By Liz, happy to welcome another magical cozy writer to the blog today! Angela Sanders writes the Witch Way Librarian series, which I was immediately attracted to because of my Full Moon Mysteries. And how funny – we share some magical character names in both our series! I have a Fiona and a Josie in my witchy books too 🙂 Take it away, Angela!
You know how when you buy a green sedan (for example) you suddenly see green sedans everywhere? Or how when you adopt a shaggy dog with spots, shaggy spotted mutts trot past you all the time?
Ever since I started writing the Witch Way Librarian series, that’s how it’s been with me and magic. Some days, I practically feel like a witch myself.
As I plotted Bait and Witch and Seven-Year Witch—the series’ first two books—I got in touch with an old friend, Pomegranate Doyle, an established witch in town. I didn’t intend for my protagonist Josie to be a typical Wiccan, but I wanted to get a handle on witchcraft’s basics so I could bend them to suit an inquisitive, slyly observant librarian who discovers that books talk to her.
Pomegranate was a wealth of information about curses, land spirits, ancestral guidance, and more. She told me, “Magic is subtle, but it’s everywhere. The more you look for it, the more you’ll see it.” Magic can be as mundane as thinking about your cousin right before she calls, or having a cookbook fall open to the recipe you need. It can be your sudden urge to vary your daily walk, then finding the perfect color to paint your house, the color you’ve been searching for all summer. It can be as profound as feeling sad and bewildered, then turning on the radio to a story that puts it all into perspective.
I’ve had a few magical experiences recently. My car was stolen, recovered, and towed to my mechanic (this is NOT the magical part of the story). As I dragged myself to the mechanic to check it out, I turned on my “walking” playlist, unconnected to data, to discover it had spontaneously added a new song: “What a Difference a Day Makes.” I took this as a hopeful message.
Another story: My furnace takes unusual filters. I’ve called a dozen hardware stores, and no one carries them, so I have to order them online. Last fall as I realized cold days were coming and I’d better get on the filter situation pronto, I found a brand new furnace filter of the perfect size, still wrapped in plastic, on the sidewalk a few blocks from my house.
Reading this, some of you are undoubtedly muttering, “Furnace filters? Songs? Undoubtedly coincidence and cognitive bias.” Or even, “Plain old dumb luck.” I get it. I could see it this way, too. But for me the world is so much richer when I imagine mystery coursing through it, bringing solace and lessons.
With this view of the world, magic is everywhere. It’s in your garden, sitting next to you on the bus, and, yes, on your bookshelf. If you choose to open yourself up to magic, it will find you. As Pomegranate said, all you have to do is look.
Have you had any magical experiences or synchronicities? Please comment! I love to hear about everyday magic.
Angela M. Sanders writes the Witch Way Librarian cozy mysteries and the Joanna Hayworth vintage clothing mysteries. When Angela isn’t at her laptop, she’s often rummaging in thrift shops, lounging with a vintage crime novel and her shelter cats Squeaky and Bitsy, or pontificating on how to make the perfect martini. Don’t miss her monthly newsletter! www.angelamsanders.com.
About Seven-Year Witch:
Finding your feet in a new job isn’t always easy. That goes double for Josie Way, who’s settling in as Wilfred, Oregon’s, new librarian–and has just discovered she’s a witch. But will her fledgling powers be enough to save her from a spell of murder?
While Josie develops her witchcraft with the help of letters left by her grandmother, there are other changes happening in her new hometown. A retreat center is being built at the old mill site, and rumor has it that the location is cursed. That piques Josie’s interest almost as much as Sam Wilfred, handsome FBI agent and descendent of the town’s founder…
When Sam’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Fiona, goes missing at the same time that a bloodied weapon is found, Josie enlists her witchy insight, and her cat familiar, to clear Sam’s name. But then the mill project’s architect is found dead, and it’s clear that someone has been drawing up a vicious plan. Now Josie will have to divine her way out of fatal mischief, before this deadly trouble turns double…
Can’t lay claim to any magical experiences, but I am certain we are surrounded by magic daily!
I like your attitude! The more you look for it, the more magic you’ll find.
Hi! I’m having a little trouble replying, so I hope this doesn’t show up three times. BUT, I love your attitude! The more you look for magic, the more you’re sure to find it.
Angela, welcome to the blog. I love that way of thinking about magic, and your book sounds delightful (awesome titles, by the way)!
Thank you for all of that, including the warm welcome!
No stories of magic here, but I far prefer your way of thinking to plain old “coincidence.”
Congrats on the books!
No magic at all? Keep your eyes open! I bet something amazing happens this very afternoon….
Read an ARC of the book and loved it! Still have “Killing me Softly” going through my head.
Ha ha! When I stumbled upon that song, I knew it was perfect for the scene. I’m so glad you liked the book!
I’ve always found nature to be magical – trees, birds, water, flowers. I tell myself every day “something magical and wonderful will happen today” and then look for that little thing, be it a pretty flower, seeing trees sway with the wind, smelling fresh-cut grass…that’s my magic!
Oh, you have a wonderful way of looking at the world! I agree with you: it’s the little things in life that can be the most magical.
Welcome to the blog! I love the concept of magic being all around us and I love your titles!
Thank you! Book three, coming out in a year, is called Witch and Famous, by the way. If you have any more ideas for titles with “witch” in them, I’m listening!
Hi everyone! I’m having issues replying to individual comments, but bear with me! I’m stubborn and will persist until I can figure this out. In the meantime, thank you for commenting!
Welcome to the blog, Angela. Since writers get criticized for using coincidence too conveniently, I’ve become super aware of them in my own life and find they are very, very common.
I know what you mean! Coincidence works more effectively in stories if it leads to more conflict for the main character. Coincidental “saves” are cheating. In real life, though, I figure you can look at that butterfly in the air in front of you as magic, a sign that you are ready to break out and fly, or not. It’s not the butterfly itself that holds magic and meaning, but your own mind. I hope you have lots of happy coincidences coming up!
No moments of spontaneous synchronicities are coming to mind. Maybe I need to be on the lookout for them more.
That’s the key, really: looking out for them. I bet you live a pretty magical life!
By your definition of magic, my daughter and I both have had innumerable instances of magic. I’m sure it is because we open to it. I find, for me, when I travel, I have the most amazing things happen, opportunities to have generally unavailable experiences, happenstance(?) connections with just the exactly right person for my interests and/or needs. If I were so inclined, I could truly write a book about the hundreds of magic moments.
I love this! There’s nothing so magical, as you say, as meeting people when you travel and having unexpected, wonderful things happen. It sounds like the trait runs in the family!
So great to read this. I definitely agree in magical signs and serendipity. I enjoy your books very much and just signed up for your newsletter. Hope to catch up soon!!