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Episode 195: Conversation with Liz Parker, Witches of Honeysuckle House
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Welcome back, Witches! This week, we’re joined by author Liz Parker for a cozy and captivating conversation about their enchanting book Witches of Honeysuckle House. We talk magic, storytelling, and the threads of folklore and feeling woven throughout the pages, along with what it means to write witches who linger long after the story ends. So get in, Loser—because we’re stepping inside Honeysuckle House.
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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
Resources
1. Parker, Liz. Witches of Honeysuckle House. (2025)
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Guest Appearance
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult but feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey.
00:00:11
Speaker
Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we've learned about the craft. So get in witches as we sit down with the wonderfully talented author Liz Parker to talk about their newest book, The Witches of Honeysuckle House.
00:00:36
Speaker
So
00:00:45
Speaker
So today we are so excited to talk with Liz Parker, a fellow witch writer and herbalist to talk about her newest novel, Witches of Honeysuckle House. For our Patreon and Supercast subscribers, you already know we are reading Witches of Honeysuckle House for our book club. However, for those of you who are not following, Liz's newest novel was released in October of this past year, and we have been really itching to have her on the show. But life has been insane. So here we are now in January, finally talking about this amazing book.
00:01:13
Speaker
Yeah. So welcome. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. I'm so excited to talk to y'all. I love your podcast. I love all things witchy. And so talking to actual witches about my book is something that I have not had the opportunity to to do aside from, you know, a handful of readers. But most of the podcasts or people I've talked to, it it's it's like bookish space or just not people who understand and appreciate books.
00:01:42
Speaker
magic in the same way that I do. in so I don't know if you want to maybe introduce yourself like a little bit about yourself that yeah yeah we didn't touch on.
Personal Spiritual Journeys and Cultural Impacts
00:01:54
Speaker
So I'm Liz Parker. Like as was mentioned, I am an author. I'm an herbalist. I'm a witch. I've been a practicing witch for –
00:02:08
Speaker
probably since in my adult life, since 2018, 2019, was, as a child, I was very interested in all things witchcraft and all things in magic. And then I did a stint of being indoctrinated in an evangelical cult. And then I got out of that um And have found my spiritual practice in the earth and in magic. And it has been like returning to my childhood in all the best kind of ways.
00:02:40
Speaker
Oh, I love that. I do too. Yeah. I feel like we can both relate to that as well. Because like, so for me, like growing up, I grew up in Oklahoma. And so, you know, it's like very Bible Belt, but my dad was pagan. And then, but for once I realized kind of, you know, oh, like when you, you know, you get to the age where it's just like, you are Christian and Christianity is like your entire identity. And everybody will ask you, when were you baptized? And where what church do you go to? So I had like made up answers for that.
00:03:11
Speaker
And I really just kind of pushed everything that, you know, I learned aside because I'm just like, well, I want friends and I want to be popular and I want, you know, to fit in with all of these people. I ended up joining like a Christian sorority in college and everything. And I just remember the whole time that we would be in this church sanctuary and they're like, oh you know, the Holy Spirit is here and we're experiencing it. And I'm just like,
00:03:38
Speaker
like, I don't understand what's happening right now. And so finally being able to like, okay, this is this is not for me and let's step back and really connect with the things that I grew up with was, it was just so nice. it felt like a coming home.
00:03:56
Speaker
Well, and and especially for millennials during our coming of age years, The of culture in America specifically was very Christian coming out of 9-11 and that entire era. So yeah, it was like, well, this is what you are and this is what you do. I was in the Bible Belt as well. I was in Nashville. So not Oklahoma, but I do know Oklahoma is its own kind of Bible Belt. special. Yeah. Yeah.
00:04:25
Speaker
I was born there, but I grew up in California and I grew up in a Pentecostal household. so It's another, just a real special group. It's interesting it's like, it doesn't, it kind of makes sense. And sort because I grew up, I had, my dad's side the family was Catholic and my parents divorced and my mom put us in a Protestant church that was leaning towards charismatic or at least the youth part of it was. But when you become an adult and you're like, oh wait, the things that I actually kind of maybe liked about this were,
00:05:02
Speaker
maybe weren't about this at all. And they were about me and they were about what I like to connect to spiritually, you know, and and that's just such an interesting journey. Yeah. yeah It should be studied. Yeah.
