Witches Tea: Party Favor-An Interview and Giveaway with Vocisconnesse

Vocisconnesse

www.diramazioni.it/vocisconnesse/
twitter.com/vocisconnesse
www.etsy.com/shop/Vocisconnesse
www.flickr.com/photos/vocisconnesse/

You do a lot of art based on animals, mythology and the grotesque. What inspires you?

MANY THINGS! I’M INSPIRED BY NATURE, I LIKE ANIMALS AND THEIR EXPRESSIVE FACES, AND ALSO LEGENDARY ANIMALS OR OTHER CREATURES WHOSE IMAGERY WE CAN FIND IN DIFFERENT CULTURES, PLACES AND HISTORICAL PERIODS, THROUGH FOLKLORE, MYTHOLOGY, AND ART, “PAGAN” IMAGERY, WOODLAND CREATURES BOTH ANIMALS AND FANTASY FOLK CREATURES, AS DRYADS FOR EXAMPLE, SINCE I LOVE TREES. I LOVE ANCIENT MEDIEVAL CARVINGS AND ALL ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS REPRESENTING GROTESQUE CREATURES AND ALL KIND OF FIGURES ALSO REMINDING TO SYMBOLISM, ALCHEMY, MAGIC AND ANCIENT HISTORY. MY FIANCE AND I LIKE TO TAKE PICTURES FROM THEM, FROM BULDINGS, CATHEDRALS, AND MORE. I LIKE ALL ANCIENT ART AND ARTIFACTS, PREHISTORIC ART, ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS, AND ALSO HISTORYCAL ANTIQUE JEWELRY, THAT I CAN SEE VISITING MUSEUMS AND FIND IN BOOKS. I LIKE TO GO TO FLEA MARKETS TOO, AND FIND ANCIENT CURIOSITIES. I’M VERY INSPIRED BY DREAMS, THAT I REMEMBER VERY MUCH SINCE WHEN I WAS A CHILD, AND ALL THE THINGS WHICH REMIND TO MAGIC AND IMAGINATION. FOLK TALES, DARK STORIES AND LEGENDS ABOUT WITCHES. AND ALSO BY MY FAVOURITE ARTISTS (SE BELOW SOME OF THEM), FROM SYMBOLISM, EXPRESSIONISM, PRERAPHAELITE AND CONTEMPORARY ART/ ILLUSTRATION.

 Your witches are both lovely and frightening. What to you, is a witch?

I MOSTLY IMAGINE THE WITCH AS THE WISE WOMAN… BUT I THINK THE DIFFERENT REPRESENTATIONS OVER THE HISTORY ARE THE EXASPERATION OF DIFFERENT ASPECTS, EMPHASIZING THE NICE ASPECT OR THE FRIGHTENING ONE, AND ALSO DEPENDING ON THE DOMINANT CULTURE AND IDEAS OF THE PERIOD. ANYWAY EACH WITCH OR MAGICAL WOMAN FROM MYTHOLOGY SHOWS BOTH THE ASPECTS.

THE INTERPRETATION I PREFER IS THE ONE OF THE ANCIENT WISE WOMAN, HERBALIST, HEALER, SHAMAN, INTUITIVE, THE ONE IN CONTACT WITH NATURE, AND THE MOST ANCIENT/ PRIMITIVE THAT HAS BEEN OFTEN CANCELLED DURING HISTORY. I LIKE THE DARK SIDE OF WITCHES, BUT I LIKE A LOT THE IDEA OF GREEN WITCHES, MAYBE ALSO BECAUSE I’M VEGETARIAN AND FEEL CLOSE TO NATURE.

