Wow…trying to keep up, and hopefully will have great stuff to blog about soon.
1) “Whisper of a Witch” coming out in July!
2) Website overhaul coming sooner than that!
3) Me losing my mind….um, done!
Suza
{Changes}
Okay, it might still have a pulse, but man has this blog been neglected.
I just haven’t had time for it, and what good is a blog if i don’t get any books out, right? I’ve been working like a fiend, and writing about some too, so that’s why I’ve been absent.
If you’re reading this…the book is almost here! Yay!
If you’re not…well…I don’t blame you. : )
Love and murder is on the way,
Suza
Did you know?
A witch should never haggle over the price of any instrument or tool they are puchasing for magic works? It will cause negative energy to attach to what they buy.
Hmmm.
Suza
I watched “The Fourth Kind” tonight and wanted to research the real lady. You know…see how much truth it was really based on. I eventually stumbled across a site about alien abductions, and I joke you not, it was about how to prevent abductions from happening to you!
Read on:
- Leave bright light on; in your room, hallway, and other rooms where Children or others sleep. Or everybody sleep in same room. If you have a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) for use with computers, plug the lamp into that. (In case abductions include power disruption)
- Hurry and buy or rustle up fast, before tonight, some kind of warning buzzer that will alarm you if the power goes off.
- If you have floor fans and/or table fans, bring them into your room and turn them all on, air-stream directed away from you of course. It would be great if one or more fan could be plugged into a UPS.
- Keep a flashlight with fresh batteries beside you in bed (sleep with it!).
- If you have an attic fan, turn it on.
- Spread salt all around your bed; surround it entirely.
- If you have access or can buy quickly (by tonight) the essence of an herb called Yarrow (achillea millefolium), spread it around your bed-room.
- If nobody is pregnant in your house, also buy essence of an herb called pennyroyal (hedeoma pulegioides) and spread it around your bed-room.
- Sleep with iron bars nearby or preferably, next to you. A crucifix made of iron would be good too.
Aaaagh! I’m not sure what scared me more….the movie or that this was posted on the web.
Madness.
The candle burning on my desk today just happens to be green, a fitting color for St. Patrick’s Day, but as I read over status postings on FB, one caught my eye. It claims genocide is the real history associated with this holiday, so I decided to dig a little deeper. Here’s what I found, and from reputable sources like The History Channel. They don’t shy away from the brutal truth.
Here’s the quick and dirty version.
St. Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents only to be captured by Irish raiders when he was still a young man. He was a captive for 6 years and presumably turned to his Christian faith during his hardship. Once he escaped, Patrick returned to Britain.
Then he supposedly heard the voice of God telling him to go back to Ireland where he encouraged the practise of Christianity. **NOTE: He did NOT introduce the religion. It already existed there.**
He did, however, perform a little trickery here and there, as did our friend Constantine, by mixing pagan symbols into Christian practice, thereby making it more “comfortable” for the pagans and greasing the wheels of conversion, so to speak. Nowhere did I find mention of killing mass numbers of pagans, or any hint of genocide, but throughout history change has always brought conflict and death, so I can imagine it wasn’t always pretty.
The act of driving snakes out of Ireland is a metaphor for getting rid of pagan practises. That is pretty much an accepted fact.
And what about the blue? the first color associated with “Feast Day,” now known as St. Patrick’s Day, was actually blue. However, the Irish flag has green on it, shamrocks are another favorite symbols, and heck, the whole of Ireland is pretty much and emerald. (Hence the nickname) So they went with green, especially in the 1700s when Irish-Americans paraded to show their discontent over being considered a lower social class.
There is so much more to learn. The pinching, leprechauns, shamrocks, but I’ll leave that to you. Don’t you just love history? I do. It’s where we find ourselves.
So, I’ll burn my green candle, but will wear a blue shirt. I like the authenticity, and it will make me stick out in the crowd. : )
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Sanskrit was a great answer, and some still argue that it is the reigning king of old languages, however, many scholars now point to language that I had never heard of until yesterday.
Tamil. It is widely believed to be at least 6,000 years old. Wow, and a written form to boot. It is related to languages that are considered Dravidian or proto-Dravidian…don’t get me started, because I got lost among all the references to guttural sounds etc. etc. and the many, many branches of the verbal family tree.
And I thought the old, old, English of Beowulf (the original, original that sounded half-German) was hard to follow.
Both Tamil and Sanskrit hail from India, so either way, they get the bragging rights.
Note: Some reports claim that Tamil has only 1500 years under its belt and is beaten out by another language called Kannada, found in Bangalore.
Whatever the case, I got what I needed for research, and am happy that I speak my mother tongue, good old (or rather, good new) English.
Back to work on love and murder,
Suza
Wow, have I been out of touch with my blog or what? Two weeks have flown by, and here I am without an interesting tidbit. Unless you count the fact that the new “Karate Kid” movie features a boy who learns Kung Fu. Anybody else see the descrepancy there?
