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?
Jessica Fisher Riches: I wrote “The Last Well,” a folk horror story set in Communist Czechoslovakia. It follows Marta, a young witch from the Šumava Mountains who moves into town and gets a job as a nurse in a mental institution so she can search for the missing head of her coven. She uses her magic and access to the hospital, but has to face a secret police operative.
FHBH: How did you go about writing your story? Lots of research? Or did you just wing it?
JFR: I planned and plotted, and did quite a bit of research to get the terminology and language right for this story. Luckily, living in the Czech Republic gave me access to my pick of Czech speakers.
FHBH: What draws you to the character and theme of “the witch”? What do you find so compelling about it?
JFR: Just before I found this call for submissions, I saw Florence and the Machine play in Prague on her “Everybody Scream” tour. It was incredibly inspirational. But I’ve been obsessed with witches since elementary school and keep coming back to them in my writing. I love how they walk the line of light and dark, and also veer off in every direction an author could want.