TALKING ABOUT VISUAL ARTS I LOVE MANY KIND OF WITCHES, ALL ANCIENT ENGRAVINGS WITH WITCHES AND DEMONS, SORCERY SUBJECTS, THE STRIGE/ STRIX/ HARPY TOO, AND OTHER ONES FROM MEDIEVAL BOOKS AND ALSO THE ONES FROM 1500-600-700 , THE ONES FROM PRERAPHAELITE PAINTINGS, GUSTAVE MOREAU (MANY MYTHOLOGICAL SUBJECTS). ALL FIGURES LOOKING HALF WOMEN AND HALF ANIMAL. ABOUT OTHER GROTESQUE AND MAGICAL SUBJECTS I LOVE THE CREATURES COMING FROM SYMBLIST PAINTINGS AS FROM BOSCH, BOEKLIN, AND ALSO GOYA TOO (HIS “WITCHES SABBATH”), REDON, LEONORA CARRINGTON AND REMEDIOS VARO.

 Can you share an autumn or Halloween/Samhain memory?

AUTUMN IS MAYBE THE SEASON I MOST LOVE, SO I WOULD HAVE MANY MEMORIES OF RED AND ORANGE LEAVES, OF DRINKING WARM TEAS…I SHARE A PICTURE OF AN AUTUMNAL WOOD WALKING, A SIMPLE, ENCHANTED DAY MEMORY.

Are you a reader? What are some of your favorite books?

YES, I LIKE READING.

ITALO CALVINO, KUNDERA, BRADBURY, “ECOCIDIO” (= BEYOND THE BEEF) BY JEREMY RIFKIN, "CRISTALLI SOGNANTI" (DREAMING JEWELS) BY TEODORE STURGEON, “THE LIVING GODDESS” BY MARJA GIMBUTAS (LE DEE VIVENTI), TIZIANO TERZANI, UMBERTO ECO, BUZZATI (IL SEGRETO DEL BOSCO VECCHIO), BOOKS ABOUT RUNES AND ANCIENT SYMBOLS, “THE HEARING TRUMPET” BY LEONORA CARRINGTON, REMEDIOS VARO ART MONOGRAPHY, ILLUSTRATED BOOKS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS AS DAVE MC KEAN, SHAUN TAN…BOOKS ABOUT CRYSTALS AND STONE PROPERTIES, HERBAL HEALING, AS “LE ERBE DELLE STREGHE NEL MEDIOEVO”, “ARADIA, IL VANGELO DELLE STREGHE”, “HO INCONTRATO UNA STREGA”. RUSSIAN FAIRYTALES, “IL GRANDE LIBRO DEI MISTERI DELLA LOMBARDIA” (THE BOOK OF LOMBARDY MYSTERIES), “MITI E LEGGENDE DALL’AMAZZONIA” (MYTH AND LEGENDA FROM AMAZZONIA). I ALSO COLLECT SOME TAROT DECKS (AND I’VE DESIGNED MY OWN TOO, SEE “TAROCCHI DI CONNESSIONE”).

WHEN I WAS A CHILD I LOVED READING “THE NEVERENDING STORY” AND “IL MULINO DEI DODICI CORVI” (=KRABAT). CURRENTLY READING “IL MONDO DI SOPHIA” (SOPHIA’S WORLD), “THE METAMORPHOSYS” BY KAFKA, AND A BOOK BY EDIZIONI XII (FOR WHICH WE HAVE TO WORK ON AN ILLUSTRATION).

 Do you listen to music while you work on your art? If so, what?

YES, VERY MUCH, OVERALL WHEN WE DO OUR STUDIO ILLUSTRATION AND DESIGN COMMISSIONED WORKS, BUT ALSO WHEN I WORK ON MY PERSONAL PROJECTS.

CALLISTO, JESU, AGALLOCH, ISIS, CULT OF LUNA, RED SPARROWES NEUROSIS, NOVEMBERS DOOM, MY DYING BRIDE , DOLORIAN, CLAN ZU, RADIOHEAD, COLDPLAY, TENHI, WOBURN HOUSE, OCTOBER TIDE, TORI AMOS, PJ HARVEY, ROSE KEMP, UNA NOTTE SUL MONTE CALVO (MUSORGSKIJ), PROMETHEON, ASOFY, SLEEPING VILLAGE (THESE TWO ARE MY FIANCE’S PROJECTS),. LATELY WE OFTEN LISTEN TO DORNENREICH.

 What are some of your favorite witches in history, movies or books?

