So, I spent all weekend updating and refreshing my website. When you run the whole show in your author life (on the self-publishing side), you start to learn and develop a whole new set of skills, such as creating your own website, designing your book covers, your marketing visuals, and more. And so this weekend was a big change (at least for me) on moving forward with my writing career.
I wanted to add something fun to the website as well, and thought, what if I created a music playlist for the different books in my Witches of the New Forestseries? So I did!
Each track is a mood, emotion, or scene from the book, run in sequential order through the chapters. It was a new way of looking at the work, and Ioved creating it!
As I returned from my holiday back in Quebec, Canada, spending time with my family, I dove straight into writing the third book for my new fiction series, Witches of the New Forest. The first two books in this series flowed out of me like water, and I wrote like a woman possessed (which may entirely be the case when you’re knee-deep in awen). This third book has somewhat followed suit, and I am halfway through writing it as we speak. But it is providing me with new challenges as well.
Being the final book in Hunter’s trilogy, and the culmination of the books before, (Hedge Witch and The Veil Between the Worlds) there is a lot of pressure on this final book before we move on to her sister, Ryder’s story. The build-up and the expectation is there from the readers (and from myself), and this can sometimes restrict the flow of awen, the flow of inspiration, because I am letting myself and my worries get in the way of writing. It’s hard to admit to, but there it is.
So, I’ve just got to get over fretting what other people are going to think of this book, and just let it happen. It’s how the other two were written. I had a general idea, a few of scenes came to mind while either out wandering the forest and heath (or in the bathtub, terribly inconvenient for writing key points down), and then I just sat down and let the characters do their thing. Now, I feel like I’m worrying over them like a mother hen, and they just can’t do what they want, or need to do, to finish the work.
The characters need the freedom to express themselves and work out their own dynamics without me getting involved. Yes, this is a bit of an oxymoron, as there are parts of me in each character, but it’s only when I allow them the freedom to interact with each other that the magic (or magick) really happens. Worry doesn’t really help the artistic process one bit!
So, following on from my previous post which I wrote back in December, I need to get my Zen on. I need to stop striving and just let it be.
Easier said than done.
I think that there is also a lesson to be learned (at least for myself) in this latest book, which is all about how Hunter is allowing her past to dictate her future. Through the Witch’s Compass, she is able to navigate herself to her true nature, and find her authentic self in all its glory and all its disaster. When we accept this and stop striving, we can move forwards with more awareness. I need to stop trying to be perfect, to stop allowing negative incidents from my past colour my current perceptions, and be open to receiving guidance and the divine inspiration that is all around me.
Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy.
As we move into spring, I think both Hunter and I will make it through this, though there are still going to be challenges and set-backs along the way. But we both have a great network of people that are with us, and though the person that supports me on a daily basis may not be a Druid/Park Ranger like Jack, he is still my foundation and my rock. His science-mind is a great complement to my magickal mind, and who knows? That may even be the inspiration for much of Ryder’s story, yet to come…
It’s coming to the end of the year, and I am about to take such much-needed time off. Throughout the year, I take two holidays: one summer, and one winter holiday. I use this time to go back home and see my family in Canada, which as the years progress gets even more important. They say you don’t know what you’ve got until its gone, but I disagree. I am so very thankful and happy for my friends and family, and I will spend every single chance I can get with them, no matter what.
This time of year is always reflective for me. The autumn season begins the turning inwards of my thoughts, and as the nights draw in, the leaves fall and the winds of change come in bringing the storms. My energy moves from projecting out into the world, to pulling inwards. It’s a cycle of extrovert and introvert, though I must admit that I am a functioning introvert all of the time. When the leaves have all fallen, and the winter rains and dark days lie ahead, I think of home, of family and friends, of warmth and companionship even as I dream of long walks, snowshoe hikes, and cross-country skiing out in the silent wilderness of the boreal forest.
It’s a time when I take stock of my achievements for the year. This year has been exceptional, in that I have completed three books! The first is the follow-up to The Path of the Hedge Witch, my non-fiction work for Llewellyn. The Old Ways: A Hedge Witch’s Guide to Living a Magickal Life will be available next year in the UK, on the 8 March 2025 for Kindle and 8 April for the paperback. (Don’t ask me why the paperback takes a month longer, I have no idea. I’m guessing shipments from the US to UK Amazon stores are involved?)
