Questions ~ Publishing Shakeups

 

I have a question for Publishers and others in the Publishing World out there...

I wrote two books with Callisto Media/Rockridge Press. Callisto Media has since been bought out:

"NAPERVILLE, Ill., May 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The publishing assets of Callisto Media, a leading nonfiction publisher, have been sold in a Sourcebooks-led, Penguin Random House-funded acquisition."

The books I published with them then began being distributed by Simon & Schuster, and I found both of my books, as well as an author page up in my name, at Simon & Schuster's website.

Simon & Schuster has since been sold out:

"In [October, I believe] 2023, leading global investment firm KKR acquired Simon & Schuster from Paramount Global. For the first time in nearly 50 years, Simon & Schuster was no longer part of a larger conglomerate, marking a return to its roots as a standalone, independent publishing company."

I just recently discovered that my books and my author page have both disappeared from Simon & Schuster's website. I also looked up an aquaintance on this site, a fellow Callisto author, and her books and author page were gone as well.

My questions:

• What happens to our books?
• How can we find out?
• Will Rockridge books be shuffled around to another company?
• Could these books go out of print?

These were contracted works, a one-time payment, it's not like I'm going to miss out on royalties; but these are very popular books and the sales of these books helps to promote my other books. And then, there's all the hard work that went into writing these books; I'm proud of them and I want them to do well for whatever company they wind up with.

The Pagan Goddess ~ Triple Goddess

 

• The Crone…

I don’t know if it’s this time of year or this phase of life I’m in now, but I feel a tremendous magnetic pull to The Crone. I relish her– I revel in the beauty of her darkness and the depth of her knowledge and all the life tasted that she represents to me. She is a milestone, a goal, an accomplishment.

She brings to me a sense of peace, as I hope she does to all of you.

• The Mother…

It is the Mother aspect of the Goddess that seems to encompass most of our lives– we are the nurturers. Whether we are women who have given birth to our own children, or find ourselves entrusted with the care of other women’s children. And it is not only the children of the world we nurture, but the animals, the earth itself, and the men in our lives. We nurture growth in all things, including new ideas and ventures, in the arts and literature, in all things worthwhile that need careful care and a magic touch. Within that magic touch is the promise of creation and growth.

• The Maiden…

It has been my experience that the older a woman gets, the farther away the Maiden feels. It is probably a natural progression. And yet, even women entering the more mature phases of life need the vital life force of this aspect of the Goddess. She is what propels us forward with strength and tenacity and the self-confidence to discover our inner selves and our hidden strengths.

Welcome to the Dark Side ~ says The Moon

 

The Moon ~

• The World; Justice; Queen/wands

You send us through portals on a whim and a prayer, ignoring our pleas and screams of protest, unaware yourself of where this new passageway will take us. You just know that we have to go. You grab us by the shoulders and stand us before a mirror, forcing us to look at ourselves, our lives, and our direction with unabashed clarity and often cruel introspection. Be gone self-deception, you command. Finish what you start; wipe the slate clean; find the truth; avoid the dark places if possible…all these you whisper in our ear.

Life isn’t always fair, you state firmly and calmly, almost nonchalantly. Justice is subjective, just like art. It all depends upon your perspective as to whom is getting the fair end of the stick. Again, warnings of deception, whether coming from outside sources or from the dark corners of our own minds, filter through the symbolism on your face, the images you carry. You are rife with warnings, really wanting us to avoid the pitfalls and potholes before us, but knowing that we must choose to do so, we must choose our path, we must learn by our mistakes…and we must learn by our victories.

You tell us to get a firm grasp on life; be vigilante; be forceful when the need arises; avoid the dark side of life, the dark side of our psyche, but don’t be afraid to go there when necessity rears its ugly head. Be in control, be strong, get organized, don’t waver before duty, don’t cower before life.

Is Fairy Dust Real?... well, is it?

 

I was asked a question today, basically, whether fairy dust is “real” or not. It was a good question. This is my answer:

All “magic” is mental. It all stems from the mind. The ability to perform magic is inherent within us all, it is natural; but most people have lost the capacity to accomplish magic because they’ve lost the ability to believe, to focus, to visualize, and to work with their natural energy.

That is where the “fairy dust” comes in. It is a magickal “prop”, as are candles and cauldrons, athames, herbs, and other baubles and interesting items used to cast spells. Their main purpose is to help you focus, to keep your intention clear, to assist you with visualization, to help you raise energy, because that's where the magic is.

The majority of magical practitioners need these “visual aids” to perform magic.

There are, however, a few people who don’t need all the physical trappings and paraphernalia of witchcraft. Their mental abilities alone are such that they can cast spells and work magic without all the usual props. These people are very rare indeed, these people are called "Adepts".

So, is fairy dust real?... If you *Believe* it is, then it is.

Cryptids ~ The Shug Monkey

 

Source: Wikepedia 

In the folklore of Cambridgeshire, the Shug Monkey is a creature that shares features of a dog and monkey, which reportedly haunted Slough Hill Lane (a street that leads from the village of West Wratting to nearby Balsham). The creature, believed to have the body of a jet-black shaggy sheepdog and the face of a monkey with staring eyes, was believed to be a supernatural ghost or demon. Local writer and broadcaster James Wentworth Day, who first related stories of the Shug Monkey in Here Are Ghosts and Witches (1954), described it as a curious variation of Black Shuck, while local folklorist Polly Howat suggests that both share common origins in Norse mythology.

From My Paranormal Journal ~ Cheryl

 

Taken from my Paranormal Journal... (March, 2004)

I was awoken abruptly out of a sound sleep—someone was crying, calling out to me. I thought it was one of my children and even called out, “I’m coming!”

I got up and checked the house—everyone was sound asleep.

The next morning I told my husband about it. He said, “Last night I thought I saw someone walk into the bedroom, and I thought it was you—until I realized my hand was on your hip!”

Also, yesterday, the lights in the living room turned themselves on three different times.

Note: The day before these odd occurrences, I had been released from the hospital from an overnight stay for a minor procedure. This is the same hospital that my husband’s girl friend had passed away in three years ago from colon cancer... Her name was Cheryl.

• The nurse I had the two days I was in the hospital was named... Cheryl.
• The nurse who prepped me for the procedure was named... Cheryl.
• The lady who came in to clean my room was... Cheryl’s aunt, her mother’s sister.

I didn't want to be rude ~ but, really?

 

I have begun paring down some of my Facebook pages, and trimming up and redoing some of my websites and blogs, as my creativity is taking new twists and turns and bents, as everything eventually does with time.

I had a FB page to connect with my websites, two of them, and then there was an author's page, because why not, all the authors on FB seem to do that; and there were ten pages for my books, each book having its own special page, tra-la-la.  I deactivated all of these.  I believe that's 13 pages?

The Witch's Corner FB page was probably the most predominantly popular page, with 40,000 likes and followers.  Now, mind you, that it so deceptive.  For all the cotton pickin' posts that I made on this FB page, for years, there was virtuallly NO interaction, none at all.  I felt like I was talking to myself.  I really didn't think that anyone was paying any attention, or that maybe FB was not allowing this page to be seen.  

So, just to be courteous, and because it's what you usually do, before I deactivated this page I put up a little post stating that I would be doing this on a particular date. I had over 100 people respond to this post.  I know, out of 40,000 that's still not even a drop in the bucket, but when you compare it to ZERO, it's a miracle.  

One lady said something to the effect:  "I'm so sorry to see this go, this page has been such an inspiration to me for such a long time; I just love it, but you do what you think you have to do."

Really?

You mean it never occured to this woman over the course of this "long time" to interact at all?  Not to click the Like button, not to leave a comment, nothing... she was lurking, just my opinion.  Did she think I, as a creator, would keep this up forever with absolutley No Feedback, no idea if anyone was reading it, or if anyone liked it?  I had no idea if anyone could even see it!

I was disgusted.

And that's the end of my story/rant today. 

about.me ~ anyone else heard of/use this site?

 

So, I've had a page up at this site for years, put it up back in the day when it was so much fun to discover all these new places you could post Stuff.  But I don't know if anyone really sees it, if anything on this site is viewable at all, or if this freebie page that I sat up is hidden in a closet somewhere, buried under boxes of junk, and stored away from other pages on this site, pages where people have "gone premium".  

Back in the day, when everyone was getting started, and the internet was a wide open empty space just begging for content, everything was free.  I don't know about you, but it sure was a rude awakening for me when websites suddenly started demanding money to keep your page, or so restricted your free page that it might as well not exist.  It wasn't fun anymore.  And I don't know about anyone else, but I can't afford, nor would it be worth my while, to suddenly become a premium customer.  Ain't gonna' happen.

Here's a link, check it out, see what you think...

https://about.me/amythystraine

Magic Spells You Can Cast Yourself

 

You want to look, I know you do.

Casting spells is easy, even for the beginner, or the true virginal novice.  It's like working with a recipe in the kitchen.  There are ingredients, and there are directions so you know what to do with the ingredients, and of course there's a matter of timing involved.  That's all there is to it, really.  And did you know, just like working with recipes from a cookbook in the kitchen, you can make changes to a spell to make it really your own creation, with a tweak here and a little tweak there, and voila, before you know it, you're doing magick and being really creative and even adventursome about it.

Does it work?  Quite honestly, for me, most of the time it has, but it might not work exactly in the way that you expected it to.  Sometimes it's better, and sometimes it's just unexpected, and sometimes it doesn't work.  Why?  I don't know, maybe the timing was off, the stars and heavenly bodies and all thier glorious energy were not working in your favor, or maybe it's yourself that was "off", and Spirit knew it, and the universe shivered at the overwhelming amount of pent up anger, or rage, or anxiety, or fear emanting from your soul.  Sometimes we get in our own way of success, and this includes in the practice of magic.

But it's always there.  You have the chance to clear your head, clean up your thoughts, ground and center yourself, browse through spells and ingredients -- herbs, and candles, and incense, and stones -- and just allow yourself to open up to all of the infinite possibilities the universe lays at our feet.

