New Age, Inspirational Non-Fiction
Date Published: October 26, 2018
Publisher: Moon Books
Winner of the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award in the New Age Category for 2018!
Everyday Enchantments is a love letter to the magic of everyday life, the sweet moments and the profound that we often overlook in our hurry to get from one place to the next. What if we had the power to unplug from our daily hustle and bustle and conjure a more profound way of living rooted in natural mysticism?
We do. All it takes is the whispered wish for more everyday enchantment breathed onto a dandelion head. This collection of essays reminds us to escape into the ordinary, find beauty in a simple cup of tea or rereading a beloved novel—and joyfully let our world turn upside down when synchronicity strikes in the form of wrong turns down forgotten lanes and unexpected midnight conversations with the moon.
This book is a study in what it means to live deliciously, joyfully, and magically. And it’s an invitation to conjure your own bliss—-because let’s face it: we could all use a little more magic in our lives.
Interview with Author Maria DeBlassie
As a writer,
what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
Definitely Coyote, the trickster animal spirit of the
American Southwest. I can’t get too tight or rigid about my
writing, otherwise it goes wonky and refuses to speak to me.
If I stay loose, letting the magic
flow, then the words flow too. Coyote is
always there to remind me to stay
playful, curious, and wild.
How many hours
a day do you put into your writing?
I write a little everyday.
I’m a teacher by day, so sometimes my writing looks like sneaking in a few
minutes here and there, writing on napkins
or scraps of paper. Sometimes, I’m
lucky, and get a whole hour. And when I’m feeling really indulgent, I get
a weekend where I can write,
garden, cook, and do yoga.
Do you read
your book reviews? If yes, do they affect what you write in the future?
I read my book reviews, mostly because I’m curious to see
how people view my
writing, something that I’ve been quietly working on for years at my writing desk with a very small
audience—just me and the
robin outside my window. Now that I have
a bigger audience, it is wonderful to
see how many fellow introverts and seekers of everyday magic there are.
Sure, you get a bad review every once in a while, but I
love those too. I get
complaints that my book makes the reader slow down and pause, and that it has too many culturally specific
experiences— I am a mestiza
living in the desert Southwest, after all.
Those reviews
are completely accurate! My book won’t
appeal to people who don’t
want to unplug from mindless busy or prefer to rush through stories. It won’t appeal to people uncomfortable
reading about experiences
outside of their norm or unwilling to explore the commonalities
between cultures. This is a slow book
and a quiet book, asking you
to create space for simple pleasures and the mystic inherent in daily life.
Do you leave
hidden messages in your books that only a few people will find?
I think there are little morsels of wisdom tucked into the
pages of my book.
What’s striking is what bit of magic each reader discovers. Some readers love the way I
saturate their senses and help them rediscover
joy, other appreciate the explorations of natural magic. It’s different
for everyone!
Can
you tell us a little bit about the characters in Everyday Enchantments?
Everyday
Enchantments is a love letter to the magic of everyday life. The book features a series of short
poetic essays about sacred simple pleasures—from a good book
to a cup of tea—and those
synchronous moments that set us back on our path. It’s a handful
of inspirations designed to help readers find the bliss in their own lives.
Can
you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the
future?
My current project is called Tarot
Tuesdays, or #TarotTuesdays if you are
on social media. It’s a series of
78-word stories based on the 78-cards
in the tarot deck and synchronicity.
Each week, I draw a new card,
learn about its role in the tarot, and, with the help of meaningful coincidences, write my story.
I’ll say this about my journey into tarot so
far: The magic doesn’t lie. The cards
always tell me exactly what
I need to hear! I’m so grateful for this
new project because it gives
me an opportunity to meditate on the magic of these cards.
Do
you allow yourself a certain number of hours to write or do you write as long
as the words come?
I write as long as
I feel the flow and stop just before I feel the words begin to run
out. I like to stop while there’s still
something to work on, that way when
I return to my writing desk, I have a good place to begin again.
Do
you have a certain number of words or pages you write per day?
I let the day
speak to me. Sometimes I write five
pages, sometimes five words, sometimes none at
all. I used to write more religiously, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve
learned to listen to the words and what they
need from me each day. It makes for
better stories.
What
inspires you to write?
I
love everyday life, corny as it sounds.
The magic of a Monday, the quiet bliss of an afternoon cup of
tea, the illicit joy of reading late into the
night…these are the simple pleasures that make life wonderful. It’s
easy to overlook them, get swept up in our to-do lists, but when we
pause and take in the beauty around us, we remember to be more than that to-do list. We glean wisdom in the whispering trees and the synchronous
happenings that punctuate our day. We
remember to dream. And that kind of ordinary joy is pure magic.
Would you rather
Read fiction or
non-fiction?
Both! I keep a few of each
going, so when I need to let the ideas of one book marinate, I can turn to
another.
Read series or
stand-alone?
I use to love series books, but have recently come to love the
stand-alone. There is something so
satisfying about knowing a story is complete on its own.
Read Science fiction or
horror?
Horror!
Read Stephen King or Dean
Koontz
Hmmmm….can’t decide!
Read the book or watch the
movie?
Both! Each genre brings
out different elements of a story.
Read an ebook or
paperback?
I hate to be so wishy washy but, again, both! I love a good paperback but also appreciate
having a stash of ebooks at my fingertips when I’m on the road.
Be trapped alone for one
month in a library with no computer or a room with a computer and Wi-Fi only?
The library, hands down.
Do a cross-country book
store tour or blog tour online?
Now this one is easy: blog tour online. I meet so many cool people from the comfort
of my home. Thank you so much for taking
the time to interview me!
About the Author
Maria DeBlassie, Ph.D. is a native New Mexican mestiza blogger, award-winning writer, and educator living in the Land of Enchantment. Her blogging life started as a year-long journey to write her back into happy, healthy, and whole through daily posts about life’s simple pleasures, everyday magic, and radical self-care. That year-long experiment turned into a lifestyle, a book, a press—and her ongoing blog, Enchantment Learning & Living. She is forever looking for magic in her life and somehow always finding more than she thought was there. Find out more about Maria and conjuring everyday magic at www.mariadeblassie.com.
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2 comments:
Thanks for hosting
Thanks for such a wonderful interview! It was a pleasure talking with you!
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