Shows
Writing the Broomstick{EP 23} Witches & Witchcraft 101: Getting Into the Mind of a WitchFor 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 beloved subjects: witches (for those of you who haven’t be...2021-10-2036 minWriting the Broomstick(EP. 22) Writing Prompts to Inspire Your Ghost StoryEver 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. But Katrina and Genny are sick of reading the same old...2021-10-1331 minWriting the Broomstick(EP. 21} The History and Cultural Origin of Halloween (or Samhain)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 rural farmers stared darkness in the face with a giant ce...2021-10-0623 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 20} Magical Abilities You Can Give Your Fantasy CharacterIf 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 want to sprinkle a little magic into your world?2021-09-1547 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 19} How to Get Creative Writing Time and Seasons in Your Fantasy NovelWriting 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 case you haven’t guessed it, that’s what w...2021-09-0127 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 18} The Origins of Satan + Tips on Writing About the Devil in Your Dark Fantasy or Horror NovelThe 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 and every iteration in between.As you’ll find out, it didn’t take...2021-08-1832 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 17} How to Create/Write About Cities, Real and ImaginedNew 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 sensesDraw a mapUse Google mapsSpend...2021-08-0436 minWriting the Broomstick{EP.16} Special Mini Episode: Satyrs!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 confusion about the difference between all these characters. We’re not...2021-07-2111 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 15} Mermaids in Fantasy Fiction (and Why We're So Goshdarn Fascinated)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 agree that mermaids were a real thing to ou...2021-07-0734 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 14} How to Create a Fantasy Villain Your Readers Love to HateVillains 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, or reason. Being evil for evil’s sake gets kinda boring, ya know? Even if you...2021-06-2337 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 13} Trees & Their Magical Properties, with Author & Tree Expert Sonja F. BlancoLast week we obsessed over plants, this week we swoon over trees. And who better to discuss trees and their magical properties than tree expert, landscape architect, and novelist Sonja F. Blanco. We were so beyond thrilled to have such a fascinating guest on today’s episode. Her upcoming fantasy novel, Witch of Ware Woods (set to release in October 2021), promises to make you fall in love with trees and enchanted forests. We wished we had time to cover all the trees on the planet, but Sonja carefully hand-picked her favourites, most of which are fea...2021-06-0958 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 12} Herbalism & Magic: Plants to Inspire Your Witchy Character's Magical PracticesWhat is a witch’s spell without plants? In today’s episode, Katrina and Genny dive into the world of herbalism and magic. Every plant on the planet is imbued with magical properties and health benefits, so we aren’t even going to try and tackle them all in one episode, cuz ain’t nobody got time for that. Instead, we pick a handful of the most interesting herbs and plants that your character might use to cast spells, heal their friends, and harm their enemies. Our picks for today’s episode are:AngelicaB...2021-05-2645 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 11} Top 10 Fantasy Tropes: To Love or Not to Love?We’re back! Not exactly from a long, summer holiday, but after two weeks, it felt like forever. In the first episode of our second season (yay!), we explore the topic of fantasy tropes. What are they? Do we love them? Do we hate them? Welp, the consensus is that tropes, in of themselves, are neither good nor bad, but if we rely too heavily on precedent, they can become cliché, tired, and make your readers roll their eyes and mutter, “Oh, here we go again.” So, if you find your WIP uses one of these t...2021-05-1956 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 10} How to Make Your Fantasy World More BelievableIn today’s episode, Katrina and Genny give you a blueprint (or questionnaire) to help you in the worldbuilding stage of your fantasy writing. Let these questions act as your worldbuilding guide:Ask yourself what kind of society your character lives inWhat are the different forms of governance?Is there a well-established class system? (low, middle, upper-class)Is there a strong proletariat? Do they feel exploited?How are labourers perceived by others? Are merchants respected by the upper-class?How does your character’s society treat the poor, sick, elderly, and marginalized?Do mythological creatures mix with huma...2021-04-2834 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 9} How to Get Book Reviews & Handle the Bad Ones Like a Boss (and NOT React like Lauren Hough)Last week, the literary world was shook by an author’s craptastic idea to publicly insult people who left 4-star reviews on her GoodReads book page. She was so horrible about it that BookTwitter unleashed the type of vengeance only avid book lovers could devise…they attacked this author’s GoodReads book page with 1-star reviews. That’s right. Before the book was even a few days old, Lauren