Jennifer Bray-Weber's Blog, page 36

Friday Fun Facts-Wicca

Our typical idea of a witch is someone with a broom, pointy hat and shoes, gnarly teeth hanging out with a bubbling cauldron. Wow- is that image off base.

Contrary to popular opinion, anyone can write and cast a spell. The trick is to know the key elements. Things such as intention, elements, and knowing how to put it into practice make an effective spell caster. Practice makes perfect!
A practitioner of Wicca is called a witch.
They can choose to join a coven or can practice on their own- whatever best suits their spiritual journey.
The main laws of Wicca come from a poem called The Wiccan Rede. It has only been recently published but many claim that its been handed down for generations and it ancient in origin.
Those who practice will often have a “Book of Shadows”. It’s sometimes referred to as their Bible but that is not quite right. It’s more like a diary of their own spiritual journey. Today many even keep a digital form and not an actual physical book.
Wiccans are of an Earth religion. They believe in a God and Goddess and many have multiple gods- whatever represents aspects of Earth. Seasons, fertility, trees etc. all have importance.
Many believe in reincarnation. They believe that when they die they go to Summerland where they can stay until they are ready to continue their journey and return. They will be sad at the passing of a loved one but also believe, as in nature, the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
Many people believe that the things going into their potions and sachets were horrid, scary items. Not true. Healers use herbs to perform naturalistic healing. For instance, wild vanilla was sometimes called deer’s tongue, and dandelions were called lion’s tooth. They were persecuted for this practice. However, except for liability issues, it continues today.
Many people think Wiccans use black magic or evil sorcery. This is far from the truth. It is a neo-pagan religion at its base, most of which died out when Christianity came in existence. Their black magic is sometimes called negative magic where someone casts a spell to hurt another person or to help a person against their will. Most practitioners are strongly against this because one of the tenets in the poem is to do no harm against anyone.
Some don’t even practice any kind of magic at all.
Can you call a male witch a warlock? Not if you don’t want to offend him. It has negative connotations because the old Celtic word for warlock meant oath-breaker. They were considered to have broken their oath to God. No one wants to be known as an oath breaker. The word witch is gender neutral.
The pentacle is not to summon demons. It has nothing to do with satanic worship. The 5 points represent the 5 elements of Wicca-air, fire, water, spirit, and earth. They are usually drawn from densest to least dense with the soul being at the top. A circle is drawn around it for protection.
Some of their rituals are done in skyclad. That means complete nudity. Sexual practices are not part of it. This is not a new, there are records that even early forms of Christianity and other religions practiced this.

Roller Coasters and Crabs

On this roller coaster of publication, writers expect to be faced with a certain amount of, let’s say, excitement. We hear the unmistakable clackety-clack-clack on the way up the ride of publishing a book. Feel the adrenaline build as we teeter on the top of the first dive. Throwing our arms high or hanging onto the bar, we plummet down, down, down picking up speed. Hairpin curves with sales, rankings, good reviews, harsh criticism, and how we will be received by our peers.  It’s all part of the fun, right? Right?

This summer, the roller coaster took me by surprise by blasting me through a barrel roll. First, I received scores from a prestigious contest I did not final in. Oh, you know how this story goes. The book is either incredibly awesome or the reader would rather drink antifreeze before turning one more page. I’m usually good with that. It means that my writing has produced extreme emotional reactions. But when one of the judges not only claims the book had no satisfying ending but that it wasn’t even a love story, well, that floored me. Most of you know that I write historical romance, paranormal romance, and some erotic romance. Romance is always a central theme in my books, no matter the genre. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around how a judge felt that the book failed to meet the requirement of a happily ever after love story. Where did I go wrong? Did I go wrong? Maybe not. I try to remember that this is just an opinion of one person and that’s okay.

But wait.  Three different reviewers have given three of my books high accolades in recent days, including the one mentioned above. For them, my tales are a real pleasure to read. I should be overjoyed, busting at the seams. And I am, truly and humbly. While poking around Amazon, I stumbled across another review written several months ago that basically states  my characters suck, my writing sucks, I suck. This was not a malicious attack, but rather someone who simply hated my book. Regardless, it still stings. And this is why I don’t make it a habit of reading my reviews. Then there is the personal message a reader sent to me via social media and another who emailed me just this week. Both ladies took the time to reach out to me, to say they really love my books and want more.

Round and round my emotions go. Yep – I’m a little green in the gills. I know I’m not the only one. Fellow MuseTracker Stacey has experienced the same thrills and chills. And I’m quite certain that most of our writer friends and acquaintances have, too. The stomach-dropping dips are simply part of the ride.

