Writing the Broomstick

For millennia, witches have been a source of fear, fascination, persecution, oppression, hope, and bewilderment. Tales of witches go back as far as time and appear in every culture on the planet. So, as a writer, how do you even begin to understand the complex nature of a witch’s reality without relying on stereotypes or misconceptions.Welcome, writers and weavers to another spooky episode of Writing the Broomstick.In this episode, Katrina and Genny finally get to talk about one of their most...

Ever walk into an empty room and feel like you’re being watched? Ever feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end for no apparent reason? Maybe you’ve encountered a real-live ghost. In this week’s spoooooooky episode, we’re talking about things that go bump in the night, particularly phantoms, spirits, apparitions, poltergeists….you know, ghosts! Whether you believe in the existence of ghosts or not, you want to create a well-rounded ghost character that makes us true believers....

Halloween….the spookiest time of year. When the veil that separates the living and the dead gets dangerously thin. Welcome back, writers and weavers to season three of Writing the Broomstick!No matter where you live in the world, we’re willing to bet that your culture commemorates the end of summer and the beginning of winter...when our ancestors prepared themselves for the harshest months of the year. In ancient Ireland, the Celts celebrated with the Samhain festival—a time when ru...

If you could have any magical ability in the world, what would it be? Would you fly over the rooftops of your hometown? Would you control fire and water? Would you bring your poor houseplant back to life? In today’s episode, Katrina and Genny discuss the limits of one’s imagination—more specifically, all the wonderful and weird and unexplainable magical abilities you can give your character. After all, fantasy is where magic can feel free and safe to express itself—why wouldn’t you ...

Writing about time in your fantasy novel is a real see-you-next-Tuesday. I mean, all our months, weekdays, and seasons sound so...Earthly. And if you’re wondering if your reader notices when you say “February” when describing a month of the year in your fantasy world....they kinda do. The days, months, seasons, and even the year itself are all products of our human—aka real—history. So, how the heck do we talk about the passage of time without using names in the Gregorian calendar?In cas...

The Devil, the Beast, 666, the Dark One, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Satan—whatever you want to call him, this character has been a point of fear and fascination for 3,000 years, and it’s a figure that pops up quite frequently in dark fantasy and horror novels. So naturally, why wouldn’t we spend an afternoon discussing the Prince of Darkness? Rock on, Beelzebaby!Katrina and Genny explore the origins and evolution of Satan—from the pious angel to the leather-jacket wearing man-about-town a...

New York City, Paris, King’s Landing, Chicago, Metropolis: What do all these cities have in common? They’re all featured in fantasy novels. Whether real or imagined, cities are common settings in urban fantasy and high fantasy alike. So the question is: how do we write about urban spaces that feel so real that your readers will be asking you, “Where can I find this place?” And how do we make existing cities feel magical?Here are a few tips:Give your city a personalityUse your five senses...

In today’s special mini-episode, Genny flies solo as Katrina takes one small step for woman, one giant step for adulthood. And, of course, left to her own devices, Genny chooses to talk about satyrs, those Ancient Greek mythological creatures who kind of look like the devil, but who are really just looking for a good time.She discusses their origins, and the difference between satyrs and fauns and Faunus and Pan and Dionysus….well actually, you just get to listen to her spiral into a ball of ...

Mermaid straight ahead! A’hoy mateys. Today, we’re going unda da sea and into the mysterious world of mermaids, mermen, and merfolk! We want to know where our fascination with mermaids comes from. To do that, we need to go back to the beginning to learn more about the origins of this mysterious clam-bra-wearing being.Did you know that mermaid lore spans thousands of years and shows up in various parts of Africa, the Mediterranean, Europe, the British Isles, and Southeast Asia? So, we all...

Villains are people too! Well, sometimes. In today’s episode, we’re talking about those characters that your readers love to hate. From the worst of human nature to the best of supernatural species, every reader is looking for a good “bad guy”.But sometimes, authors don’t always deliver. Either we don’t spend enough time unpacking that “crossroads moment” when the villain chose the path of darkness, or, as Katrina puts out, they’re just an amorphous blob with little personality, motivation, o...