The second and third books finished this year begin my new fiction series, Witches of the New Forest. The first two books, Hedge Witch and The Veil Between the Worlds, form two thirds of the trilogy set around the main character, Hunter Williams, as she begins on her path of Hedge Witchcraft. With Druids, otherworldly characters, a magickal community and more, it’s a really fun environment to spend my days in, and I love it. Returning to fiction feels like coming home. (Other books in the series are planned, from different characters’ perspectives.)
I’ve always been a writer. From the age of twelve or thirteen, I’ve been writing stories. Ever since I finished reading Lord of the Rings, I knew that I wanted to write books set in a beautiful fantasy world where myth and magick meet.
Having been so productive this year has, however, caused a little burnout. I’m tired. I need some time away from my computer and my desk, away from social media, away from anything digital. I long to spend hours in the woods where I grew up, smelling the snow and the cedars, watching the chickadees and the wild turkeys coming into garden. I want to reconnect not only with the natural world, but also with my own sense of self. What I am craving most, is peace.
Which is funny, considering how crazy the first few weeks are going to be back home, shopping for presents, organising and attending the family parties, New Year’s celebrations and more. But it’s home, and it’s where I decompress, busy though it might appear. My heart just instantly relaxes, my body gives a sigh of relief and my lungs are filled with the crisp, cold air. There’s even an extra hour of daylight, not to mention days where the sun actually shines!
But peace is something that I’ve always sought after in my life. Little spaces of sanctuary. I have always created these spaces no matter where I was in the world, because I needed that in order to function on any sort of level. My homes have never been just houses, flats or apartments. They’ve been havens from the world outside, where I can let down my own walls and just be.
It’s a strange thing to think about, this need for peace. I look outside the window as I type, and I see collared doves in the beech tree. Are they at peace in this moment? They certainly don’t have to worry about promoting their work, keeping an eye on their sales, updating their social media or paying the bills. But they do have to survive in a difficult climate. Do they worry? About different things? Or are they at peace with what life had dealt them, and they’re just getting on with it?
I’ve studied a lot of Zen Buddhism in my time. That’s all about ways to find peace, by giving up searching for peace. There are so many paths to peace in this world. Maybe you could leave a comment on this post, sharing your path to peace? I’d love to hear about it.
Giving up the need for peace, as most Zen Buddhists would say, brings about peace. It’s the need that is the driving force in our own dissatisfaction. When we realise that we can have peace anywhere, at any time, simply by letting go of our need for peace, it can be like a ton of bricks has fallen from our shoulders. It’s so simple. And yet, so difficult to maintain. It can makes sense for five to ten seconds, before something else demands our attention. And our need for peace returns with a vengeance.
With so many external factors creating our personal circumstances, it can be very hard to see how we can let go of that need for peace in our lives, because people bring problems. Life is hard. We have no control over anything. For many Buddhists, simple acceptance of the circumstances is what brings peace. I’m not quite there yet all the time, but I can understand the mechanics behind the concept and try to remember it as much as I can throughout my day.
During the winter holidays, peace is such a central theme. Scenes of snowy landscapes evoke a feeling of peace and stillness on holiday cards. Snow is wonderful. It muffles sound, and covers all the sharp edges of the world, leaving behind sparkly magic in both sunlight and moonlight. Like a weighted blanket for the world, it holds us, frozen in a moment of time, to offer us peace.
Other simple things can bring us peace. The lighting of a candle, the recitation of a heartfelt prayer of thanks, the cooking of a meal, snuggling into a warm bed. Many things we often overlook can bring us peace. It is true: mindfulness does bring peace.
In a world full of lies, deception, insane politics, war and other atrocities, it can seem impossible to find peace. If you live in a country where people with guns are roaming the streets, if you live in dread of air raids or drones dropping bombs on your home, if you don’t have enough food for your cat, let alone yourself, finding peace is not only difficult, but damn-near impossible. When we are just fighting to survive, we are not at peace.
