Over the past year, I’ve been enjoying writing some fiction. It’s a fantasy romance called The Pastor and the Priestess. Some of you may remember that I mentioned this project on “The Merry Mystic” last year. Well, I finished a draft of the book, and I’ve re-read it several times. And each time I re-read it, it made me happy. So I thought, hey, I’ll find a literary agent and get this thing published.
Well, that was forty rejections ago. Forty. Not even a nibble. (The first ten rejections are the hardest!) I can’t really blame them. What they’re looking for—what almost all agents are looking for—is something similar to something that has been successful. And The Pastor and the Priestess isn’t similar to much of anything. It’s by far the most commercial thing I’ve ever written—but really, that isn’t saying all that much. My last book, after all, The Inn of God’s Forgiveness, was a collection of theological essays with new hymns. Not exactly bestseller material.
But anyway: The Pastor and the Priestess still makes me smile when I read it, and it still makes me smile when I polish it up, and when I work on the sequel. So I’m not giving it up.
Instead, I’m giving it away: free fiction, published as an online serial. I’ve already posted the first couple of installments, and I’ve done them both in text and in audio form, as a podcast called “Tales of Corwin”—named for the town where the adventures take place. My plan is to release one new installment every week. That’ll give me a chance to polish my story as I go, and get your feedback on it.
You can find my web site for the Tales of Corwin at corwin.adambrookswebber.com. You can also subscribe to the podcast directly through the usual channels, like iTunes and Google Play Music.
When the whole serial is done, I plan to take it down and prepare it for print publication. So, read it for free while you can. Please share it with anyone you know who has a taste for fantasy romance. And I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
And don’t worry—I’ll get back to writing music too, and I’ll still be doing The Merry Mystic. (In fact, there’s a new episode today!)
Thanks and best blessings,
Adam
No search results for “Chapter Three: A Healing Circle”
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Sorry, Ray. I accidentally posted an unfinished piece, and then had to take it down again.
In penance, I’m posting the real next installment (chapter 2 part 2) early!
Hello Adam! I stumbled across your fiction podcast entirely by accident, just looking for something to listen to while doing this and that during the day.
I’m Wiccan, and have been for the majority of my life. This is the long, bending path I’ve chosen for myself, and I plan to meet the end of it when I take my last breath. After that, I can’t say. That’s the ultimate Mystery.
I want to let you know that I enjoy your story, as a work of entertainment. I appreciate the humanity you give to your characters. Mark is likeable, possessing many traits I admire: humility, empathy, reverence, wonder, and best of all compassion. Sandra is vivacious and complex, possessing so many of the traits I see in Mark. I see a dynamic polarity between them, the creative potential that occurs between opposites, and -that- is a place where magick happens.
And maybe what I find striking is the pull to find an interfaith connection. Because I’m sure you’ve seen in so many different ways, many Christians don’t like us. For those individuals, there’s nothing that’s going to convince them that our truths are anything but wrong. Our very presence is a threat to their comfort, and the assurance of their faith. In ways, it should be. By its very nature, Witchcraft is a transgressive act. I feel their prayers for my soul are simply for their own egos. Their adherence to the agendas of their Church is idolatrous, the very practice they accuse me of.
I have no animosity towards Christianity. I’ve been known to crack open a Bible on occasion (recently Romans 13, I’m sure you’ve been keeping up with current events). If Jesus were alive today, I’d likely consider him a brother, and a friend. I’m sure the fundamentalists would consider him a threat to their church, and I’d be one of those who would stand up to defend him. We Witches stand against and fight hate, fear and oppression.
The episode “The Priestess Goes to Church” when Sandra listens to Mark’s sermon, there was a part that really touched my heart. It was the idea of “The Big Book, the whole of Creation.” Because that is indeed where we Wiccans receive our belief, and knowledge, and awe. That is where we see a Divine force that permeates everything, and somewhere in between a kind of radical faith and firm rationality our belief resides, like on a knife’s edge. Our beliefs, varied and personal as they are, occupy that precarious and liminal space, where the wonder and Mystery is, the hard to explain and where magick moves and bends and manifests.
It’s just refreshing to see that some Christians -get it.- That faith is dymanic, evolving, exploratory. It doesn’t end with an acceptance of belief, faith -begins- with a submission. I find that between Christianity and Wicca, the means may be miles apart, but the ends are not that much different.
So thank you. I’ll continue to listen to your story.
A side note: I’m so sorry your experience was with the Correlians (I’ve had interactions with them, not a fan). Wicca as I practice it, while imbued with its own brand of ritual and pomp and theatricality, gives room for spontaneity and ecstacy.
One more note: I appreciate your pop culture references! I too am a huge nerd. If you throw in a “Fifth Element” reference I will be thrilled.
Brightest blessings!
Hi, Erica! And thank you so much! My Wiccans are a fictional group, obviously. And I don’t know as much about real-world Wiccans as I would like. But I have read what I can, and I have earnestly hoped that some real-world Wiccans would find my characters affirming, and perhaps feel some kinship.
The “Big Book” idea doesn’t get much play in most Christian communities these days, alas. But it has a surprisingly long history in Christianity. Some would date it to the so-called “Franciscan turn:” the emphasis that Francis of Assisi placed on the presence of the Divine in nature. But I think it’s even more clear centuries before that, among the early Christians of Ireland and Scotland — who themselves were very much influenced by the indigenous Celtic traditions they encountered.
Again, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the story. Thanks for taking the time to tell me so.
Best blessings!