The Original Witch Hunter's Guidebook #MondayBlogs

Have you ever felt picked on?

Like most authors, falling down the rabbit hole of research is one of my guilty pleasures. There’s a lot of fascinating information in the world and sorting through it is such great fun. Today I thought I’d share some of my witch research, which brings me to my initial question:

Have you ever felt picked on?

Don’t worry most of us have. But I think witches throughout history deserve a prize for all the discrimination they’ve faced. Mostly women, mostly over forty, they were ridiculed and even burned alive at the stake.

Did you know they had a guidebook!

“The publication of Malleus Maleficarum, written by two well-respected Dominicans in 1486 – likely spurred witch mania to go viral. The book, usually translated as The Hammer of Witches was essentially a guide on how to identify, hunt and interrogate witches. It labelled witchcraft as heresy and became the authority for Protestants and Catholics.” (history.com)
For more than a hundred years the book sold more than any other book except the bible.

The history of witches is one of:

betrayal
persecution
fear of the unknown
marginalization of women
and, of course, storytelling.

In my latest series, The Dial Witch Trilogy, the heroine is a young, naive, do-gooder, a witch who wants to use her magic abilities to help others. She believes she can mend the rift between the norms and the supernaturals in her Pacific Northwest town of Mystic Keep by showing everyone how helpful her sorcery can be.

Well of course, everything goes wrong, and no one is impressed. In book one, Dial Witch Jane tries to fix the love life of a norm. In book two, she tries to end a soul-eater’s curse. Four- and five-star reviews continue to flood in for the first two books in the series.

That brings me to book three, Dial Magic, will launch on September 12th. In it, Jane sets out to annihilate an evil dream walker stalking a Casanova warlock. The threads of her life weave together and she chooses her life partner. It’s quite the tale. Check it out.

Dial Magic

The witch, the warlock, and the dreamwalker …

When the enchantress Jane Black attempts to free a local Casanova warlock from the clutches of an evil dreamwalker, trouble brews in Mystic Keep.

Metus stalks the warlock Slade Derringer in his dreams stealing from him cherished memories from his past and hopes for his future. Jane fears that when the dream stalker finishes with Slade, he’ll begin devouring the dreams of everyone else in town. No matter the cost, she must stop the beast.

Jane’s friends and family rally to assist her, each in their unique way. The men in her life keep things hot and spicy. There is Gavin McGee, the white wolf intent on claiming her, Leos, the smoldering dragon enforcer who turns her blood into estrogen jelly, and Alessandro, the blackmailing vampire who makes her do things she doesn’t want to do. Then there’s her loving family of witches and warlocks who swish their brooms and swords in her business whenever they can. Last, but never least, Vixen—her snarky cat familiar—is always by her side.

Jane, true to her personal code, is determined to make things better for everyone—or die trying. Can Jane spin a dream catcher strong enough to entrap the evil night prowler? Will Jane choose to play with the forbidden fire of a dragon, or wrestle with a powerful wolf, or … both? All good questions.

Dial Magic is the final book in the Dial Witch trilogy, set in the Mystic Keep world. It’s an urban fantasy featuring witches, warlocks, werewolves, and vampires, and it’s filled with humorous adventure and heart-warming romance.