Witch'd

 

For as long as I can remember, I have been obsessed with the written word. When I was very young, I'd make up stories about Super Mario and have my mom type them out on a typewriter. As I got older this evolved into writing short fan fictions in notebooks and trying to tell scary stories around the campfire, In my teenage years I started writing actual fan fictions and posting them online. The first, and perhaps the one that I'm proudest of was for a show called Queer As Folk. I was completely uncomfortable with being gay and felt like I had no one I could share that secret with, so when I found the groundbreaking Showtime series, I fell completely in love. I devoured all five seasons in a matter of weeks, only to be left with a broken heart in the final episode. No spoilers, but while I understand why the writers chose to end the series the way that they did, the hopeless romantic in me couldn't bear it. I remember lying in bed that night, my mind awhirl with ideas of what would happen next for these characters that I had come to know so well. The next day, I started writing what I thought would be a few pages of poorly written fan fiction, but I was inspired and passionate, and before I knew it I was writing every day for months. From November to April, I wrote over seven hundred pages and roughly one hundred thirty-three chapters. I posted one chapter a week on Fanfiction.net. The reaction from the fans was overwhelming and after two long years when I finally had no more to post, it was a bittersweet experience. To this day, I still get the occasional review on it. 

After a shorter fan fic for the show Secret Diary of a Call Girl and several one-off Doctor Who fics, I realized that as much as I like adding my flare to shows that I love, I also wanted to write original material, too.

Throughout my twenties I started writing what I thought would be great novels, only to run out of steam barely one hundred pages in. When I started getting ideas for a story about a witch who falls in love with a vampire, I figured it wouldn't go anywhere. While I was brainstorming, I realized that most of the urban fantasy/paranormal novels about witches, etc. always had a strong female lead. I didn't want to write another story that followed the same mold, so I decided to base the main character off myself. A young, anxiety ridden kid struggling with high school and the complexities of his sexuality. I dedicated two days a week to writing it, and in March of 2019 I independently published my debut novel through Amazon. 

Part of me wanted to take a break from writing and just appreciate the feeling of accomplishment I was basking in, but my heart wanted me to keep telling the story. In August of that same year, I published the second book in the series, also through Amazon. I soon started writing a third, but once the Pandemic hit and the world went insane, writing kind of fell by the wayside for me.

In the summer of 2020, my friend Chelsea, also an author, introduced me to the woman who had helped her publish her first novella. I soon learned that Diana Kathryn Plopa was not only an editor/author enthusiast, she was also a writer herself. Her imprint, Pages Promotions, was hosting a virtual online book festival to promote indie authors, and it didn't take much persuasion to get me sign up. Soon after my showcase day, Diana contacted me with some helpful suggestions about my books. Together we decided to republish the book in a proper format, with an updated story and some extra scenes.

We began this process in August of 2020, but issues in my personal life led us to temporarily shelf that project in favor of publishing my poetry collection Dark & Theatrical: A Poetic Odyssey. 

Last month, we finally got all of the rewrites done and the book went to press. I could not be prouder of the finished product, and I'm so happy for people to be able to read it.  The story is very near and dear to my heart, as I drew a lot of inspiration from my own upbringing and family dynamics while developing the world within the novel. I've always been obsessed with witches and other supernatural creatures, so it wasn't hard to come up with storylines to fill up the six hundred seventeen pages. I've always been an animal lover--much to my mother's chagrin--cats especially. I'm one of those whacky people who worships his cats and treats them like real human children. I have four cats, but the one who owns my heart is my darling baby girl, Romana. She's a gorgeous orange tabby with a tiny face, big eyes, and a strong connection with me. I knew right away that I would write her into the book as the main character's cat--also named Romana--who goes on to become his Familiar as his powers are awakened and he steps into the world of witchcraft, vampires, and demons.

 One cool thing that changed for me during the gap between the original publishing and the republishing was that I did some DNA testing and dug deep into my family history and learned that we have Jewish--Ashkenazi and Sephardic--ancestry. A relative of mine, Ossip, survived the Holocaust, but his wife and children were tragically killed by the Nazis. Learning all of this, I began studying up on Judaism and found that it speaks to my soul in a way that Christianity never did. Christianity always felt like an obligation to me, but Judaism is fun, and interesting. In light of that, I incorporated the Jewish faith and traditions into the novel.

As someone who has been at the forefront of this project from the very start, it is amazing to me to think how something that started out as a time killer in my head lead to where I am now, and how fortunate I am that I didn't just get to publish it once as a decent book, but I also got to republish it as a book that even after three or four reads still grabs my attention and keeps me engaged. 

It is a dream come true to be able to not only write my own material but also to have it published as well. I hope that everyone will enjoy it and allow me to keep writing.