Tuesday, February 2, 2016
The Tales of the Baba Yagas Guest Blog and Giveaway with Deborah Blake
Barnes and Noble |Amazon |Penguin
Monday, December 1, 2014
Giveaway and Excerpt- Wickedly Wonderful by Deborah Blake
Romance, drama, magic, and a fresh spin on the urban fantasy genre- these books are amazing. I am currently reading Wickedly Wonderful.
Book One of the Series, Wickedly Dangerous was so very good, check out my review here. It's a must read- and so is this one. Enjoy the excerpt below. :-)
Wickedly Wonderful
A Baba Yaga Novel
Deborah Blake
Known as the wicked witch of Russian fairy tales, Baba Yaga is not one woman, but rather a title carried by a chosen few. They keep the balance of nature and guard the borders of our world, but don’t make the mistake of crossing one of them…
Though she looks like a typical California surfer girl, Beka Yancy is in fact a powerful yet inexperienced witch who’s struggling with her duties as a Baba Yaga. Luckily she has her faithful dragon-turned-dog for moral support, especially when faced with her biggest job yet…
A mysterious toxin is driving the Selkie and Mer from their homes deep in the trenches of Monterey Bay. To investigate, Beka buys her way onto the boat of Marcus Dermott, a battle-scarred former U.S. Marine, and his ailing fisherman father.
While diving for clues, Beka drives Marcus crazy with her flaky New Age ideas and dazzling blue eyes. She thinks he’s rigid and cranky (and way too attractive). Meanwhile, a charming Selkie prince has plans that include Beka. Only by trusting her powers can Beka save the underwater races, pick the right man, and choose the path she’ll follow for the rest of her life…
Friday, June 10, 2011
Witchy Writing with Deborah Blake
Unique and fun for everyone, Everyday Witch A to Z invites you to dip into a delightful medley of magickal essentials. Whether you’re just setting out on the path or looking to add extra zest to your practice, this friendly book on Witchcraft is for you. From creating and casting spells to working with stones and herbs, you will learn how magick works, what Witches do, and how you can incorporate Witchcraft into your daily life. Even Magic the Cat, the author’s magickal familiar, lends a playful paw with spells and wise words of her own!
Today's Witch deals with everything from family drama to weight loss to fertility—concerns that go well beyond your average spellbook's well-worn repertoire. Brimming with practical everyday magick, this is the perfect companion for your multifaceted life.
Organized alphabetically, each of the nearly 200 spells has an associated goal to help you manifest your exact intention, plus corresponding candle colors, herbs, gemstones, and oils to help you focus your will more effectively. You'll also find a helpful primer on spellcasting, tips on crafting your own spells, and Magic the Cat's mewsings on working with a familiar. Fun and easy to use, this spellbook is filled with unique charms, blessings, and spells.
—Get ahead at work
—Fulfill obligations
—Control appetite
—Ensure safe childbirth
—Repair a damaged friendship
—Heal sick pets
—Strengthen a marriage
—Make sex more satisfying
—Quit bad habits
Practicing Witchcraft doesn't have to cost an arm, a leg, and a broomstick!
From homemade tools to frugal feasts to thrifty home decoration, Deborah Blake offers economical tips and suggestions for stretching your dollar while enriching your practice. She gives clear, simple instructions for making your own magickal oils, runes, tarot cards, candles, jewelry, charms, and wands, all using inexpensive materials. Choose from over fifty ways to practice Witchcraft that cost little or no money, and try more than forty recipes for tasty sabbat dishes that cost ten dollars or less.
With a sprinkling of imagination and a touch of magick, you can add to your inner wealth of spirituality. After all, the best parts of being a Witch are always free.
From the hearth to the altar, make magic in every moment. Being a Witch isn't limited to casting a spell under the full moon or consecrating a ritual circle. Whether you're calling the Goddess or doing the dishes, your wonderfully witchy ways are woven into everything you do.
With her signature down-to-earth wisdom and warmth, Deborah Blake takes you into the heart of what it means to be a Witch all day, every day. Filled to the brim with practical suggestions, Pagan and Wicca spells, and helpful advice, this essential book brings to light all facets of a modern Witch's life: The seven core beliefs of Witches, mindful eating and health, creating sacred space at home, relationships with non-Pagans, sex and the single Witch, raising Pagan children, solitary and coven practice, Pagan ritual, and green living.
"Deborah Blake has created a practical method of weaving the spiritual into the daily chores of the mundane world in which we must live."-Edain McCoy, author of Advanced Witchcraft and If You Want to Be a Witch
This is a fabulous book with information and that can be used when creating witchy characters.
