting without being fluffy — there is also the opportunity to learn about the belief systems and goddesses from all over the world.”

“Kris Waldherr’s lush visuals and intuitive programming make this one of my favorite apps.”

“Beautiful images and soulful interpretations! It offers me a sense of wonder and magick — and it’s conveniently available in my iPod.”

Learn more at GoddessTarot.com.

GODDESS TAROT LITE VERSION	GODDESS TAROT FULL VERSION

• Filed under blogs we read, events, friends and colleagues, giveaways and raffles, goddesses, mythic living, publications, retail therapy, tarot and oracles | 5 Responses

Creativity Friday: Interview with Women of Wisdom founder and author Kris Steinnes ~ and book giveaway!

I’m very pleased to have Kris Steinnes as my guest for this edition of Creativity Friday. Kris has accomplished some amazing things to further the empowerment of women everywhere. She’s the founder of the Seattle-based Women of Wisdom foundation, as well as an author and editor of a new book which bears the same name. In Kris’s involvement with WOW, she has brought together women leaders from many fields to share their experiences. Their ultimate goal is to build a world in which women’s voices are heard and feminine wisdom can be lived to its fullest.

(Full disclosure: I was fortunate to be a workshop presenter at Women of Wisdom a few years ago. It was a wonderful experience!)

Women of Wonder: Empowering the Dreams and Spirit of Women reminds me in some ways of Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party, one of my favorite works of art. Just as The Dinner Party showcases the contributions of women throughout history, Women of Wisdom showcases the art and words of the numerous inspiring women who have presented at WOW. Besides Kris, these steller contributors include Isabel Allende, Marion Woodman, Brooke Medicine-Eagle, Nicki Scully, Frances Moore Lappé, Angeles Arrien, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Judith Orloff and Riane Eisler. Their essays and poems are interwoven with beautiful art and design.

My interview with Kris is all about her experience working on Women of Wisdom; ways women can carve out sacred space to nurture their creative spirits; and her hopes for the future of the Divine Feminine in our society.

You can purchase the WOW book at www.wisewomanpublishing.com. Heads up: some bonus gifts may still be available when you purchase from the Amazon link on their website.

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Kris Waldherr: One of the things which interests me is women’s creative processes, especially when it comes to making books and art. I read that you worked on Women of Wisdom at two writers’ retreats, one of which was in Sicily. Can you tell me about your experience? Were there specific inspirations which arose out of this situations which wove their ways into Women of Wisdom?

Kris Steinnes: I went to Sicily for a sabbatical from Women of Wisdom, and my life in Seattle! I planned to start writing the book and I did begin there. It was inspiring to just be away from everything where I could start to focus on the project. I transcribed a couple of the talks, and I also wrote some beginning pieces about how Women of Wisdom started, etc. It was a place to wind down and look out my kitchen table at the ocean, walk the beach and plan the book. I can’t say anything I wrote there is in the book – it was more what I call pre-writing. Nine months later I attended Christina Baldwin’s writing workshop on Whidbey Island, Washington. That was very inspirational to be with thirteen women writers and Christina is so good at creating sacred space and doing circle work. We met each morning and evening and did writing exercises, but the best part was having 36 hours of silence where we all worked on our writing pieces. I wrote the first chapter there which shares the experience of entering into Women of Wisdom and it just flowed from that sacred space inside of me. I have to say it turned into two-three chapters when the book was actually finished but it felt so good to complete that at the retreat. The last day we each had thirty minutes to share our writings and get feedback from everyone, which focused on the positive aspects of the writing, not a critical critique so we were all validated for our work. Amazing work was completed by everyone in those five days.

KW: A follow up: For women who perhaps don’t have access to writers’ retreats, what advice can you give on creating a sacred space to nurture their creative endeavors?

KS: After my writing retreat with Christina Baldwin life got busy again as it was Women of Wisdom conference time. So I knew I needed to create some space for me to write and get out of my house. I rented a space that was available from a friend and it was in a complex that had gardens around it, so when I took breaks I could be out in nature. I could go just for four hours a day and be away from home, phones and internet so I could really focus on the work. That’s what I knew I had to do. I know not everyone can, so I suggest you find a place in your home away from phones and anything that will disturb you. I’ve heard some advise to do it first thing in the morning before the day gets started. I’m not a morning person, but I know I don’t make it to the gym unless I do it first in my day, so I think writing can be like that. Some people it’s best late at night – it can be quiet then too. Create a place that’s for writing only and create an altar in the room. Turn off the phone if you have to, shut the door, whatever you need to do to focus. I called on the spirit of the Goddess Sophia to be with me and felt she guided me. It took discipline and it helps to have deadlines!

KW: Though your writing is featured in Women of Wisdom, you also shaped the book as editor. The book includes contributions from some major women authors, experts, and leaders, such as Riane Eisler, Isabel Allende, and Jean Shinoda Bolen. What was involved in editing such a stellar group of women?

KS: They were presenters at the Women of Wisdom conference and I chose them to be in the first book as I knew they had powerful messages for women. First we had to transcribe their talks, and then edit them to be the correct length for a chapter in a book, and to take out all the aside comments – people don’t talk as they would write. So I had to focus on what their message was and take out extraneous stories that didn’t support the message, while keeping the essence of their talk intact.

KW: Was it hard to decide what to include in the book? Was there anything you had to leave out because of space constraints that you wish you had been able to include?

KS: It wasn’t hard, but I did have to choose who would be in the first book. Some people I had been in touch with and knew they would want to participate. There were three that didn’t get in that I would have liked to have had, but they weren’t able to edit or approve their chapter in time. They will be in the second book. In the end the book got so large that the ten I have was just enough.

