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?
Meyari McFarland: “The Butterfly’s Teeth” – Captured by some boys for … hm, terrible purposes, Nina fights back in the only way available to her. And that’s about all I can include without giving something away.
FHBH: How did you go about writing your story? Lot of research? Or did you just wing it?
MM: After the last election, I was furious and disappointed and deeply worried. I started writing a YA book where a group of girls used their magic to fight back against people who were … very much like the current administration. Book One is done, but unpublished because I’m working on Book Two and have a couple chapters of Book Three. I want to finish the whole four book arc before I publish.
When I saw the anthology call, I knew it fit perfectly into that world. The only research I did was into what kinds of butterflies there would be in the woods in the Puget Sound. I live in the Puget Sound so I knew that part and the world was already exceedingly clear for me. All I needed was a few tiny details and then I was off and running.
FHBH: What draws you to the character and theme of “the witch”? What do you find so compelling about it?
MM: I think what I like most about witches is the claiming of their own power. Our world isn’t one that encourages people to claim themselves. We don’t often get told that yes, you have the right to say no. You have the right to be strong, to be fierce, to be stubborn and difficult and to oppose those around you. Especially those above you. Having a character who does seize their own power and who does make things better is just lovely to read and to write.
[Read more of Meyari’s work on her blog and check out her main publishing site.]
