Eric Riley in his office - and yes, those are all his books. (photo by Eric Riley)

ARH – Celebrations are in order.  The Open Hearth Foundation opened the first Pagan library in DC this past Saturday.  Today’s interview features Eric Riley, librarian of the OHF Pagan Library.  Welcome, Eric!

ER – Thanks Angie!  I’m glad to be here to talk about the OHF Library.

ARH – Please tell us a little more about yourself.

ER – I’m Eric S. Riley (known to many as Fritter), and I’ve been a professional librarian in DC for the last ten years.  I got my Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Washington in 2002, and have worked in federal libraries and public libraries since then.  I’m currently the branch manager of the Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library, part of the DC Public Library system.  I’m pretty open about everything in my life and you can find me at: http://about.me/eric.s.riley. Venus is the head of my home Pantheon, along with Minerva and Thoth.

ARH – I see there are over 3,000 titles, 250 tarot decks and 40 periodicals.  How did you collect and organize all that!?

The Fiction and Reference section prior to the opening. (photo by Dallas Killian)

ER – Well, this has been a project over 10 years in the making, and I’m only the latest in a long line of library trustees.  The OHF Library has been a dream of the Pagan community in DC since the foundation started.  So this collection has been growing in the basements of people’s houses over the years, and only now that there is a space the library has come out of the shadows.   Nearly every item in the collection is donated.  We’ve probably only actually purchased maybe 50 titles.  And the collection that is up there is probably only 2/3rds of the books that had accumulated.  We had a ton of novels that, given the space for the collection, we just couldn’t keep.  So we resold them for exchange credit at a local used bookshop.

Organizing it was also a challenge, because the folks running the center didn’t have a background in library science. When I was brought into the project it was at a really opportune moment to either steer the collection into a very casual thing or a very professional thing.  My pitch to the library committee and the board really convinced them to take the professional route, and what we have today is world class by library standards.  We’re using a library catalog system that is in place in libraries around the world, we’re using traditional library cataloging practices, and the collection is arranged according to the Library of Congress Classification system.  I am proud to show this collection to everyone, and anyone can look at our work and see how pristine it is.  You can search our public catalog at: http://library.openhearth.org.

But getting all that data together took nearly 1500 hours of wo/manpower.  I mean it was cataloging from scratch with an all-volunteer crew.  We spent six months doing solid catalog work twice a week.  It was extremely labor intensive.  Now that we’ve crossed that threshold though, we’re at a good stage of general maintenance.  We’ve still got some projects that need a good push, like the periodicals and the tarot collection.  But those 3,000 books took a serious amount of time to process.

Nonfiction section part 1...prior to the opening. (photo by Dallas Killian)

ARH – How did you find funding for this project?

ER – Funding for the library is part of the funding structure for the Foundation as a whole.  We’re just a line item in a much bigger picture of the Pagan Community Center.  When OHF first started fundraising for the center in 1999, the library was a part of that vision.  During this last six months a lot of volunteers and donors stepped up to pay for specific things like that gorgeous shelving that we have, and the local Pagan community donated all of it.

Part of the cost saving also came in the form of the catalog we’re using.  Koha is an open source integrated library system that is completely free (both as in cost and as in free software under the GPL).  Libraries around the world have chosen to use Koha, including foreign governments and universities.  The name comes from a Maori custom of giving a gift to a host at a sacred space.  Very appropriate for the Pagan Library!  You can learn more about our software here: http://koha-community.org/

ARH – I see on OHF’s website (http://www.openhearth.org/index.html) there are plans to build a Pagan Community Center and that the library will be permanently housed there.  Is that something you are involved in?

Nonfiction part 2 (photo by Dallas Killian)

ER – Building a permanent center for the OHF is still very much a part of the vision.  My role is to keep the library running and to keep all of our volunteers trained on how to use it and run it. If you want to know more about the plans for OHF I would strongly encourage you to speak to Sean Bennett the acting Chair of the OHF board of governors.

ARH – Do you accept book donations?  What should donors know before donating?

ER – We absolutely accept donations. We’ll take anything, but we reserve the right to resale anything that doesn’t serve a direct need for the collection.  We were inundated with copies of basic Wicca titles like To Ride a Silver Broomstick and Drawing Down the Moon. So we keep a maximum of two copies if it’s something we believe will get a lot of traction. But space is at a premium.

ARH – Do you have a list of titles you are looking for?

ER – That’s a great question.  We haven’t had a chance to really do the kind of comprehensive review to determine what our gaps are given the amount of work it took to catalog it. But I will say this, because the collection is primarily donated books we have more of a tendency to have titles that people feel they have moved beyond, and lack titles that people are more reluctant to part with.  For instance we don’t have a copy of Aradia by Charles Leland or Crowley’s complete Liber ABA: Book Four.  We are however actively soliciting feedback from the community, and would love to get title recommendations.  You can send them to librarian@openhearth.org.

The complete library committee and one of our regular volunteers. From left to right is Anura Rose, OHF Board of Governors Secretary and Library Committee Liaison; Aderyn Benvenga, Library Volunteer Coordinator; Eric Eldritch, Project Manager; Myself, Eric S. Riley, OHF Librarian; and the drummer is R. Tigre Cruz who was one of our volunteer catalogers and is a member of the bands Kiva and Keltish. (photo by Dallas Killian)

ARH – Please tell us more about exchanging books for credit – what is that process?

ER – When we first pulled the collection out of boxes we had about a dozen large boxes of paperback novels.  Hundreds of novels.  The complete works of Mercedes Lackey and tons of Sci-Fi.  Definitely books of interest to Pagans, but the library committee chose to take a route more focused on literature relevant to Pagan studies and works by Pagan authors.  So we took all those titles down to a second hand shop in Manassas called McKay’s. http://mckayusedbooks.biz/  They have a great metaphysical section and they take monstrously large book donations.  We were able to exchange all of those novels for about $450 in store credit, and we cleaned them out of some great ancient history, mythology and comparative religion texts as well as the metaphysical books that spoke to the research focus of the library.  It’s the same thing anyone can do, we just did it on a much bigger scale.

ARH – Are donations (cash or books) tax deductible?

ER – Yes.  The Open Hearth Foundation is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit and has been since 2000.  Membership costs, donations of cash, and donations of books and materials are all tax deductible.

ARH – Do patrons have to be a OHF member to check out books?  Can they come in and browse if they aren’t members?

ER – Yes and Yes.  Anyone is welcome to come to the center during open hours.  And the library committee is dedicating time on Sunday afternoons for research assistance from 1:00-5:00 p.m.  One of our friendly library staffers will be there (sometimes myself) to help you navigate the collection.  Only folks who become individual members of the Open Hearth Foundation can borrow; and membership rates begin at $13.00 a month or $150 a year.

ARH –Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share with our readers?

ER – I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in seeing the library to come to the OHF.  And if you’re thinking about undertaking a venture like this just know what you’re getting into.  It’s been a real team effort and has taken about 30 dedicated people with vastly different skills donating ridiculous amounts of time collectively to get us here.  It’s not something to take lightly, but if you want to do it drop me a line.  We’ve got a bunch of documentation to help get you started.

ARH – Thank you for taking time to share with us today, Eric.  We wish you much success with the new library!

ER – Thank you!

ARH – We are pleased to welcome Christine Filipak as our Featured Artist for today. Thank you for joining us!

CF –  Hi Angela. Thanks for inviting me to join in the discussion.

ARH – Please tell us a little more about yourself.

CF – Professionally, I am an artist and graphic designer. I’ve also written some short stories and magazine articles. I’ve produced Madame Endora’s Fortune Cards and accompanying calendars. I am also the web designer and business manager for Monolith Graphics. Personally, I am an animal lover (I have 2 rescued cats), and I devote some of my free time to spreading the word about animal rights issues.

ARH – How did you get started as an artist? What are your other creative endeavors?

CF – I always had an interest in art, photography and graphic design. I attended Kent State University and studied graphic design, graduating with a BFA degree. After college I began my work with Monolith Graphics, and have since become proficient in web design, and pre-press production. I designed two fortune-telling decks with Joseph Vargo, The Gothic Tarot and Madame Endora’s Fortune Cards. I have also written many articles for Dark Realms Magazine, as well as a few short stories for the anthologies Tales From The Dark Tower and Beyond The Dark Tower.

ARH – Tell us more about Madame Endora’s Fortune Cards.

CF –  Madame Endora’s Fortune Cards is an oracle deck based on Old World myth and lore, rendered in an Art Nouveau style. The 48-card deck is divided into five Realms: The Royal Court, The Realm of Fable, The Beastiary, The Treasury, and The Elements. Each card offers a general fortune for quick divination, but deeper readings can be uncovered through the use of various card spreads.

The artwork combines Celtic, Egyptian, Greek and Medieval elements, and blends them in an elegant fantasy style. Much of my art is heavily influenced by Alphonse Mucha, master artist of the Art Nouveau movement.

