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?
Laura Ruth Loomis: “The Marion Hex” is a real-world story about a modern Pagan. Vanessa’s coven has been targeted by a hack reporter who prints sensationalist nonsense about them. Vanessa doesn’t believe it’s ethical to hex people over something that’s annoying, but not dangerous. So what can she do about it? As it turns out, quite a lot.
FHBH: How did you go about writing your story? Lot of research? Or did you just wing it?
LRL: I had created Vanessa as a minor character in a novel (unrelated to witchcraft) that never got published. I decided she needed her own story. I tend to wing it when I’m writing, but I knew it was going to be a comedy.
FHBH: What draws you to the character and theme of “the witch”? What do you find so compelling about it?
LRL: What’s most compelling to me is the ability to work magic. The stories I love best are about women who don’t have to bow to anyone, because they have their own power. And magic can show up in places you least expect.