00:05:18
Speaker
yeah And even just the community, I feel like I think that was one of the things that I felt like I really needed was like this sense of community because I love how now with just being in involved with magic and and identifying as pagan and having the access to magic.
The Role of Community in Spiritual Practices
00:05:38
Speaker
you know, just the world at your fingertips that we didn't really have like in the nineties, especially, i mean, it's, it was definitely like, you know, I feel like I'm missing out on something because I don't have this community where now it is more like at your fingertips and you can, if you want to have a community, you can. And I, so I really appreciate that.
00:05:58
Speaker
Um, now, I mean, I know social media and stuff can be terrible as well, but like yeah with at least just to be able to build a community, I think is just wonderful. Yes, we like to take on the positive things that the internet brought us and social media brought us. We'll we'll take those. Thank you. Yeah. Yes. yeah And everything else. Go.
Exploring 'The Witches of Honeysuckle House'
00:06:21
Speaker
So I guess for our listeners who are just discovering you, how would you describe the Witches of Honeysuckle House in your own words? Yeah, so i like to pitch the Witches of Honeysuckle House as being like practical magic, but if the house was alive and being a story of, at its core, a story of healing. So it's a story about a family of witches who live in a small East Tennessee town,
00:06:49
Speaker
And they are cursed. So where every 13 years, somebody that they love dies on the grounds of their sentient house. And the story follows two sisters in present day who are lightly estranged.
00:07:01
Speaker
And unless they can come together to break the curse, they're going to lose someone they love, possibly each other. And they have to uncover the truth of the curse by digging into their family's past. And then we get a little bit of that throughout the story as well, the witches who came before them. So it's one part witchcraft and cozy fall vibes and one part let's heal generational trauma no yeah I also just want to add I love the house and I loved the little sections from the house's point of view that makes me so happy I had so much fun writing those chapters I really love bringing setting to life and houses especially I feel like for witches like the the places that we inhabit do come to life in certain ways. And so I kind of wanted to explore that in the book in a way that's definitely beyond how my own residents and I work together for safety, but still kind of grounded in that concept.
00:08:03
Speaker
Yeah. I, yeah I absolutely loved that. And I'm, i'm So whenever the the you guys sent us the book, right? So I was in the process of moving. And so it got lost in the mail. I ended up getting it. And it finally came. But I was like, you know I'm just going to buy the audio book. And one thing I will say to Hannah Church, the narrator, she is brilliant. She's so good. love you.
00:08:31
Speaker
It was one of my favorite audiobooks I've listened to. Because some narrators are so like, okay, I love the book, but I didn't really care for the narrator. She did a brilliant job. and and She's from Tennessee. So she she and I had a conversation. She was like, how heavy do you want the accents in this? And so we kind of talked through that where with the modern day sisters, they're not as heavy. They're they're much more like...
00:08:54
Speaker
ah for Like the way I speak, most people probably hear me and think, oh, you don't have an accent unless you're like from, I don't know, I have a friend in Boston who's like, no, you have a Southern accent. But anyway, versus the past Climeline sisters have more of that. oh she did so good. She sent me a video.
00:09:10
Speaker
when she was recording it she took a video of herself because she started crying while she was recording the book and so she sent me a video of that happening and I was like oh I love you forever yeah yeah yeah she did a great job and just I didn't realize how much I was going to just fall in love with all of the characters but especially like Regina and Violet and then knowing like just with that situation and how complex it is and how, you know, you can see, i mean, as much as like with every character, like,
00:09:46
Speaker
You can see the decisions, the what the reasons why they made the decisions that they did. And it's just, it was so good. It was so I'm so glad you say that. That was my goal was to make it so you could see and understand and relate to their decisions while also being like, okay, well, we can also choose to heal. And some of the characters do and some of them don't. So, but that makes me very happy. Yeah.
00:10:12
Speaker
Yeah. yeah um did any of the characters surprise you at all whenever you were writing them? I think the character who surprised me the most was actually Evie. When I was writing this book, in my first draft of this book, Evie was insufferable. And I had to pull back. So...