The deck is very popular and has garnered some critical acclaim. We get lots of letters from people who tell us how much they love the deck and how accurate the readings are. Images from the Madame Endora deck were also featured in Madame Endora’s Calendar of Fortune, which offered astrology and fortunes and insightful advice for each month.

ARH – What inspired you to create a deck of fortune cards? And how did you come up with the designs?

CF – After we had created The Gothic Tarot, Joseph Vargo had an idea for another deck that would showcase my art. Madame Endora began as a regular feature that we wrote for Dark Realms Magazine. In each issue Madame Endora enlightened the reader about different methods of divination, the meanings of symbols, natural elements and talismans, as well as the historical significance of these and many other beliefs. The Fortune deck was a natural progression from this idea, and combines concepts from ancient cultures, mythology and lore.

Joseph and I created the artwork for this deck together. He did detailed pencil drawings of several of the designs and I applied the color and backgrounds to them. I illustrated the other half of the deck, combining some of my watercolor paintings with computer manipulation. My specialty is the Art Nouveau style and I love rendering female figures with elegant gowns and flowing hair as well as creating stylized artistic elements such as ornamentations and borders. I think our styles mesh together very well in this deck. Whereas I think it’s obvious that I created the more feminine-looking cards such as The Seer, The Queen and Hindrance, I think people will recognize Joseph’s style in cards such as The Greenman, The Golem and The Siren and the mythical creatures of The Beastiary. Although in some instances, it is difficult to discern who did certain cards.

The ideas for the card designs came from several sources, such as ancient mythology, Medieval folklore, and mystical symbolism. We wanted the deck to convey a very lavish, magical feeling, without getting too deep into any specific belief system. I think the end result achieved our goal very nicely.

ARH – Did you start working for Monolith Graphics before you created Madame Endora’s Fortune Cards?

CF – Yes. I came on board Monolith Graphics in 1992 as a graphic designer, but I also  did photography, layout, and all the computer pre-press work. We began marketing our products to stores here in the US, and the business took off like wildfire. A few years later I designed and launched the Monolith Graphics website, which I still manage. We produced dozens of new products including posters, t-shirts, postcards, calendars, magazines, music cds, books and writing journals before we began work on our tarot and fortune decks.

ARH – Are you thinking about creating a Tarot deck or another fortune cards deck? 

CF – No. I have no plans for another deck, but we have discussed the possibility of an expansion deck. Madame Endora has her own App available on iTunes, and coming soon to Droid.

ARH – What is the most important piece of advice you would offer a fellow artist?

CF –  As far as creativity, just practice your techniques as often as possible. Try other mediums. Attempt different subject matter. It’s easy to fall back on what you know and feel comfortable with, and that’s usually where you’ll succeed. But it’s also good to challenge yourself every so often, even if you hate the end result. Everything is a learning experience. From a business aspect, know your rights, and respect the rights of other artists. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Always check up on any company who promises to distribute your work and pay you later. If they’re honest and above board, then they won’t mind providing some references.

ARH – Where can we go to learn more about you and purchase your works?

CF –  The Monolith Graphics website www.monolithgraphics.com offers all of our products. Apps and printed materials are also available from Amazon.com, Google Play, and iTunes.

ARH – We appreciate you spending some time with us today Christine! We wish you continued success with this deck, and with all your artistic endeavors.

CF – Thank you, and may your path be blissful and prosperous.

Great interview, thanks Christine!  And you’ll all be thankful too.  Christine has sent me a box of goodies to give away to 3 lucky readers!  They are:

• The Gothic Tarot and The Gothic Tarot Compendium
• Madame Endora’s Fortune Cards
• Gothic Writing Journal

I’m going to let this run until Saturday, when I will draw the names at 8:00 pm EST (that’s 4/14/2012 before 7:59 am EST).  If you’d like an entry simply leave a comment for Christine.

Additional entries:

• Like Monolith Graphics on Facebook.
• Follow Nox Arcana on Twitter
• Like Nox Arcana on Facebook
• Tweet about this giveaway (post link)
• Blog about this giveaway (post link).

Make sure you post a separate comment for each entry.

Good luck!  I will draw from this pool for each prize, but each winner can only win once.

ARH – We are pleased to welcome Joseph Iorillo as our Featured Author for today. Thank you for joining us!

JI – Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. It’s always great to connect with people with an interest in the tarot.

 ARH – Please tell us a little more about yourself.

JI – I’m from Cleveland, Ohio, and I graduated from John Carroll University in 1995. For the last 10 years I’ve been an industry analyst, writing studies that try to predict the growth prospects of certain industries. In a way, it’s sort of like doing tarot readings for the Fortune 500. My biggest claims to fame in this job have been being interviewed by Time Magazine and the Economist when they were writing articles about the battery industry. In my spare time, I’ve been writing novels and nonfiction. For many years I wrote articles about supernatural topics for Dark Realms Magazine, and I’ve also contributed stories to Tales From the Dark Tower and its sequel, Beyond the Dark Tower, and the anthology The Legend of Darklore Manor and Other Tales of Terror.

 ARH – How did you get started as a writer?

JI – I’ve been writing fiction since my teens, and I’ve completed many novels – mysteries, suspense novels, paranormal novels, mainstream, you name it. I was a senior in high school when I wrote my first novel. When I was in college, I even landed an agent – the first of three who would represent me over the years – but I never got lucky enough to have that big break from a major fiction publisher. However, over the last dozen years or so I’ve been lucky enough to be associated with Monolith Graphics, which has published many of my articles in Dark Realms Magazine on topics ranging from horror movies to the history of Halloween. Monolith has even published one of my novels, a supernatural suspense novel called This House Is Empty Now.

 ARH – Tell us more about The Gothic Tarot Compendium.

JI – When Joseph Vargo completed his Gothic Tarot, fan response was extremely positive and many people asked if he had plans for a comprehensive guidebook to its use. Like most tarot decks, The Gothic Tarot came with a basic user’s booklet, but there seemed to be a market for a more detailed companion volume. In addition to providing some background on Joseph Vargo and the history of the tarot, the Compendium provides detailed interpretations of the cards to shape user’s tarot readings. These interpretations are based on traditional views of the cards, so users of The Gothic Tarot will find the deck very firmly rooted in the tarot history.

 ARH – How did you come about writing this book?

JI – Originally, another writer had been enlisted to write the book, but she just didn’t work out, so Joseph, knowing I’d written about the tarot in Dark Realms, called me and asked if I could step in. It was a great opportunity, and Joseph Vargo and I spent a few months crafting a clear, detailed, easy-to-use guidebook.

 ARH – It appears that Monolith Graphics is a Joseph Vargo company, so I understand why they would be your publisher.  But is it very different to print a complete book vs. a deck of cards? Would it have been any easier to go with a book publisher?

JI – Co-writing the Compendium was, in my opinion, a much easier task than Joseph’s arduous creation of the deck itself – a process that involved the creation of new images or adaptations of existing art into tarot iconography. Joseph has typically avoided the traditional book publishing industry because of the lack of control he would have over the final project. With a project like The Gothic Tarot – which is in many ways a retrospective of nearly 20 years’ worth of his art – he wanted to ensure that any companion book would reflect his vision, not the vision of some publisher’s marketing department. Besides, the long waits and inefficiency of the book publishing industry were unappealing. It takes months, sometimes years to get publishers to sign onto a project, and then another year or more before the book appears in print.

 ARH – I see you also wrote The House is Empty Now, are you working on a new story? Can you tell us more?

JI – This House is Empty Now was a departure from some of the other things I had previously written. The novel is a romantic mystery with supernatural elements. A year after This House is Empty Now was published I completed another novel called Goodnight Blackbird, which is a love story about two people who find they have one key thing in common – they both live in houses that are haunted. Their respective experiences with the ghosts in their houses end up helping them understand important elements in their own lives.

 ARH – If you are, do you think you will self publish or would you find a publisher?

JI – I had an agent shop this latest novel around to publishers, and one editor for a major publisher liked it enough to request some rewrites, but ultimately she passed on it. I’m still debating whether or not to self-publish it. In many ways, self-publishing is as much as an uphill climb as conventional publishing – although you have much more control over the work, you have to be in charge of every aspect of the business side, including marketing, promotion and sales. It’s a full-time job, and there is no guarantee of success.

 ARH – As an author, what do you think is the most important piece of advice that you would give an unpublished writer?

JI – Write clearly – I think that’s an important lesson I’ve learned. Many beginning writers think that they need to make their language ornate and flowery and complex. But most readers – and editors – are turned off by this. It’s more important that your writing be accessible. You don’t want your readers stumbling over your sentences or having to reread your words simply because they aren’t sure what you’re trying to say. They want to be so swept away by a story that they don’t even really want to notice the language much at all. One major reason Stephen King became so popular is that his writing style draws you into the story without the language itself being too distracting and hard to follow.

 ARH – Where can we go to learn more about you and purchase your books?

JI – You can learn more about me and purchase my books at www.josephiorillo.com. Thank you so much for spending this time with me!

 ARH – We appreciate you spending some time with us today Joseph!  We wish you continued luck with this book, and with your other future writing endeavors.

