Major Arqueerna

Deborah Blake gets interviewed by a D20

Topics

The inspiration behind The Everyday Witch’s Coven
The differences between The Everyday Witch’s Coven and her earlier work, Circle, Coven, and Grove
The process of writing and publishing a book
What inspires Deborah Blake
Deborah Blake’s future plans and projects

Links

Find Deborah online: https://deborahblakeauthor.com

Buy the Everyday Witch’s Coven:
https://amzn.to/3Lg4sY9 (Affiliate link)
https://bookshop.org/a/81380/9780738771595 (Affiliate link)

How to request a purchase at your local library: https://majorarqueerna.com/support-your-favorite-authors-with-this-100-free-trick/

Credits

“4 Quick Q’s: Book Talk With Enfys” is a production of Major Arqueerna, LLC. https://majorarqueerna.com

Intro, outro, and other jingles written and performed by Rhiannon’s Lark
https://rhiannonslark.com
https://rhiannonslark.bandcamp.com

Episode transcript (PDF): https://majorarqueerna.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-Deborah-Blake-Transcript.pdf

Special thanks to Llewellyn Worldwide and Weiser Books
https://llewellyn.com & https://redwheelweiser.com

Help keep this podcast ad-free by leaving a tip! https://paypal.me/majorarqueerna

RSS feed for 4 Quick Q’s: Book Talk With Enfys: https://majorarqueerna.com/category/podcast/feed/

4 Quick Q’s returns: Bigger, better, and somehow even sillier

As the Spider-Man film franchise has proven, it’s never too early for a reboot.

My livestream show, “4 Quick Q’s: Book Talk With Enfys,” in which I interview pagan authors with the help of a 20-sided die picking the questions, has been on hiatus since December, as I’ve worked to retool it into something new and better. And it’s finally ready for you!

The biggest change is that the show is no longer a livestream, and will instead be a pre-recorded audio podcast. My hope is to make it more convenient for more people to enjoy the show.

But the changes don’t end there. Instead of one list of 20 possible questions, there are now 4 separate lists of possible questions. The first question is about spirituality, the second is about writing, the third is about “other professional pagan stuff” like teaching and leading rituals, and the fourth question is a Random Encounter question. For the Random Encounter question, I’m rolling a 20-sided die AND a 4-sided die, to choose a question from a possible list of 80. The Random Encounter questions range from “What is your favorite kind of ice cream?” to “What is the meaning of life?”

I’ve taken some time to add a bit more polish in the graphics, and I hired one of my favorite indie musicians to record an intro, outro, and a couple of surprise sound bits.

Since February, I’ve been conducting interviews for the new season on the sly, so at this point I already have eight episodes recorded, which will be released in the coming weeks. I’m going to post the first three episodes fairly close together, because Apple is less likely to accept a new podcast with fewer than three episodes, according to the Internet. After that, new episodes will be available every two weeks.

For those of you disappointed that the show will be in audio format, there’s also some good news: While at ConVocation in Detroit and Sacred Space/Between the Worlds in Baltimore this spring, I conducted six video interviews, which will be posted as both the audio podcast and in video form on my YouTube channel!

Here’s what you have to look forward to:

Episode 1: Deborah Blake
Episode 2: Deborah Lipp
Episode 3: David Salisbury (with video)
Episode 4: Thorn Mooney (with video)
Episode 5: Diana Rajchel (with video)
Episode 6: Devin Hunter (with video)
Episode 7: J.R. Mascaro (with video)
Episode 8: T. Thorn Coyle (with video)

I’m hoping to record and publish 20 episodes this season, so there’s more awesomeness to come.

I hope you enjoy this new format for the show!

🌈 Guess what? I wrote a book on Queer Qabala, and you can buy it now! 🌈

Like this post? Subscribe to my monthly-ish e-newsletter to get 11 free audio pathworkings and other exclusive content!

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4 Quick Q’s: Book Talk with Enfys Episode 21: Mortellus

Soft rainbow gradient background with various pagan symbols and a book, overlaid with text: "4 Quick Q's: Book Talk with Enfys" and a photo of Enfys Book, a pale-skinned nonbinary person with short pink hair, a rainbow necklace, and cat-eye purple glasses. In the corner, it says "Episode 21: Mortellus" and has a circle-cropped photo of Mortellus. The photo of Mortellus is credited to Eliza Bell Photography.

In 4 Quick Q’s, I ask pagan authors four questions determined at random, by rolling a D20!

