Merry meet all,

Inspiration is a fickle muse. Sometimes she’s there for me, sometimes not. Today’s post will be about what inspired me to write Cult of the Spider People. There are several elements that inspired me to write it. Sometimes when I start a story, an image or two comes to my mind and my imagination. I feel the spark of creativity then and I sit down to write and my pen flies across the page as if on fire. I love those moments!

The other main element that inspired me or helped me write the creepy novella was my ex. I think this ties into the whole romanticized notion that suffering creates great art. But my ex certainly was enough to inspire a novel or a novella. He is darker than most people. I am convinced that my ex is the villain in my story. He stands out from most people. He has the ‘darkness’, long dark hair, an anemic appearance, sharp black nails, and he always dresses Goth. He is the epitome of a toxic narcissistic Satanist. He is thoroughly selfish. But when we dated for about 6 months, I was in love with him. The villain embodies a lot of the qualities that my ex possesses. He as the villain plays a large role in the book. He destroyed my heart which I did eventually heal from but if I hadn’t suffered through all that, then I would not have written the book. 

The story took off in my head and I just wrote it. I didn’t write all of it right away. In fact, as the story was still unfolding in my imagination, I had to force myself to write the rest of it. I don’t know why I felt that way but I am glad I did obey my imagination. I wrote the rest of it and as I edited the story on my own and with the help of other people, I got to know the story and its many layers and depth. 

I don’t know why I wrote about spiders. I guess it was just meant to be. I am a very brave person and so I find that to be a challenge as I write horror fiction. Certain things that would freak other people out barely fazes me. I think it’s personal. What scares one person may not terrify the other. It is hard to say. I created a story about spider people. The creepy things about the race of spider people is that they appear part human in their upper body but they don’t behave as a human would nor do they think like a human. They are one hundred percent arachnid like in their decisions they make, their behavior and actions and thoughts and their hunger for blood. I saw photos of some spider people art and the images reflected what I was trying to create on the page. 

Spiders do make people uncomfortable but I like them. I like them a lot. They are quiet patient architects and catch a lot of other insects in their beautifully woven webs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are a few prominent themes in Cult of the Spider People. Addiction, body horror, love wins the day, good versus evil and light versus dark. I am fascinated by what I created. It’s just that I have no idea what sparked this book but if it is getting published, then I am not complaining. I just think it is all a combination of the above that helped me to create it. 

I am so happy that Stephanie Ellis helped me edit the book. It helped me coax out the great elements of the book. It helped me to get to know my book more deeply than I would have had she never offered to help. I owe her a lot! 

All of this has led me to where I am now. I am excited about the publication of my novella! I will keep posting about that here and I promise to keep you all updated as it goes from edits to layout to Amazon bestseller! Well I hope it becomes an Amazon bestseller. I will most certainly try to get it to that. 

Inspiration can serve you wonderfully. It does not however erase all the hard work you have to put into your manuscript. The revision and editing are necessary beasts but it  is only ever intended to improve the story. It should never be taken personally. You have to edit it so well that the manuscript is clean by the time you submit it for publication, every I dotted and ever t crossed and I mean almost immaculate. They don’t want to do a lot of the work. They want you to do the work. But the more you do, the better your chances are at getting that contract. 

I hope this inspires you to pen your own magnum opus.! 

Blessings, Spiderwitch 

 

 

Merry meet all,

This weekend was so much fun. I attended the Once upon a fairy faire. I had a magical time and I will share photos. 

I am now registered for the Herbal Academy upgraded Advanced course. I am sure it will be exciting – and a ton of work. The old version was enough to nearly drive me insane. I think the new version will just have a new level of insane. The bright side is I have lifetime access now and so I can study at my own pace. I can’t wait to get the textbooks as that will make studying much easier. I prefer to read in print rather than online. 

I have been toiling in my garden. I planted the potatoes in two cloth grow bags. I also planted chard and kale seeds on top to deter any overly curious pests from my spuds. I filled a pot with soil and planted three chamomile seedlings in it. Three is the magic number! I planted purple basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, sweet basil and arugula and a few other seedlings in the big box. I’m growing garlic, beans, and of course, haskap berries and raspberries. I am also growing squash and I hope to grow cabbage too. Everything is growing so well and so beautifully. I love being in my garden and it gives me such a sense of calm and peace. 

The one main thing I want to focus on in terms of my garden and starting my herb business is having enough herbs for the herbal business. Right now, my garden doesn’t produce enough herbs to make my herb business a success. That will soon change. I have no intention of moving because then a huge supply of herbs I have access to would be gone. That means I would have to pay more to order herbs online. As it is now, I can access most of the herbs I need for free or for much less money. That works for me. 

I have to research the herbs that I do have access to. I have to learn more about their actions, energetic and healing medicinal qualities. I have decided to make the patch behind the patch you see in the photo into an extended herb garden. That way I can grow more and then hopefully have enough herbs to run a herbal business. More lavender, mints, etc. I wanted to grow veggies but that has never been successful. The garden gets lots of shade and the root veggies never grow well. Herbs grow well in the garden. Well since the hurricane broke that tree branch, my garden has received far more sunlight. That has been a huge help. But I need to have enough to run a business. So that is my next big goal. I don’t know how much I need yet but I do need more herbs. So before I can plan to grow more herbs, I need to know how much I need. Then there is growing them and maintaining them in the garden including drying and preserving the herbs and processing them. Labeling, storing in jars, keeping them all in good quality. It will be a lot of work but fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t have much of an update for the publication of my novella. I hope that changes soon. When I know more, you will know more. 

