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?
JD Simpson: The title of my story is “Cedar Lodge.” I like to think that in the end, it is a story about choices: good ones, bad ones, and the potential to change. Is it possible to fix the past? And if not, is it at least possible to fix the future?
FHBH: How did you go about writing your story? Lot of research? Or did you just wing it?
JDS: Althugh “Cedar Lodge” is not based on any real-world location, the woods of Kentucky and the Roman bridges of Spain certainly had an influence on the setting. I read a lot of history to unwind at the end of the day, and books like Julio Caro Baroja‘s book, The World Of The Witches, inspired some elements of the story.
FHBH: What draws you to the character and theme of “the witch”? What do you find so compelling about it?
JDS: In “Cedar Lodge,” I wanted to explore what “witchcraft” might have meant to many individuals. For some, a tradition or a mysterious power; for others, a danger ot the natural order.