Can’t complain about how busy I’ve been, since the reason for my abscence can be summed up in a word. Deadlines. How sweet the sound! As a matter of fact, I’ve cleared the week to finish the first draft of one book so I can start on the next project. With my first release coming out in June or July, I have to get at it.
In lieu of the research trivia that seems to have gone over well with followers, I offer a cat story.
In the past two months the cats and I have suffered a home invasion. Make that multiple home invasions. By foreign cats.
Felines who are unknown to my kitties or myself. The problem is, I have a cat fence that keeps my lovelies safe in the yard and away from the cruel world. (Plus, they don’t leave paw-prints in neighbors’ cars. That makes people angry, and I know this from past experience.) So when a strange cat gets in, they can’t get back out.
The first time it happened, a beautiful long-haired tom, black, with white chest and paws, sought shelter from the pouring rain. He made the mistake of coming in the cat door, only to be greeted by my brood of 5, who were not happy with the uninvited guest. Needless to say, he ran back out, and only a little fur flew in the air. (Daisy, the bodyguard, doing her duty.)
After being chased out of the grill where he’d hidden(once the rain had stopped, because I’m not heartless) the cat came back two more times, making a total of 3 visits with the same scenario, due to his evident short-term memory, then he wised up and never came back.
Two nights ago, I was awakened by the scrambling noise of a crazy cat trying to find a way out of the fence and the growls of my 5 who were at the windows watching. (I’ve taken to closing the pet door at night with mine inside. Too risky to leave it open.)
Couldn’t believe my eyes. It was another cat entirely, and wild, wild, wild. Full black, a yearling, and probably just terrified to be trapped. So in my daze, because EVERY time, it happens between 4 and 6 a.m., I opened the fence gate and herded him out.
This morning, at 5:45, a little later than usual, there it was, the clawing of toenails on the fence, and Thomas O’Malley, who has had enough of this, by the way, standing at the door and chomping at the bit to get out. He normally lets Daisy do the dirty work, but even he realizes when a missive needs to be sent out to the area cats. Stay out of my yard!!!
And wonder of wonders, it was a new cat entirely, full white, young male. They’ve all been male, but anyway…
So now I have a problem. Evidently, they’re leaving a scent behind that’s got other cats curious when they pass by on their nightly strolls. I’ll have to figure out how to put a stop to it, maybe some wolf urine or whatever I can buy at a hunting store, right? And no, I have no females in heat here. Everybody in this household got fixed years ago. C’est la vie.
Well, that’s all for now, have to finish up that book. So excited about what’s happening and can’t wait to release. Funny, it’s been right at a year since I first set up the website, blog, etc. How much difference the last 11 months have made.
With love and murder,
Suza
We’re all pretty familiar with the association between romance and certain foods. Champagne…chocolate…oysters. You see my meaning.
Throughout history food has been used as an aphrodisiac, and growing up, most girls were assured of the one and only true way to a man’s heart, right?
For the book I’m currently writing, I had to do a little research on the subject and have to say, it was quite intriguing. For a full list of the “love foods” I discovered, and a recipe or two to try for yourself, check out the next Love and Murder newsletter, due out on Feb. 12th.
On a personal note. Things are moving along quite well in my world, and frankly, I wish I could share it all right now!
But you know how I love suspense.
Have a Happy Happy Valentine’s Day, and for this one I’m signing off with just Love.
Suza
…new house last night. I wanted the new house so badly that I cried.
So, the first thing I do after a dream as emotional as this is open the now yellowed pages of my dream interpretation book to see what ails my psyche. Don’t laugh or navigate away just, yet…this isn’t hocus-pocus but psychology, and I’ve found over the years that the book can be dead on.
Dreams are not always obvious, for example, dreaming of drowning can be about debt, a car represents your life and can be very enlightening if someone else is driving it in the dream. I once leaned over and started honking the horn because my father was driving my car and wouldn’t listen to me!
This morning I read that a house can represent a few things, and one of them is health. I focused in on this because, I’m dieting, of course, and also because of the room I focused on in the dream. The kitchen. This room might be about my spirit being fed : ) or my own need to be, and I quote, “more concerned about dietary habits.”
Blech. This interpretation was not so enlightening. I could have told you I needed to lose 10 pounds.
Or maybe I just want a bigger house. You know us writers. Never satisfied.
Well anyway, happy dreaming…
Suza
…be writing something interesting, because the last two blogs have been much more successful than normal.
But, today I’m feeling happily frustrated! I’m getting new fans on the fan page daily and many are asking where they can get my books. Happy!!!!
Frustrated : { I want to rush and get my first book out there and type, type, type, to get the current stuff done, but that would be a mistake. There is still editing to be done, and I want my “debut” to be a great one.
I’m still communicating with an editor and should be seeing publication of one or more projects sometime this year, but hello, it’s only January!
This blog is a plea. Hang in there. Stay in touch. The promises won’t be empty!
With love and murder,
Suza