Imbolc/Brigid - The Wheel Turns Again

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from relationship to romance.

February 1^st we’ll have reached the half-way point between Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox also known as Yule and Ostara. As you will recall, Winter Solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year. At the Spring Equinox day and night are equal. Imbolc is the celebration of light as the shift from the darkest night toward the balance between dark and light is clear.

This year the heavens are helping in the celebration of Imbolc. Not only do we have a Full Moon on January 31. And since our moon is closer to earth than usual it will appear brighter to us who have clear skies and can view it. In addition, this Full Moon is the second Full Moon this month so it is called a Blue Moon.

For those of you with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) you may find your symptoms decreasing as the hours of daylight increase. If you follow the seasons instead of The Wheel of the Year, you know that winter is coming to an end.

Right now when I look into my yard I see the signs of spring. Winter flowers in bloom, plants poking their green leaves above ground (of course those are mainly the weeds) and here in the Pacific Northwest our couple of weeks of warm weather (it is 61 degrees out as I write this) before Winter blows back in to remind us we’ve a few more weeks to go before Spring.

One of the things I love about the stories I write is that they do follow the seasons, the turn of the wheel. Each of the women in The Sacred Women’s Circle series marries on a Sabbat. Imbolc? That’s Gabriella’s special day.

If you’d like to know more about Imbolc, check out http://Starhawk.org and consider joining her and others from around the world in celebrating the light.

Your free copy of Lily: The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl is waiting for you. Just sign up for mymailing list and you’ll receive the directions for downloading your copy.

Learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2018 Judith Ashley

Subtle Messages

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from relationship to romance.

Earlier this month I wrote on Secret Messages. Today I’m talking about Subtle Messages and using The Sacred Women's Circle book covers as an example.

When you look at a book cover, there are certain things that, depending on what you read, you want to see (or maybe not see). I love to read historical romance so seeing a castle, period dress and a more ornate font tells me at a glance that this book might be one I’d like to read. I then check out the back cover blurb to see what the bare bones of the story is about. Then I make my purchase.

I also like to read contemporary romance and those covers are going to look different than the historical romance covers. Two of my writing friends write paranormal romantic suspense and I do read their books although I don’t normally read in the genre.

In The Sacred Women’s Circle series, I wanted my covers to depict more than just ‘contemporary romance’ because the stories had so much more than the outer journey of the heroine and hero. I also wanted readers to get a hint at what was an additional story line without telling them on the back cover. And I latched on to Lois’s idea (she is a friend of mine) about another way of ‘branding’ the books.

And here is the key to the Subtle Message you’ll see on  each cover:

Overlay

Color

Crystals

Tell me what you see and if you would have noticed without my pointing them out.

Learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2018 Judith Ashley

Dark Moon Intentions

On Tuesday, January 16, 2018, we will experience the darkest night of the month. I celebrate the Dark Moon each month either by myself or with a small group of friends. Because the Dark Moon signals a shift in the Moon’s energy, it is a perfect time to align focus, goals, and intentions with the night’s light. And that's what we do, share our focus, goals, intentions, what we want to achieve between the Dark Moon in January until the Dark Moon in February (which happens to be February 15).

In my home I’ve small windows on either side of the fireplace. When sitting on my couch I can see out the windows and watch the moon traverse the night sky. This is especially spectacular when the moon is full. But when it is close to as well as on the Dark Moon, the sky remains dark.

It was on one of those evenings when I was sitting on my couch watching the light from the Full Moon first appear and then grow brighter until I could see Grandmother Moon framed within  my living room windows that the inspiration for a story came to me. In fact when you read “Grandmother Moon,”you will see what I see from my very own couch. I doubt you’ll be surprises to learn that writing the setting in that story came fairly easy.

Where do you find inspiration?

FYI: You can find “Grandmother Moon” in the anthology Love & Magick. Included in the anthology are short stories by Sarah Raplee and Diana McCollum.

Learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2018 Judith Ashley

Secret Messaging

If you are involved in social media, you most likely know that capital letters are indicators that you are shouting and exclamation points frowned upon also.

If you’re read my Romancing The Genre posts as well as the ones I write for this blog, it is highly likely you’ve seen me end a sentence or phrase with three exclamation points.

Just so you know, when I use three exclamation points I’m sharing the following power of three.

Usually they reference Maiden, Mother Crone.

Four exclamation points? East, South, West, North. The four directions.

I like ending written communication with people with the phrase

“In love and light,” To me, the world would be a better place for everyone and everything if we were bathed in the light of love as our major religions and spiritual practices suggest.

Or sometimes I end with a simple prayer such as

“Sending love, light and hugs your way!!!” Because I do believe, as I stated above, that we all do better if we are surrounded by the light of love and have our daily dose of hugs.

How do you send secret messages to others?

And I’m still in the process of creating a new look. It could be February before I invite you to check it out. I’m excited to be working with Christy Keerins who is creating professional looking graphics for The Sacred Women’s Circle series. I’ll certainly share those when they are available in a week or so.

In the meantime, you can still sign up for my email list and download your free digital copy of Lily: The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl. Lily is the first book in The Sacred Women’s Circle series.

Learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2018 Judith Ashley

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!!

May your 2018 be a year full of love, laughter, joy, health and happiness.

May your days be filled with inspiration and gratitude.

May your dreams become your reality.

I’ll be making changes to this blog and my website during 2018 so stay tuned!

During the first quarter of 2018, my plan is to publish “Visions of Happiness” a spin-off of “Lily: The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl” the first book in The Sacred Women’s Circle series.

I’ve also written a non-fiction book “Staying Sane in a Crazy World.” It still needs some work and a cover, etc. but it is doable to have this book also published in the first quarter.

Last but not least I will start another non-fiction book “Love, Power, Fun and Freedom: How To Get More.” In the early 1980’s, I created a workshop based on my training and work with The William Glasser Institute. This book is an updated version of that program. I don’t know that it will be published in the first quarter but my plan is to have the first draft completed.

Sign up here to be on my mailing list. I do not spam or inundate you with ‘buy my books’ but I will share with you my progress and updates in other areas of my life.

In love and light,

Judith

Learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB!