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I Am Not Flattered
I am so angry right now as I type this. I am NOT flattered. Not one bit. They always show up in my inbox full of flattery for my work. Whether they actually value it is another story. In the pagan/occult writing/publishing world – we need to stop normalizing the idea that writers and artists shouldn’t expect payment for their…
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Indie Authors: Don’t Get Scammed
Dear Fellow Indie Authors, I care about you and and we need to have a talk. We need to talk about why the beginners among us are such easy targets for scams and bullshit. As you know, independently publishing your work does come with some legitimate expenses. But it also comes with a bunch of scam artists trying to take…
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I Have Haters – Now What? #haters #writers
So one of the facts of life about any creative career where you are in the spotlight is you’re going to have haters. Not everyone is going to like what you create – and that’s okay. I often get emails from writers/artists (especially in the occult world) asking me how to handle haters who make it their life goal to…
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The Myth of Exposure #AmWriting
Having been a professional writer for many years, and having worked at my career for over 25 years, the one word I hate to hear more than anything is “exposure”. When I was young and aspiring, and desperate for publication, I heard that word tossed around a lot. “Come do a reading. It will be great exposure!” “Submit to this…
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Why the Occulture is Poison to Magicians
Last night after I shared an excerpt of my forthcoming novel, a fellow magick practitioner decided to rip me a new one for my Ascending Darkness cover. First, you should probably know the cover depicts a pentacle of Mercury atop the Chaote symbol. So the critic basically told me that my cover artist was horrific because my cover showed ignorance…
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Anne O'Connell, Audrey Brice, Politcial Mumbo Jumbo, Publishing, rants, S. Connolly, S. J. Reisner, the writing life
Controversial Topics in Fiction
There’s that old adage out there that states, “Never discuss religion or politics if you want to be liked.” Well – the truth is I don’t write just to be liked. I began writing for me, and when I discovered other people liked what I was doing – I began writing for them. I know that sounds self-serving, but it…
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The Perils of Cat Hoarding
On suggestion of a friend, I am writing this article in hopes more people become aware of pet hoarding and the dangers it poses to the animals trapped in a hoarding situation. Let me introduce you to Leela. This is a cat that we adopted from a local cage-free shelter on January 5. Leela was rescued from a cat hoarder…
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Seriously? Who cares?!
I guess this is my magick post for the month. Don’t really feel like sharing anything too personal. Of course a lot of my magickal work this month has been for other people. So to my post: There are certain topics that are constantly beaten to death in the pagan/magickal communities that I am SICK TO DEATH OF. Why? Because…
