witches’

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New look!

It’s been a busy week so far, and we are only Wednesday! But I’ve been working late into the evenings, getting my new fiction book series, Witches of the New Forest, up to date and ready for the third book, The Witch’s Compass, which is coming out in the late spring.

So, what have I been doing? Well, after much consideration, I decided to change the cover of Hedge Witch. This is so that the other books in the series can follow a theme: forest scenes. As the series is set in England’s New Forest region, it only makes sense to have all the covers correlate not only to that theme, but also to each other.

And so, here is the new book cover!

The colours work well with the second book, almost being a reverse of the greys, blues and orange/peachy tones. I’m pleased with it, but then, I designed it, so there you go!

Hedge Witch has been doing well in the book rankings, last week coming in the top 100 of three different categories: Women’s Fantasy Fiction, Magic Romance ebooks, and Paranormal Witches and Wizards Romance. But this book, and all the others in the series, are so much more than romance novels (though I do love a good love story). They tell the tale of coming into one’s own power, the different boundaries that exist both within ourselves and our society, and also contain a large portion of modern Witchcraft and Druidry thrown in for good measure!

It’s been getting really great reviews as well, for which I am super pleased. It’s so wonderful that this book and the second, The Veil Between the Worlds, is really resonating with folks. I’m two thirds of the way through writing the third book, which will round off Hunter’s trilogy, and then we can begin exploring Ryder, her sister’s story, in the fourth book.

Come and join me in the New Forest!

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Book Review: Witches’ Sabbats and Esbats by Sandra Kynes (Formerly published as A Year of Ritual)

Kynes’ re-published work through Crossed Crow books brings a long-standing classic back to life. Within its pages you will find good, solid foundations for starting your own practice, whether that is solo or in a group context. Indeed, she provides ritual outlines for both group and solo practices for each sabbat and esbat, which can be invaluable to the beginner.

There are good tables of basic correspondences, including that of the Norse runes. The runes in an esbat ritual are a new addition to the work, which I’m sure many will find interesting. The second chapter that presents the tables of correspondences and symbols in general is in fact new, and is a good starting point for those who are beginning to learn the ins and outs of a witchcraft or wiccan tradition.

The book is well-written, in an easy-going tone that draws the reader in, explaining things concisely without getting too flowery in the descriptions. The author’s own experience comes through in this work, and after having written nineteen books since the first release of this one, has become an established voice in the witchcraft and pagan community.

The only hiccup in this work was, for me, a personal one which others may not find issue with at all. In the October esbat ritual, it is dedicated to Tolkein’s elven mythology. For me it feels a bit wrong to call upon characters based in a set of fantasy books (albeit amazing ones and one of my favourite authors) and honouring them as an established mythos. For others this may present no problem at all.

A whole new generation of witches will be able to access this book once more, now that it is no longer out of print and re-released. I hope they enjoy it too.