Stacey, a pillar in my support system, probably won’t remember this, but she once said, “You’re a creative crab.”

Huh?

Imagine if you will a basket of crabs. There’s always one who tries to escape but the other crabs in the basket will keep pulling it back down to certain doom. The would-be escapee crab is the creative crab and the other crabs are critics. All this is true whether you are a newbie author or a seasoned pro. The unsavory opinion of one or two really poisons the pot. It is always that bad review or awful contest score that sticks with us, almost negating all the praise. Almost.

We shouldn’t let the critic crabs keep us down. We can climb out of their basket, yes we can. We must remember all the acclaims, successes, happy readers, and, most of all, stay true to ourselves. Dismiss the negativity, honest or otherwise, grab ahold of the rim, and pull yourself up.

Ours is a path that will surely have its ups and down, topsy-turvy flips, and bone-jerking turns. So buckle and enjoy the ride.

Anyone care for melted butter with their crab legs?

 

Hump Day Kick Start – Romantic Suspense Edition

Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.

Need a little power of persuasion?

What’s going on in today’s prompt? Who are these two? Criminals who get off on the rush of being on the run? Is she his hostage? Or is she seducing him, distracting him? Maybe one of them is undercover. What if she were trying to convince him, a broken man, of her love? What if he is a veteran struggling with himself and she is his angel who will save him?

What’s your take? Tell me a story or caption the pic.

Link of the Week – Facebook Changes

Social media is always changing. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not so much. This week’s link is to an article on Facebook changes we all need to know about. Check out the informative piece written by Chris Syme at Digital Book World.

3 Facebook Changes You Need to Know About

Friday Fun Facts-Buddhism

The next couple of Fridays I’d like to present basic ideas of some of the major world religions. This is not an evangelical exercise, it is merely to educate all of us to the building blocks of these different viewpoints. May we all learn something-

Buddhism does not fit neatly into the religion category although it has been elevated as such. Buddha taught about the “things that are” and never said it should be approached with faith but followers were to examine it for themselves to see if it was true or not.
There are the 4 Noble Truths- 1) Existence is suffering 2) The cause of suffering is attachment and craving 3) Suffering ceases at some point and turns to Nirvana or total bliss and 4) There is a path to Nirvana which is made up of 8 steps called the Eightfold Path.
Buddhism was founded in the north eastern region of India.
Buddha was born as Siddhartha Gautama into a royal family. He lived a privileged life until he realized there were things like old age, sickness, and death.
Eventually he felt compelled to leave his wealthy life and follow the traditional path of the wandering holy man, a seeker of truth.
The Gautama Buddha is considered the birth of Buddhism although he acknowledged there were many enlightened ones in the past and will be many more in the future.
The Fig tree is considered sacred because Buddha became enlightened while he sat under the Fig.
Buddha teaches that the purpose of life is to escape the cycle of birth and death which is the cause of suffering.
Viharas are the sacred places where Buddhists got to worship, read scriptures, and meditate.
Three basic tenets that Buddha taught his followers were to not hate others, not to get angry, and to not be ignorant.
Practicing Buddhists view Buddha as a teacher, not a god or an avatar.
Buddha taught and traveled until his death at age 80. His last words were “All things in the world are changeable. They are not lasting. Work hard to gain your own salvation.”
They do not believe in a supreme being or creator god.
Traditionalist believe in reincarnation and rebirth. Modern believers say one can disregard that aspect and not lose the core values.

Hump Day Kick Start – Puppy Love Edition

Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.

I couldn’t find an Olympic-themed prompt for today. But if this pic doesn’t bring about Olympic-sized feels, I don’t know what does. There is a special bond between a man and his dog.

Bonus if you know who this is. Otherwise, tell me about him. What is the expression on his face? Fear? sadness? Retrospection? Is he missing the woman he had given his heart? The one who he had also given the puppy to? What happened? Did he just reunite with his lost pup? Or maybe he is having to give it up. Could he be gazing at the humongous mound of dog poo, wondering just how he was going to clean it up?

Love to hear your take. Or just caption the pic.

Link Of The Week-Need An Editor?

Carla Rossi is an award winning author and happens to be my critique partner. She has a keen eye for story and will find even the smallest grammatical blunder…I know, she’s found all of mine!        http://carlarossi.com/editing/

She has attended PENCON 16, the Proofreaders and Editors Network Conference and is a pending member in the Editorial Freelancers Association and has been published since 2008!

“In the first round edits, I will read your completed MS and use Track Changes to make notes and comments. I usually make general story suggestions in an e-mail when I return the MS to you. I offer examples, when possible, by way of light rewriting. First round edits include:

identifying plot holes and checking the clarity and overall development of the story

Does the story start in the right place? Does it follow a logical path? Is it consistent?




establishing that the characters are well-developed and believable

Have you written realistic, authentic, and multi-layered characters, and do they follow a natural and consistent arc through the story?




checking for POV issues

Are you writing in the best possible POV for the scene/story/character and for your market?




identifying possible problems with word choice, awkward sentences, story gaps, show-don’t-tell issues, and other general writing mistakes


identifying common errors in grammar and word usage”

 

Editorial Services

Friday Fun Facts- What’s So Wise About Wisdom Teeth?

My daughter had her wisdom teeth taken out this week. Everything went fine but it’s still causing a lot of pain. The drugs have helped.[image error]

Weird facts about those suckers:

Linguists have agreed that the most likely reason they are called wisdom teeth is because they come in a such a later age. By 17, we are on the brink of adulthood and have gotten “wiser”. Hmmmm….that’s debatable.
In medieval times, they thought cavities were caused by tiny tooth worms.They would bore into the teeth and hide out below the surface. The wiggling around and making their home larger is what was thought to cause tooth pain.
Aristotle believed that men had more teeth than women. He was married. Didn’t he ever count her teeth to see? Pfft- and they say he was smart!
When you’re born, your 20 primary teeth and your 32 permanent teeth are already there below the gum line.
Some people are born without wisdom teeth! About 35% of the population don’t have these lovelies waiting to erupt.
Wisdom teeth are the only ones not formed in the womb. Research is being done to prevent them from growing at all.
Japanese researchers found in 2008 that induced stem cells can be harvested from wisdom teeth. Thus, wisdom teeth can be saved for potential need for stem cells later in life. Wow!
You can now have those stem cells harvested and cryogenically frozen for the day you need them. The cost? To save, or bank, your cells costs about what you’d pay for a cup of coffee. (I wish I had known about this before Wednesday!)
The oldest known impacted wisdom tooth was found in a European woman who lived approximately 15,000 years ago. She must have had some pretty bad jaw pain!
Hyperdontia- meaning excess teeth. A few folks have more than 4 wisdom teeth. Sheesh!
For your added enjoyment…My daughter coming home after surgery. This is funny stuff. https://www.facebook.com/stacey.purce...

Hump Day Kick Start – Tub Reading Edition

Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.

Reading can be so sexy.

What is going on in today’s prompt? Who are they? What is he reading?  A sexy novel? His literary masterpiece? A plumbing manual? Why is he reading to her? Had she suffered a traumatic event and he’s soothing her with his voice and a fantastical adventure? Is he teaching the mysterious young woman who had suddenly appeared on his doorstep his language? Maybe she’s a selkie, which is why she must stay in the tub, and together they are trying to research a way to make her human. It’s damn hard to be in love with a mythical creature.

Love to hear your take. Tell me a tale or caption the pic.

Friday Fun Facts- Snow!

It’s mid summer and I’m sweltering in Texas. Some days I feel like my brain is on fire if I stay outside working too long. Thought I’d share some chilly facts about snow to cool us all down to tolerable temps!

An average sized snowflake consists of 180 BILLION molecules of water.
Every single snowflake has exactly 6 sides.
Chionophobia is the fear of snow…..who knew?
Here’s a good one- folks will buy more cakes, cookies, and candy than any other foods during a blizzard. Hmmm not sure their survival instincts are well honed!
Snow is NOT white. It is colorless. Gaps between the snow crystals bounce light around making it look white.
Did you know there was a record for making the most snow angels? Bismarck, N.D. is where it happened. Two schools combined to raise money for clean water in Ethiopia and 8,962 angels were made at one time. They also raised a ton of cash for their project!! This makes me smile.
1998-1999 in the north part of Washington state was quite the winter. They had over 1140 inches of snow that season. SHEESH!
Igloos can get warm inside. Fresh compacted snow is almost 92% air so it’s a terrific insulator. This is why animals and people in the movies dig holes in the snow to survive.
The largest recorded snowflakes in the Guinness Book of Records were found in 1887 in Wyoming. They were 15 inches in diameter!
A single snowstorm can drop 39 million tons of snow. The energy in that is equivalent to 120 atom bombs!
Winter cold kills more than twice as many Americans as summer heat does…maybe I shouldn’t be wishing for cooler weather just yet! 
The average snowflake falls about 3 mph.