Welcome to the latest installment of the Witches Save the World Micro-Interviews! In honor of the upcoming Halloween/Samhain holiday, and in celebration of the release of Witches Save the World, Forests Haunted By Holiness will be featuring a series of interviews with the contributors throughout October.
Witches Save the World was a labor of love. Across these two volumes you will find poems, short stories, and essays celebrating the witch and their role as wisdom keeper, protector of nature, avenger of the forgotten, and defender of the oppressed. Individual poems and stories range from historical fantasy to contemporary horror to science fiction, with many questioning the nature and cost of honor, integrity, and freedom.
In concert with these interviews, one physical copy of Witches Save the World — either Hags, Harridans, and Hexes Gone Right or Covens, Cauldrons, and Curses Gone Right— will be given away at the end of the month! Two books, two winners! To enter the drawing, just comment below and share the interview on your favorite social media platform.
Ready? Let’s get started!
Forests Haunted By Holiness: What is the title of your story, and can you give us a spoiler-free summary?
Hugh Alan: My story is called “My Mother Keeps the Moon in Her Pocket,” and it is about moms, moms of moms, and how, even without magic, inscrutable mysteries exist between generations.
FHBH: How did you go about writing your story? Lot of research? Or did you just wing it?
HA: I think some of the inspiration came from watching the interactions between my wife (who is the mother of seven) and her own mother, and how that commonality of motherhood can be a touchstone — but does not always guarantee understanding.
FHBH: What draws you to the character and theme of “the witch”? What do you find so compelling about it?
HA: “Witch” is sometimes just a way of saying “empowered.” I am a girl-dad with two daughters, so stories that empower women are a soft spot for me. As someone who works in a library, I have loved watching how YA books have created a generation of young fantasy readers who devour books where girls are badasses!