FROM HISTORY AND FILMS: AGORA (ABOUT HYPATIA, GREAT FIGURE AND MOVIE), THE TRIAL OF JEAN D’ARC, BUT ALSO OTHER GREAT MOVIES WHICH ARE AMONG “FANTASY” AND HISTORY EVENTS AND FEATURES STRONG WOMEN, AS “PAN’S LABYRINTH”, THAT IS VISUALLY VERY INSPIRING TOO.

FILMS INSPIRED BY FOLKLORE AND DARK FAIRYTALES: “LADY IN THE WATER” (SHE WAS MORE A MAGICAL CREATURES CLOSE TO A MARMAID, BUT I ENJOYED THE CHARACTER AND THE MOVIE A LOT), “THE DARK CRYSTAL” (THE SHAMAN/ WITCH WOMAN WAS A VERY NICE CHARACTER AND I LOVE THE MOVIE), “THE WITCHES” MOVIE AND BOOK BY ROAL DAHL (AMUSING), “THE BROTHERS GRIMM” BY TERRY GILLIAM (I LIKE THE MOVIE A LOT, BUT NOT MUCH THE FIGURE OF THE WITCH ITSELF), SLEEPY HOLLOW, “PRACTICAL MAGIC” WAS NICE TOO.

I’M FASCINATED BY WITCHES FROM FOLKLORE AND FAIRY TALES AS BABA JAGADA AND FIGURES AS HECATE AND DIANA TOO.

I RECENTLY READ A NICE BOOK TITLED “STREGHE” WITH A PAINTING BY FUSSLI ON THE COVER, AND IT FEATURES CIRCE, MEDEA, “LA SIGNORA DEL GIOCO” (WHICH IS DIANA), JEAN D’ARC, MELUSEENA, CELESTINA, LILITH. I ALSO REMEMBER THE CHARACTER OF MORTICIA, WHEN A I WAS A CHILD I LOVED TO WATCH “THE ADAMS FAMILY”, AND I ALSO LIKE THE COMBINATION OF DARK+HUMOR.

I LIKE THE PRIMITIVE GODDESSES A LOT, AS THE MINOAN SNAKE GODDESS, OR THE SLEEPING/DREAMING ONE.

 Thank you for joining us at The Witch's Tea. Can you share with us a thought or memory about tea?

I LOVE TEA, I often drink GREEN TEA, and my favorite is WHITE TEA AND also HERBAL ONES.

LAST SUMMER IN WE FOUND  LJUBLJANA  A TEA-ROOM WITH A LONG LIST OF TEAS (I TRIED A JAPANESE TEA AND MY FIANCE A “MATCHA”), THEY WERE DELICIOUS…. AND WE ALSO FOUND A LOCAL FOLK MUSEUM FEATURING A GREAT WITCHE’S HERBARY.

ANOTHER NICE FIND WAS A TEASHOP a friend showed us IN BOLOGNA, CALLED “STREGA TE”.

 What are you currently working on in your studio?

WITH our ILLUSTRATION STUDIO (DIRAMAZIONI- we are two) WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON COVERS AND INTERIOR ILLUSTRATIONS FOR BOOKS (FOR FANTASY, AND DARK WEIRD LITERATURE).

ALSO SEE OUR SHOP (ILLUSTRATION AND PHOTOGRAPHY) www.etsy.com/shop/diramazioni

INSTEAD ABOUT VOCISCONNESSE PERSONAL PROJECT I HAVE AN OWL NECKLACE IN PROGRESS AND A CAT SOLID PERFUME WILL BE SOON ADDED TO MY SHOP (THE BOX IS AN HANDSCULPTED CAT CONTAINING HANDMADE SOLID PERFUME MADE WITH BEEWAX AND ESSENTIAL OILS). www.etsy.com/shop/vocisconnesse

I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO DO MORE ILLUSTRATIONS AND ARTWORKS TO SELL ON VOCISCONNESSE SHOP AS I HAVE THE TIME, AND ADDING MORE PHOTOGRAPHY AND ARTWORKS ON DIRAMAZIONI SHOP.