Now, go find yourself a spell that I know you need, and work some magic...

• Banishing Spells
• Beauty Spells
• Breaking the Spell
• Candle Spells
• Command & Compel Spells
• Court Case Spells
• Health & Healing Spells
• Hexing, Cursing, Binding Spells
• Love Spells
• Mojo Bag Spells
• Money Spells
• Protection Spells
• Spells for the Tongue
• Spells To Summon

Daily Cards/Daily Energy ~ Someone is leaving

 

Join me today as I pull some cards and see what Spirit and the universe have to tell us. Are the cards speaking to you today?

The Mystic Crone Blog

The Mystic Crone @ Tumblr

The Mystic Crone @ YouTube

Things That Go Bump in the Night

 

Welcome to my YouTube podcast, Bump in the Night. The following links are links to videos that can be found on the Bump in the Night Playlist, listed by title/topic.  Enjoy!

The Art of Psychometry

Paranormal Investigation #2

Black-Eyed Children (BEKS)

Skinwalkers

Sleep Paralysis ~ They Come in the Night

The Doll from Hell

Paranormal Investigation #1

Is Your House Haunted

Psychic Tales

Premonitions: Impending Death, Recognizing Its Salutation

Premonitions: The Day the Beautiful Tree was Cut Down

Five Famous Haunted Houses

Freaky True Paranormal/Supernatural Stories

Detecting Spirits in Your House

Was it a Doppelganger, a ghost, or astral projection?

My Weird and Creepy Experiences with The Clairs

If there are any issues with any of these links,

just let me know!!

PODCAST, Coffee Chat ~ Did I finally find the perfect ring?

 

Here's the ring and a look at the beneficial side of the stones. You tell me, did I finally find the perfect ring?

Mystic Crone Podcast, Episode #25 ~ 6 cards

 

The six cards drawn today throw a spot light on decisions, the fact that someone's trying to manipulate you financially, and they make a good point of reminding us that we really need to know who are friends are -- and who they are not.

The Mystic Crone Blog

The Mystic Crone @ YouTube

Let's Retire These Phrases

 

Two phrases I'm really tired of hearing. They have been so overused, please stop: 

1) "please smash the like button" ~ obviously some YouTuber came up with this phrase, thinking that they were being original and clever, but it seems like almost every soul out there with a YouTube channel has picked it up, thinking they are being original and clever without having to come up with something on their own. 

2) "the thing I love about you is that you really don't know how good you are" ~ has said every judge at every singing audition out there. We all know that these talented and untalented folks auditioning for these shows are just fodder for this season's episodes. Very -- VERY -- rarely does anyone ever rise above this to become a genuine star.

 

 

Episode #24, Daily Cards/Daily Energy ~ A Warning

 

The Mystic Crone Blog

The Mystic Crone @ YouTube

Seer, Dreamer, Visionary

 
The Knight of Cups... You hold in your hand the sacred grail, as elusive and mysterious as the paramour that once was, and you peer within its depths looking for answers that do not exist, for questions that were never asked.

Join me...
click  HERE

Episode #23, Mystic Crone Podcast ~ daily cards, daily energy

 

For three readings in a row now the Queen of Wands has come up.  I was shocked when I drew this card a third time.  For me she represents two specific individuals, individuals that were in my life at one time, but that I would not want involved with my life now.  It's a long story.

Our cards for today:

• Queen/wands
• 9/wands
• 10/wands
• The Moon
• The Empress
• Knight/cups

The Art of Psychometry

 

Psychometry is the ability to pick up information when holding an object in your hands using your psychic abilities. Let's explore psychometry -- the what, the how, the history, and the infinitie possiblities. I also include my own psychometric experience, one of the most powerful psychic experiences that I've had.

Bump in the Night Playlist

My Writing Space ~ The Divine Me, audio excerpt

 

You can purchase your copy of The Divine Me
@ Amazon, in print or kindle

click  HERE

Episode #22, Mystic Crone Podcast ~ daily cards, daily energy

 

Hello, and welcome to the Mystic Crone Podcast! Today we have a repeat card/character that came up -- the Queen of Wands. So how has her situation resolved itself, improved itself, or highlighted itself since yesterday? Our other cards for today include:

• Queen/wands
• The Empress
• 6/pentacles
• 5/wands
• The Tower
• 10/swords

If the universe and Spirit have a message for you today, you’ll find it here!

Blessings,
The Mystic Crone

The Mystic Crone Blog

The Mystic Crone @ YouTube

Episode #21, Mystic Crone Podcast ~ Daily Cards/Daily Energy

 

Episode #21 Daily Cards/Daily Wisdom

Daily Cards/Daily Energy... I had a delightful morning on the front porch with my tarot cards, my personal tarot journal, and a good coffee. I recorded a short reading for you today, and our cards are:

• Queen of wands
• Knight of swords
• 9 of cups
• 3 of swords

If you're meant to find a message today, you'll find it here. Enjoy!