Category: Writing

The Fool’s Journey Through the Tarot Major Arcana: SunFest 2016

Posted C. LaVielle4 CommentsPosted in Gifts from the Multiverse, Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey, Writing, Young Adult Fantasy

Last year I was honored to be asked to write a “Fool’s Journey Through the Tarot” ritual for SunFest 2016. My first response was to run away screaming “Nooooooooo!” I know from previous experience that there is nothing more time consuming and brain warping than writing, organizing, and directing a large scale ritual. And then it dawned on me that The Fool’s Journey was exactly what I’ve been writing about on this blog for the past several years and it is exactly what my first book, Forging the Blade (which will soon be available), is about. And after doing the blog, the book, and countless readings for clients, I was a firm believer in the transformative, life changing power of tarot. So how could I not share this amazing tool with my community? “OK,” I said. “I’ll do it.” Fortunately, my community is composed of many amazingly talented people who volunteered to be in or help with the ritual, who serve on Other Worlds Of… Read More »

Hijacked by Mamluks

Posted C. LaVielle9 CommentsPosted in Tarot, Writing

One of the greatest dangers a writer faces while doing research is getting sidetracked by an irresistible piece of trivia and wandering for hours through cyberspace and reference books. By the time he or she resurfaces, bleary eyed and sated with useless information, hours have passed—hours that could have been spent on something productive. This happened to me, for about the bajillionth time, as I was preparing a presentation about the history of tarot. I kept running across the statement that the first playing cards didn’t appear in Europe until the early 1300’s— and they were probably Mamluk. “What’s a Mamluk?” I thought. And that’s when the Mamluks grabbed me and dragged me through nearly eight centuries of fascinating history that had absolutely nothing to do with the tarot. It all began way back in 800 CE when the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad began supplementing their military with slaves purchased from a place called Circassia in the northern Caucasus Mountains. Circassia doesn’t exist anymore, but… Read More »

Why Are All the Cartoon Mothers Dead?

Posted C. LaVielle9 CommentsPosted in Book Review, Goddess, Writing

In the July/August 2014 issue of The Atlantic Sarah Boxer wonders “Why Are All the Cartoon Mothers Dead?” And they are, you know. Bambi, Nemo, Snow White, Ariel, Belle, Pocahontas, Aladdin, and almost any other cartoon main character you can think of is a motherless child. In fact, Ms Boxer challenges her readers to “show me an animated kids’ movie that has a named mother in it who lives until the credits roll.” There aren’t that many. The Lion King, Coraline, The Incredibles and a few others come to mind. However, she doesn’t try very hard to answer her own evocative question. She gives a few lame answers like: The unfolding of plot and personality depends on the dead mother.* The dead mother is psychologically good for the child because it allows him/her to preserve an internal good mother (even if the natural mother hadn’t been all good) and allows him/her to direct all his anger at the step mother.** I can think of better… Read More »

Home Alone

Posted C. LaVielle3 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Writing

Well, not really. Leo, our cat and true master of the house is still here, curled up beside me. But he is quiet, undemanding company. At least until he gets hungry. My husband, son, and a few friends are off for a weekend of camping on an island in the middle of the Columbia River. Unlike the island, the house is warm and silent and filled with joyous holiday energy. I have the entire weekend and Monday to catch up on my writing. There are several things I need to work on, all of which are emotionally charged for me in one way or another. I could do part two of The World. This is the last major arcana card and will be the end of the series that I have been working on for the past three or so years. I’ve enjoyed the work and feel sad that it’s coming to a close. I could work on a blog that continues the story of… Read More »

A Lesson from My Computer

Posted C. LaVielle7 CommentsPosted in Getting Published, Writing

If you want to make even the most seasoned writer tremble whisper the words “query letter” in his ear. The dreaded query letter is the inescapable bane of every writer’s existence—at least every writer that is looking for an agent. There are blogs with ominous names like Query Shark whose sole purpose is to help writers navigate these dangerous waters. Not only is the required format rigidly precise, it is also subject to change at a moment’s notice. Author Sean M. Chandler comments that he knows several agents who won’t read a query letter if the writer’s contact information appears at the start of the query. According to some agents, it’s now supposed to appear at the end of the letter below the closing. I was also told several years ago that in a pitch or query the writer should always reveal how the story ends. Now we’re supposed to keep the agent guessing. The list of conflicting information goes on and on, but the… Read More »