Green, Celtic, Alexandrian, Eclectic…every circle, coven, and grove of Witches is as unique as the magick they practice. No matter what kind of Witch you are, High Priestess Deborah Blake's guide to ritual has something for you.
Part instruction manual, part personal journal, and part Book of Shadows, this all-in-one ritual handbook is an ideal tool for busy Witches, new covens, and new priestesses, priests, or coven leaders. Celebrate the Wheel of the Year with original group rituals that can be used as written, personalized to reflect your coven's unique style, or modified for solitary practitioners. Along with practical tips on ritual basics, there are beautifully written New Moon rituals, Full Moon rituals, and Sabbat celebrations for each month and season.
Circle, Coven & Grove presents basic correspondences for magickal practice and coven work essentials such as circle etiquette. With seasonal spells, blessings, and rituals for celebrating holidays, increasing energy, giving thanks, healing, and more, this friendly book has everything you need.
About the Author
Deborah Blake is the author of Circle, Coven and Grove: A Year of Magickal Practice (Llewellyn 2007), Everyday Witch A to Z: An Amusing, Inspiring & Informative Guide to the Wonderful World of Witchcraft (Llewellyn 2008), The Goddess is in the Details: Wisdom for the Everyday Witch (Llewellyn 2009), Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook (2010) and Witchcraft on a Shoestring (2010). She has published numerous articles in Pagan publications, including Llewellyn annuals and has an ongoing column in Witches & Pagans Magazine.
Her award-winning short story, "Dead and (Mostly) Gone" is included in the Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction: 13 Prize Winning Tales (Llewellyn, 2008). Deborah had been interviewed on television, radio and podcast, and can be found online at Facebook, Twitter and www.myspace.com/deborahblakehps.
When not writing, Deborah runs The Artisans' Guild, a cooperative shop she founded with a friend in 1999, and also works as a jewelry maker. She lives in a 100 year old farmhouse in rural upstate New York with five cats who supervise all her activities, both magickal and mundane
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
A Review of Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook by Deborah Blake




Five Fangs for Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook by Deborah Blake
This is the best spell book I've read. From A to Z you'll find an alphabetical list of spells that the modern day witch will love. Practical and magical all at once this is a must have for your witchy bookshelf.
The spells are simple and useful and there's a spell for just about everything the average everyday witch may need a spell for like: money, prosperity, anxiety, appetite, banishing, beauty, child protection, closure, depression, detox, heartache, home blessing, job hunting, job improving, marriage healing, poverty, even one for potty training your child (which I am going to use right away because my 4 year old is being really stubborn he's almost there but not all the way).
There's even a shit happens spell which is for helping you cope with the everyday crap of life.
One spell I came across elicited a giggle from me, not because the spell itself is silly but because it is something I have never come across in another spell book and it is is something I never would have expected to find.
It is a Kinky spell. The spell will help you attract others who have the same kinks as yourself. Now this could be very useful. Most of us know that being in a relationship that leaves us sexually unsatisfied can be hell and sometimes we end with people who don't share our kinks- which can lead to trouble and infidelity down the road. It is so much better to share your life with someone into the same stuff as you. That's where this spell could come in handy. All I can say is use it wisely. ;-)
The book is filled with so many spells I want to try- almost every page has a sticky note bookmark to guide me back to a spell I found interesting.
In the beginning of the book Deborah also offers some great advice about casting and writing your own spells. And while her spells are complete and she doesn't over complicate them or fill them with so much stuff that you have to spend a fortune just to cast one spell.
Which leads me to another thing- her next book is all about casting on a shoestring budget.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Do You Have a Thing for Witches? Author Deborah Blake Does
Most people know me from my Llewellyn books. I have five, if you include the two coming out this year. EVERYDAY WITCH A TO Z SPELLBOOK just came out this month, and WITCHCRAFT ON A SHOESTRING will be released in September. Both of these books were a lot of fun to write, but there is more to them than that. The truth is, I write the nonfiction witchy books in the hope of sharing knowledge and helping out others who are walking the Pagan path, or thinking about doing so.
Yes, I’m a witch. (Don’t worry—I’m a good witch, not a bad witch. Mostly. *wink*) The books I write are based on personal experience and my own beliefs, as well as a whole bunch of things I’ve learned along the way from a whole bunch of other folks. But what does it mean when I say I’m a witch?