But I am guessing that the majority of you who are reading this blog do not live in these sorts of circumstances. We live in a mainly moral society, where the rule-breakers often get punished for breaking the social contracts and the laws that we have created through a democratic process of electing those to speak for us. In these worlds, we face other issues. We have the time to reflect on morals, on ethics, on philosophical ideas of all kinds. We can even create strange, perverse worlds where we find ourselves in moral competition with each other. “You’re not angry enough about this,” or “by not speaking up about it, you have failed society,” and other concepts often pop up on the socials, where everyone is judging everyone else, and everyone is found lacking.
It’s no wonder we can’t find peace.
Morality isn’t a competition.
But I digress.
For me, it’s in the small moments and in the small things where I find my peace. Having a moment to watch the sun set in the winter skies, with the golds and peaches highlighting the blues, pinks and purples. Stroking a purring cat curled up on a sunbeam on the bed. Eating a meal with my family. Sitting at my altar, honouring the deities, the spirits of place, and more. The big accomplishments are nice, and they are rewarding in different ways. But the culmination of all the small things is what really brings me peace. It’s not in what I do, but almost in what I don’t do. When I stop ‘doing’ and simply ‘be’, that’s where peace is found. It’s that liminal space, where there is no ‘I’ or ‘You’, but only ‘Us, Together’.
And so, I end this ‘end of year blog’ with an Irish blessing that’s often in my thoughts at this time of year.
Deep Peace to You
Deep peace of the running wave to you. Deep peace of the flowing air to you. Deep peace of the quiet earth to you. Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Available around the world, just go to your country’s Amazon site and search The Veil Between the Worlds, or Witches of the New Forest.
I hope you enjoy it! These books are written from the heart, and it is so good to be writing fiction again. Come and join me in the magickal world of the New Forest 🙂
I will be at Crystal Encounters in Rendlesham, Suffolk, England on 7 December, 2024 for book signing!
Happy Holidays! (Don’t forget, books make great gifts)
With love from the Suffolk Coast, Joanna van der Hoeven
On Sunday, Dec 1 the second book in my new fiction series, Witches of the New Forest, will be released! The Veil Between the Worlds was written straight after I finished Hedge Witch, and then they both were edited one after the other. That’s why there’s only around a month in between release dates! Also, as there was a cliffhanger at the end of the first book, I wanted to release the second as soon as possible. So, here we are! I hope you enjoy them 🙂
The first two books in this series were actually written one right after the other. As the story crosses over both books, I didn’t want to leave a huge gap in between them, as there is a bit of a cliffhanger ending in the first book! So, when I finished writing the first one, I immediately began the second. Once the second book was finished, then I started editing the first. When the editing was done, I then released it, and began editing for the second. So, September/October was spent editing Hedge Witch, and October/November was spend editing The Veil Between the Worlds.
The third book in the series, The Witch’s Compass, will be out late spring/early summer of 2025. This will the the third part of Hunter’s trilogy, before we move on to her sister, Ryder’s story. That’s going to be fun to write! Ryder is a great character, as is Hunter, but so, so very different.
The Veil Between the Worlds is availabe for pre-order on the Kindle version only. The paperback is not available for pre-order, but will be released at the same time as the Kindle version comes out, which is 1 December 2024.
I am having so much fun writing these books. Writing fiction is such a joy, and is what I have always wanted to do. Ever since I was twelve years old, I’ve had stories running through my head that I just had to write. It started with handwriting in unused school notebooks, and then moved onto an old manual, clackety typewriter before our family got an old second-hand electronic typewriter, which was much better for my hands than the other, older one! I wish I still had that little, blue typewriter that I began my writing career with nearly forty years ago.
It was only decades later that I released my first book, and from there went to writing non-fiction books on subjects that were so very dear to my heart: Druidry and Witchcraft, with some Zen Buddhism thrown in for good measure. I am so very proud of the work that I have accomplished over the years, and I still have another book coming out in the non-fiction category: The Old Ways, A Hedge Witch’s Guide to Living a Magickal Life (published through Llewellyn). This one will be released on 8 April 2025, but is available for pre-order now.
All of my work is written from the heart. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, I only write what I am passionate about, what I love. I feel that is the best way to write, and I am so blessed to be able to do this kind of work. Through the support of those who have followed me throughout the years, my readers, followers on social media, and my Patreon community I have been able to continue writing, and creating other content such as videos, music and more. Truly, I am blessed.
Authors today need support. The market is changing so quickly, with so many new challenges to face. Technology is racing away, with very little thought as to the repercussions on human beings, their lifestyle, their livelihoods and their creativity. If you have favourite authors, please support them any way you can. Buying their books is, of course, the best way, but did you know that leaving reviews on Amazon will help a book be seen to more people? Even if it is just a star rating that you have the time for, it all makes such a difference. Written reviews also help the author to see what people liked and didn’t like about the work, and can inspire them in their own creativity and help them to progress in their career. Leaving reviews on other platforms such as Goodreads helps to get the word out as well. And don’t forget to share social media posts from your favourite authors, as word of mouth is still one of the best ways you can help!
I hope that you enjoy my new fiction series. And don’t forget, books make excellent holiday gifts!
Many blessings to you,
Joanna
P.S. The links I’ve included in this post are for Amazon UK. If you live in a different country, you will have to visit that Amazon page in order to be able to get to the pre-order or ordering section for that book. Thank you!
No, I know, Samhain has come and gone. But the second book in my new ficion series, Witches of the New Forest, is now available for pre-order on Amazon! This is only for the Kindle edition, but the paperback will be released the very same day. Both will be released on 1 December 2024. Order your copy now! And don’t forget, books also make wonderful holiday gifts
Synopsis
Hunter is dealing with the fallout that came from her last hedge riding ritual. Her world has been turned upside down, and now she must focus and throw herself into her studies in order avoid thinking about her relationship with Jack. She and her sister, Ryder, are currently thousands of miles away from home, in the little village of Burley deep in the New Forest of England. This quaint little tourist spot hides many magickal secrets, and is a liminal place where magick, myth and legend are very real. The sisters have already been confronted with many challenges as they learn more about their magickal heritage and legacy. However, now they have even bigger problems to hand.
It seems that Hunter has made some powerful enemies, and she must keep her friends and family safe. As she learns even more about her heritage and what that means to her as a magickal practitioner, she grows in power. But is she using it wisely? And just what will happen when she finally does cross the veil between the worlds?
This is Book 2 of the Witches of the New Forest series, and is the second part of Hunter’s trilogy.
Praise for Hedge Witch, Book 1 of Witches of the New Forest series
“I have really enjoyed all of Joanna’s books and couldn’t wait to start this fiction one. Wow I wasn’t disappointed, I couldn’t put it down and escaped to the beautiful New forest with the wonderful characters with great dynamics. Her knowledge of witchcraft makes it one of the best and believable witchy books I have ever read. Can’t wait for the next instalment.” Amazon 5 star review (UK)
“The story is absolutely enchanting while also being quite educational. Trust me when I say that this book is entirely worth every cent it costs. I can’t wait for the next installment to come out.” – Amazon 5 star review (US)
“Highly recommended. A contemporary story about witchcraft [benign] set in The New Forest, England. Very readable, strong story line, a good sense of geographical place and interesting characters. A love story develops between two of the central characters, which features some intense erotic writing! When you have finished, you will definitely want to read the sequel!” Amazon 5 star review (UK)
I’ve been so busy with the release of my new fiction series, Witches of the New Forest, and the first book, Hedge Witch. The second book, The Veil Between the Worlds is also written, and is currently in the final editing stage, so I’m hopeful for an early December release! All this being said, I haven’t had the time to make the second instalment in the Land Sea and Sky video series for my YouTube channel, until today! So, here you go, and I hope you like it!
A new chapter of my life has begun, with the release of the first book in my new fiction series, Witches of the New Forest. Hedge Witch is Book 1, and forms a trilogy before we move on to other characters, and their stories, throughout the rest of the series. I am so excited, and I hope you all enjoy this new series. And Book Two, The Veil Between the Worlds, is on track for a December release!
Down the Forest Path 