00:10:38
Speaker
Just a little tea. I wrote this. Everything I write is is a healing is a practice in healing for me. And in writing this book, i was looking to heal an estranged relationship with my own sister that I don't know if it will ever mend in the real world. And so was like, okay, how can i find healing on the page with this, which is also what I hope people come to the page to find. i like to think of my books as like little healing spells that maybe will take people on that journey. But So I am the eldest.
00:11:10
Speaker
and the ah In terms of the sisters, I've got older brothers as well. But in the sister relationship, I'm the older sister. and so in writing Evie, when I first started writing this book, it was just like she was coming out with all of my frustrations for the the sister I'm estranged from. And I had to take a step back and go, okay, wait, who are you? Because you're not her. You are your own character. And she just kind of started to show me who she was. And she was so loving. And she was so kind. And she really wanted to protect her child. And yeah, she had different opinions on things in Florence, but she was an optimist. And all of these things that came to the page where i was like, oh oh my gosh, I actually really like you a lot. yeah really yeah When I started, I was like, ah this is the character I do not like. oh That's how I was too, honestly. like yeah And I didn't, what made me kind of
00:12:04
Speaker
really rethink Evie because i am also like an optimist so like you would think Evie would be like okay I identify more with this character specifically but then whenever there's the scene where her and Florence actually have that confrontation and then we realize like if you forget sometimes that like Evie was in this too. Evie experienced this trauma too and so Even though I know Florence was able to protect her from a lot of it, like she still experienced a lot of trauma at a very young age. And it's just like having that reminder, it's just like, oh shit. Like, yeah.
00:12:41
Speaker
And it's really sad. I know yeah but know. She surprised me the most. ah Clara was also a surprise. I didn't know. When I started this book, i Clara wasn't in my mind at all. Like, she just kind of showed up. And and that's part of what brought Evie to life was realizing that she was a mother. And then so then when Clara walked onto the page, I was like, oh, you are an absolute delight. Thank you. You're healing my inner child. And that was very fun. i
00:13:12
Speaker
I have never written A Child's Point of View. i did not expect to write one. And the first chapter I wrote for her, I was like, oh, should I be writing children's literature?
00:13:23
Speaker
i mean, maybe. But it was such a joy to find her voice in this book. Yeah, i love that.
00:13:34
Speaker
Were there scenes or moments that felt especially emotional like or difficult to write? Yes. I think the two there's two scenes that were probably the most difficult to write. The first one that was the most difficult to write for me was
Writing Challenges and Character Development
00:13:50
Speaker
the scene when Florence tries to go home to Honeysuckle House. So for those listening, Florence hasn't been to Honeysuckle House in 13 years.
00:13:59
Speaker
And she tries to go home because something tragic happens and she wants to go support her sister and she she can't do it. She has a panic attack and she has to pull over onto the side of the road. And in terms of things that pulled from my own emotional experiences, that as a person with complex PTSD from childhood trauma... I have had, and i not any longer, but when I lived in the same city where my childhood home was, I would have those moments that if I was near that neighborhood, not even going to the house because I didn't have, I'm no contact with my mother. So i didn't have a reason to go to the house.
00:14:35
Speaker
But even like, driving by where like I could see like the backyard through the trees like that sort of visceral thing that scene took me two weeks to write ah and the which is like yeah in comparison I'm I when I'm in the flow of things I'm writing 500 to 3,000 words a day and so two weeks on that one chapter was lot yeah I mean it was so well done though and that makes so much sense like Thank That was, you know, an emotional thing for you. Like that was a connection for you. So it makes sense on why it was so well written.
00:15:11
Speaker
I'm so glad that it came that it came across that way. And there's a i don't want to spoil anything, but there's a thing that happens in that scene that brings Florence comfort. that was kind of this moment that like was a, Oh, let me give this to my past self who didn't have this in this moment. So it's kind of those moments of like, what can I do for me then as I'm writing these books, even though again, these characters aren't me and their trauma is totally different from mine, but still, then the other scene that was difficult to write was there is for everyone listening who hasn't read the book, a content warning. There is one scene of child abuse in this book and it's, um,
00:15:49
Speaker
I mean, not that there's any sort of light child abuse. and Right. But it's I would say it's lighter than some. with There's like hair pulling. So content warning for that. um Yeah.