 Tell us about your different forms of media. You paint, craft jewelry and do photography...

I LIKE TO MIX THEM TOGETHER, AND EXPERIMENT WITH MEDIA AND FIELDS. I’M PRIMARLY AN ILLUSTRATOR WORKING TOGETHER WITH MY PARTNER, WE LIKE TO COMBINE PAINTING AND DRAWING WITH DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND COMPUTER. ABOUT MY PERSONAL PROJECTS AND THE CREATIONS I SELL IN MY SHOP, I USE TO PRINT SOME OF MY ORIGINAL ARTWORKS AND MIX THEM WITH OTHER MATERIALS, AS GEMSTONES, BEADS, VINTAGE FINDS…I CAN COMBINE ALL THE THINGS I LIKE! I ALSO LIKE A LOT MODELLING CLAY THAT GIVES TO ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE LITTLE SCULPTURES/ 3D PAINTINGS and I ALSO USE IT FOR JEWELRY.

Orange Witch (giveaway)

 What is one thing you want your viewers to get from your art?

I DON’T EXACTLY KNOW, BUT I LIKE TO GIVE AN EXPRESSION TO THE THINGS I CREATE, OR CAPTURING EXPRESSIONS AND THEN REPURPOSING THEM IN MY CREATIONS. SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT MY CREATIONS LOOK LIKE THEY ARE ALIVE AND IT WAS REALLY A GREAT COMPLIMENT TO ME!

I ALSO HOPE TO SHARE SOME MAGIC AND THE THINGS I LIKE, AND I’M GLAD WHEN THIS MAKES THEM HAPPY.

Thank you Jessica from Vocisconnesse! What a wonderful visit. 

Now for the generous giveaway!

One lucky winner will win these lovely earrings

and

A small print of the Orange Witch featured in the interview.

Witches Tea Party Favor: Rollingwire

rollingwire

Hi, I'm Allan the jewelry maker. I don't have a picture of myself that I want to post on the internet so I used a picture of my neighbor’s cross eyed cat. We don't look alike. I have brown eyes that are not crossed and my ears are not as pointed. But I do have whiskers.. 

I realized that making wire jewelry was my calling when I first stated working with wire. Every piece is hand made by me with out glue or solder. They are my own design and many are one of a kind. You will get the piece that is in the picture. I hope you like them as much as I enjoy making them.

What inspired me to make wands was Harry Potter. I loved the scene where he picks out his wand. I says so much with so few words. I think it was seeing Ron's broken wand is what got me started trying to make crystal wands. That is one of the reasons I use bamboo. It is very strong plus the flared end keeps the crystal from sliding off.

(1) The angel has a healing (key) Arkansas quartz crystal. The crystal is almost totally water clear and has a rainbow. It has a time link door to the right or the future.

(2) The key chain is made of black agate. the talon is1=1/4" and the key chain is 5-1/2".
Black agate is a stone of protection. It is used to repel negative energy and guard against harmful spirits, worldly troubles and danger. Agate has been used to improve overall health and for safe travels.

(3) The wand is made with "black" bamboo and is 6" long. The crystal is a healing (key) Arkansas crystal. The tip of the point is very clear and the base is snow quartz. It has a time link door to the left or past.




Thank you Allan for sharing your work with us!


Even better!


There is a giveaway!


Chose from either of the above three items!


International Giveaway too!

Tea Time With Konstant Kraver

Sweet Potato, Pecan and Maple Syrup Round

                                                                                              By Konstant Kraver

This sweet potato round with pecans and its sinful maple syrup glaze will have you licking your fingers it is so soft and moist; that it is an absolute taste sensation and perfect as a Thanksgiving or any day of the week really afternoon treat.It was adapted from a recipe I found on the Better Homes and Gardens website.

Ingredients

300g sweet potato,(peeled and chopped into chunks)
2 cups self-raising flour
80g butter, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten 
1/2 cup milk
Extra flour, for kneading
Extra 40g butter, softened 
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 tsp mixed spice

Maple Syrup Glaze

50g butter 
1/4 cup maple syrup (Coles brand works well )
3/4 cups pure icing
sugar, sifted
1 Tbsp milk
1tsp brown sugar 
1tsp vanilla essence 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220°C. Line a 22cm round cake tin with baking paper. Cook sweet potato in boiling water until tender. Drain, mash and allow to cool.

