I'm usually torn between being inspired and discouraged. When I was a kid, my mother believed in being honest. Perhaps her own mother didn't outright lie, but she certainly wasn't forthcoming. And after the divorce my mom did her best not to speak ill of my dad, but she did in a moment of anger …
The bewitching season is coming to an end. I wish I'd done more to celebrate, but this second job gobbles up great chunks of time and energy. Tonight, I'll hangout with a neighbor at the end of her driveway. We'll give candy out to kids who walk by. Several families moved onto our street this …
I've been reading articles about why women become witches (two of them being Women Are Invoking the Witch and What Turns Women into Witches). I've loved witches since childhood, and when one article mentioned the draw witchiness has for those feeling powerless, I had to admit this much is true. Children don't have power anyway, …
In 2008, a tiny piece I wrote about my love for The Wizard of Oz was published on NPR's In Character series. I still love children's stories, though in a different way and for different reasons. Some adults aren't interested in anything for children. You can find a number of essays lamenting adults reading YA, …
'Tis my favorite month of the year! I say that even though I dislike horror and being scared. To welcome in the season, here are a few witchy things I've listened to or watched over the last year or two. Take as you will! First, a video about the Wicked Witch of the West, who …
Story-a-Day September has begun. Usually I have a theme or plan, and the plan this time around was going to be working my princess detective novel. And I am working on that, but when I sat down on September first, an image of a wolf on a hill popped up on my head. So I …
Things are changing in our house. (Though life is change, so when are things not changing?) I'll be starting my second job (losing time I've spent writing and making things) and our teen has started college. Then there are the outside forces, the Delta variant and the changes to our climate and whatever-in-the-all-the-levels-of-hell our rage-filled, …
The Olympics are over and I didn't actually watch them. But one story I followed from those few weeks was the story of the gymnast experience of the twisties. I hadn't known that was a thing. But of course it was a thing. Divers can become confused about which way is up and which way …
My mom told me I learned my color wheel before I learned my ABCs. It surprises me now how I struggle to use color in my work now. In a high school art class, we had to draw a scene and then paint it. I loved my pencil drawing. It was of my best friend …
I've been making handmade books, and most of them have had simple covers with the design that happens to be on the paper. Now I want to make covers of collage or with objects. And I want to clear out a lot of items I've accumulated over the years by making things. They won't have …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 