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?
Kim Malinowski: My story is titled “Tea Leaves” and the witch protagonist uses herbs and teas to explore human nature and crowd politics. She faces friends that have turned into enemies and her own feelings. How can she create small changes in a big world?
FHBH: How did you go about writing your story? Lots of research? Or did you just wing it?
KM: I did a lot of herb research, and I have friends that sell tea at an apothecary, so I had a visual idea of what tea can help with and how it would be blended. I also looked at literature that had similar repetition as a literary technique to give cadence and emotional resonance.
FHBH: What draws you to the character and theme of “the witch”? What do you find so compelling about it?
KM: I am a witch and I love using witches in my writing to challenge stereotypes. I love wicked witches too, but my witches usually feel real and my goal is to allow the reader to believe that they could be in the story without changing themselves. I want to show that everyone has power and agency — magic and all.