This episode features Mortellus, who wrote the utterly fantastic and thought-provoking Do I Have To Wear Black? Rituals, Customs, and Funerary Etiquette for Modern Pagans and the forthcoming The Bones Fall in a Spiral: An Introduction to Necromancy & The Magic of Death. We dished about our favorite video game soundtracks to work and write to, and what it’s really like to be a pagan author.

4 Quick Q’s: Book Talk with Enfys Episode 20: Mat Auryn

In 4 Quick Q’s, I ask pagan authors four questions determined at random, by rolling a D20!

This episode features delightful human and best-selling author Mat Auryn, who wrote Psychic Witch: A Metaphysical Guide to Meditation, Magick & Manifestation and Mastering Magick: A Course in Spellcasting for the Psychic Witch. We ended up mutually gushing about the art on the True Black Tarot and the upcoming Ephemere deck, for which Mat is writing the booklet!

“Sacred Gender” is fierce, wise, and an absolute must-read

Cover of the book, "Sacred Gender: Create Trans & Nonbinary Spiritual Connections" by Ariana Serpentine, set against a trans pride colored background with a brick texture.

I’d been eagerly anticipating the new book Sacred Gender since I first heard about it earlier this year. When I finally got a review copy, I sat down to read it, and by page 17 I had to briefly set it aside and pick up my phone to text a bunch of my friends that they had to get this book.

This entire book is fire. It’s practical, metaphysically illuminating, deeply personal, and well-researched, of course, but it’s also the kind of book that will make you want to yell quotes from it while standing atop the nearest mountain, preferably with a bullhorn.

Sacred Gender comes out of the gate swinging. Take a peek at this tasty snippet from the introduction:

[T]his book proceeds from the idea that transgender and nonbinary people understand themselves. This [book] is not a space where we will be providing arguments for our existence; we exist and always have and always will. Modern politics may rail against us, but that will not stop us from being. I have no interest in defending our right to exist; we have to spend too much of our energy on that already. I’m ready for deeper conversations, as I’m sure many others are.
Sacred Gender, page 6

4 Quick Q’s: Book Talk with Enfys Episode 19: Ariana Serpentine

In 4 Quick Q’s, I ask pagan authors four questions determined at random, by rolling a D20!

This episode features Ariana Serpentine, author of Sacred Gender: Create Trans & Nonbinary Spiritual Connections. We chatted about the book — which is being released Nov. 8 — and the joys of teaching journey work.

4 Quick Q’s: Book Talk with Enfys Episode 18: Durgadas Allon Duriel

In 4 Quick Q’s, I ask pagan authors four questions determined at random, by rolling a D20!

This episode features Durgadas Allon Duriel, author of Worthy As You Are: Weed Out Unhealthy Beliefs and Nourish Your Authentic Self and The Little Work: Magic to Transform Your Everyday Life. We had a wonderful time discussing the intersections of psychology and spirituality, and why Twitter can be pretty awesome sometimes (and how it could be better).

Happy International Pronouns Day!

A red nametag saying "Hello! My pronouns are they/them" against a rainbow background.

Today, the third Wednesday of October, is International Pronouns Day!

What are pronouns?

Pronouns are words we use to refer to people in place of their name. He/him/his, she/her/hers, and they/them/theirs are the most common pronouns used to refer to people in English (but there are many others!). Some languages, like Hungarian, don’t have gendered pronouns.

Here’s a video explaining what pronouns are, and why it’s important to get them right:

Why are pronouns so important?

Simply put, using people’s correct pronouns is respectful — and not using their correct pronouns is disrespectful.

Um…vote for me?

Imagine my surprise today to open the 2022 Witchies Awards ballot to see I was nominated for two categories: Outstanding New Author and Outstanding New Vidcast/Vlog!

I’m thrilled and honored to be nominated alongside Irene Glasse, Caine Dreamwalker, Mhara Starling, the vidcast Personal Pans, as well as so many other folks who have made truly amazing contributions to pagan publishing and content creation this past year.

If you have a Google account and a few minutes, you can vote here until Oct. 31, 2022:

Vote now

🌈 Guess what? I wrote a book on Queer Qabala, and you can buy it now! 🌈

Like this post? Subscribe to my monthly-ish e-newsletter to get 11 free audio pathworkings and other exclusive content!

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4 Quick Q’s: Book Talk with Enfys Episode 17: Theresa Reed

In 4 Quick Q’s, I ask pagan authors four questions determined at random, by rolling a D20!

This episode features Theresa Reed, author of several books on Tarot and Astrology, including her most recent book, author of Twist Your Fate: Manifest Success with Astrology and Tarot. She named the dice Andrew, and Andrew proceeded to roll up some of the toughest questions we have to choose from, including “What’s something you wish other pagan authors would do less?”