S.J. Reisner's Blog, page 53
March 1, 2015
Controversial Topics in Fiction
There’s that old adage out there that states, “Never discuss religion or politics if you want to be liked.”
Well – the truth is I don’t write to be liked.
I began writing for me, and when I discovered other people liked what I was doing – I began writing for them. I know that sounds self-serving, but it is what it is. I have come to learn over the years that my work tends to attract primarily open-minded, well-educated, free-thinkers who are adept explorers of the darkness andthe fringe. It doe...
February 22, 2015
Cursed: An Occult Drama
It’s that time again. Time for me to step up on my soapbox and piss people off.
So here goes — I am convinced 85% of occult practitioners (regardless path or paradigm) should have pursued amateur theater.
Why? Aside from the constant pageantry, preening, in-fighting, shit-talking and rumor mills among more social types, every time I turn around I meet someone who *thinks* they’re important enough to be cursed by someone powerful enough to actually pull off an effective curse.
My response to that...
February 20, 2015
The Worst Writing Advice
A friend recently asked, “You’ve given a lot of writing advice over the years, but what’s the worstwriting advice you’ve ever been given?”
I actually had to sit down and think about this because most of the writing advice I’ve actually taken to heart over the years came from long-time professionals who have always been honest and sometimes even bitter about such a fickle industry.
One particularly bad piece of writing advice I was once given was: “Write for the market.”
This is a REALLY bad idea...
February 18, 2015
New Moon Enchantments
Several of my friends have brought up tonight’s new moon. It’s a special one. It’s a Super New “Black Moon”. Sounds impressive, right? Really the whole “Super” thing just means it’s close to the earth, and the “Black Moon” thing because it’s the third new moon between the Winter Solstice andthe Spring Equinox. Who names this stuff?
Anyway – magickally speaking this moon is rather special for you creative types. We all know that new moons are a great time to start new projects or enchant existi...
February 17, 2015
10 Signs You Should Invest (Your Time) in Magick
I am laughing at the title of today’s blog. I have been wanting to write a post on magick for this month and just haven’t found a good topic. So I hopped on over to HubSpot’s handy dandy Blog Topic Generator, threw in the words “Demon” and “Magick” and it gave me 5 potential blog topic headlines and this was number four. I couldn’t resist.
Being someone who is often consulted about magick, I am definitely of the school of thought that magick should not be used indiscriminately or for stupid re...
February 15, 2015
The Perils of Cat Hoarding
On suggestion of a friend, I am writing this article in hopes more people become aware of pet hoarding and the dangers it poses to the animals trapped in a hoarding situation.
Let me introduce you to Leela. This is a cat that we adopted from a local cage-free shelter on January 5. Leela was rescued from a cat hoarder along with 44 other cats.
Most of you are familiar with pet hoarding from shows like Hoarders. Cat hoarding is where someone thinks every cat they find is in danger and only they c...
February 6, 2015
Honest Encouragement
It’s my belief there are two types of encouragement in the world.
The first is unconditional. No matter how unrealistic or idealistic one’s goals are, unconditional encouragement is where you tell someone they can do whatever they want no matter what. My mom gave me a lot of unconditional encouragement when I was growing up by telling me I could move mountains with my mind if only I believed I could. I suppose you could say my mom isa magician in her own right. Attitude is everything with her....
February 2, 2015
Groundhogs, Magick, Cats, and Writing
So today, Phil saw his shadow and we have six more weeks of winter. This means at least six more weeks of uninterrupted writing time before spring hits and I go ga-ga for the garden. Last year was great. We had enough rain that the garden wasn’t nearly as much ofa challenge to keep alive in a mountain desert. You just never know what Rocky Mountain weather at a mile-high will throw at you. My thoughts drift back to several years ago where we had hail in July because we were on the tail-end of...
January 15, 2015
Seriously? Who cares?!
I guess this is my magick post for the month. Don’t really feel like sharing anything too personal. There are certain topics that are constantly beaten to death in the pagan/magickal communities that I am SICK TO DEATH OF. Why? Because ultimately — who cares? Why do we waste time chatting/arguing about this stuff? People could be spending the time they wax philosophic about crapthat really DOESN’T MATTER doing something far more productive or interesting.
Some of the topics I see over and over...
January 6, 2015
Changing of the Guard
The one thing about having animal companions is that they don’t get to live as long as we do and in our lifetimes, those of us who are cat people or dog people (or insert animal of choice) end up losing several animal companions throughout our lives. Back in 1989 my sister and I bought a kitten. Immediately we knew her name was Sonni (short for Sonnillion). Not to mention she was a pretty yellow color and had a sunny disposition. The name just fit. This was the first cat that truly chose me a...
