Edition 4 - October 15, 2022

Don’t Forget Dion Fortune as a Paranormal Author
 

Who were the earliest women paranormal writers? Most people would say Charlaine Harris, but if you include Gothic books, that brings in the Bronte sisters and Mary Shelley. Then there’s Ann Rice, and I’ve enjoyed many of her books. Don’t forget Dion Fortune!

Dion Fortune (aka Violet Mary Firth Evans) was a great occultist, psychic, and magus and contributed enormously to the Western Mystery Tradition. She founded a group called “The Society of the Inner Light.” Her group was similar to the Golden Dawn. I read and reread some of her books on occultism, like The Mystical Qabalah, nearly twenty years ago. Dion Fortune is revered for her Magical Philosophy series. Her fiction works I didn’t read until much later.

I particularly like her books Moon Magic and The Secrets of Dr. Taverner, because I think they give the best insights into the making of a Magus. There are passages that describe the magical personality, use of a magic mirror, astral projection, etc. that are among the best I’ve ever read.

Her fiction books have the usual faults of beginning writers (too much backstory in the front, slumping middles etc.) but they pioneer a new genre, that of paranormal and paranormal romance fiction. Also, her depictions of women are ahead of their time.

Dion Fortune’s main character in Moon Magic, Vivian Le Fay Morgan, inspired Marion Zimmer Bradley to create the character Morgaine in the hugely successful and important book The Mists of Avalon. From Wikipedia: “Diana L. Paxson, author, sister-in-law and long-time collaborator of Marion Zimmer Bradley, credits Dion Fortune’s work on the mystical aspects of the Arthurian legend as being the inspiration for The Mists of Avalon. She stated in a letter which was included on the Random House author bio page for Zimmer Bradley, that Dion Fortune’s Vivian Le Fay Morgan was both the progenitor and descendant of the Morgaine that came to life in the Mists novel.”

Dion Fortune explored paganism, Celtic myth, and Arthurian myth in several of her books, particularly in Glastonbury Avalon of the Heart. I was also impressed by how far ahead of her time Dion Fortune was in regard to her female characters. Vivian Le Fay Morgan in Moon Magic enjoyed sexual freedom, which was unheard of back when the books were published. She was a strong, independent woman who did not need a husband or children to be a whole person. Also, she was an accomplished magus and priestess.

I have found that exploring Dion Fortune’s fiction has given me a greater appreciation of her accomplishments. I find that her fiction is well worth reading today.

Don’t Forget Dion Fortune as a Paranormal Author by P.K. Brent copyright 2015

Each month the Gazette will host a Book Funnel Group Promo highlighting a variety of romance genres. This month's event is for Paranormal Romance novels. 

Help us to grow participation in these events by posting this link on your social media or in your author newsletter. 

Love, lust, and danger in sin-soaked 1923 Miami Beach. A thrilling romantic suspense about love, trust, and facing down fear.
 
 
It’s Prohibition in sunny, sultry Florida, and Haven Henderson is enjoying her career as a jazz singer in the Roaring Twenties-world of speakeasies, rumrunning, money, real estate moguls, and mayhem.
 
Until her twin sister is mysteriously gunned down—and Haven’s life goes horrendously off-key. Not knowing who she can trust, she is thrust into a dangerous alliance with jaded private eye Rick Vaughn to find the shooter.
 
Their alliance is dangerous, because Rick is working for one of the main suspects. Dangerous because her dying sister’s assailant might return to finish the job. And dangerous because Haven finds herself drawn to Rick, a man with a broken heart, who has sworn off love. Just how much is Haven willing to risk?
 

A lifelong fan of love stories, Maggie FitzRoy is passionate about writing compelling love stories with feisty heroines, strong heroes, and page-turning plots. Her books take place in locales and times that she has researched extensively, making each a true romantic adventure.

A former journalist and magazine editor with a history degree from Ursinus College, in Collegeville, Pa., Maggie lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. with her husband, dog, and three cats. When she's not writing, she enjoys swimming, travel, choral singing, pickle ball, and reading a variety of genres, fiction and nonfiction.

​She has also written two nonfiction books featuring Northeast Florida history: Ponte Vedra Beach: Images of America and Jacksonville Beach: Images of America.

For more information, visit her website at www.maggiefitzroy.com

Tips & Tricks to Fool Your Brain into Finishing that First/Next Book

By: Melody Johnson
 
Whether you’re diving headfirst into that first manuscript or working to complete your twenty-first novel, writing is often an exercise in insanity. As a writer in the middle of those two extremes, I thought the writing process would become easier with practice and repetition, but as I finish my sixth full-length published novel, I’m still plagued by motivation monsters: self-doubt, imposter syndrome, review reading, procrastination, and the double-edged sword of guilt—feeling guilty for prioritizing my writing over other obligations while I’m writing and feeling guilty for prioritizing my life over my book while I’m not writing.
 
In other words: insanity.
 