2. Sift flour into a large mixing bowl, add butter and rub in using your fingertips. Make a well in the center, add the sweet potato, egg,mixed spice,vanilla essence and milk, and stir to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until no longer sticky. Roll out to form a 20 x 30cm rectangle.

3. Spread dough with extra butter, and sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans. Roll up firmly to form a log and cut into 3cm-thick pinwheels. Put pinwheels close together in prepared tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

4. To make the maple syrup glaze, put butter and sugar in a small pan over a medium heat and stir until melted.Add the maple syrup and stir in followed by the icing sugar. Keep stirring for about 1-2 minutes and just before you take it off the fire, stir in the vanilla essence. Remove from heat and let it stand for 1 min before pouring the glaze over the top of the round. Leave to stand for 10-15 minutes for glaze to firm before serving.

After Thoughts

When you roll out the dough I find the best way  to roll it out is between two large sheets of cookie paper, saves the mess and drama of possibly getting it stuck to the table and it also makes it so much easier to roll up .

Witches Tea: Party Favor-The Velvet Rabbit

THEVELVETRABBIT

This shop has wonderful fabric blocks and ornaments that bring back the nostalgic feel of times gone by. Visit The Velvet Rabbit on Etsy and let her know what your favorite fabric block is. Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the chance to win one!

Gorgeous Fabric Blocks

In Halloween Flair!

Pick your favorite block!

To make this Witches Tea Party 

An event to remember!

Witches Tea: Party Favor-Pamelia Designs

pameliadesigns

Some friends should visit every day! We welcome back Pamelia Designs with a wonderful treat for everyone! Pamelia has made a lovely pair of asymmetrical Witches Tea Earrings just for the Tea Party and you visiting with me here at On the Broomstick! Please pop over to her shop and let her know how much you enjoy her work. 

The earrings are asymmetrical or non matching.The charm is 3 witches having tea. Caption on bottom of charm reads "Black Hat Society". It is one of my fave charmsSwarovski crystals and picasso beads.Tiny black heart hangs under charm.

These are lovely! Thank you Pamelia for your beautiful work!

Witches Tea: Party Favor-Winona Cookie

WinonaCookie

I am SO glad you found the shop! Here, have a cup of tea, and of course, a cookie while you browse around. I make things I would like to wear, look at, own or give as gifts so my shop offers a variety of art – check out tags to the right to more easily find what you are interested in. I am convo-friendly and would love to hear from you if you have questions or comments. I am happy to discuss requests that you might have for 

While my items would like very much to find a home with you, they love to be looked at, too, so thanks SO much for stopping by!
You are also entirely welcome to visit my website: http://www.WinonaCookieIllustration.com and my Flickr photostream for additional art not featured here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/winonacookie

When I’m not busy being a psychologist, I’m busy making art, something I have done for as long as I can remember. Since I can’t seem to settle on just one career, it’s not surprising that I can’t settle on just one artistic style either. I enjoy creating whimsical children’s illustrations in watercolor, but also like working with collage, assemblage and making jewelry. Let’s face it: my studio’s a MESS! So while I’m snipping, gluing and painting, I’m channeling Maurice Sendak, Ed Gorey and Alphonse Mucha, and hoping you like the results. While I can sometimes recreate something I’ve done, I’m not interested in mass production, so my offerings will tend to change often – keep checking back!

About Winona Cookie: Winona Cookie was my imaginary friend when I was a kid. She looked just like my avatar. Also, I LOVE cookies. And tea. Cookies and tea, both.

voodoo-print




moribund-manor-haunted-house



witchcraft-shrine

Thank you Winona Cookie  for visiting with us for the Witches Tea! The first time I saw your designs, I fell in love with them. Moribund Manor is awe inspiring, as are all of your works. 

We are lucky enough to have a giveaway!