00:16:00
Speaker
That scene was really challenging to write as well. Didn't take quite as long as the other one. But in order to really try to walk that line of, because I'm not looking to traumatize anything. Right. looks like i'm not These aren't horror. That's not the goal. The goal is to take people on a journey to healing. But there's certain things that you kind of have to Show enough of to really get into the mindset of the characters and understand what they're going through. And this and this moment was like a a point of no return yeah for the sisters in their relationship with their mother. And so it was really important to put on the page. But threading that needle of making it challenging and difficult without...
00:16:44
Speaker
re-traumatizing anyone who might be reading who's experienced something similar was definitely a challenge. I hope I succeeded for anyone listening who has experienced anything like that. um But yes, content warning for sure. no Yeah. i I think it was very well done. And Sam and I both have a lot of – childhood lived experiences that, you know, reading it, i I feel like it wasn't so much like like I didn't want to read it. It was more just like I could resonate with that. I could understand how the sisters were feeling in those moments.
00:17:18
Speaker
Yeah. so And I think too, like, Having that, ah yeah, have very, very calm. We both have very complicated relationships with her. All three of us have very complicated relationships with our mothers. um Having um with my stepmom was my abuser. I have no contact with her. Um, but knowing that like, because as a child, you know, everybody just seems so much bigger than you. And so when somebody treats you so terribly, you just kind of like, oh, it's like a personification of a monster. Like this person is a monster. And then so growing up as an adult, it's like, okay, this person was my age or younger whenever they treated me like this, like what could have led them
00:18:04
Speaker
to treat me this way. and then kind of seeing like, okay, well, you know, what happened to them whenever they were a child? Like what did they experience to make them the way that they are? And so having that too, as like shown to us that sometimes it's our lived experiences that create this. And if we're unhealed and we haven't done anything to heal that generational trauma, it is going to keep repeating every generation. And so- Having that, i think, is – the background, I think, was really successful and powerful in this story.
00:18:39
Speaker
Yeah, it's like we we find – we get to a point where we try to find compassion for the people who hurt us in terms of who they were that led them up to that point with right without us coming to a point of excusing or ignoring. you know I think that there's definitely a lot of healing in that.
00:18:56
Speaker
So as far as like the magic and the witchcraft in Honeysuckle, the Witch's Honeysuckle House, did like as far as honeysuckle specifically and honey, like what did that symbolize like for you in this story?
Symbolism and Themes in the Book
00:19:11
Speaker
Yeah. so honeysuckle is a really protective plant. I like to work with, as an herbalist, I don't, I haven't worked with honeysuckle as much in terms of using it for physical healing, but I, but I do work with it in my witchcraft practice because it has such protective energy. And so I like to use it when I'm doing spell work or just depending on what kind of spell doing, maybe it's like candle dressing, if I'm doing candle magic or anything like that. And the protective powers of honeysuckle, I felt like one of the most important things about this house and this book, because one of the ways the house communicates is through honeysuckle vines. And so, but the thing about honeysuckle is it's an invasive plant.
00:19:56
Speaker
And it's all over the Southern United States but and it's choking out plants, that the the native plants. And so there was this kind of balance with it where the house itself, Honeysuckle House, is protective while also being caught up in in the curse.