KW: Do you have a favorite contribution in the book? If so, which one and why?

KS: I think they’re all good. They all have a different perspective of the Divine Feminine. I love Angeles Arrien’s talk about finding meaning, magic and enchantment in our lives, and Jean Houston is always so inspiring, I love her work. Jean Shinoda Bolen’s work on the importance of circles is great, and Riane Eisler and Barbara Marx Hubbard give us important information about partnership and co-creating our world. They’re very thought provoking. And one of my favorites is Marion Woodman, who is such an inspiration and spokeswoman of the feminine.

KW: As a book designer myself, I appreciate how seamlessly your book’s text is integrated into its art and design. It’s a real outpouring of creativity and inspiration. What was involved in shaping the book’s design and art? Did you go into this with a clear vision of how the book would look? Or did it evolve gradually?

KS: I wanted it to be a full experience of the feminine and art, poetry, stories have always been an important aspect of Women of Wisdom conferences that I knew I wanted to include that in the book. All these artists, musicians and writers have been involved in the conference, whether a presenter, a participant, or a market vendor and I’m so glad they are a part of the book. It was very synchronistic how I found the book designer, as I received an email from someone from our community recommending Drai just when I knew I needed to find someone to do the book cover. I looked at her website and liked her work, so when I contacted her, I found out she actually had been to Women of Wisdom before, even though she lives in Denver. So she understands who WOW is and was able to create a book that reflects that. I chose the art and poetry to go with each writing so that it fit with the theme of that chapter.

KW: I understand that Women of Wisdom is the first of three books underway from the WOW foundation. What can we expect to see in future books? What role will you take in creating them?

KS: I hopefully will start the second book this next year. I’m getting inquiries from people who have read the book and want to submit their writings on the feminine, which is great. So I see it being more talks from WOW presenters and again art and poetry, and I’ve had experiences since writing the first book, that I’ll write some chapters as well. It will be like the first one, but probably less about the conference and more about the Divine Feminine and our experiences with Her. I’m open to people submitting art, poetry, songs and their stories of the Divine Feminine in their lives to include in the book.

KW: This book is a real labor of love, reflecting your many years of involvement as the founder of the Women of Wisdom foundation. The roots of WOW were founded in a women’s spirituality conference that took place in 1993. To say the least, both the foundation and the conference have grown considerably since then! In your book, you write that Women of Wisdom is “a path of experiences linked together through the commonality of women and spirit on a journey seeking the Divine.” What do you envision to be the future of the Women of Wisdom foundation? How does your book support and play into this vision?

KS: I have always envisioned WOW circles in other cities, and would love to consult with groups in other cities to put on a WOW conference there, perhaps license the conference to others. We receive emails from people who ask where is there a group like yours in my city. The book is supporting this, as now after the Amazon campaign women from all over the country are reading the book and are finding out about the WOW conference. We even have people in Europe who have the book now. That’s just thrilling for me to know this important work is going around the globe. I hope many of them will come in February to the conference. If anyone wants to apply to give a 3 hour workshop they are welcome to. The deadline is August 15th and they can download the application and information from our website – www.womenofwisdom.org. We can’t pay travel for these presenters, but it’s a great way to come to the conference, bring your work to Seattle and share with other women.

KW: My experience has been that our creative endeavors transform us as much as we hope they will transform others. How did working on this book transform you as a creative woman? How do you intend for your book to transform the world?

KS: I’ve been transformed and continue transforming through Women of Wisdom. I find as she grows, I grow and visa versa. I’ve learned so much about myself, the Diving Feminine, the power of a women’s community, women’s circles. I created a circle form of leadership and that’s how we run the organization, through our council circle. I’ve always been creative as I used to work in clothing design but now my creativity is moving in other new directions – being a speaker, consultant, writer, workshop leader, not just an organizer of a conference, so I’m going through a big growth phase with this book. My intention for the book is to bring the feminine consciousness to the forefront in our world so there’s a balance between male and female energies (I’m not speaking about gender here). I want to empower women to find their voices and to lead the life they’ve always dreamed of.

KW: Finally, what is the message you hope women take away from your book?

KS: My wish is for women to feel empowered to speak up and become leaders as we need more women leaders. But most importantly they’re the leaders of their own life so I hope women will take the time to rediscover what their dreams are and realize that they can still achieve them.

Also I feel the most important message is honoring and respecting our feminine gifts. I give workshops for women to find the places inside themselves where they aren’t honoring the feminine within them. We’ve been brought up in a world that doesn’t honor the feminine, and it’s up to us to change that as it begins within. So my hope is women learn to respect and honor their own feminine and know that it’s okay to express it because the world needs it now, our young women need to know the feminine is valued. When we do that we’ll begin to see it reflected in our world, and others will show the respect and honor that the feminine deserves. It’s important to explore when we silence Her and to create a safe place for Her to come forward. We need to share our gifts and our wisdom, and we are more able to do that when we feel validated and honored for our feminine gifts. When that happens we truly will find the freedom to live fully and then there will be the balance that is so needed in our world now.

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Kris has generously offered to raffle off a beautiful copy of Women of Wisdom to one blog commenter—thank you, Kris! To enter the giveaway, the rules are simple. Just leave a comment below by midnight August 2, 2009. The winner will be announced on August 3rd on this blog. Good luck to all!

In addition, here’s information about the upcoming18th Annual Women of Wisdom Conference, which takes place in Seattle Feburary 11 – 15, 2010. Special guests include Joan Borysenko and Donna Eden. Learn more or sign up for their enewsletter at www.womenofwisdom.org. If you have any questions for Kris, contact her directly at her blog or via e-mail: ks [at] wisewomanpublishing dot com.

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