ARH– We are pleased to welcome Joseph Vargo as our Featured Artist for today.  Thank you for joining us!

JV – It’s my pleasure Angela.

ARH – Please tell us a little more about yourself.

JV – I started my career as a gothic fantasy artist, painting moody images for magazines, books, and music cds. In 1991, I established a publishing company, Monolith Graphics, to sell art prints, calendars and t-shirts of my own design. Since then we’ve branched out into several artistic avenues ranging from running an art gallery and publishing a magazine to creating and publishing several books and music cds with my band Nox Arcana and a few other musical artists. In 2002, I created The Gothic Tarot, then produced The Gothic Tarot Compendium a few years later. To date, I’ve written and co-written five books.

ARH – How did you get started as an artist? When did you move into writing?

JV – After high school, I attended the Cleveland Institute of Art, but became disillusioned with the curriculum and left after one semester. I got a regular job and nearly gave up on pursuing a career as an artist. Eventually I began taking jobs here and there as a freelance commercial artist. It wasn’t anything glamorous, but it kept my interest in art alive. In my spare time I began painting and building my fantasy art portfolio.

After establishing Monolith Graphics in 1991, I began selling my prints and t-shirts at local boutiques and Renaissance Fairs. As my work became more popular, it garnered the interest of some national distributors who wanted to carry our merchandise. By 1997 we were producing posters and calendars in very large quantities to sell in several popular chains of stores. Around this time, I had begun producing music and branching into other artistic areas when a writer friend of mine, James Pipik, approached me with an idea to publish an illustrated book of short stories based on the gothic characters in my paintings. I really liked the idea and contacted several other writer friends for the project, including Joseph Iorillo, who I later collaborated with on The Gothic Tarot Compendium.

Aside from creating the artwork, I also wrote several stories for the anthology. The book, Tales From The Dark Tower, was published in 2000 and did very well for us. Later that year we launched Dark Realms, a quarterly magazine that explored the shadows of art and culture, showcasing the works of up-and-coming artists, bands and writers. I wrote numerous articles and reviews during the magazine’s eight year run, and also contributed several short stories. We later compiled the stories into another book titled The Legend of Darklore Manor and Other Tales of Terror. We also published Born of the Night: The Gothic Fantasy Art of Joseph Vargo, which contained a retrospect of my artwork. Once again, I collaborated with Joseph Iorillo.

In 2011, Joseph and I wrote Beyond The Dark Tower, a sequel to the original Dark Tower book that expanded the mythos and we have begun working on a third book to complete the trilogy.

ARH – Tell us more about The Gothic Tarot and The Gothic Tarot Compendium.

JV –   Creating a tarot deck is an ambitious project for any artist because of the amount of time it requires to research, write and illustrate. The Gothic Tarot is a standard tarot deck with paintings depicting all 78 cards of the Major and Minor Arcana. The images are based around classic gothic themes such as vampires, ghosts, gargoyles and dark angels. A large percentage of the art was adapted from my original existing works, while other art was created specifically for the deck. Many of the existing pieces were altered to include pentacles, cups, swords and wands. Although the project took less than a year to assemble, it represents over ten years of my artistic career. The deck is like a miniature gallery of my most popular works in the gothic realm.

It was always my intent to publish and distribute the deck through Monolith Graphics, but we ran into a few problems finding the right printer. One of the companies refused to work on the project because they thought that tarot cards were evil. We also had a problem with one of our major retailers who refused to carry the cards in their stores because the some of the cards depicted images of pentagrams. It was like we were back in the Dark Ages. Eventually we ironed out all the problems with production and distribution and the deck became very popular and garnered some critical acclaim.

The response was so positive and we received so many requests for an expanded guidebook, we decided to create The Gothic Tarot Compendium a few years later. I was very busy at the time, working on the magazine, creating new art for my annual calendar and writing and producing music with Nox Arcana, so I decided to work with a writing partner. I began working with one of our magazine writers on The Gothic Tarot Compendium, but after several months, things got off track and didn’t work out, so I had to go another route. It was one of those instances where fate intervened and led me down the path I should have taken all along. I called my friend Joseph Iorillo, who had just written an article on the history of the tarot, and explained the situation then asked him if he would be interested in working on the Compendium with me. He accepted the offer and I began working with him the next day. The project, which had been stalled for half a year was completed within two months and it really turned out great.

The Gothic Tarot Compendium contains illustrations of all 78 cards of the Major and Minor Arcana, and translations of their symbolic meanings, allowing readers to utilize The Gothic Tarot to its fullest divinatory potential. The book also offers my personal insights concerning the mythological and occult symbolism hidden in the artwork, and includes detailed instructions for several traditional and original card layouts that reinforce the gothic theme of the artwork.

ARH – What inspired you to create a Tarot deck? And how did you come up with the designs?

JV – I’ve always been fascinated with the Tarot. I think my interest was sparked at an early age when my aunt gave me a deck of Gypsy Witch fortune telling cards. A few years later, I picked up the Waite and Marseille decks. I loved the symbolism in the illustrations and how they could be interpreted a variety of ways depending on how they pertained to a person’s life and present circumstances.

I had considered doing a Tarot deck as early as 1981, but I just didn’t have the patience to commit to such an extensive project back then. As the years passed, and my portfolio of work grew, I began thinking that a lot of the images that I had created could be used for a Tarot deck, and since my forte was gothic fantasy art, it stood to reason that my Tarot deck should embrace the dark-side. Once we started compiling the images from my existing body of work, which at the time consisted of over 200 images, it was strange how many of them fit perfectly into place with little or no alteration. I think of it as serendipity. It was just meant to be, or perhaps I was always subconsciously painting images for The Gothic Tarot without being aware of what I was creating.

A majority of the pre-existing images that were used in the Gothic Tarot were altered to fit the deck. These alterations were usually subtle and consisted of simply adding the various suit icons, but in some instances, the alterations were more dramatic. In the end, I only had to create about fifteen entirely new images for the deck.

ARH – Did you start Monolith Graphics for The Gothic Tarot or was it created earlier to help distribute your artwork?

JV – Monolith Graphics had been around for about ten years before we decided to begin The Gothic Tarot. I had a lot of other projects I wanted to complete before tackling something as involved as creating a Tarot deck. It all worked out very nicely though, since we learned a lot about publishing, manufacturing, and distributing with each new product we created. It also helped that I had painted over 100 new images during that time and later utilized many of them in The Gothic Tarot.

ARH – Are you thinking about creating another Tarot deck?

JV – I worked with my partner Christine Filipak to create the original oracle deck Madame Endora’s Fortune Cards. I developed the concept for the deck and Christine and I collaborated on the artwork. It’s very different from The Gothic Tarot, but it conveys a similar mystical, Old World feel. We currently have Apps for both decks, The Gothic tarot is available for the Android and Madame Endora’s Fortune Cards is available for the iPhone.

ARH – What inspires you when creating a Tarot deck?

JV – Creating a Tarot deck is a real commitment and takes a great deal of drive. Because of the extensive amount of specific artwork involved, it usually takes several years to complete, so you have to constantly find new ways to inspire and motivate yourself. You’d be surprised how many people start their own Tarot projects, but never finish them. Most artists begin with all the cards that are fun to depict, usually the cards of the Major Arcana, then put-off all the cards that are more ambiguous till the end. Eventually you have sixty or seventy pieces of art complete with a dozen or so pieces that you have to make final decisions about.

Inspiration comes from several sources, such as mythology, movies and classic art, but I have always believed that the best inspiration comes from within.

ARH – How would someone go about getting their 1st deck printed and marketed?

JV – There are basically two ways to go about it. The first way is to pitch your completed, or nearly completed deck to a publisher that produces and distributes tarot decks, such as U.S. Games or Llewellyn. If they accept the deck for publication, they will handle all production, distribution and marketing. This is a good thing if you don’t want any business hassles, but you will also get a much smaller percentage of the money from each sale. Another down-side to this is that the publisher will only continue to promote the deck as long as it remains a popular seller.

The second way is to self-publish the deck. This requires a lot more work and it takes a substantial investment, but you control all aspects of your product and you don’t have to split your profits with a publisher. Self-publishing also requires you to warehouse and distribute your product to wholesale and retail customers, which in turn requires you to advertise your product or possibly sign up with a distributor. Working with distributors in the book industry is very risky and they take a large cut of the profits. We never use them. Amazon.com is a great marketplace for independent publishers, and they have their own production company, Amazon Create Space, for small runs on books. We recently helped some friends with the production of their own Tarot deck, The Watcher Angel Tarot. They used our manufacturer (Delano/EPI in Battle Creek Michigan) for the deck, and published their guidebooks through Create Space.

ARH – And what weight of paper do you think is best?

JV – The cardstock for a tarot deck has to be sturdy, but thin enough to allow for easy shuffling, so something around 14pt coverstock is best. Printers also offer various coatings and varnishes for the cards. You just have to be sure the finish isn’t too glossy, or you’ll get too much reflection off the cards. For our Tarot and Fortune cards we use 14pt coated coverstock with a clear layer of fingerprint-resistant aqueous coating.