00:20:15
Speaker
for the family. So the symbolism of honeysuckle really felt important there for me. As far as where the the honey and the bees themselves came in, when I first was brainstorming this idea, I had a myriad of ideas that I was talking to my editor, not the editor of this book, actually, the editor of my debut novel, In the Shadow Garden, which was in a different publishing house. They ended up not buying Witches of Homesuckle House. And so i we sold it to a different publishing house. But the editor of In the Shadow Garden, i was brainstorming ideas for my next book with. And I had this thought. I was like,
00:20:50
Speaker
What I'd love to do is sentient house book. And then I was like, but i also have this idea of like using bees and honey and somehow that ties into the into the magic system. And I don't know if it's a wax and the candles. She's like, well, what if you combine them? And so it kind of came into play that way. But with with the bees and the honey, I think it's it's less about the honey and more about the wax. Yeah. because they use that to make the candles and like the honey is this and and you know again as nervous like honey is delicious and sweet but it's also very healing and so we have that element of the symbolism but then we're taking the surplus of the hives and melting that down to in order to create magic and i think that and i don't i don't keep these my best friend keeps these um and they're
00:21:37
Speaker
And it's so cool to me, but I don't keep bees and I don't, I don't make my own candles. I buy my candles from a magic shop down the street, but up like raising the bees yourself and and having the honey and especially knowing like how much wax you would actually get out of a harvest so that things become a lot more precious in that way. That's, that's kind of where all of that came in with the honey and the honeysuckle. Yeah. And then you didn't ask us, but I'll tell you anyway. The town itself, Burdock Creek, is named after one of my favorite plants, which is burdock. And as an herbalist, I love to use that plant. It's very grounding. It's an it's adaptogenic and it's super nourishing. but
00:22:22
Speaker
And then in my in my witchcraft practice, because of how grounding and protective it is, I use burdock root in most of my spells because it's it's just a really great... protective element to kind of ground my magic. And so again, i wanted, i was going into this story to tell us a traumatic story on a path to healing.
00:22:46
Speaker
I wanted to protect the witches and I wanted to protect my readers. And so by pulling in the honeysuckle and the burdock, I felt like, you know, we're pulling from the spirits of those plants and putting that on the page too. And so I think it creates a really protective environment for people reading a story that's so grounded in trauma. Yeah.
00:23:03
Speaker
I absolutely love this because we came up with this little like list of questions and the next question I feel like we don't even need to ask it because it's like you just really layered everything in there because we were going to ask like how intentional was the magical elements in the story.
00:23:20
Speaker
Oh yes, deeply, deeply intentional. Yeah, I just love that you're like – you know, this is protective and protecting the readers and protecting the the characters. And it's obvious like how intentional it is. And I absolutely love that.
00:23:35
Speaker
Oh, that makes me so happy. i I love that you were going to ask that. like and then of course the other element being the tarot, which is also very intentional. And know that you all, I listened, i listened to your past episode on tarot because I was really curious to see what you all had to say about it. And that was really, um really fun listen, but yeah,
00:23:54
Speaker
just the way that cards can be interpreted in so many different ways. i really wanted to show that in this book because you y'all talked about in that episode, how a lot of media will be like, Oh, it's the death card. yeah yeah die You know, and, and there is like a touch of that in here where there's like one character like, excuse me,
00:24:14
Speaker
do we, what do you mean? We don't want to use that. Let me explain how the death card actually means. And so this also felt like it was a fun way to potentially introduce people who might be afraid of tarot to tarot in fiction so that they can then go, oh, well, maybe this is something that this is a tool that I can use. Like, and you know, and I'm not, I'm not saying this is like a gateway drug to tarot. Maybe. Maybe it should be. about But wanted to show how beautiful and interesting tarot can be. And especially because the tarot is like a journey and a story itself. And so,
00:24:54
Speaker
What the book is for, for listeners who haven't read the book yet, it's separated into 13 parts intentional because the curse happens every 13 years. But each part starts with a tarot card that,
00:25:05
Speaker
appears somewhere in the story. It might not appear in that section, it appears somewhere in the story. And one of my friends suggested, because I was thinking about breaking it apart, was like, well what if you use the tarot cards for the parts? And I was like, oh my gosh, of course you are brilliant. You're brilliant because you wrote the tarot in. i just yeah like it and So the tarot piece of that too, in terms of like magic and how that fits in,
00:25:29
Speaker
was also super intentional from the very beginning. i love that. That was one of the first things that I noticed about the book before we even like started reading it. I messaged Sam and was like, I got the book. It's broken up by tarot. and She was like, I love this. Yeah.
00:25:47
Speaker
Yeah. Well, i I feel as well too. I was just having a conversation with my friend over the weekend because we were in downtown Tacoma here and she was like, oh, I was like, oh, there's a psychic shop. We should go in. And she was like, I would be terrified that they would read my cards and they'd pull the death card. And I'm like...