Hough’s (let’s just say her name, we all know who we’re talking about, right?) book, which was a widely anticipated collection of personal essays, had ove...2021-04-2129 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 8} Marketing Your Book 101 with Publisher/Author/Coach Alexa BigwarfeHave you decided to self-publish your novel, or are you set on going after a traditional publisher? Guess what: It doesn’t matter which publishing route you take because no matter what, you’re going to have to self-promote your little heart out, my dears.But don’t take our word for it! In today’s episode, we’re interviewing Alexa Bigwarfe, the founder and CEO of Write, Publish, Sell—not to mention Katrina’s publisher! Alexa’s company offers authors writing and publishing solutions from marketing to launching to printing to cover design and TONS more. Alexa...2021-04-1455 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 7} Impostor Syndrome for Writers & How to Manage itWhat is impostor syndrome? Maybe you’ve heard this pop psychology phrase buzzing around social media lately, or maybe you’re hearing it for the first time. Put simply, impostor syndrome is the belief that you are a fraud. If you’re a writer and you have impostor syndrome, you don’t feel like you’re really a writer, no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary. We’re here to tell you that impostor syndrome is a load of codswallop!In this episode, Katrina and Genny explore this phenomenon i...2021-03-3134 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 6} Faeries, Warlocks, Black Cats & Witchcraft: Your Questions AnsweredWhat’s the difference between magic and witchcraft? Are faeries big or small—and why, pray tell, are there so many variations of them? What is the connection between black cats and witches? And what are warlocks, really, because they’re actually not what most people think they are.These are the questions we hope to answer in today’s episode. These questions were asked by listeners, and we have to admit that we had a lot of fun diving right into fantasy land. But what did we really learn from this little investiga...2021-03-2420 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 5} Fantasy Subgenres: What Are the Differences Between Urban Fantasy, Magical Realism & Paranormal Fiction?Fantasy: Anything not based in reality. Seems like a simple enough definition, but when it comes to literature, there’s so much more to it than that. In this episode, Katrina and Genny break down the fantasy genre and take a closer look into the most popular fantasy subgenres:Urban fantasyMagical realismParanormal fictionWe also explain the difference between high and low fantasy, but even we have trouble applying these definitions to real-life examples. You’ll quickly see that as clear-cut as these definitions are, there’s always obvious overlap. Having said that, it’s SUPER imp...2021-03-1735 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 4} Why Are People So Effing Obsessed With Vampires?We have just one question: Why vampires? In this episode, we’re taking a closer look at these blood-thirsty sons of b*t***s—from Dracula to Twilight, to everything in between—and breaking down why so many people continue to be OBSESSED.Our spin is that we’re looking at this from two different perspectives—Genny’s swoony over them (and gets a little hyper as a result) and Katrina never really saw the appeal (and thus lets her have her moments).Some popular opinions: They’re just plain sexy and badass, and the fact that they...2021-03-1038 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 2} Traditional vs. Indie Publishing for First-Time AuthorsIn our second episode, Katrina gives us the low-down on self-publishing for fantasy writers and Genny maintains her cheerleader status for traditional publishing. We go through the pros and cons of both forms of publishing, and Katrina waits patiently for Genny to finish singing. Also, when discussing the film adaptation of The Martian by Andy Weir, we get a little too flustered about Matt Damon.Here’s a spoiler: Whichever way you decide to publish your book, perseverance and dedication are key. Never give up, never surrender!DISCLAIMER: The audio still isn't flawless at...2021-03-0240 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 1} Books to Inspire Your WorldbuildingIn our very first episode, we take a look at the books that inspired us in our worldbuilding and writing. We thought it would be a piece of cake to name all the books that helped us create our own fantasy worlds, but it turned out to be quite difficult. The result: Apparently Genny is super into Greek mythology and Katrina is obsessed with Irish folklore. If you get nothing else from this episode, hopefully you're inspired to broaden your horizons and realize that when it comes to fantasy, there are no books you SHOULD r...2021-03-0237 minWriting the Broomstick{EP. 3} What Kind of Witch Is Your Fantasy Character?In our third episode, Katrina and Genny dive into the different witchy “types” that might resemble your fantasy protagonist or secondary character. We also show the difference between a witch type (good) and a witch stereotype (bad)—although, we do toss around the word archetype in there willy-nilly. Genny’s dog, Hazel, serenades us throughout the episode with her sultry Lauren Bacall bark, while Katrina reveals that she records with her head in a padded box. Throughout the episode, we sprinkle some serious love and devotion to Deborah Harkness and her character Diana Bishop from the All...2021-03-0238 min