Writing the Broomstick Podcast

16/11/2021

Woohoo!

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10/11/2021

Hey writers and weavers, we come to you with some sombre news. Due to our insane and unpredictable schedules, our small recording window thanks to our time difference, and our boring adult responsibilities, we are pressing pause on the Writing the Broomstick podcast.

It's been a wild and wonderful ride, and we can't thank you enough for listening and bearing with us during our inappropriate rants, unsolicited opinions, bad jokes, and tech issues.

We started this venture as a way for us to stay connected while we went about our daily lives on opposite sides of the globe, in the hopes that our passion for fantasy stories and magic would trickle down to others. And from the positive feedback you've given us so far, we can safely say mission accomplished! Even if not on a grand scale.

We leave you with this: as you continue your writing endeavours, do remember why you're telling this story. And even before taking to the page, convince yourself first that the magic you're about to weave into words is, indeed, real.

Ciao ciao for now now✌️🖤

P.S. All of our episodes will still be available wherever you get your podcasts, so please continue to spread the magic! 🔮✨

20/10/2021

For 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 been paying attention). Because of the immensity of this topic, we decided to focus on what it’s really, really like to be a witch in modern society.

We want to give our writers more insight into the devotional aspect of witchcraft, so not only do we understand the spiritual mechanics behind spellcasting, we also open up the discussion to rituals in general.

We try our best not to go off on crazy tangents because it really is a subject we’re both passionate about, but alas, we make a brief stop to talk about the history of witch persecution (Katrina gets very upset).

Call it kismet, fate, or the divine workings of the universe, our resident tree expert, Sonja Blanco, has just released her new book this week, and we couldn’t have planned our episode at a better time?! Be sure to get your copy of Witch of Ware Woods today on Amazon! 🖤

06/10/2021

WE'RE BACK, writers and weavers, for season three of Writing the Broomstick! And we've got a special month of Halloween-themed episodes planned for the whole month. 🎃

At last, we've entered the spookiest time of year. When the veil that separates the living and the dead gets dangerously thin. 👻👻

In ancient Ireland, the Celts celebrated with the Samhain festival 🔥—a time when rural farmers stared darkness in the face with a giant celebration and where spirits roamed the earth.

But how did Samhain evolve into Halloween?

Katrina and Genny take you on a quick tour throughout Celtic Ireland 🍀 where the seeds of our modern-day Halloween were sown. We discuss the origins of the Jack-o-lantern, trick-or-treating, costumes, and spookiness in general.

We then trail off into dreamland where both girls share their experiences of Halloweens gone by.

20/09/2021

That last one still hurts us.

😡😡😡

15/09/2021

If 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 wind? 🌬️ 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.

Before we dive in, we make the distinction between superpowers and magical abilities, because some of us might not even remember a time when there wasn’t a new superhero movie every three months, and we want to make sure everyone knows the difference between the two.

We also go a bit deeper into the conversation to help you think about your character’s story arc.

🖤🖤🖤🖤

And Hooray! 🙌 🎊 We made it to episode 10...not without incident, swearing, scheduling conflicts, technical difficulties, and moments of crippling self-doubt along the way.

Before we shut down for a few weeks and get ourselves ready for an explosive Halloween-heavy, spooky, scary month of episodes, we just want to say thank you all SO MUCH for listening to two girls rant about writing, fantasy books, witches, and random moments of real life.

We’ll be back in just a few weeks to start season three! 🍁🍂🎃

18/08/2021

🔥 The 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.

While we loved talking about Satan the character, we also wanted to share some helpful writing tips for any dark fantasy writers out there who wanted to take a stab at creating their own version of this dark and evil figure.

Are you featuring the guy downstairs in your novel? How are you approaching it?

📷 Saarvendra

17/08/2021

👀

RESIST.

04/08/2021

New 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?

Have a listen for our insightful (we think so) tips!

What else happens in this episode? Well, Katrina and Genny revisit their experience of Edinburgh ghost tours (which we highly recommend—warning: pooping your pants may occur!); Katrina gives us her expert opinion about how to treat existing cities with care, and both girls get Beatlemania over Neil Gaiman….again. (Oh, Neil! If only you knew how much we loved thee!)

★ ★ ★

Do you like Celtic folklore, YA urban fantasy, AND free stuff? Read the first three chapters of Katrina’s debut novel, “The Wise One”.

And, if you want to see what Genny’s reading lately, check out her Goodreads review page. All links in bio! 🔗

📷

07/07/2021

Sometimes she’s good, sometimes she’s bad, sometimes she lures sailors to their death, sometimes she’s a nice lady that brings you fame and fortune and dinglehoppers...

