Witches' Almanac #31: The Little Warrior

The Witches' Almanac has posted their table of contents for the 2012-2013 issue. My article, "The Little Warrior: A Protective Talisman" is listed along with a number of fascinating selections.

I always marvel at the diversity of articles they manage to assemble. Here are some more examples:

Weather Lore in Rural Pennsylvania, Astrology of the Vampires, Gettysburg: America’s Ghost Hunting Paradise, Museum of Witchcraft Diamond Jubilee, and The Locavore Revolution. It also has an article on the Tarot Sun card by renowned author, Paul Huson, a tarot expert, screenwriter, and novelist.

One of the more popular regular features of The Witches' Almanac is the yearly astrological forecast for each sign by Dikki-Jo Mullen, who now has a blog at dikkijomullen.wordpress.com. Dikki-Jo has been their house astrologer for ages.

The Witches' Almanac has been publishing since 1971, and I look forward to it each year. This is the seventh time I've contributed an article to the issue.

Divination as Writing Tool Panel At Pi-Con

Pi-Con - August 26-28, 2011, an annual convention in the Springfield, MA/Enfield, CT area of New England, describes itself as a celebration of geekery. Just that description is enough to want to make you go, right?

On Saturday, August 27, at 7:00 pm, in the Suffield conference room, I'll be on a panel called "Tarot & Divination as Writing Tools" where you'll learn how authors use divination tools in their writing. Participants include KT Pinto (moderator), Catt Kingsgrave, Genevieve Iseult Eldredge, Trisha Wooldridge, and me, Morven Westfield.

Stop by for what I'm sure will be a fascinating panel.

The entire Pi-Con schedule is posted on their website.

Book Review: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've always been fascinated with death. I don't know whether my interested in vampires, ghosts, and other things beyond the grave fed my interest or vice versa, but that, combined with a strong curiosity about the human body made this book a natural addition to my bookshelf.

Roach does not disappoint. She gives you the scientific detail, but explained in such a way that us mere mortals can not only comprehend, but appreciate, what she's telling us. Her dry humor comes through, especially since she's the one reading the book to us. (I listened to the audio edition.)

I loved this book. If you're fascinated with death, medicine, or general science, give it a shot.

View all my reviews

Broad Universe Annual Meeting

I'm a member of Broad Universe, a nonprofit international organization of women and men dedicated to celebrating and promoting the work of women writers of science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been busy helping them launch their first ever virtual annual meeting. Prior to 2011, Broad Universe held its annual meeting at WisCon, a feminist science fiction convention held in Madison, Wisconsin. Broad Universe is moving it to a virtual location to make it possible for more members to attend.

As a member of the Motherboard, I'll be speaking briefly, but mostly I'll be the "woman behind the curtains", trying to prevent problems and solve them as they arrive.

Here's the announcement.

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Broad Universe will have an open annual meeting on August 14, 2011, at 7pm Eastern Time (US/Canada). This will be different from previous annual meetings in that it will be virtual -- that is, a large-scale conference call and web presentation.

New president Trisha Wooldridge will chair the meeting, which starts with a message from our outgoing president, Phoebe Wray. Other members of the Motherboard will describe what we've been doing this past year, and all will talk about our plans for the future. At the end, we'll answer questions that have been submitted.

If you're interested in attending, visit our Annual Meeting FAQ page. The meeting is open to both paid Broad Universe members and non-members.

The meeting will be recorded so that those who can't attend will be able to listen later.

Broad Universe is a nonprofit organization under US Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3).