ARH – What is the most important piece of advice you would offer a fellow artist?

JV – Work hard, learn from constructive criticism, study other artists, and practice every day. I believe that the power to achieve our life’s goals lies within each of us. Don’t rely on other people to make your dreams come true. Take control of your own destiny and work hard every day to improve your skills and make your desires a reality. Be ready when opportunity presents itself. Never let go of your dreams.

ARH – Where can we go to learn more about you and purchase your works?

JV – You can see and purchase all our products at our main site www.monolithgraphics.com. Fans of my artwork can view a large gallery of my paintings at my personal site www.josephvargo.com, and anyone interested in my music can visit www.noxarcana.com.

ARH – And finally, do you know anyone who plays Patience/Solitaire with their deck?  (I have)?

JV – No I haven’t heard any comments from anyone who has used the deck for that purpose. What was your experience like?

ARH –It’s fun to play with the cards, Dusty White encourages it.  It helps you get to know the cards on a deeper level. However, I found it hard to start.  When I use a regular deck of cards, I play black on red.  The tarot isn’t like that so you have to either make up a rule or just play all suits.  So it’s challenging, but fun too.  It’s a fast and easy way to just get your hands in and get started. 

We appreciate you spending some time with us today Joseph!  We wish you continued success with this deck, and with all your artistic endeavors.

JV – Thank you Angela.

ARH – We are pleased to welcome Kiya Nicoll as our Featured Author for this week.  Thank you for joining us today!

KN – Thank you so much for having me.  It’s a pleasure.

ARH – Please tell us a little more about yourself.

KN – Oh, goodness.  For purposes of this book, I’m an Egyptian reconstructionist – someone who studies How It Used To Be Done in order to figure out some way of Doing Something Like That Now.  I’m also a student of the Craft, which perspective informs some of my interpretations, but it’s not really overt in a lot of what I do publicly.

I live with my family in New England.  My day job is Mama, and it consumes a tremendous amount of time and energy.  It also means that I’m heavily focused on finding or building forms of pagan practice that are household-oriented, kid-friendly, and otherwise just for ordinary people who are trying to live spiritual lives.

ARH – How did you get started as a writer?

KN – Honestly, I’ve always been a writer, since I was a little kid.  Before I was ten I was trying to write a doorstop fantasy novel on the family computer.  It was terrible.  I got better – writing story fragments on scraps of paper when I was bored in class, losing the scraps, having to rewrite the scenes, which meant I got a lot of practice.

Writing religiously was honestly more of an accident than anything else.  I was kicking around pagan forums online and discovered sort of serendipitously that I can explain religious things to people successfully.  I started out writing little short essays and posting them on a website, and eventually worked my way up to seriously trying to do longer, more comprehensive work.

I find it kind of funny that I have more professional success with nonfiction than with my fiction writing.  It’s like a long chain of lucky accidents.  But it’s all writing.  Maybe someday I’ll get the right chain of lucky accidents for a novel.

ARH – Tell us more about The Traveller’s Guide to the Duat.

KN – Just about everyone’s heard of the Egyptian Book of the Dead.  The ancients called it the Book of Going Forth By Day, because the idea was that once you get safely set up in the spirit world after you’re dead, you can totally go back to the material world and hang out in your garden.  The Book was basically the information they figured people needed to make that happen, and they would tuck copies of it in with dead people so they’d have it on hand, like we buy a Fodor’s or a Lonely Planet or a Pocket Guide or whatever when we travel somewhere.

So that was my gimmick.  The unseen world, the spirit land, the netherworld – these are ways of referring to what the Egyptians called the Duat or Amenti or a variety of other things – it’s a place you can go.  You can go there when you’re dead, you go there when you’re asleep and dreaming, you can go there on a pathworking or astral projection, whatever.  And if you go there, then it’s a useful thing to do to have a travel guide.

So that’s what I did.  Your standard travel book starts out with how to get there, what to pack, what you need to have in order to not get stuck at immigration, and this is all stuff that’s in the Book of the Dead.  It’ll talk about where to stay, what to eat, what to do, when the big local holidays fall.  It’ll tell you what shots you need to get so you don’t come down with a local disease, and there’s the equivalent stuff in the Book too, charms against various wild animals, or running out of air, or other awful things that might happen to you if you’re off gallivanting about in the world of spirit.  And I wrote it perfectly straight, just taking the Egyptian cultural assumptions as if they were totally normal to the reader, which creates a lot of humor.  It’s a fun book in a lot of ways.  “When you are packing for your trip, be sure to include whatever conveniences and luxuries you want to have with you.  For large items that would be inconvenient to ship, such as boats or servants, small scale models will be sufficient for your needs.”

The original Book of the Dead was a tightly multilayered thing.  The Egyptians didn’t have a word for ‘religion’, though they did have several for ‘magic’.  So it wasn’t just information about the geography and such of the spirit world, but the spells that people might need to get things done when they were there. And there were prayers to important gods on a lot of these scrolls – Wesir (Osiris) of course, for residing in the land of the dead, and Ra for the going-forth-by-day bit.  So I tried to make the Guide reflect all of these bits.

The main text of the book is bracketed by several devotional poems – Wesir, Ra, and a short concluding verse for Nut.  And while all the information about how things work there is in the prose, each section begins with a poem that’s a literary interpretation of a relevant spell.  Most of the spells are drawn from the Book of the Dead, but some are riffs on older texts.  (There’s a villanelle in there, gods help me, there’s one for the bucket list.)  The appendices cover things like correspondences, ideas for making your own rituals, and that sort of stuff, if you want to do that work.

ARH – What inspired you to write this book?

KN – So, probably nearly ten years ago, I was out to lunch with another Egyptian pagan.  We’re having our salad, and she leans over and says to me, “I have a confession to make.  I don’t know what the Egyptian Book of the Dead is!  Do you?”

And I paused for a moment, thought about it, and said, “Well… it’s sort of a cross between a hymnal, a grimoire, and The Lonely Planet Guide to the Underworld.”  But of course I couldn’t call it that, the actual Lonely Planet people would probably be pretty peeved at me.

Anyway, I mentioned this to a couple of friends, and they all said something like, “Guide to the Underworld!  You should totally write that!  I’d read it!”  And I said “Maybe I will someday” and kind of left it there for a while.  It came up as a “Maybe I will someday” more than once, and I finally knuckled down and started seriously writing the thing somewhere about four years ago.

ARH – How did you research for this book?  And how long did that take you?

KN – Oh man.  Okay, my earliest dated notes on the thing are from the summer of 2008, but I’d done bits and pieces of work on it before then, I have no idea how long before that.  But I’d say it probably took me three years to write when I actually started doing it rather than just toying with the idea.

It was a lot of research.  Egyptian mortuary stuff is pretty well studied, so there’s a lot of material out there.  Ironically, I find the whole “what happens to people when they die” kind of the least interesting part of any religion, but the truth of the matter is, it doesn’t matter where you start studying something like this, it all connects together, so if you want to understand a system well it works just fine to pick a handle and start digging.  It doesn’t matter what the handle is once you get deep enough.

I made great lists of books, most of them from academic presses, to read for the thing.  Probably wound up reading about a third of them and taking notes.  I already had a bit of an Egyptology library, though that occasionally gave me fits, because I’d be sitting and wondering where I had gotten a particular factoid from and not wanting to put it in the book until I’d tracked down the source.  I borrowed books, I stumbled across things that weren’t academic but would let me flesh things out for people who were more interested in magical practice as well and read those, it was a lot of reading.

And, at the same time, it was a lot of other research.  I picked up a handful of old travel guides at used book sales to look at the format and see what sorts of things people put in travel books anyway.  And I was constantly going on about poem forms, trying to find structures that would fit the length and content of each spell I was interpreting.  I wrote a lot of sonnets – sonnets were a good length for a lot of things.  At other times I was hassling everyone I know for poem forms: do you know something that’s about this long that I can use?  There are two limericks in there – one’s about Wesir’s penis, because if you’re going to be writing short poetry about a penis it should be a limerick I think – lots of sonnets, but other forms too.  I think I was driving people a little nuts trying to find obscure poetic forms that were the right length, a decent rhyme scheme, or whatever I needed for each bit.  At one point I was really tired and just wrote an acrostic poem.  I still think that was kind of cheating, but I was totally stumped.

ARH – Why did you choose Immanion Press?  How has that experience been?

KN – I actually work for Immanion when I have my editorial hat on; I’ve edited or copyedited several books for them.  My editor, Taylor Ellwood, had seen some of my work before, particularly when I submitted to an anthology he edited, Manifesting Prosperity, a book about wealth magic.  Not only did I know that I could work with the people there – since I do! – but I knew that they were at least somewhat familiar with my work and respected it.

The Guide is kind of a quirky, niche kind of book.  I wanted a publisher who would give serious consideration to work that was that kind of special interest, specialist focus.  (While I’m hearing that it does have appeal outside of pagan and magical circles – the artist, Michaele Harrington, is having a lot of fun showing it off to her professional colleagues! – I wanted it to be the quirky thing that it is rather than be edited into something a bit more, dare I say it, normal.)