00:26:05
Speaker
Liz. Her name is also Liz. I was like, excuse me. but No, that's not what that means. And so I had went on this whole, like down this whole rabbit hole with her about like, actually it's a journey. And this is like halfway through that. Like this isn't even like at the end. So you'll be fine.
Authenticity in Magic Systems
00:26:23
Speaker
the end Yeah.
00:26:25
Speaker
So like, that's not what this means. And so it's so, it's so refreshing to talk to somebody who has written a book that is amazing, but also addresses magical systems in a way that makes sense for practitioners. Because we have read a few books on for our book club where, you know, we maybe we really like the book or the characters or the the story is great, but it really just takes you out of it whenever it feels like the author didn't do enough research. if I mean, it's one thing if you're going to create your own magical system, like that's fine. I will follow that. Like I love a good fantasy. But if you're going to use magical systems that are already in place and divinatory practices already in place, like at least do a little bit of research on it. Come on. And so it's so, so amazing that
00:27:15
Speaker
Like to read a fantasy novel from a witch, I think, it i mean, it just, it means so much. It was like night and day difference. Like we have like one other author that we really love that is, she is also witchy and her books reflect that. But outside of that, every time we read a book, we're like, i mean, I liked it, but this, this kind of bothered me.
00:27:39
Speaker
Yeah. Completely wrong. Yeah. No, So earlier when I was talking about how I got back into witchcraft, the way I got back into it. So my debut novel, In the Shadow Garden, is has healing readings in it. And I was like, okay.
00:27:55
Speaker
And part of this is that I, maybe this is like, I have, ah I'm a Gemini with a Gemini stellium. And I'm like, I have, i really like knowing things. And I like learning things. I like teaching things. And so was like, if I'm going to do tea leaf reading, I need to know how to do it. So I learned how to read tea leaf in order to write that book. And it's not my preferred divinatory practice, but shit is fun. But that was like, that brought me back into practicing witchcraft. And so, yes, it's like, if I'm going to build a magic system and put something in it that is real, that's from our world, i can't...
00:28:37
Speaker
I don't want to say other authors are disrespectful, but to me it would be disrespectful to mess that up. Yeah. And I don't want to do that. And I do know everyone has like different practices and different practices are grounded in different things and all of that. So like, also I would never...
00:28:52
Speaker
I'm not going to write a book that's like a closed practice that I don't practice to, to be clear. But it's like, if I'm going to pull from real witchcraft, I'm goingnna pull from my witchcraft because that's part of my life. And like, why else am i using it in the book?
00:29:11
Speaker
I could talk about it for a long time about this. i have another friend who's also a witch or um who who's also witchy. She wrote a book. Do I have it here somewhere?
00:29:22
Speaker
It's called
00:29:26
Speaker
The Hearthwich's Guide to Magic and Murder, Kiri Callahan. Oh, know I've seen that at bookstore. Yeah, and and she has a lot of stuff. that it's very her Her book is way more fantasy than mine is because there's like Fae and like a lot of things that are grounded in Fae but in a an alternate universe.
00:29:47
Speaker
London, essentially. Anyway, but the magic is very grounded in real magic. So we we've talked about this in length. So highly recommend that book. Yeah, we'll definitely be adding that to our list of books to me read. Right up my alley. I love some fairies.
00:30:02
Speaker
And and and and it's theff fa the fairy part of it is very well researched as well. So that's the other thing. like We're not talking about the fae with my book, but you know there are a lot of books that have the fae in them. And it's like, okay, well, I guess we're just making up what the fae are now. But probably not that.
00:30:19
Speaker
Highly really recommend. Yeah, I will definitely add that. And I think as well, well, I mean, I don't know, maybe this is something already in the works or already been done, but I think a tarot deck to tie in with the book with the imagery.
00:30:35
Speaker
Well, time on the book would be amazing. I am trying. um Maybe if, maybe if one of my books goes really, really viral so that we could get a publisher to do it. Otherwise we'd have to do a Kickstarter or something. Oh yeah. Yeah.