To fight back against the motivation monsters, I’ve developed a few tips and tricks to fool my brain into writing even when I least want to. Everyone’s brain is unique, so some of the exercises that work for me, may or may not work for you. But if you’re struggling to finish your first/next book, or maybe just striving to become a more productive writer, I hope that a few of these exercises resonate with you and enhance your writing process as they have mine. 
 
Switch up your device
If you find yourself staring at a blank page and that blinking curser unable to find the words—or more likely, unable to find the right words—switch up your writing device. If you typically write on your laptop, pick up your phone and write in the notes app. Find a pen and write in a physical notepad. Download a voice-to-text app and speak your story aloud. By not writing in the document of your “actual” book, you free yourself from the pressure of writing perfectly. It’s a first draft. It will need edits. So give yourself permission to write terribly. Unlike a blank page, terrible writing can be polished to perfection.
 
Routine is key
Developing a routine is the key to tricking your brain into believing it’s “writing time.” For me, I wake up in the wee hours of the morning with a cup of coffee. That first hour of the day while mainlining caffeine is usually my most productive of the entire day, writing-wise. My brain knows if I have coffee in hand, writing is priority. Not email. Not review reading. Not marketing planning. Not promotion design. Writing. I know authors who use scented candles to hone their focus. Music is another great asset: create a playlist that represents the tone of the book you’re trying to achieve and play it while you write. Taste, smell, sound… our senses effect our moods, and as authors, we can use them as tools to provoke the mood to write.
 
Change your location
If you’re stuck in a writing slump, your brain as blank as your page, changing the physical location of where you write is sometimes all it takes for your brain to think differently, switch gears, and help improve your writing. If you normally write in your office, try writing in your living room, bedroom, or kitchen. If family members are a distraction, try writing in the bathroom, in a library, park, or at the beach. The days I dedicate an entire day to writing, I may switch rooms every hour if need be. Anything to keep my brain rolling and prevent stagnation.
 
Long-distance pacing
If you find yourself overwhelmed by the prospect of writing an entire book, focus on one page a day. All it takes to write a 365-page book in a year is writing one page a day. It sounds overly simplified, but it’s true. There are days I write much more than one page, but I never write less. For the athletes out there, writing is like training for a sporting event: if you skip practice, you'll never be as in shape as the people training every day, and after skipping one day, the temptation to skip again is almost irresistible. Don't skip. Don't make excuses. Just wake up early, stay up late, take the time during your lunch break, whatever time you can carve from your day… and write that one page. 
 
Write ahead
I’m what many refer to as a planster: a hybrid plotter (someone who plans her plot before writing) and a pantser (someone who writes by the seat of her pants.) I plan my major plot points, but I pants my way from point to point. Whatever style of writer you may be, sometimes we just “get stuck.” Our muse stops singing or our carefully laid plans start unraveling. But the beauty of writing is that unlike other arts, we have a delete button! Give yourself permission to be wrong, and write a future scene you want to happen, a possible ending for your story, or some random dialogue. It’s okay if you never even use it. The point is to keep actively thinking. Once the gears in your brain are moving again—when you’re not so entirely focused on being stuck—a connection will spark, and you’ll find your way forward.
 
Write the back cover copy first
You might be thinking, how can I possibly summarize something that doesn’t exist yet? But I pose the opposite question: how can you possibly capture the beautiful details of your entire book in a summary? Writing the summary from the start allows you to pin-point the important highlights of your book—internal wounds, external conflict, and dark moment—giving you a rough direction and tone of your book before you even write page one. This method has three perks: it’s a preventative measure against getting stuck in the mid-book slump, you can test out your back cover copy on readers to see if it’s a concept they even want to read, and it puts that pesky back cover copy in your rear view.
 
Know your next page
Between days jobs, relationships, children, fur-babies, siblings, exercise schedules, and everything else demanding your attention and pulling you in a million directions at once, life is busy. The last thing we want to do in the hour we’ve carved from that busy life to write is stare at a blinking curser, just thinking. Get your thinking done ahead of time: in the shower the day before, while you commute to work, during lunch, as you brush your teeth before bed, etc. This way, when you sit down at your computer before sunrise or long after your loved ones go to sleep, you know your next page and can squeeze in as many words as possible in that allotted time. The overall book is a long-distance event, but when you sit down to write, it should feel like a sprint.
 
Step away from the keyboard
If all else fails, cease and desist. Step away from the keyboard, but DO NOT procrastinate. This is not the time to do dishes, the laundry, or start organizing your closet. This is the time to breathe fresh air, take a walk, enjoy a shower, do something physical that you can also daydream and think about your book. Ponder your characters and envision your scenes without the pressure of the screen looking back at you. So many times, my best ideas sprout when I’m taking a shower. And when the ideas come, don’t save them away for later. Sprint back to your computer or phone or notepad, and write while the idea is hot.

Tips & Tricks to Fool Your Brain into Finishing that First/Next Book by Melody Johnson