Lake of Spirits: Payback in a New Novel

I recently completed a book review of Stuart Scott’s novel, Spirit Lake Payback for the December 2021 issue of IDAHO Magazine. The article is more than just a book review. It also contains some juicy tidbits on the history of Spirit Lake, Idaho. Both Scott’s novel and the current edition of IDAHO magazine are available from BookPeople of Moscow.

Purchase your copy directly from IDAHO Magazine:
Buy it now!
OR
Purchase only the article and review here:
Lake of Spirits – IDAHO magazine

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Covid-19: Disappointing Death Toll

Imagine waking up tomorrow, only to find that every man, woman, and child had disappeared from Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, or North Dakota. Vacant farmhouses, deserted freeways, and a host of newly abandoned ghost towns paying a silent homage to the missing. Would there be a national uproar? It seems not, but a lot of things about this pandemic have left me befuddled.

While listening to news coverage of the 20th anniversary on the 9/11 attack, I had an epiphany of sorts. Continue reading


The Wheel of the Year

For many pagans, the New Year starts at Samhain. This framework merges solar and lunar cycles, dividing into just two seasons, summer and winter. The thirteen months take their names from thirteen of the sacred trees listed in the ogham. Holy days derive from the solar cycle, with the principal Celtic festivals occurring at the mid-points between the solstices and equinoxes. These days are considered auspicious as being part of the time between times.

This modern pagan calendar conflates the holy days from both the Celtic and Germanic traditions with the additions of Midsummer and Yule representing the solstices. The Lengthen Efiniht and Harfest Efiniht are the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, respectively. Although, many pagans refer to the vernal equinox as Ostara and the autumnal equinox as Mabon.

Some of the holy days already have undeniable associations. The most obvious being Lugh/Lughnasad and Belenus/Beltene. Owing to the blending of Celtic and Germanic traditions, the remaining holy days are not so easily assigned. For those of us who prefer venerating Celtic deities, that means that one cannot simply point to archeological evidence and come up with a definitive answer, because no such answer exists for half the sabbats.

After a fair bit of research, reading, and soul searching, I have matched each sabbat with a Celtic deity. These are presented below: Continue reading


Covid-19 Milestones

Today, the United States reached another grim milestone for covid-19 deaths. More people have died of covid-19 than the entire populations of the states of Wyoming, Vermont, and Alaska. If the current trend for daily covid-19 deaths continues, North Dakota will be added to this list before Christmas.

This cartoon was published in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, November 2, 2021.


10 Steps to Founding a Publishing House

In order to compete with traditionally published books, many self-publishers choose to found their own publishing houses. Not only does this lend an air of professionalism to their writing endeavors, it serves to separate book publishing activities from personal income, providing a necessary level of legal and financial protection to self-publishers.

America’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) represents a nationwide network of the most comprehensive small business assistance in the United States. Hosted by colleges, universities, state economic development agencies, and private partners, there are nearly 1,000 local centers nationwide. Aspiring indie publishers (and other entrepreneurs) can connect with their local SBDCs for no-cost and low-cost business consulting. While it is entirely possible to establish a publishing house on their own, indie publishers may feel more confident knowing that they have the support of their local SBDC to help guide them through the process. Continue reading


Book Review: The Spirit Transcendent

The Spirit Transcendent: Exploring the Extraordinary in Human Experience
By Mark Yama

List Price: $25.00

Available at BookPeople of Moscow: Buy it Now!
Available on Amazon: Buy it Now!

What happens when a licensed psychologist truly listens to his patients? His entire perception of reality changes.

In The Spirit Transcendent, Dr. Mark Yama, a psychologist from rural Idaho explores his patients experiences with an open heart and an open mind. Many of his patients suffer from severe pain, often resulting from horrific car accidents, chronic cancer, and even mauling’s by vicious animals. Through the pages of this book, Dr. Yama recounts their near-death experiences, intervention by angelic hosts, visitations from deceased loved ones, and brushes with demonic forces. Continue reading


Book Review: Kitchen Witchery

The Book of Kitchen Witchery: Spells, recipes, and rituals for magical meals, an enchanted garden, and a happy home.

By Cerridwen Greenleaf

List Price $19.95

I give this book 5/5 stars only because it is not possible to award it an entire constellation.

Delightful Workbook for Magical Women

This book kept me from languishing! While nearly everyone was bemoaning being locked-up, locked-down, and social distanced, I explored the magical world that was my own kitchen. The spells, rituals, and informational asides kept me entertained through much of the pandemic, nurturing both body and soul. Continue reading


Cover Reveal: Klara’s Journey

I am excited to reveal the cover of my first novel, Klara’s Journey.

I offer many heart-felt thanks to all the people who made writing and editing this book possible. Special thanks goes to those people who accepted calls at all hours of the day and night, patiently listening as I complained about my characters, confusing plot lines, and writing in general. It takes a village to write a book.

Curious about this award-winning story? Here’s the back cover blurb:

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Budgeting for Publication

Authors often dream of seeing their books in print and calculate the royalties they expect to earn per book once their baby hits the market. Few stop to consider how much capital they need up-front to cover pre-publication expenses. These expenses can be broken into three general categories: product development, business development, and marketing.

This post contains summaries of common expenses, a downloadable worksheet authors can use to create budgets for their own books, and ideas for ways to save cash along the way. The cost estimates provided below are not intended to scare off would-be self-publishers. Rather, they illustrate why self-publishers struggle to compete with even the smallest publishing houses in the book market. They also serve as a reminder that authors should not give their work away free . . . everything in publishing comes with a cost and some of those costs have staggering price tags. Continue reading


Metadata: SEO for your Book

Metadata is what drives search engine optimization (SEO) and enables web designers to get their websites to rank higher in search results. But metadata isn’t only for website and blogs, it’s also for books. Like SEO, metadata is text written specifically to aid computer systems and search engines. In an era where online shopping is the norm, an absence of metadata (or poorly written metadata) means a book won’t show up in the search results when shoppers are perusing the digital shelves of their favorite online marketplace.

Book metadata helps sell books by using keywords and phrases that make it easy for readers to find them. Because of this, it’s vital that indie publishers include metadata creation as part of their book promotion strategy. So what exactly is metadata? Continue reading