It took me a couple weeks to finally relax and exhale before making my announcement: My fourth book, “Pagan Curiouser — A Joyful Path of Nature, Magic & Spirituality,” has finally transitioned from writing/editing to production!
This book proved to be exceedingly challenging for me, and took nearly two years and three revisions to write. Of all my books, this was the most difficult. I got the contract in mid-August 2023, and planned to get going after summer was over and dig in. I did, in fact, do some early work on it in September, and then…
Penn, my beloved heart horse, who inspired my first book, “The Elements of Horse Spirit,” and launched my entire career as an author, started failing. Big time. He was 29, which is really old for a horse. He’d been struggling with multiple serious health problems for about two years. He’d been hanging in there, but in spring of ’23, it was clear he was declining. In September, his slippery slope became very steep. He struggled just to walk next to me.
He continued failing, a little more every day, and one day while I was walking him, he fell completely down. When he got back up, he was having trouble controlling his own body. That was the beginning of the end. He wasn’t able to walk, balance, or get up and down. He’d run out his clock, and there was no other alternative but to put a humane end to his pain. It was absolutely one of the worst days of my life. My heart was crushed.
The morning after we sent Penn across the Rainbow Bridge, my little magical cat, Minnie, who had been ill for a long while, suddenly became critical, and had to be euthanized immediately. Minnie sat with me while I wrote all three of my first books, and was a true magical “familiar” to me.
Losing both of my heart animals in the span of one day just broke me. I turn to my animals for support and sanity, and to discuss all the little details of my writing projects. They were excellent listeners, and always had the best answers.
And suddenly — they were gone.
Long story somewhat shorter… the pit of grief I tumbled into was too dark a place to write. So I didn’t. For months. This was exacerbated by a nasty case of RSV and exceedingly ugly holiday family dysfunction and trauma. Meanwhile, the books’ deadline clock was still ticking. I didn’t have the luxury of not writing. When I did finally force myself back into the saddle, my writing was saturated in grief. It was all wrong. I knew it. But my hardcore journalist DNA propelled me to turn the manuscript in on time.
A long while passed before my Llewellyn editor, Heather Greene, emailed me this sentence: Let’s talk about your book.
Those are grim words of death for a manuscript.
To her credit, Heather didn’t say. “Take this word vomit and flush it down the toilet.” She gave me six months to rework it. And I did. Turned it upside down and inside out.
It was a good fix, but still required more work. Heather gave me more time to get my verbal shit together. And I did, again. Two weeks ago, she said I did a good job editing the manuscript, and it would now transition to the production phase, which includes final copyediting, insertion of graphics and font styles, prettying up the pages, and begging people with knowledge and expertise in the same topic for an endorsement blurb.
Going into production also means that when the publication deadline draws near, I must start thinking about marketing and PR, which I hate as much as being asked to stand on stage naked under a spotlight in front of a stadium of strangers. But, it’s a necessary evil of the book business. I shall stick a knife into my own back and make myself walk out on that stage.
Bottom line… finally, finally, finally, I’ve collapsed over the writing finish line with this project. My huge thanks to Heather, who not only suggested the book, but was extremely patient with me throughout.
So… Whew! I did it!
If you’re wondering why my website went dark for so long, now you know. I spent almost all my available time for the last year staring into a computer monitor and tapping on my keyboard, and sometimes taking a break to moan for awhile and get more coffee.
While you’re waiting anxiously for “Pagan Curiouser” to be born, if you haven’t read “Pagan Curious” yet, you have time to get up to speed for the sequel! Pagan Curious introduces you to Pagan perspectives and principles, and Pagan Curiouser takes them to the next step: Onward onto your own unique Pagan path.
Pagan Curious is available at Llewellyn.com, on Amazon, and at a metaphysical store near you. I hope you enjoy it, become intrigued, and also inspired to try new approaches in your life. And, if you’d be so kind as to leave positive reviews on Amazon and Llewellyn.com, I’d be ever so grateful. It really does matter!
Onward!