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“I love fantasy because it is wide open. The only rules are the ones you make. Writing fantasy gives me an opportunity to imagine new environments and new peoples, and new ways for those to interact and influence each other.” —Rebecca Brae
Rebecca Brae is a fantasy author living in Alberta whose most recent novel, The Witch’s Diary, was published by Tyche Books in 2020. The Witch’s Diary follows the funny and magickal foibles of Hester Digitalis Wishbone, recent graduate of Grimoire College, as she struggles to find success at her first real job as a witch and ultimately somewhere to fit in.
Rebecca revisits Hester in a short story included in Tyche Books’ new anthology Water: Selkies, Sirens, & Sea Monsters, which is officially releasing tomorrow! The anthology, edited by Rhonda Parrish, is part of a series of books that each explore one element through the work of fantasy authors. Water can be as tranquil as a tropical sea and as tumultuous as an ocean storm—and as many faces as it may wear, the creatures that dwell in it have even more.
We chatted with Rebecca about writing fantasy and bringing Hester’s story to life in these two books.
The Witch’s Diary is the diary of Hester Digitalis Wishbone, a witch looking to find both her magickal career and herself. Do you write a diary? If so, how did your own diary writing influence this book? If not, why did you decide to write it that way?
I tried to keep a diary in my teens but was abysmally bad at sitting down to write in it. I think I just didn’t find myself exciting enough. Problem solved when I added in magick, chaotic animal familiars, and a witch trying to find where she fits in the worlds! The Witch’s Diary started as a fun side project that only took little chunks of time and allowed me to cleanse my mind of the heavier (both in planning and execution) Mist Warden trilogy, which I write with my partner, Adriaan. This project got me writing something that tickled my funny bone every day. The diary style also allowed me to weave in events, people, dreams, and thoughts from my life which I think grounded the fantastic elements and hopefully made the characters and their lives relatable.
Are there any parallels between the way you’ve depicted Hester’s process of becoming a witch, and your own process of becoming a writer? What are they?
Writing is, for sure, a process of trial and error, which is very much Hester’s journey. Over time you figure out what methods, times, practices, and styles work best for you. There is a particular mental state I need to be in to write effectively. It ends up feeling like a form of meditation. If I can clear my mind and immerse myself in a scene, I can channel the characters. I’m in that scene as them, hearing their words and thoughts, seeing things through their eyes. In writing this story, I learned how to better combine my mind, soul, and heart, and then focus their intent on the page. That is magick to me. Our brains are powerful, limitless, and on occasion scary—similar to how magick works in Hester’s realm.
In The Witch’s Diary you’ve imagined another plane in which magick is prevalent, and witches, wizards, and druids are plentiful. Our world exists in the book as the Outerplane, which is full of mundane humans and is a Level 7 Magick Null Zone. What made you want to write about this setting?
As a child, my family moved countries several times. That uprooting during formative years was both a boon and burden. I had to develop coping skills and adapt to new situations quickly. It was difficult but worth it. Learning about each new place, culture, language, and way of living instilled a sense of humility. It taught me early on that there is no one true way of doing anything. That mirrors Hester’s journey. She travels from a world she knows well where she doesn’t quite belong, to a new world of unknowns where she fits nicely. Opening herself up to different ways of living encouraged compassion, acceptance, and a celebration of diversity instead of a fear of it. It also showed how many of the differences she initially perceived were superficial. Between her world and ours, there are so many shared experiences…student loans, best friends, finding gainful employment, juggling parental expectations, unhelpful supervisors, crappy ex’s, etc.
While this is a book rooted in fantasy and magick, it explores many universal themes, like friendship and accepting oneself. What do you most want readers to take away from reading your book?
To accept yourself as you are, in each moment. We are all in a constant state of flux. We are the journey. Honor who you are today and acknowledge you may be different tomorrow and that’s okay. Everything you have been and will be are equally valid and important. Find those other souls out there that make your heart sing. The truer you are to yourself and the more you greet the world as your authentic self, the more likely you are to find those who are meant to be a part of your life. Support each other. Give each other room to grow. Celebrate each victory and learn from every hurdle. You are unique and powerful and there is something you are meant to do, even if you can’t see it in this moment.
This book makes references within the fantasy that will be familiar to readers, such as a Hansel and Gretel-style gingerbread house, and an encounter with Macbeth in a dank bog on the Moors. Why did you decide to include those elements?
I have loved stories of witches since I was a child. Including some well-known mythological figures and folk tales was a fun romp through my childhood dreams. I love taking something familiar and giving it a different spin. So often witches are portrayed as evil villains. In The Witch’s Diary, as in life, witches and people are not evil or good. Their choices and actions can be, but not the individuals themselves. So, what if the witches from Macbeth are hired to do a job that goes wrong? What if the gingerbread hut is a begrudging orphanage?
In your short story “The Witch’s Diary: Adventures in Hut Sitting” from the anthology About Water: Selkies, Sirens, & Sea Monsters, you return to the character Hester Digitalis Wishbone, this time imagining her house-sitting for a witch’s wandering hut while on vacation from Grimoire College. What was it like to go back and write about Hester again?
Baba Yaga is another great witch who I first read about in a Russian tale. I asked myself, what if she’s a forest guardian who just really needs a vacation? I always imagined her hut having the personality of a mischievous cat who was loyal but also a bit of a troublemaker. Originally, this story was a few chapters in The Witch’s Diary. I knew the novel was too long when I submitted it to Tyche and my editor helpfully suggested some sections to cut. As much as it pained me, this section was the best candidate as it was a neatly self-contained story within a story. And, I had hope that it would find its place. I saved the text and when I heard about the water anthology, I knew I could adapt it to suit the theme.
What do you love the most about writing fantasy?
I love fantasy because it is wide open. The only rules are the ones you make. Writing fantasy gives me an opportunity to imagine new environments and new peoples, and new ways for those to interact and influence each other. Plus, I genuinely love witches and animals and magick.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on the third book in our Mist Warden trilogy. Getting back into these character’s heads and lives is like visiting old friends—old friends in a lot of trouble, but old friends nonetheless 😊.
Water: Selkies, Sirens, & Sea Monsters
Edited by Rhonda Parrish
Published: Aug 17, 2021 by Tyche Books
ISBN: 9781989407271