ARH – Are you working on a new book?  Can you tell us more?

KN – I’m always working on a book, for at least some values of “working”.  But in the spiritual realm, I’m actually working on two.

One of them is referred to among my pagan friends as “the onion-hoer book”.  “Onion-hoers” is sort of my personal slang for ordinary folks doing Egyptian religion.  There was a huge divide between the elites and, you know, Joe Hotep, and I’m much more interested in the equivalent of the dude hoeing onions than the people who were living on fancy catered dinners.  I mean, I’m a college dropout, I used to pay my rent by answering phones and typing documents.  My day job is as a parent, and I’m concerned about how to raise the kids, how to live right, not so much about the cosmic hoo-hah. I mostly leave the cosmos to look after itself while I figure out how to get dinner on the table on time.  Someone’s got sunrise covered, but if I don’t sweep the stairs it doesn’t get done at all.  I want a book about my religion for people who are living an ordinary kind of life like that, the modern onion-hoers.

The other one is about an Egyptian-oriented mystical practice.  It’ll go in depth on some things I covered in the Guide – I’m thinking particularly about etheric anatomy, the structure of the human souls – and explore those further.  It’s useful to be working on at the same time as the onion-hoer book because every so often I come across something I want to say that’s not the sort of hearth-witchy practical stuff that I want to focus on there, so I just shuffle it into the other set of notes!

ARH – As an author, what do you think is the most important piece of advice that you would give an unpublished writer?

KN – Keep writing.  Keep track of ideas for stories, funny projects, anything.  Some people say that you have to write a million words of crap before you start getting any good, and all that counts, even those horrible essays you had to write in junior high school about terrible, boring books.  Talk to other people about writing.  Talk to other people in writing, on message boards or mailing lists or wherever you can find people who share an interest.

If you’re writing fiction, pay attention to people and how they interact.  If you can’t write believable people, it doesn’t matter how great the plot you’ve got it – you’re going to have readers saying the Eight Deadly Words, “I don’t care what happens to these people!”  If you’re writing nonfiction, remember that any little thing can be an in to what you want to know if you just chase it down hard enough.

But mostly: keep writing.

ARH – Where can we go to learn more about you and purchase your books?

KN – You can get the book through the Immanion/Megalithica website: http://www.immanion-press.com/info/book.asp?id=424&referer=Hp

My author blog is at http://peacefulawakenings.wordpress.com/.  I keep it updated with links to interviews, current research, and similar stuff.  I’m afraid it’s not as funny as the Guide, though.

ARH – We appreciate you spending some time with us today Kiya!  We wish you continued luck with this book, and with your future writing endeavors.

Don’t forget to head over to Monday’s post to enter the giveaway to win your own copy of The Traveller’s Guide to the Duat…I’ll be drawing the winner Friday at noon.

ARH

LAJ – Thank you for having me. It’s truly an honor.,

ARH – Please tell us a little more about yourself.

LAJ – Well I am twenty-five years old and I live in Frostburg. I am a college student and I go to Frostburg State University. When I was fifteen years old, I was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. I have a mother, a father, and a sister and a huge extended family that all live in California.  I am also Steven Pressfield’s niece. Steven Pressfield is the author of the Legend of Bagger Vance and the War of Art.

ARH – How did you get started as a writer?

LAJ – Story-telling has always been part of my life. In fact, my sister once told me that when we were growing up she loved playing with me because I would come up with very imaginative games. I didn’t start writing until I was in middle school. I did stop though for a while but it worried my parents so much that it finally began to occur to me how important my writing was.

ARH – Tell us more about your Tales of Aradia series.

LAJ – Tales of Aradia is actually a combination of things. It is about a girl who was adopted and grows up having powers and all kinds of questions. When she finally gets the answers she is looking for everything changes. I basically work in a bunch of scenarios into my series. I have a lot of friends who are adopted who’s biggest questions (as far as I know) is about their identity. Who they really are and what they are suppose to do? I also work in the scenario where if you had the power to change everything would you take on that kind of responsibility? Aradia (the main character) who has been raised in the human race where segregation is part of the past suddenly gets thrust into the hidden race where segregation is alive and well. It bothers her of course but being the last of her kind gives all kind of political power. So she begins to wonder since she has all this power maybe she should change things. I also work in the scenario about her being a woman in power. Although many people deny it, I believe that society does not like having women in power.  The only time they ever accept it is when they have no choice like in the case of Elizabeth I. Aradia is a woman in power and she deals with the same problems. I also throw in the same typical scenarios that most teenagers deal with like school, dating, the future, and so on so forth.

ARH – What inspired you to write these books?

LAJ – A bunch of things inspired me to write this series. However, if I have to narrow it down there are two major influences that helped me. First, it was my father who is into non-fiction so when I talk about witches, vampires, etc. he finds it hard to understand so I thought to myself there must be a way to bridge the gap between non-fiction and fantasy. Therefore, I decided to use several real life scenarios and use fantasy to write about them. When you really think about it my books talk about things we deal with in the real world such as genocide, politics, pressure, education, and the ability to do what’s right. My second influence was what actually made me write my books. My uncle Steven Pressfield is a professional author who wrote a wonderful book called the War of Art. It helped me stop putting off writing my series and actually write it.

ARH – Why did you choose to self publish?  What kind of response have you received?

LAJ – When I finished writing my first volume, I read a lot of books about the publishing process. It explained that nowadays you can’t just submit your work to anyone. Most publishers don’t accept work without an agent to represent it. I tried to find an agent but they all rejected me. I may be a good writer but I still have many flaws. My biggest is I have poor grammar and punctuation skills. Hence why many agents wouldn’t take a chance with me. I wanted to get an editor but I couldn’t possibly afford one. Therefore, I decided to self-publish. It was the best because by self-publishing I can control everything with my writing. Most authors have day jobs and use writing on the side. I don’t want that. I want my writing to be my full time career so by self publishing I control everything. I control marketing, where I publish, and so much more. One of the biggest reasons why I am glad I self published is because that is how I met my editor Harrison R. Bradlow. It hasn’t been easy mind you because since I control marketing I have to be the one to do it all. I submit my book to review sites and update the drafts and everything which takes a lot of time and effort.  The responses have been worth it though because I can directly interact with my readers and get great advice.

ARH – Are you working on a new story? Can you tell us more?

LAJ – Yes. I am actually working on the fifth volume in my series and my editor is editing my second volume. In the fifth my main character kind of crosses over to the dark side. In many novels I have noticed that the hero never changes roles. He or she is always the hero no matter what the scenario. In my fifth volume, Aradia becomes sort of the anti-hero and it’s up to her friends to bring her back. If it is possible that is. As for the second volume, Harrison is helping to improve the story and is working in more concepts. I can assure you once it is done it will be dramatically different from the second volumes that are currently available.

ARH – Are there any publishers interested in this project or are you planning on self-publishing again?

LAJ – many authors once they make it onto a best sellers list decided to go the traditional route. However, once I decided to go to self publishing I realized it was possible to make it a full time career. Therefore, if a traditional publisher offers me the opportunity I will decline.

ARH – As an author, what do you think is the most important piece of advice that you would give an unpublished writer?

LAJ – Never give up. If you think you have a great idea go with it and try as hard as you can to make it big. It will be hard and frustrating but don’t give up. The true lesson in that is showing if you have the ambition and determination to make something of yourself even if in retrospect your idea doesn’t seem that great the fact that you were determined will prove how strong you really are.

ARH – Where can we go to learn more about you and purchase your books?

LAJ – You can go all over the Internet to find info about me. Just type in my series title or my name L.A. Jones and you will find all kinds of websites about me. Believe me, I know I have done it twice. I published my book on Amazon, Barnes Nobles, Goodreads, and Smashwords so you can buy my books on several sites. My personal recommendation is Smashwords because that has my books available in all formats and links to my blog which I update daily.

ARH – We appreciate you spending some time with us today LA Jones!  We wish you continued luck with your future writing endeavors.

ARH – We are pleased to welcome B.T. Newberg as our Featured Author.  Thank you for joining us today!

BTN – Thank you for having me.

ARH – Please tell us a little more about yourself.

BTN – I’m the editor of Humanistic Paganism, a community blog for naturalistic spirituality. Can you picture a marriage of science and mythology?  That’s Humanistic Paganism.  It’s a path that explores the naturalistic stream within Pagan traditions, both ancient and contemporary.  There have always been naturalistic tendencies, going back to the Stoics at least and probably much further.  Naturalism is alive and well today too, yet it is not as visible as the more supernatural interpretations.  We’re working to amplify the voices of naturalists within Paganism.

ARH – How did you get started as a writer?

