About the Book:
Title: Goddess Spells For Busy Girls.Author: Jen McConnel.
Release Date: February 1, 2014.
"Exhausted? Angry? Broke? The Goddesses are here to help!
Goddess magic is powerful magic: with the help of the right goddess, simple spells can yield amazing results. In Goddess Spells for Busy Girls, Jen McConnel offers 80 spells imbued with the vibrant force of 25 Goddesses from around the globe.
McConnel provides an introduction to 25 celestial ladies, to make sure you are asking the right goddess for help: Athena for memory retention, Aphrodite to gain confidence, Persephone to find you path, and Sekhmet to prevent illness. Each section includes the history and lore behind the goddess, and three simple spells to invoke her help:
Health and wellness (Athena, Sekhmet, Amaterasu, Sarasvati, and Oya)
Relationships (Aphrodite, Persephone, Mary, Hera, and Parvati)
Hearth and home (Brigid, Hestia, Juno, Bast, and Changing Woman)
Travel and protection (Kali, Isis, Hecate, Artemis, and Gaia)
Abundance and fortune (Lakshmi, Kuan Yin, Hathor, Demeter, and Fortuna)
Group magic
For the busy young woman who wants it all but needs help getting it, Goddess Spells for Busy Girls can help you achieve love, balance, protection, and abundance in your life."
About the Author:
She is also a former reviewer for Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and proud member of SCBWI, NCWN, and SCWW.
A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches college writing composition and yoga. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.
Author Links:
Interview:
Can you give us a little bio about yourself and your book?
Sure! I grew up in Michigan, and now I make my home in North Carolina. I’ve always been a book lover, and writing has been a life-long passion for me. I used to teach middle school, but now I split my time between writing, teaching composition at a community college, and occasionally teaching yoga. Goddess Spells is my first non-fiction book, and it’s a collection of myth, magic, and memoir aimed at making your life a little easier and lot more magical.
What inspired you to write a book like Goddess Spells?
It kind of happened by accident! I’ve always loved goddesses and mythology, and the idea to write a spell book hit me at just the right time. I had so much fun writing this book, and I’m glad I shifted away from my usual fiction writing to do it.
What was one of the biggest obstacles you had to overcome when writing this book?
Probably time. I committed to turning the book into my publisher pretty darn fast, and I was also juggling teaching commitments and fiction work at the same time. I tried to be militant about scheduling my time, put some of my other projects on hold, and drank a lot of coffee. Eventually, it all came together relatively stress-free.
Do you really use the spells in Goddess Spells, which are your favorite, when do you use them?
Yes, I do! Many of the spells in this book are things I’ve been doing for years, but I crafted some of them specifically for this book. It’s so hard to pick a favorite, but I really like the Spell for Patience (on page 139), and I regularly use the Spell for Positive Procrastination (page 28) to help me work through writer’s block.
If a girl was having relationship problems and is dealing with a broken heart, what spell would you recommend?
Ouch. That’s no fun, but we’ve all been there. I’d suggest either the Spell to Eliminate Self-Judgment (page 10), the Spell for Self- Love (page 22), or the Spell to Break a Dedication (page 66). I’d also say: take care of yourself!
You can be any goddess included in Goddess Spells, which do you think you would be? Why?
I’ve considered dressing as a goddess at Halloween, but that’s about as far as that fantasy goes. I’ve read enough mythology to know that mortals who try to imitate the gods usually get in trouble, and as cool as cosmic powers might be, I’m really happy living my messy, crazy human life.
Do you have any other books in the works? Can you give us a sneak peek?
I do, actually! My first YA novel, DAUGHTER OF CHAOS, will be out next month from Month9Books. It’s a fantasy story about witches, and the goddess Hecate sets my main character off on all kinds of crazy chaos. I’d like to share a peek of their first meeting.
“Girl.” Her voice was raspy, like a rusty door hinge, and I jerked despite myself. She chuckled without humor. “Girl, look at me.”
Slowly, I raised my eyes, sweeping my gaze up her inky black robes that shimmered like water, past the blood-red stone dangling from her throat, and up to her golden eyes. They weren‘t human, but from what I remembered of the myths we studied at school, Hecate had never valued humanity. Her eyes were the eyes of a night predator—an owl or fox—and they held me spellbound.
From DAUGHTER OF CHAOS, releasing March 25, 2014 from Month9Books.
Thanks so much for hosting me today, and thank you for reading GODDESS SPELLS! <3
Jen McConnel, thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to answer some questions! Also thank you for the small sneak peek of your next book, it sounds really interesting! Can't wait to read more about Goddesses and now witches too.
If you want to see what I thought about Goddess Spells, feel free to check out my REVIEW.
Thank you so much for having me! I'm thrilled that you enjoyed the book! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great interview! I haven't heard of this book yet, but it sounds seriously quirky and cool. :) Is there a spell to help you stop adding too many books to your TBR?? HAHA. Just kidding. I wouldn't use it. (Books FTW!) I'm adding it on Goodreads.
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