10 Days of Halloween: The Countess by Rebecca Johns Interview and Giveaway

Was the “Blood Countess” history’s first and perhaps worst female serial killer? Or did her accusers create a violent fiction in order to remove this beautiful, intelligent, ambitious foe from the male-dominated world of Hungarian politics?

In 1611, Countess Erzsébet Báthory, a powerful Hungarian noblewoman, stood helpless as masons walled her inside her castle tower, dooming her to spend her final years in solitary confinement. Her crime—the gruesome murders of dozens of female servants, mostly young girls tortured to death for displeasing their ruthless mistress. Her opponents painted her as a bloodthirsty škrata—a witch—a portrayal that would expand to grotesque proportions through the centuries.

In this riveting dramatization of Erzsébet Báthory’s life, the countess tells her story in her own words, writing to her only son—a final reckoning from his mother in an attempt to reveal the truth behind her downfall. Countess Báthory describes her upbringing in one of the most powerful noble houses in Hungary, recounting in loving detail her devotion to her parents and siblings as well as the heartbreak of losing her father at a young age. She soon discovers the price of being a woman in sixteenth-century Hungary as her mother arranges her marriage to Ferenc Nádasdy, a union made with the cold calculation of a financial transaction. Young Erzsébet knows she has no choice but to accept this marriage even as she laments its loveless nature and ultimately turns to the illicit affections of another man.

Seemingly resigned to a marriage of convenience and a life of surreptitious pleasure, the countess surprises even herself as she ignites a marital spark with Ferenc through the most unromantic of acts: the violent punishment of an insolent female servant. The event shows Ferenc that his wife is no trophy but a strong, determined woman more than capable of managing their vast estates during Ferenc’s extensive military campaigns against the Turks. Her naked assertion of power accomplishes what her famed beauty could not: capturing the love of her husband.

The countess embraces this new role of loving wife and mother, doing everything she can to expand her husband’s power and secure her family’s future. But a darker side surfaces as Countess Báthory’s demand for virtue, obedience, and, above all, respect from her servants takes a sinister turn. What emerges is not only a disturbing, unflinching portrait of the deeds that gave Báthory the moniker “Blood Countess,” but an intimate look at the woman who became a monster.

Goodreads

The interview:

1. How did you first get interested in the Bathory legend/case?

I guess I've always been interested in serial killers and other assorted psychos—not in an obsessed kind of way, but curious in a writerly way, how some people are able to convince themselves that murder is justifiable or even desirable.  For me, character is always paramount when I’m thinking of writing a book, and serial killers make great characters.  A woman serial killer, too—a powerful noblewoman with a famous family, locked in a tower for the last years of her life.  How gothic!  Who wouldn’t want to write about her?

My first book was about nice people trying to get by in some not-so-nice circumstances.  I was aching for the chance to write about some not-so-nice people for a change.  Bad people doing bad things makes for good fiction.

2. You have meticulously researched Bathory's life. How long did it take you to write The Countess?

It helps (at least from a time-management standpoint) that there are so few decent non-fiction books in English about Báthory, only two or three really.  A lot of the others read like S&M manuals, and most are heavily reliant on myth instead of fact.  When I finally found some reliable, dispassionate historical sources, I read each two or three times so that I really knew the story, and then I wrote (literally) like a madwoman.  The first draft took about nine months, and then another six for revision.  I can actually write fairly fast once I get on a roll, maybe five pages a day or so.

3. As I read the book, I find myself having a great deal of sympathy for Elizabeth on many occasions. Did you find this true for yourself as well?

Absolutely.  And that was a deliberate choice—not because I believe her when she says she’s innocent, but because I want to believe her.  I keep hoping she’s not going to do the things she’s accused of doing, that it’s really going to be some terrible mistake, but of course it isn’t.  For most of us murder is so foreign to our understanding of ourselves—something we can’t imagine ourselves actually committing—that I think it’s only natural to place murderers in a category as people completely separate from ourselves.  In this book I wanted the reader to get uncomfortably close to her view of the world, see things through her eyes, but who’s going to do that if they don’t like her, at least a little bit?  She starts off in the novel as a child, and it’s hard not to sympathize with a child.  But as the story goes on, that sympathy starts to erode.  It’s a little bit like sitting next to someone on an airplane as he tells you his life story, and little by little you realize he’s completely nuts.  You don’t start out wanting to dislike him, but that’s where you end up.