BTN – From fiction to poetry to comic books, I was always a creative writer.  Yet my calling has really been the nonfiction of spirituality.  I got my first real success with an essay entitled Integrating Depression and Spirituality: Resources for Pagans, which was presented as a poster paper at the Victorian Queer Spirituality Conference 2005 in Australia.  Since then, I’ve been honing my craft with essays at the Witches’ Voice, various Pagan periodicals, and most recently the HP website.  Now, I’m starting a new column for Patheos.com called Naturalistic Traditions.  It will present seasonal celebrations, profiles of historical and contemporary movements, and ritual activities.

ARH – Tell us more about Year One: A Year of Humanistic Paganism.

BTN – If anyone out there has ever wondered how a ritual could possibly work without literal belief in deities, this is the book to read.  If anyone has ever wished they could have a spirituality that was wholly devoted to the natural universe, again this is the book for them.

Starhawk was once asked whether she believed in God, and she responded “Do you believe in rocks?”  While Starhawk is not necessarily a naturalist, her words perfectly express the concrete, right-here right-now materiality that informs the perspectives in this path.  Is such a path viable, and if so what does it look like?  This book begins the conversation.

Year One is an anthology that collects in one place all the work published in the first year of the community blog Humanistic Paganism.  It features over a dozen authors and more than fifty articles and interviews.  Topics range from mythology to psychology to critical appraisal.  There’s even survey data on the HP community.

ARH – What inspired you to write this book?

BTN – It was really the contributing authors.  After starting the Humanistic Paganism website last spring, I was blown away by how many joined in.  In only nine months, the site went from a platform for one guy’s personal musings to a burgeoning spiritual community.  After such a response, I wanted to recognize what we’d collectively accomplished.  Thus was born the anthology, Year One.

ARH – Why did you choose to self publish?  What kind of response have you received?

BTN – Self-publishing the ebook was a natural outgrowth of self-publishing the website.  It seemed a perfect way to crystallize our accomplishments, and I didn’t want to be bound to a publisher’s schedule.  I wanted to get it out there and recognize our authors.

The response has been positive, reaching a wider audience will only improve on that.

ARH – Are you working on a new book? Can you tell us more?

BTN – Nothing solid yet, but I would like to create a step-by-step manual for cultivating a naturalistic relationship to the Cosmos.  Many find it difficult to understand how a naturalistic spirituality might work, until they really see it broken down systematically.  The manual would spell it all out clearly, so that all the parts link together into a working whole.

ARH – Are there any publishers interested in this project or are you planning on self-publishing again?

BTN – For the time being, I’m looking at self-publishing.  We’ll see what fate the future holds.

ARH – As an author, what do you think is the most important piece of advice that you would give an unpublished writer?

BTN – Promote, promote, promote!  Especially as a self-published author, you have to be a bona fide business person.  Don’t expect get a response just by writing the thing.  You have to be getting the word out by day and by night.

ARH – Where can we go to learn more about you and purchase your books?

BTN – Year One is available at GoodReads in epub format, and Oronjo as a pdf.

Check out our other titles and articles over at www.HumanisticPaganism.com.  We have three ebooks available so far, and we’ve just finished up a series of interviews and other goodies with big-name authors like Brendan Myers, Chet Raymo, and Ursula Goodenough.

ARH – We appreciate you spending some time with us today B.T.!  We wish you continued luck with your future writing endeavors.

BTN – My pleasure.  Thank you for this opportunity!

ARH – We are pleased to welcome PanOrpheus as our Featured Author for this week.  Thank you for joining us today!

PO –Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here. I’m a big fan of Pagan Writers Community and Pagan Writers Press.

ARH – Please tell us a little more about yourself.

PO – I’ve been on the Pagan path for about fourteen years- Primarily as a Wiccan- Lately I’ve become the administrator of an 1800+ member group on Facebook called Delphic Oracle Mystical, Magical Fact and Fiction- As the administrator, I’ve had to know more about world-wide religion and spirituality, so my interests are wide. I take it all in, yet I have a focus of present-day Pagan activities and beliefs, and my focus is enriched by being in touch with people all over the world. I’ve given seminars up and down the East coast on subjects related to my books- like divination, Atlantis, and other related themes. I’ve travelled as far as Missouri (Pagan Spirit Gathering) to present seminars and receive inspiration.

ARH – How did you get started as a writer?

PO –When I became involved in Wicca and the larger present-day Pagan movement, I began by writing passages for rituals, pathworkings, seminars, and creating my own divination tool, The KeyRose- that’s another story. I was inspired by the Gods and Goddesses that were spoken of in the rituals, Pan, Cernunnos, Diana, Inanna, and many others. I concentrated on the prior Polytheism of the Greeks, and became fascinated by the women who were Seers, and Oracles, particularly the Oracle of the Temple of Delphi. I started to write fiction about one of them, I imagined her to be the greatest of them all. A “What…if” came to mind, and so I wrote “Theoclea in Eleusis.” I knew that words, the right words at the right time would be one of her strengths, and there would be a speech at the Mysteries of Eleusis, and mention of a book she had written. Through her I could explore and present the issues and thoughts of Pagans today. She would be the quintessential Oracle, liable to have a vision at any time, needing magical protection, and the like. Inspiration came from my own participation in Pagan festivals with fire entertainment, belly dancing, drumming, seminars, and vendors, enriching the fabric. The books “Theoclea (The Delphic Oracle) sees Atlantis”, and “Theoclea (The Delphic Oracle) and Pythagoras in Egypt” followed.

ARH – Tell us more about Theoclea (The Delphic Oracle) and Pythagoras in Egypt.

PO –In Theoclea (The Delphic Oracle) and Pythagoras in Egypt, Theoclea, Pythagoras and their entourage, (including their two children- twins, a girl and a boy- Alcena and Abderus) travel to Egypt. Theoclea is to give the speech of a lifetime on a platform between the paws of the Sphinx. The other purpose is that Pythagoras believes that there is an ancient book from Atlantis hidden in a passageway in the Pyramid of Giza. There’s poetry in my book that shows up here and there as an element in the mystery. The children have an adventure as well- they wander into a crystal Triangle of Destruction, and wind up in 23^rd century Cairo! There are also villains- Morvan the Magician, a rival of Pythagoras when Pythagoras was a student in Egypt…and we meet the dreaded Muhajihadeem!

ARH – What inspired you to write this book?

 PO – I had been impressed by a large East-Coast Wiccan group that had put together a carefully considered group of eight ethical principles that most Wiccans might agree on. I wanted Theoclea to present the principles in a non-preachy way…in her own way. The speech was the perfect vehicle for that. Present-day Pagan ideas like Harm None, As above So below, and beliefs in reincarnation abound in my novels.  In the speculative/historical fantasy fiction genre, I can take one or two facts, like ‘Pythagoras taught for one year at the Temple of Delphi, and one of his students was the woman who was being trained to become the next Delphic Oracle’, and turn those ideas into a book or a series. The fact that Pythagoras studied for 11 years in Egypt and was actually a Priest who could function as such in Greece or Egypt fueled my inspiration. I like to bring present-day Pagan, Polytheistic beliefs and practices into my fiction so that we can perhaps see them in a different light, a different perspective. Someone speaking to us from Theoclea’s time might give us the wisdom to overcome obstacles here and there. I want my books to speak to us in this time, there are always many elements from our Pagan experience of today in my books.

ARH – Why did you choose to self publish?  What kind of response have you received?

PO –It seemed to be the only option at the time- I started with Lulu for books that were essentially workshop books that accompanied my workshops and divination tool, The KeyRose. I published the first two Theoclea novels through Lulu, and the Atlantis book is available on Amazon, as well. For the third novel The ‘Egypt’ book, I chose Createspace, because I wanted a certain cover and size for the book that was not available through Lulu, and more importantly, I wanted to work with a team on a custom interior, with a larger choice of fonts. There are always people at Createspace who will answer the phone…there are no communications problems. The response has been primarily through my own website, The facebook site, and through Createspace at this point, and it has been good.

ARH – Are you working on a new story? Can you tell us more?

 PO –I’ll doing the final editing on first book in a new series- the Phoebe series- featuring the ancient Delphic Oracle Phoebe. She’s so ancient that she’s actually part of Greek Mythology. I can bring Phoebe into the modern world…she’s sassy, and witty, drinks chianti, and occasionally tries to smoke a cigarette- unsuccessfully! The first book is in the final editing stage, and will be titled  Phoebe (The Delphic Oracle) and the Medallion of Gaia. Phoebe hires a famous detective in 1951, in San Francisco- to help find the lost medallion. The action moves a few hundred years into the future to the vicinity of Saturn, and finally winds up in a hearing room in Washington DC., where ‘Harm None’ is debated by…well I don’t want to give it away! Phoebe may not have the power of words that Theoclea has, but she’s a creature of Action…and in the course of the book an Indian motorcycle, Cadillac hearses and other vehicles meet their tragic ends. Two other books are planned, Phoebe (The Delphic Oracle) and The Return of the Mage, and Phoebe (The Delphic Oracle) and the Lost books of the Sybils. Once again, present-day Pagan thought and life is presented from different perspectives.

ARH – Are there any publishers interested in this project or are you planning on self-publishing again?

PO –Pagan Writers Press has already published two of my poems in the two Anthologies, Samhain and Yule, that have come out so far, and the publishing industry is changing rapidly. I’m very open to everything, and will probably wind up exploring different avenues of possibility.

ARH – As an author, what do you think is the most important piece of advice that you would give an unpublished writer?

PO –Write, write write…something every day. Be open to inspiration. If you overhear a conversation in an elevator and someone says, “Look here, in the newspaper, they just found the sword of Julius Caesar”- then THAT’S IT- that’s one of your inspirations for the day- It doesn’t matter that you’re writing about a broken love affair between a Druid and a Wiccan living in New Brunswick- Julius Caesar has to be in it! The next door neighbor, the kid who likes to play Roman Battle video games, perhaps! The Gods, Goddesses, and the Muse just gave it to you- go with it!

ARH – Where can we go to learn more about you and purchase your books?

PO – All of the books are available on my website www.panorpheus.com Theoclea (The Delphic oracle) in Egypt is available from https://createspace.com/3576763 as well as the website. You can go to www.amazon.com , search for Theoclea in Books, and two of the books will come up. A kindle version of the ‘Egypt’ book should be up and running by mid-February at the latest.

ARH – We appreciate you spending some time with us today Pan!  We wish you continued luck with, and with your other future writing endeavors.

ARH – We are pleased to welcome Virginia Chandler as our Featured Author for this week.  Thank you for joining us today!

VC –  I am absolutely thrilled to be your Featured Author!  Wahoo!

ARH – Please tell us a little more about yourself.

VC – Virginia Chandler is my fantasy pen name.  I am a Georgia native, but being an Air Force brat, I have lived in other US locations, primarily in the Southern US. Reading was a much loved activity in my home growing up, and there was much joy when I was finally able to join the other family members in quiet afternoons lost in the solace of words and imagination. I graduated from the University of Georgia in 1993 with a BSED; I also studied Medieval literature and history at Jesus College of Oxford University through the UGA at Oxford program.

I am a Pagan, (obviously), and my magickal name is Aracos Arendel, although most Pagans call me by my magickal nickname, Hawk.  I  have walked the path of Goddess worship for sixteen years.  I am currently National First Officer of the Covenant of the Goddess and have served CoG in several offices over the last 15 years.  I have my own group in Georgia, GryphonSong Clan, www.gryphonsongclan.com, and I am very active in my local Pagan community.

I currently live in a small town just outside of Atlanta with my wife, our cats, books, collectibles, and assorted toys. I enjoy traveling, reading, movies, and video games.

ARH – How did you get started as a writer?

VC – I was writing at a very young age; I probably wrote my first short story in elementary school and continued writing as a hobby through high school and college.  I have been a professional technical writer as well as written journalism pieces, etc.  But my heart and passion is in fantasy and sci fi.

ARH – Tell us more about The Last Dragon of the North.

VC – This is a book where Tony and I were able to pen the tale of our vision of Dark Age Britain and Norway with dragons as very real predators.  We both really enjoyed Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park (book and movie), and we were both excited with the vision of replacing the dinosaurs with dragons. We did not want a fairy tale. In fact, we really didn’t want to write a “fantasy” as we both agreed that neither magic nor wizards would manifest in our dragon story. We wanted our dragons to be nocturnal predators who were very much like great white sharks in their hunting and temperament. We wanted a dirty, gritty 4th or 5th century setting where the last dragons still hunted, and those that hunted them had to be made of steel courage much like the great Beowulf and Sigurd.

ARH – What inspired you to write this book?

VC – I wanted a book about dragons and dragonslayers that was written to my taste and vision.  I was tired of the sweet, fluffy dragon tales that were starting to emerge in the 90s.

ARH – Why did you go with Double Dragon Publishing?  How was that experience?

VC – My brother has been with Double Dragon for a few years now, and Deron Douglas, our publisher, is a supportive, hands on publisher.  I communicate with him on a regular basis which is very nice.  I plan to stay with Double Dragon and, in fact, I am already contracted with Deron to release my Arthurian title, The Green Knight’s Apprentice, in November 2012.

ARH – Are you working on a new story? Can you tell us more?

VC – I am!  I have almost completed the manuscript for my next novel, The Green Knight’s Apprentice, which will be published by Double Dragon in November 2012.  It’s an Arthurian tale that follows Sir Gawain as the Green Knight, with his apprentice, Rhowbyn, for a year and a day as Gawain receives magickal training (and many adventures) as the Green Knight.  There are battles, festivals, and readers will be surrounded with very familiar Arthurian archetypes such as Morgan Le Fay, Sir Gawain, King Arthur, Sir Bors, and more.  I am VERY excited about this book!

Once I’ve sent The Green Knight’s Apprentice to my editor and we’ve completed that process, I will get to work on the prequel for Last Dragon, which is tentatively titled The Northern Band.  Many readers have asked for a sequel to Last Dragon, and that will come, but I want to write the prequel first, (I will write that title solo, no co author).   The sequel to Last Dragon will take an interesting twist in dragon lore and involve some Dragon Worshippers from the East, but that’s all I’m going to say for now J.

ARH – Will you publish this new story with Double Dragon?

VC – Yes, Double Dragon will publish The Green Knight’s Apprentice in November 2012, just in time for the Yuletide season!

ARH – As an author, what do you think is the most important piece of advice that you would give an unpublished writer?

VC – Believe in yourself and your writing craft.  In today’s publishing world, you can self publish, which is a VERY viable option.  The “big” publishing houses are very, very difficult to break into…unless you have an agent, and if you’re determined to get a big publishing house, then the agent is your first step.  Otherwise, keep writing, polish your skills, and keep sending in your manuscripts.

ARH – Where can we go to learn more about you and purchase your books?

VC – There are several places that you visit to learn more about me:  My blog is virginiachandler.wordpress.com, my Facebook is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Virginia-Chandler/132190013550463.  To purchase the books, visit any online retailer, (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, GoodReads, Fictionwise, etc).   If you would like an autographed paperback, you can contact me through my blogsite and we can make arrangements to do that for you.  I recently  sent an autographed copy to a fan in Brazil!

ARH – We appreciate you spending some time with us today Virginia!  We wish you continued luck with your future writing endeavors.

VC – Thank you and blessed be!

ARH – We are pleased to welcome Dusty White as our Featured Author for this week. 

DW – Thank you. It is an honor and a pleasure to be here, in fine company.

ARH – Please tell us a little more about yourself.

DW – Well, I like chocolate. But that is like saying I like pizza. It is something of an obsession with me, a Venusian thing. I am a professional psychic astrologer, tarot reader, and so on; tens of thousands of clients, nothing new here. Some people are mechanics, some are lawyers—I am a teacher. I actually teach professional psychics how to evolve to the next level and how to reach states of consciousness and communication they did not know existed. I am here to help. That’s really about it.

ARH – How did you get started as a writer?

DW – Napkins! I have been scribbling notes on napkins, usually at Denny’s, since my early twenties. That evolved into scribbling on notepads: ideas for books one day, philosophical concepts, diagrams, it always annoyed my friends. But to tell an embarrassing story, I was lying on the couch (I just love a good comfy couch) one night and I heard a voice that I knew was not my own—in my head of course—say “write this down.” I was just at that blissful point where sleep was one second away and had no desire to write anything down so I grumpily fumbled in the dark for a pad of paper that I knew was on the giant ugly coffee table and a pen. I was writing down astrological information, which is no surprise as I was a psychic to the stars in Beverly Hills at the time. Can I say that job is more glamor than money? Ugh! Anyway, so I realized I was halfway through the page and the information was coming at me so fast I would write off the edge of the page.

So naturally I started writing in much larger letters so that I could trick this mysterious voice into letting me go to sleep when I ran out of room at the end of the page. When I did reach the end of the page that voice said clearly “go to the computer,” which was across the living room. I stomped over to the computer table, plopped down like a petulant 5 year old, and jabbed the power button on the computer so hard I hoped to break it (and get to sleep). Pretty much the next thing I remember I was (once again) complaining, this time about it being so bright. I leaned over to the left a few inches and got a face full of the rising sun. Some jerk had left the curtains open and I was wide awake now. I scrolled though about 40 pages of text I had written in a zombie trance and saved it before angrily stomping back over to the couch in a vain attempt to get a few hours of sleep if I went to work late.

I got home after work that day and raced over to the computer to see what it was that I had written. A few minutes later I jumped up and excitedly shouted, “I am writing a book!” My roommates shouted back to me, “You’re blocking the TV!” Three months later I landed a publishing contract. It was a good thing I wasn’t sleeping in bed that night.

ARH – Tell us more about The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot – EVER!!