I will close here and share some photos from the faire I attended. I wish you all a great week. Stay spooky!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessings, Spiderwitch 

 

Merry meet all,

Today’s post is  about how I was inspired to spring clean in the biggest way. This weekend I completed a BIG project. I have wanted to paint the bathroom for the longest time. Now I finally did it.

The bathroom was such an eyesore. The bathroom desperately needed it. I am not talking about a deep cleaning, no, I mean a paint job to enhance and upscale the bathroom. That meant it would take some serious elbow grease. But I was up to the task. 

I did clean the bathroom first. I removed the hooks, photos, seashells, litter box, curtains, shelving stands etc., everything that needed to be moved. I scrubbed every inch of the bathroom. Like seriously clean. I had to in order for the paint job to work. Then I gathered up my painting supplies – paint tray, roller brushes, a paintbrush, cans of paint, cleaning rags, everything I would need. My cat Penny stayed with my Mom for the duration of the project. 

I began with a coat of white primer. I got the primer paint into every nook and cranny and all over the walls. I even almost painted the ceiling. Once I had finished the coat of primer, I stood back and surveyed the bathroom. It almost totally looked better. That night I painted more primer on the baseboards, wainscoting and trim. I also patched holes with the caulking. I tried to seal as many holes and cracks as I could with the caulking glue. It looked so much better. I was exhausted that night. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day I drank some coffee and got to work on the first paint job with the beige paint. I edged the mirror frames and the towel holders with green painters tape. I love love painters tape. I made sure the walls were clean and painted the walls beige. It was so much work. I used a roller brush for the first time and I love roller brushes. I only had the basic necessities in the bathroom – toilet paper, a face cloth which ended up being used to get paint or caulking off my hands. I wore a casual outfit I would not want to be seen in but that I would not mind if paint got on it which did happen. Yes the drop cloth was useless. I put newspaper down on the floor.

Also during this time, I damaged something in the toilet tank. I had to find a quick way to fix it. I knew my landlord would never fix it. He turned off the heat again and my Mom emailed him. Soon after, the heat was restored. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is late spring here, mid- April but it is still cold. I was so sore and exhausted by the time I was done. I also could not have showers in the bathroom so my aching muscles ached more. My bedroom was full of the stuff that was usually stored in the bathroom. I felt a bit like I was camping out in my own apartment. But it was slowly coming together. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I visited my Mom to see my cat. She missed me and while my cat stayed with her, Penny hissed at my Mom 5 times. I think that was Penny’s way of saying she missed me. But the bathroom went from bland to beautiful in a short amount of time. That night I went home and made more small touches to the bathroom. I painted the hooks at the bathroom window white. I left the nail in the wall for the painting. That made it easier that once the paint was dry (the 2nd coat) I could just hang the painting. I know it was hard work but the satisfaction I derived from seeing the bathroom come to life made it worth it. On the day of the second and final coat of paint, I was really tired. I really needed to get clean and see my cat.

Still, I didn’t leave the bathroom until I was sure I was done. My roller brush called it quits much to my dismay. The larger roller brush was totally cursed or something because it refused to work for me. I had to do the last stretch of painting using the paint brush. Once I was finally all done, I noticed the beige paint coated the ceiling a few inches out all along the ceiling. I used the white primer paint to touch up the ceiling edges and make it look neat and clean. By this time, I was thoroughly exhausted and sweaty. I was able to have a hot soak at my Mom’s and shortly after a hot meal, Penny and I returned home. I worried she would get her claws on the walls or that the walls would be covered in her fur in no time at all. But no, it’s all ok. I stood in the bathroom and marvelled at the amazing change. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I let the paint to dry and settle for 24 hours then I returned the furniture to the bathroom: the litter box (which I kept in the bathtub) and the two stands. At first, I kept it all away from the wall. Now that the paint has dried more, I added the laundry hamper next to the glass and stainless steel stand. I hung up the shower curtain, returned the blue rug, cleaned up the exterior of the litter box. I folded the now clean blue curtain in half and laid it out on an ironing board. I laid it all down nice and neat and flat. I pinned the lower fabric to the top half of the curtain and hung it up in the bathroom. 

I find myself looking for excuses just to be in the bathroom. I just stand and stare at how much more beautiful it turned out. It stuns me. I believe the beige/ taupe/coffee color totally enhances the bathroom and makes it look fresh and almost ethereal. I thought my black shower curtain would appear out of place but that’s not the case. I cleaned up the now defunct roller brushes, drop cloth, painter tape, newspapers, and whatever else was trash into a black garbage bag and took it to the dumpster. I found a new toothbrush and stocked up on toilet paper. 

I guess the cold white paint of the windowframe is ok. I hung up my bathrobe on the hook and sorted the medicine cabinet closet. I got rid of the garbage and cleaned the vanity below- a little cupboard space. I made everything fresh and clean. I love how the bathroom paint renovation turned out. It’s so beautiful. I took a bath this morning. I swept the floor, cleaned the sink and mirror, and mopped the floor again. 

I hope today’s post inspires you to try refreshing your own home this spring! Upscale! Clean! Upgrade. It’s your home and your life and you deserve it. 

Blessings, Spiderwitch