00:30:47
Speaker
So what I did is ah as a pre-order campaign for the book, my cousin is an artist, and I had her design three cards for the book. So these were the backs she did. So like we have the start of one. So maybe if we did a Kickstarter, she can do the whole deck. Yes. Yeah. So she did the temperance card um and hierophant and the hermit. And they're all on my Instagram somewhere deep down if somebody wanted to go looking for them. Yeah.
00:31:14
Speaker
She did these the three cards that were in the reading that Florence and Evie do that leads to their estrangement. I would love. She and I, which we talked about, wrote she's like, okay, when are you going to get me to do the rest of the cards? I was like, okay, well, I need more money so I can pay you to do the rest of the cards. Hold on, we're working on it. If you had a Kickstarter, you know for sure you'd at least have two backers. yeah Yeah, maybe I need more time. If I have more time, then I can organize this. But yes, this that is a long term dream. And it's one of those things where it's like, would I, is it something I would want to do that's Witches of Honeysuckle House specific? Or do I want to wait until later in my career when I have more witchy books? And so there's the polls and characters from across the books. i See, you can tell I have thought about this. I mean, I think I need to. We're just going to keep at it.
00:32:08
Speaker
yeah That's awesome. I mean that would be ah phenomenal. I would 1000% I know. and Okay. Maybe, maybe if I can like, if I can sell one of my books and it gets made into a movie that's super successful, right? Then have merchandising. We could, anyway, I don't know how. i I'm like, for anyone listening, I love to see Witches of Honeysuckle, the movie.
00:32:33
Speaker
Yeah. yeah
00:32:37
Speaker
Yes, please. We can make it, we can make it work. Yeah. We can work. Oh,
00:32:46
Speaker
oh
00:32:48
Speaker
Is it me? Is it you? I think so. Yeah. I don't know. yeah so what do you hope that readers feel when they finish your book?
00:32:59
Speaker
Oh, that's a great question. I think the the big thing that I hope readers feel is that they feel held at the end of the book. You know, there's obviously I want people to feel hopeful and I want them to feel safe and and i want maybe a little bit sad. I don't want to make people feel sad, but I cried writing this book and I cried every single time I edited the end of this book, but it's, it's that kind of cathartic crying, you know? So I think, I think for people to feel held and safe is really my hope. but They get to the end and they're like, oh you took me on this journey and I can trust you to take me on another journey again, sort of situation. Yeah.
00:33:40
Speaker
Yeah. I definitely think that, I mean, I'm basing my experience off of everybody who would read your book, but I feel like they would feel that way. Because even, know, up until like towards the end, I was very much like at this perspective of like, how is this all going to out? is this all going to out? Like, I'm just like, I feel like I'm that seven-year-old child. like You know what I mean? like I'm just like, ah okay, well, I guess I got to figure it out myself. like I've got to figure out myself. This is what we're going to do. And then
00:34:12
Speaker
to yeah to be in that situation where it's just like, I have so much anxiety leading into the ending of this book and then it all works out. And it it works out in the way that it's supposed to work out and the way that yeah it was very well very well done Thank you. Yeah. And it doesn't end without loss. Yeah. Loss in the past and some loss in the present, but there's still this thought and idea of, okay well now that we're starting from a more healed place, what can the future look like for us? Yes. Yeah. That's, that's where I wanted it to go. Cause, cause again, i was trying to heal estrangement in my own life. So what could a potential future look like? Obviously again, I i don't have,
00:34:57
Speaker
a sentient bed and breakfast or a sentient bookshop or any of these things, but still like at the core of the themes, what what does that look like? Yeah. And then like being able to know that, okay, there will be loss and it's gonna hurt.
00:35:14
Speaker
Yeah. But also the people that you have around you can help get you through this loss. And and so I just, I think that's great because there's so many,
00:35:24
Speaker
you know, stories that they just want, you know, everything to just tie up with a happy bow and everything is, is going to be just perfect and work out perfectly. And that's not real life, but this book felt like real life. Like it felt like, okay, like this can be what healed and happy in the start of this journey looks like. And we have to say goodbye to some things and it's going to be bittersweet, but it's going to work out the way it's supposed to.
00:35:53
Speaker
So you get the book. So much joy. and ah um Okay. So this next question um is so we were wondering, are there any messages in the book that you hope resonate, especially with witches, magical practitioners, or anybody who's like spiritually curious who would be picking up the book?