DW – I have been studying the tarot since I was a kid. I learned by reading some old books and it was hard. First they wanted you to learn the “major” Arcana, which made no sense to me. The images were all so stagnant. A bunch’a guys sitting in thrones. I just could not resonate with them. Sure they looked cool, but it was very off-putting to have to memorize key words and archaic concepts when first picking up a deck. I learned the tarot the hard way and it took years. The more tarot books I read the more frustrated I got. Finally I just decided to write a book and make it really easy. I started with some basic exercises that allow you to pick up a deck and just look at the pictures. After all that is why tarot decks have pictures on them instead of long lists of key words and paragraphs of explanations. My book is easy because you learn to see with your own eyes first. I have a dozen basic exercises and tarot games that you learn first. Just you and the cards. You compare and contrast what you see, blend cards, get inside the cards and ask the people what they are doing and why. But it’s a workbook, so if you read it, you will need a pencil. Just because it is easy does not mean there is no homework.

At the end of the book are the usual “traditional card meanings” but also 78 workbook pages just in that section where you get to write what the cards mean to you—not just what they mean to some dead guy who wrote their “official meanings” in the 1800’s. I made the book fun because if it isn’t fun people will just go play a video game or watch Harry Potter again. But one other thing: From the outset I designed the book to be truly interactive. Everyone who owns a copy of the book is allowed to sign up at the forums at advancedtarotsecrets.com and get free teaching from me—just in case they don’t have a tarot teacher in front of them, holding their hand. We play the games online and do the exercises in the forums. I have also added a tarot podcast, video lessons, and a private chat room where students can grill me for answers, or play go fish with the tarot—all of this is free by the way—please don’t think I am selling something. It is my job as an author to make sure that people learn the tarot, so I have added all of those things (above) as a free ongoing bonus. If my students don’t master the tarot then I have failed as an author.

ARH – Why did you choose to self publish?  What kind of response have you received?

DW – In 1994 one of the first things my (then) publisher did was hand me two large boxes field with 3-ring binders. I was told these boxes contained the latest information on book marketing and that if I did not study this they would drop me within a month. This was before the internet was a big thing so we had to learn the hard way—very slowly. I read so many stupid manuals I ended up hating book marketing, but I found out so much about the publishing industry that I could probably write three books on it. After my second book was rejected I got frustrated and started looking into self-publishing. I found my salvation with Booksurge Publishing which was later bought by Amazon.com and then closed down when they merged it with their own business: “Createspace.” I loved Booksurge and I miss them terribly, not that CS has been bad to me at all.

Look: I get a whopping 35% royalty on all books sold through Amazon.com and a fat 10% on anything sold through bookstores. I don’t have to pay any money to my publisher, there are no fees, no books I have to buy. If I want to buy my own book I can get one copy or a hundred (or ten thousand, but what would I do with those?) and the most I pay is four bucks (for an 8”x10” 342 page book—it really is a brick). I don’t want to come across as a commercial for Booksurge, or, well, now Createspace, but unlike vanity press I never had to invest hundreds or thousands of dollars to get published. My royalties are five to seven times what I would make at Simon & Schuster or Random House. I can pay the rent with my royalties alone! Oh and I get paid monthly. I can go online and see how many books I have sold, and where, 24 hours a day. If I need to fire off a review copy I can click click click and voila a book is sent from the printer the very next day. I can even call my publisher any hour of the day and whine if I am not happy.

Back in 1994 this was impossible. I loved my old publisher but this is amazing! It is obscene how good I have it as an author. Back in the old days we used to have garages full of books, or in my case, my first few hundred books were printed at Kinko’s. With your first book it is an adventure to stay up all night Xeroxing books and spiral binding them, but it gets old pretty fast. All I have to do now is write—and promote; and let me tell aspiring authors something. No matter who publishes you—you have to promote. No one is going to do it for you unless you pay them a LOT of money, and even then I have heard horror stories time and again about first-time authors wasting tens of thousands of dollars and getting screwed. Looking at this from a purely business point of view, I was in the black from my very first book sale. Compare that to starting up a restaurant ($500,000 and up) or any other business (at least $50,000+). IMHO being a professional author is the way to go. Now, if Llewellyn drives up to my house with a dump truck of cash then Carl is going to be my new best friend. Until then my distribution is handled, my printing is handled, accounting—I am automatically on Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, and in Baker & Taylor every time I finish a book. My editor is the only one who can stop me from publishing a book, and in my world, she is “God.”

ARH – What inspired you to write this book?

DW – Oh, sorry, I answered that above. I teach professional psychics. I teach beginners. I felt we needed a book that anyone could use, even long after I am dead and not trolling the forums looking for people to help. I just wanted to stand the book world on its ear by building a better mousetrap. I dunno if I succeeded, but people seem to really love this book, and how humbling is that?

ARH – Do you have more writing ideas for the future?

DW – OMfG. How long do we have? Okay, Aphrodite’s Book of Secrets is a book on the real magical laws (remember that “Secret” book? Hogwash written by amateurs and marketers. You wanna know “the secret”? The LoA is hardly “the law.” The “Law of Attraction” is really The law of attraction and repulsion, which is an aspect of the principle of psychic magnetism (remember kiddies, this is where you heard it when motivational gurus start preaching this stuff after they read this). Furthermore, there is the law of microcosmic response (you might have head the term “As Above, So Below” at one point), the great and mystic law of cause and effect—mystic because, well you have to read ABoS and I will explain all of this and how to do it and I will help you teach it to others so you can make money teaching REAL secrets of effective prayer and magic. Are we out of time yet? Okay, then there is Astrology For Witches which was supposed to be done this year but I got sidetracked by the new divination deck I am finishing up after 19 years of hard labor (and research). The Easiest Way to Learn Astrology—EVER!! is actually in progress right now, but again, the deck, and some tarot book support for my students has center stage in my mind right now. Magical lunar calendars and a few other projects are in que, but all waiting for the deck to be done. I just write. I create, therefore I am. I am not really fun at parties and I am a lousy dancer. I just like to create, so that’s kinda what I do.

ARH – Are you planning to self-publish again, or do you have a publisher interested?

DW – I like working with Amazon. Let me share a little secret with you. I think Amazon is positioning itself to become the #1 publisher in the world, and that means digitally and in print. They have the infrastructure and the distribution down. In fact just earlier today I got a notice that my kindle books are now available in France and Italy. Would I work with a “big 5” publisher or even Llewellyn, Weiser, or US Games? I am an author. I would marry them and have babies. I write books. If a publisher actually “got me” and fell in love with my crazy style of giving every ounce of life I have to my readers and could get behind that I would sign in blood. But Ben Franklin was self-published (back when it was laughed at and “uncool”) and he is my all-time hero, so I think I am in good company at the moment.

ARH – As an author, what do you think is the most important piece of advice that you would give an unpublished writer?

DW – NEVER STOP WRITING! Tell your husband, wife, boyfriend or dog that you will give them attention later. Don’t even try to argue with your cats; they will just sit on your keyboard as you try to type. If someone says you suck, tell them THEY SUCK and just keep writing. Historians ever decide greatness. If you actually do suck, just keep writing. It is better to get your words out of your skull than to go crazy having them bouncing around inside your head thinking that no one loves you. Just write—make time to write. There is no excuse more important than writing; and if you get stuck I have a book called How to Write a Great Book in Just Under Two Weeks! It’s not for sale. It is free. I use it myself to get past writer’s block. I could easily sell the information in that book for $700 a pop. I have seen it done. I only tell you about this book because I want you to get your words out and feel better about yourself. Now, as to publishing: writing and publishing are two different animals. The moment you get an idea for a book start stashing away money in a coffee can for the best editor you can hire. You want to find an editor who knows your style but will cut you (physically) if you try to publish poorly written crap. You want an editor who is hard as nails, someone you can really hate, but someone who is so good they can help you find your voice and tighten up your work until it squeaks. Only then should you allow anyone to see it.

From there you can get an agent (very hard, but don’t be afraid—just study, there are some great books on how to get published) or you can DIY it. Whatever you do, DON’T hand over your life savings to anyone who promises to publish you for a fee or make you famous if you just give them money. You need to do the basics: blog, build a site, write reviews for other books, send out review copies every month. Always ask people for honest reviews of your book. Do not ask for 5-star reviews on Amazon. Don’t pay people for reviews. Write the best book you can and only then let people read it. Honest reviews sell books. Paid-for or scam reviews give you a reputation you will never live down (“the internet is forever”). Write a second book. Write a third. The best way to sell more books is to write more books. Don’t buy into the publicity guru’s hype machine and don’t try to take shortcuts. Solid promotion works and it keeps working for years. You will get there if you just do these things.

ARH – Where can we go to learn more about you and purchase your book?

DW – You can read some of it free at Amazon.com, and probably also barnesandnoble.com, or you can head over to AdvancedTarotSecrets.com and see the home site for it. If you want free tarot lessons just head over to EasyTarotLessons.com and sign up. It takes 30 seconds and you get the tarot podcast, article and blog lessons, interviews with famous tarot experts. In fact I just interviewed Mary K. Greer—tarot goddess—and my very bestest-ever Tarot BFF Kipling West). Me? I am available by phone if you really want to learn the tarot fast. I just want people to learn this stuff and become the best readers in the world. That sounds hokey, but it’s the truth. That is the long and the short of it. I am here to help.

ARH – We appreciate you spending some time with us today Dusty!  We wish you continued luck with your future writing endeavors.

DW – Thanks for having me.