Hello and Good Morning, Friends and Fiends:
This week in the Madhouse, we're talking witches--one of my all time favorite topics, as most of you know! For the past few years, I've been seriously smitten with the archetype of the witch in literature, not to mention the practice of witchcraft in general. I've been reading book after grimoire, casting circle after hex, and the more I learn, the more I fall in love.
Which reminds me! If you're interested in this topic, I have a handful of podcasts that I would love to recommend to you: The Fat Feminist Witch, The Serpent Cast, The Witch Bitch Amateur Hour, and The Witch Wave.
But I digress! Today we're going to sit down with literal rock star poet, Donna Lynch, my fellow RDSP sister, and chat about her poetry collection, Witches, which is currently on the preliminary ballot for the Bram Stoker Award. Donna Lynch is the co-founder, lyricist, and singer of the dark electronic rock band Ego Likeness, and a horror poet, spoken word artist, and dark fiction author. She lives in Maryland with her partner- artist and musician Steven Archer, who you folks may know as the insane talent behind my--and the entire RDSP poetry line's--book covers.
So sit back, relax, and snuggle up with your familiars.
It's about to get delightfully dark.
With raven feathers and cat bones,
Stephanie M. Wytovich
I know one of the most popular
questions for #WiHM is who or what got you into horror, but what I want to
know, is what got you into witches/witchcraft?
There’s a
meme about how many little girls go through a seriously dark phase where they
are all about Ouija Boards and games like “Light as a Feather”, and convinced
they possess supernatural abilities. I don’t think I ever outgrew that. When I
abandoned ship on Christianity at age 13, I spent many years learning about and
practicing Wicca, but as I got older, I abandoned that, too. My personal
mythology regarding witches is a philosophy and a mindset, rather than a
religion. The witches I revere the most are either inhuman entities from
folklore and fiction who feed on fear and bones and curses, or actual people
who were accused and persecuted for their independence, mental health, or
defiance. I want to believe in magick, but have an easier time believing in
strong-willed desire. Maybe it’s one in the same.
Your collection Witches (Raw Dog
Screaming Press) is currently on the preliminary ballot for the Bram Stoker
Awards, and rightfully so! Congrats! Can you tell us a bit about your
collection? What gave you the idea to create this book, and in your opinion,
what does it represent at its most literal and figurative heights?
Thank you!
This book was a chance to honor those characters, embodied ideas, and the
spirits of those defiant people—some real, some imagined. Maybe that’s another
way I practice magick: offering praises to those entities. When you keep their
names on your tongue, you keep them alive and powerful.
Your husband, Steven Archer—who is
the best book cover artist in the world (and yes, I said that sincerely and a
little bit out of fear)—not only did the cover art for your book, but also did
the art for the interior as well. How do you two go about working on a
collaboration like this? Do you write to his art? Does he paint to your writing?
While I
agree he’s the best, the most he’ll do if you cross him is photoshop dogs
giving you middle fingers all over your book cover...or so I hear. I’ve had
such good experiences collaborating with him over the years. Daughters of
Lilith (RDSP 2010) was our first published collab, but years before that we did
a book/ art installation called “Twenty-Six” and then later, The Book of Keys,
all in the same format as Witches. Steven gives me the prompts with the
painting or illustration and often times a title or a short phrase. It’s my job
to find the story. It’s also been an extremely successful method of shaking me
out of writer’s block.
There are a LOT of seriously bad
ass magical women in your collection. Who was your favorite to write to/about
and why? Is there a particular type of witchcraft that you like writing about
the most?
My
favorites were the ones who were real people or based on real people. I loved
implying that their successes, failures, and fame were the result of their
otherworldly powers. “Morgan Le Fay and the Algonquin Round Table,” “The True
Sight of Mayhayley Lancaster,” “Some Like it Extremely Hot,” “The Father of
Crows”—they were the most fun. Tradition-wise, my favorite actual religion to
write about is Voudou. It makes the most sense to me and is so raw and
graceful, joyous and painful at the same time. Though I really do love
extending folklore into modern times. I’ll never tire of writing about
terrifying women in the wilderness who eat bones and scratch bloody symbols on
your door. One of my favorite movie scenes is in The Blair Witch Project: all
of those effigies hanging from the trees. I strive to capture in my writing how
that scene makes me feel.
Your poem “Circe & Her Victims”
is short, but hauntingly powerful, especially when put up against the artwork
behind it. Now for the mythology buffs out there, there are two legends
surrounding Circe: 1) that she is the daughter of Hecate and 2) that she is the
daughter of Helios (the sun god) and Perse (an ocean nymph). Which lifeline
does Circe live in for you? Or do you think she encapsulates them both?
This Circe
is the daughter of Hecate, taking care of business as needed.
If you could have one magical
power, what would it be and why?
To know things.
I don’t know enough things.
As a woman who writes about strong
female characters, and in this case witches who were persecuted and executed
for their bodies, sexuality, and craft, what takeaway do you hope your readers
leave your book with?One of my main goals in everything I write is to express the importance of pragmatism in a world run by emotion. It seems like—when talking about witches—I have that backwards, but it’s the people ruled by impulse and emotion who persecute those who try to live with reason and rationale. Hysteria doesn’t come from magick—even dark magick, it comes from fear. And my Witches are not afraid.
What books are sitting in your TBR pile?
The Sound of Building Coffins by Louis Maistros, two books by Donna Tartt- The Secret History and The Goldfinch, and Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles & Ted Orland.
What is next in store for your readers?
I have a much larger poetry collection slated for release this year through Raw Dog Screaming Press called Choking Back the Devil, a collection of short stories I may release through Patreon, and someday I will pick up the pace on a novel I’ve been struggling with for a few years. I love the premise, but ever since my brain got thrashed by Lyme Disease and the mental fog that comes along with Fibromyalgia, writing (and reading) in large chunks has become very difficult. I keep pushing, though. I have a character who really needs to tell her story and a terrible creature that has a lot to say, too.
What advice do you have for writers working in fiction?
When I figure it out, I’ll be sure to share, haha! Honestly, the question I get most often is “How do you write a story?” I don’t always know if people are looking for encouragement or if they believe there might be a formula, but the answer is simply “to write”. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just write it. Read a lot. Make connections. Be visible. Be humble and kind and make sure people know your name.
Follow Donna at:
- www.egolikeness.com
- Patreon.com/StevenArcher
- @GeekLioness on Twitter
- Donna Lynch on Facebook
- Ego Likeness on Facebook
- d_note_ on Instagram
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