Er…depends on who you ask, really. Modern witchcraft has an incredible amount of variations and approaches. But here are the basics:
Witchcraft is a nature-based religion, usually involving the worship of both a goddess and a god (and is often polytheistic and involving many gods). It has its roots in the culture and practices of early Paganism, most especially that practiced in European countries, but with many modern aspects added in by those who have adapted it to the current times. Witches follow the natural cycles of the moon and the seasons (often called The Wheel of the Year). Wicca, which is a specific form of modern witchcraft, is the fastest growing religion in North America, and probably the most readily identifiable, although not all witches are Wiccans. There is one central rule, called The Wiccan Rede, that is generally (but again, not always) followed by most witches: An it harm none, do as ye will. And those who practice witchcraft believe in the power of magic (often spelled “magick” to differentiate between “rabbit out of a hat” magic) to create positive change in the universe.
Yes, you heard me—I said magic. The word probably brings forth images of Samantha the witch twitching her nose (no, I can’t do that) and Harry Potter turning muggles into toads (nope, that either—mores the pity). But it might make more sense if you think of magic as a kind of energy that science hasn’t been able to quantify yet.
To most witches, magic is a matter of will made manifest. We focus on what we want to achieve, direct our will into a spell or blessing, and send that energy out into the universe. If you want, you can think about it as a prayer. Did you know that they’ve done studies that show that when a number of people pray for someone in the hospital, that person tends to get better, even when they don’t know they’re being prayed for? Same basic principle, I think.
Of course, magic won’t bring you everything you want, right when you want it. (I wish. I’ve got a list, you know. A long list.) But sometimes it can help to give things a shove in the right direction. I’ve seen some pretty amazing results, actually.
If you want an example of what I’m talking about, here is a prosperity spell I’ve been using for years, often with great success. (It can be found in my first book, CIRCLE, COVEN, & GROVE: A YEAR OF MAGICKAL PRACTICE, Llewellyn 2007.)
God and goddess, hear my plea
Rain prosperity down on me
Send me monies, large and small
To pay my bills, one and all
Money earned and gifts for free
As I will, so mote it be
Pretty simple, eh? If you want, why don’t you try it and see if it works for you? Don’t forget to concentrate and focus your will on what you want. And be sure and let me know if you land a great job or win the lottery. (It is more likely to help in small ways, but you never know.)
Magic is a great tool to use in my everyday life. But it is also a great tool to use in writing, as well. I’ve written a number of novels with witches as protagonists, ranging from a paranormal romantic comedy about a modern witch who accidentally brings back King Arthur, to the urban fantasy my agent is currently shopping to editors.
I love being able to combine the “real world” magic I believe in with the “fictional magic” my characters wield, and I try to keep even the make-believe magic as realistic as possible. In fact, I even teach a popular online writing class called”Witchcraft for the Pararnormal Author” to help other writers do the same. Within reason, of course. What’s the fun of writing fiction if your characters can’t do things that are at least a little bit beyond what is possible in the real world?
So let’s hear it for magic in whatever form it touches your life, even if it is just the magic that comes from having a great book transport you to another world, and away from your everyday problems. Magic—you got to love it!
Deborah Blake Bio
Deborah Blake is the author of Circle, Coven and Grove: A Year of Magickal Practice (Llewellyn 2007), Everyday Witch A to Z: An Amusing, Inspiring & Informative Guide to the Wonderful World of Witchcraft (Llewellyn 2008), The Goddess is in the Details: Wisdom for the Everyday Witch (Llewellyn2009), and the forthcoming Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook (2010) and Witchcraft on a Shoestring (2010). She has published numerous articles in Pagan publications.
Her award-winning short story, “Dead and (Mostly) Gone” is included in the Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction: 13 Prize Winning Tales (Llewellyn, 2008). Deborah is currently working on her third novel and hopes to find both an agent and a publisher for her fiction soon. Deborah’s first novel, Witch Ever Way You Can, has been the winner or finalist in many RWA (Romance Writers of America) contests and received the EMILY “Best of the Best” Award.Her fiction is primarily Paranormal Romance, although she also writes Fantasy, Mystery and Young Adult.
Deborah had been interviewed on television, radio and podcast, and can be found online at Facebook, Twitter and www.myspace.com/deborahblakehps .
When not writing, Deborah runs The Artisans’ Guild, a cooperative shop she founded with a friend in 1999, and also works as a jewelry maker. She lives in a 100 year old farmhouse in rural upstate New York with five cats who supervise all her activities, both magickal and mundane.
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