4. I find it interesting how the Countess relates to women and how she interacts with men. Why do you think she has different relationships with men than she does with women?

She is encouraged from a young age to view the men in her life as her saviors and protectors, and their love as her ultimate achievement.  But if her most important role in life is to secure the love of a man—any man, including her son—to protect herself, then other women are nothing but threats.  Any woman who might prove herself to be too attractive to a man is not someone Bathory befriends.  She surrounds herself with oddities, so that in comparison she always looks better.  Most women of her station would have as her inner circle refined friends and relations, people of equal or only slightly lesser stature, while Bathory’s most trusted confidantes are the ugliest, roughest women in the household, women who don’t threaten her sense of herself.

5. What was your overall impression of Elizabeth Bathory as a person?

I think she suffered from a massive ego and an enormous sense of entitlement that came with her wealth and her powerful name.  And yet she was a loving, even doting mother, and clearly a capable businesswoman.  At a time when most families in Hungary were struggling financially, she managed to build her family’s wealth and influence, even after her husband died.  This image of her as a blood-crazed psychopath doesn’t jibe with the intelligent, well-educated and influential person she was during her lifetime.  I do think she was capable of violence, and of viewing people, especially servants, as possessions, which then would give her the ability to look on their suffering as insignificant.  Remember this was a time when people believed that wealth and consequence were things bestowed by God rather than good fortune—if you were rich, it must be because you were more virtuous.  God would never let the unjust be prosperous, right?

I do wonder, though, if anyone would have cared what happened to her servants if her nephew Gabor hadn't been causing so much turmoil in Transylvania at the time.  The palatine had plenty of reasons for imprisoning her other than murder, which I think the book explores pretty thoroughly.  There are some Eastern European scholars who think she was absolutely framed.  I don't agree with that assessment, but I can see where they'd get the idea.

6. If you could pick music to play while you read this book, what would it be? (Did you listen to anything when you wrote it?)

I always listen to music when I write.  I usually write in coffee shops (if I try to write at home I end up, instead, having the cleanest house in town) so I usually need something on in the background to drown out the sounds of other people around me.  My playlist for this novel included some Fleet Foxes, Sun Kil Moon, and The Shins to get me warmed up, and then I switch to music without words so I can concentrate.  The Cocteau Twins are great to write to.  I like jazz too, especially Miles Davis.

7.  What are some of your favorite authors?

Oh, dear, do I really have to pick?  I think more of favorite books than favorite authors, books like Nabokov’s Lolita and David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas and John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces and Shirley Hazzard’s The Transit of Venus and William Maxwell’s Time Will Darken It.  I can’t say that I’ve read all the books published by those authors, but those books stand out without having read everything by each author.

8. Are you a fan of vampire movies and books? Do you think Elizabeth Bathory falls into their ranks, or was she more a victim of her time?

I would not list Bathory among the vampires.  She absolutely was not a blood-bather or -drinker of any kind—that’s a Victorian idea that got grafted onto her story more than a hundred years after she died, when the witch trials were really gathering speed.  Those claims don’t appear anywhere in the actual testimony of witnesses called upon when the palatine was gathering evidence against her.  Nor did she kill 600+ girls (a claim made by only one “witness” out of hundreds, who heard it secondhand from someone else and reported it as fact, a series of events that definitely would not stand up in a modern court).  Her four senior servants, who were really the only people in a position to know, listed the number of her victims very reliably at between 35 and 80, and really, isn’t that enough?  Part of what interested me in her story was that these “facts” (the blood-bathing and 600 victims) are stated over and over with such authority by so many when really neither of them is true.  I wanted to get at the historical Bathory, not the Bathory of legend.  The historical Bathory is a victim of nothing but her own massive ego.  Like most people, she does the really permanent damage to herself.

