Inspiration for the Book:
Healing in the Woods was initially inspired by my own first breakup. Thanks to my 7th grade teacher at Lake Local, Ms. Janis Kaylor, I learned quite early that writing could be very cathartic. As the story developed, many of my other experiences of being bullied in school, and even later as an adult, worked their way into the storyline.
Of course I changed some of the names to protect the guilty while others just popped into my head. The main character, Annie, is a version of my middle name and the last name of Ductworth came to me when I woke up from a nap, saw a roll of Duct Tape and thought it would be perfect on her mouth.
Fortunately, I was able to find a publisher with similar experiences, though for different reasons, and wish to publicly commend Eric Vernor of Dark Moon Press for turning to law enforcement and helping others instead of repeating the cycle as so many victims of bullying do.
Other forms of self-empowerment:
While herbalism is the primary form of self-empowerment in this book, sigils are also used to show the power of intent. Many other changes in perspective are used to further the story while empowering the characters as well. These include reality checks, models of the world and reframing learned from Neuro Linguistic Programming:
Other mentors:
When I first realized I was a Witch, I was still sorting through all of the misinformation I had been fed over my first 30yrs. Like most, I wanted to find a teacher to help me learn and avoid mistakes. Fortunately, a good friend of mine told me there would be many teachers to cross my path when the time was right and only when I was ready to learn from them. Since then, I have had the good fortune to meet many mentors along the way. First Anna Calhoun when we happened into her Smoky Crystal shop. She guided me to both Cindi Pettit and Eric Vernor of Dark Moon Press. I later met Patricia DeSandro, Lady Bona Dea Lyonesse student of Lady Circe and Founder of Circle of the Sacred Grove – Temple of the Old Religion, who also referred me to Eric and to the Art & Performance Center of West Toledo.
Why 20yrs to finish the book:
I guess, like most people, life happens and, as with most Empaths, the needs of others seem to take priority. To be honest though, much of the time lost was from a fear of success or failure and from coming out of the Broom Closet. Those are the mistakes that stay with me, the ones that I regret, are the ones that I made because of fear.
Eventually, I began to learn to use stress as motivation to shape me instead of allowing it to control me. Yes, I was bullied but the real violence, the violence that I realized was unforgivable, is the violence that we do to ourselves, when we’re too afraid to be who we really are.
What DMP has to offer:
How much time do you have? After I finally committed to publishing my book, I wasn’t sure weather to self-publish on Amazon or plaster my walls with rejection letters so I did all the dreaded research and even made a self-publish marketing plan.
What first attracted me to Dark Moon press was the ease and clarity of their submission page; the option to wholesale DMP books for 50% discount didn’t hurt either:
Regardless, I knew that, if I really cared about my readers, I had to first have my book professionally edited. To say Cindi acts the part of an eccentric Aunt when it comes to nurturing a book is an understatement. I remember several evenings fondly in chat or on the phone discussing everything from #grammargirl to completely unrelated #foodporn. By the time we finished, my story was a quality book I could be proud to share with my readers.
Before even signing my contract, I found out DMP is also a we. Eric invited me to join the DMP Authors private Facebook group where they not only offer advice and encouragement but share other skills like editing, social media and other marketing contacts. Eric also offers personal coaching and training from his 13 years in publishing on everything from time management and public speaking to building your readership before even publishing your first book.
Most Authors dream of being picked up by a big publishing house and don’t realize they still have to do their own marketing. Yes, you can get a marketing boost and keep more of the profit on Amazon but you need seed money for a quality book and still have to do any additional marketing yourself.
For over 13 years Eric has carried now over 250 DMP books with him to personally cross-promote more than 50 Authors and even encourages them to buy wholesale to keep a majority of the profit. Even Author events are cross promoted on their Events page. They even cater to readers by rolling out a free book review program and networking to offer personalized autographed editions direct from many of their Authors.
Let’s review:
Readers: FREE book review program
Authors: 50% discount to make more profit from your books
Free personalized autograph, bookmark and sneak peek of book #2 at my next signing or when you buy from HABryan.com
