The origins of a story

When I was little, we lived with my Irish grandmother. Being an only child with a vivid imagination, I relished sitting around the kitchen table with my great aunts and grandmother as they sipped their coffee, smoked cigarettes, and swapped stories.

I learned all about aunt Margaret’s hair from hell, the creep who stole grandma’s purse before she chased him down and won it back, and yes, there were more than a few ghost stories.

Ghost stories weren’t told in a dim light around the eerie glow of a fire at my grandmother’s house. They were a matter-of-fact. Ghosts exist, aye they do, and that part of my heritage stuck with me, instilling a fascination of the supernatural and the Old Ways that has lasted my whole life.

It started with a love of herbs and natural healing. In my early twenties, I devoured every gardening book on herbs that I could get my hand on. I grew them, cooked with them, ate them, used them in cosmetics and for ailments and even incorporated them in my wedding.

Then it was on to pagan religions. Wicca, witchcraft, Druidism—I loved learning about these ancient beliefs and customs, the pantheon of Gods and Goddesses throughout history and the powers they held.

Eventually, I became fascinated with spellcasting and that, along with those tales I heard so long ago, morphed into a love of story-telling and then, a novel.

UNCOVERING AMETHYST came to me at a time in my life when I just couldn’t bottle it up any more. I had learned enough about the concept, the details and the characters that would take over the book that it was time to just write the thing!

And so, the tale of Stacy Justice, reluctant witch and eager journalist, was born. For the purposes of the book, and to be true to my characters and the beliefs of so many pagans, I chose to make the magic “real”, if you can believe such a thing. Sure, the women in Stacy’s family have a few tricks up their sleeves, but the magic comes from the basis of true witchcraft—using nature and Her elements to bring about a positive change.

But Stacy also has a higher purpose of sorts. She’s come back to her hometown because her grandfather is ill, but her grandmother has more in store for her than she ever bargained for and she’s determined to reveal Stacy’s hidden talent.

To read the first chapter and learn more about the characters, visit www.barbraannino.com.