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?

What else happens in this episode? Well, Katrina shot this episode in her childhood bedroom (it’s a long story), in case you’re wondering why she sounds like she’s in a bat cave, and Genny takes a crack at dramatic narrations. Plus, we’ve got book suggestions for you! 📚

Do YOU have a fascinating with mermaids (and do you believe in them? 🤔)

09/06/2021

Last 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 featured heavily in her novel:

🌳 Sugar Maple
🌳 White Pine
🌳 Black Birch
🌳 Willow
🌳 American Chestnut

She then blows our minds about all the many magical and medicinal properties of each tree (and their historical significance), and Katrina and Genny spend most of the episode “ooohing” and “awwwwing” over every little tidbit. We’re certain you’ll gobble up everything Sonja has to say.

Let this episode restore your faith in nature and inspire your writing. Have a listen wherever you get your podcasts! 🎧

P.S. We had some sound issues on our guest's end, but we promise it's worth it!

You can follow Sonja here:
https://sonjafblanco.com/
https://www.facebook.com/sonjafblanco
https://twitter.com/sonja_blanco
https://www.instagram.com/sonjafblanco/

26/05/2021

What is a witch’s spell without plants? In today’s episode, we 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:

🌱 Angelica
🌾 Belladonna
🌵 Cactus
🌿 Basil
🍋 Lemon Balm
🪴 Mugwort
🌱 Yarrow
🌿 Wolfsbane
🌾 Rue
🪴 Dittany of Crete
🌱 Dragon’s Blood

We simply cannot help but release a few giggles when we read to you these amazing folk names (you’ll understand when you hear them).

With each reading, we give a list of its magical and medicinal uses that will hopefully inspire your writing!

If you’re writing about a green witch or a kitchen witch, this is the perfect episode to tap into the wonderful world of herbalism and folk magic.
🌌 Drop a listen wherever you get your podcasts!

Learn more about us, advertise your product/service, or get in touch: writingthebroomstick.com

12/05/2021

Which fantasy tropes do you hate? Which do absolutely LOVE?

Love 💜: We're pretty easy to please. Give us a prophecy and a bad-tempered (and hot) magical being turned soft, maybe some undiscovered powers, a good ol' fashioned journey across an epic landscape, and we're happy campers.

Not a fan 👎: The misunderstood vampire (it was good during the craze, but way over it). The bad witch (come up with another villain, will you?). And speaking of villains, what about when they're bad JUST to be BAD? Not convinced. Dimension, dimension, dimension.

What about you?

28/04/2021

In today’s episode, Katrina and Genny give you a blueprint (or questionnaire) to help you in the worldbuilding stage of your fantasy writing.

You don’t necessarily have to answer all these questions; rather, let these questions act as your worldbuilding guide.

🔊 Listen for the full questionnaire!

After we go through these questions, Katrina and Genny give sage advice about worldbuilding from famous authors like Neil Gaiman and Leigh Bardugo.

Both hosts talk about their own worldbuilding experiences, and Genny gives a brief anecdote about hiring a developmental editor to edit her synopsis (oh, what a dreaded thing that is!).
🌌 Drop a listen wherever you get your podcasts!

Learn more about us, advertise your product/service, or get in touch: writingthebroomstick.com 🌌

21/04/2021

When your mom is your biggest fan and she doesn't even know it

21/04/2021

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 over 1,500 1-star reviews, which means that her book rating is now essentially meaningless.

We also talk about why giving a book a 1-star review simply because the author is an as***le misses the whole point and importance of these review sites.

By the way, did we mention that getting a 4-star review on Goodreads is actually amazing? Many writers would swoon over a review that good, but we’d settle for any, ANY review at all.

Last week, we polled a few of our Facebook followers to get their advice on how to handle bad reviews, and their answers will definitely inspire you!

21/04/2021

Pretty much!

The audacity. 😒

14/04/2021

Have 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 with Alexa Bigwarfe — not to mention the publisher of our very own K.T. Anglehart, Author 🧚‍♀️

Alexa’s company offers authors writing and publishing solutions from marketing to launching to printing to cover design and TONS more. She floors us with her solid advice on how we need to market ourselves (and not just on social media) in order to find our readers and build our audience.

She’s been in the business for a long time, so writers, take notes!

Alexa has some solid marketing advice for authors out there, and here’s just a short highlight reel:

💜 If you haven’t started marketing your book by now, for the love of god, START!
💜 Traditional publishers don’t automatically have the budget to promote your book
💜 Witchy books are in!
💜 Don’t let your friend design your cover, unless said friend is, in fact, a book cover designer.
💜 No matter how hard you market your book, it still has to be written well (duh)...

We know you’ll be as excited listening to Alexa as we were interviewing her. Writing a book is a long and arduous journey, and no matter where you are in the process, you could probably use a little dose of expert advice.

And in the crazy competitive world of publishing, self-promotion is so gosh-darn-tootin'-frootin' important.

You can find Alexa’s contact details on her website (writepublishsell.com), PLUS you can also listen to her on her own podcast, the PublishHer Podcast with Alexa Bigwarfe.

13/04/2021

Editing our interview with self-publishing industry expert Alexa Bigwarfe, and we are legitimately flipping out. There is SO much wisdom here.

We cover resources, budgets, social media strategies, categories, cover design... EVERYTHING.

LIVE TOMORROW 💜

11/04/2021

Just had THE best conversation with publisher and bestselling author Alexa Bigwarfe from Write, Publish, Sell with Alexa Bigwarfe 💜

We can’t wait to share this Marketing for Authors 101 episode with you all on Wednesday! 🥳🥳 The information she shared is invaluable.

11/04/2021

👀

👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

08/04/2021

Best opening ever!

31/03/2021

EPISODE 7 IS LIVE! AND IT'S OUR BEST YET 🖤

What 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 in an effort to demonstrate why impostor syndrome is not only a bunch of nonsense, but also why it’s a complete waste of your time and creativity.

And yet, we understand that even though you may not actually be an impostor, your fears and doubts about yourself can be managed in a constructive way that stops giving those feelings of doubt any power. For example, if you feel you shouldn’t call yourself a writer because your grammar sucks, why not brush up on your grammar instead of thinking you’re a fraud?

We give some advice on how to recognize this creativity killer (whom Katrina has decided to name Burt, btw) and what to do when you notice it operating on you. We end the podcast with our own personal dealings with impostor syndrome—sorry, Burt—in hopes that you find inspiration, hope, and advice on how you too can ignore, de-escalate, and/or destroy your own Burt.
🌌 Drop a listen wherever it is you get your podcasts!

Learn more about us, advertise your product/service, or get in touch: writingthebroomstick.com 🌌

26/03/2021

Imposter syndrome is such a b**c* 👎

Does this sort of negative self-talk cloud your mind? Well don't fret, children. We're tackling this ugly thing in our next episode.

24/03/2021

What’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 investigation? It’s that you should never rely on pop culture references to learn the truth about witchy topics and fantasy characters. We said it once and we’ll say it again: Do your research! If you’re planning on writing about mythical creatures, don’t rely on “common knowledge”. Dig a little deeper.

Due to scheduling conflicts, Katrina and Genny had to record their parts separately, which made it easy to edit, but you won’t hear any of the usual banter or (never once asked for) impromptu song interludes. We didn’t even mention Deborah Harkness, for crying out loud!

If you’ve ever wanted to know the real answer behind these questions, sit back, relax, and hit play.

🌌 Drop a listen on Spotify, Apple, or Google!

Learn more about us, advertise your product/service, or get in touch: writingthebroomstick.com 🌌

17/03/2021

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 fantasy 🧙‍♀️
Magical realism 🔮
Paranormal fiction 🧛‍♀️

We also explain the difference between high and low fantasy, but even we have trouble applying these definitions to real-life examples. We guess that means that writers tend not to write in categories.

You’ll quickly see that as clear-cut as these definitions are, there’s always obvious overlap. For example, is Harry Potter urban fantasy? Is it low fantasy? What do you think?

Having said that, it’s SUPER important to know the correct genre of your book, and Katrina explains why. Genny gets a tad emotional when talking about Gabriel García Márquez, and Katrina explains why we might hear her say the word “genre” a little strangely. Of course, Deborah Harkness makes yet another appearance (if you see this post, we've literally talked about you 5 episodes in a row because we love you 💜) and Genny nearly forgets to sing!

If you’re interested in writing in these subgenres, our best advice is to start reading—and listen to this episode, of course.
🌌 Drop a listen on Spotify, Apple, or Google!

Learn more about us, advertise your product/service, or get in touch: writingthebroomstick.com 🌌

10/03/2021

The podcast where you'll get your dose of magic and dash of writing advice all in one juicy elixir. Join a couple of authors in our ramblings about all-things fantasy, paranormal fiction, and magical realism. Our goal is to help you iron out your mystical world and open up the floor to a weird and w...

16/02/2021

Hey listeners!
Our brand-new podcast will be available on March 3rd on Spotify and Apple, so stay tuned!