As for vampire books, I recently finished The Passage by Justin Cronin, which I loved and which is so different from his first book, Mary and O’Neil, which I also loved and which is much closer to what I normally read.  The Passage is so smart, so well-written and engrossing, I can’t wait for The Twelve to come out.  But honestly I don’t usually read much vampire fiction.  I find Dracula irritatingly Victorian in its treatment of the female characters as poor victims, fainting flowers who must be protected by the big strong men in their lives.  I don’t know any women like that in real life, do you?  Intellectually I suppose I understand the draw in the sensual power of bloodlust and the undercurrent of sex, but vampires are not my favorite monsters.  I’m more interested in humans.

9. Do you find it easier to write loosely or outline your work? Perhaps a combination of the two? Aspiring writers would love to know...

I like to write loosely, with maybe a few “beats” plotted out and an endpoint in mind but not a real firm commitment to any particular plotline.  My stories are driven by character, so I like to be able to surprise myself, to make connections in a story that maybe I wouldn’t have thought of beforehand.  If I write a detailed outline, I am instantly not interested in writing the story any longer.  I write because I want to know what happens, too, and most importantly why it happens.

10. What is your next project?

I think here I will plead the fifth.  I have so many new ideas that I go back and forth every day trying to decide which one to do next.  If I say for certain which one it is today, tomorrow it will be something different.  My husband keeps telling me I need to commit, to stop cheating on all my literary wives.  But I’m hoping to know for sure by the end of the year and have a chunk of a new draft written.

Thank you Rebecca for such a wonderful interview!

Now for the giveaway!

Dark Faery Creations: A Witches Tea Delight

the-witchs-tea-party

darkfaerie

My creations come from that place between sleep and awake, a magical place where the world is kinder. I hope to tell a story with my art...to inspire people to see life in a more beautiful and compassionate way.

I am a vegan artist. I have been vegan for 7 years and it is has a huge impact on the art I create and the materials I use. I don't believe that any creature should suffer for any reason...and this goes for art as well.

I am a southern girl who has made her way north. I live with my husband and two kids in a sleepy little village in central New Jersey. In between my son's hockey games and my daughter's finger painting I manage to carve out some creative time for myself. It's not always easy but to me it's like breathing...art is a necessity!

Join Elise for a Witches Tea Memory on The Witches Tea Day 

Two...Don't forget to sign up for the giveaway!

When I first saw the Witches Tea print, I fell in love with Elise's work. Dark Faery Creations has some of the loveliest prints and dolls ever! Stop over to her Etsy shop and let her know how much you have enjoyed seeing her work.

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Under a Halloween Moon- The Witches Tea Party- Day One...

Underneath a Halloween moon

Witches dance to 

Their own sweet tune

Fires burning in the night

Cauldrons bubble

Ravens flight

Besoms fly 

Higher than the stars

Welcome to Halloween!

This night is ours!





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This year, my autumn tea time memory is gathering with my group of needlework friends over cups of hot tea (them) and a large Mountain Dew (me) and obsessing about life, politics, crochet, stitching and pretty much getting nothing done because we were having so much fun talking the whole time. 

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Time spent with these wonderful ladies is one of the cherished things of my life. Laughing, sharing recipes, showing each other the latest needlework (or in my case, the lack thereof lately), talking about witchy books (or any books), the newest shows on television and how shriveled up our yards have gotten this summer due to the drought here in Houston is an afternoon wonderfully spent.


Join me as I wander through memories of teas long past and the stitches of things to come...

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Roseanne's Scarf

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My sampler in the works...



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Thoughts of friendships, old and new....



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Memories held in little china cups...

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Friendships forged over time and sometimes distance...



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Building love and life one day at a time...

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Celebrating the magic wherever we find it...



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May your Halloween be bright

May your tea be strong

May your friendships last you

Your whole life long...

Blessed be.

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Thank you for joining me for tea time memories...
Please stay a moment and visit the party favors while you are here.
There are giveaways from October 21-31.
Please also stop in to Zombie Girl Shambling for more
Halloween fun...


Stop back in tomorrow for Day Two!







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