The Good Fairies of the Publishing World

Posted C. LaVielle12 CommentsPosted in Book Review, Getting Published, Tarot, Writing, Young Adult Fantasy

I was just reminded in no uncertain terms that to become successful in almost any endeavor, it’s not just what you know, but who you know. Back in December I wrote a post about possible reasons why over 44 agents have rejected my manuscript and ended with the thought that I might have to self publish it. A friend of mine, Kier Salmon, immediately e-mailed me. “Talk to me before you do anything,” she said. “I work in the business and it’s easy to get burned.” The next day I got another e-mail from her telling me that Linn Prentis, the agent she works for, loves tarot decks and wants to see the manuscript. I was thrilled to the tips of my keyboard tapping fingers. I waited until after the holidays and then e-mailed it to them as an attachment. And waited… And waited. Last week I finally found the reply in my in-box. It was a rejection letter, but of a very different sort.… Read More »

Marketing: The Writer’s Hidden Profession

Posted C. LaVielle5 CommentsPosted in Getting Published, Writing

After years of denial I have come to recognize this sad and bitter truth: Writers must market their books if they want them to sell. They must do this even if HarperCollins is their publisher. The better an author is at marketing, the more books he or she will sell. As I was scrolling down my latest Willamette Writers newsletter I came upon Tonya Macalino’s ad for her book marketing workshop at Jacobsen’s Books & More, a cozy independent bookstore in Hillsboro, Oregon. OK, I told myself, bite the bullet. You’ve gotta learn how to do this. It was a cold, foggy morning on Main Street when I pushed open the bookstore door balancing a latte that was too hot to handle on my notebook. Tina, the owner of Jacobsen’s Books & More, escorted me past rows of books to the back of the bookstore. The books kept calling to me, but I ignored them and settled down at a table with several other middle-aged… Read More »

Rethinking My Strategy

Posted C. LaVielle6 CommentsPosted in Getting Published, The Hero's Journey, Writing, Young Adult Fantasy

I just received the final rejection letter from my last batch of queries. It was my forty fourth. So why don’t agents and publishers want it? There are several possibilities:  The writing isn’t good enough. Since I’ve never published anything before or won any writing contests, this was a big concern for me. However, my editor, Jessica Morrell, says I’m as good as or better than most of the writers she works with (she works with several best selling authors) and that Forging the Blade (old title: The Remaking of Molly Adair) is a publishable book.  The pitch isn’t good enough. The pitch is a quick description of your book. It says, in a few short paragraphs, what the story is about, why someone would want to read it, and why you are the best person to tell the story. It is even more difficult to write than the book itself. I’ve taken several pitch classes and written and rewritten it at least… Read More »

Inspiring Blog Award Nomination for The Book Jacket Blog

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Writing

Thank you Thank you Thank you, Isidora, for the Inspiring Blogg Award nomination. Your work with Isis and Dionysus has continued to inspire me over the years and your blog, Isiopolis, a votive work in honor of the the goddess Isis, is the perfect way to spread the word about this most wondrous goddess. Blessings to you, Isidora, at the rising of Her star. The rules for the “Inspiring Blog Award” are: • Acknowledge and thank the giver. • Link back to the nominator’s blog. • Put the award on your Homepage • List seven things about yourself. • Give the award to seven bloggers who inspire you. And so… Seven things about me:  I find it very difficult to think of seven things about me that I want to tell the internet.  I love to read, and my favorite genres are fantasy and murder mysteries.  I just finished the steam punk YA Leviathan trilogy, by Scott Westerfeld—wonderful.  I’ve written two… Read More »

A Whole New World

Posted C. LaVielle1 CommentPosted in Writing, Young Adult Fantasy

I just finished reading two great books. nova, by samuel r. delany, is a science fiction classic; and I predict that Behemoth, the second book in the Leviathan Trilogy, by Scott Westerfeld, will become a fantasy classic. World building is crucial in science fiction and fantasy. Both genres take place in strange worlds with totally alien landscapes, codes of ethics, and/or creatures. These worlds must ring true from the start, because the sooner the reader gets her balance and bearings, or at least finds promising and intriguing handholds, the more likely she is to keep reading. But science fiction and fantasy have slightly different rules for world building. The worlds in science fiction must be based, at least tentatively, on accepted scientific theory and fact. Fantasy has no such constraints, but it does demand that its worlds be true to their own rules and history. Actions must be predictable and understandable. If one character can levitate and all the others can’t, the author must provide… Read More »