00:36:19
Speaker
Yeah, i think I think one of the biggest messages, again, and I touched on this a little bit earlier, but that to magic isn't scary. Like, it's not it's not something you need to be afraid of. And yeah, we have things that ground and protect. Like, ah the there's...
00:36:37
Speaker
Clara has a little onyx cat figurine, you know? And so, so there's things like that, like we have crystals and we have stones and we have plants that, that ground to protect, but magic is meant to be joyful too. And I think that that's something I would hope people come away from this with, especially again, especially on the tarot side of things. Cause there's so many people like tarot is becoming a lot more common and a lot more popularized. And I think a lot more,
00:37:07
Speaker
a lot more people are open to it than they have been in the past, but there's still those fears around it. And yeah my hope is that somebody will come to this book and be like, oh, okay.
Magic as a Joyful Practice
00:37:18
Speaker
so you're telling me that maybe the worst two cards in the deck are the three of swords and the tower card. But even then there's still hope on the other side of these cards. You know what I mean? So it's, it's, it's not,
00:37:34
Speaker
was to not life or death. I mean, in this book, some of the things are definitely life or death. But but using a tarot deck and and grounding your practice with that isn't. And so that's that's one of the big things. And then two, also for people who are curious about like spell work, that they might that this might open more of that curiosity up about, oh, well, maybe I can practice candle magic. This doesn't like, again, not necessarily the the whole dipping and having your own bees and all those things, but because all of the candle colors and the things that are used in the candle spells in the book are grounded in my practice of candle magic and people might go, oh, well, I want to learn more about this. Let me go down that road and see how I can incorporate this into my life. So those are probably the two big things, I think.
00:38:24
Speaker
So looking back kind of like at the characters themselves, which character did you feel most connected to? And why did you feel that connection?
00:38:37
Speaker
That is an excellent question. i think on one hand, Florence, I feel the most connected to because she is probably the most like me in this book.
00:38:50
Speaker
But the character whose journey I felt the most connected to through the whole through her whole life would have been Violet. And I think it's just because when you look at the impact that grief can have on a person, because her trauma is much more rooted in grief as opposed to, I mean, there's there's definitely like abusive things that happen in her trauma with her relationship with her sister. But in terms of what the root cause of that was grief, and I think...
00:39:21
Speaker
being able to explore what that looks like really helped me feel really, I'm i was so i'm so attached to Violet. And I'm like, oh, because there's like, there's one, there's one chapter in the book. There's a couple chapters, but there's one that takes place in 1973, think it is,
00:39:43
Speaker
whatever no I'm not going to do the math. In the early 70s, where we see Violet and she is living in an apartment in New York City because she's left Burdock Creek. And there's so much story to tell about what Violet's life looked like after she left Burdock Creek that that I didn't get to tell. And I'm Maybe one day i will. I don't know. But that she just feels so much bigger than the book. And I think that that's part of why I really love her so much because she has so much that happens off page that that we don't know. And we just get the the glimpse of into the impact that grief has had on her, but how she's still trying to serve her community in her new community in New York.
00:40:27
Speaker
And... oh Yeah, Violet's probably the one. Oh, she's just so soft. Yeah. I love Violet. I really love Violet. um I had another question kind of come up, it came up in my mind that I wanted to ask that hopefully I can get it out and it sound, you know, well thought out and put together. um But when, like going kind of back to magic and stuff, yeah,
00:40:56
Speaker
thinking about how in this book, ah you know, on the podcast, we talk a lot about like ethics and like, you know, autonomy and stuff like that. um I love that you explored themes of, you know, this obviously this pattern of witches performing spells that are ethically maybe not a great idea because it affects other people's auto autonomy. Yeah. And um so, you know, and as like, as a child, like one of the, you know, my, my stepmom was a practitioner as well. And she ah like had
00:41:35
Speaker
like poppets of the, all the children and would try and, you know, really influence like, and not a great way, like our lives. And it reminded me so much of Regina. And I'm just like, Oh my God, like stop doing this. um sort thought sorry no But it's just like, Oh my gosh, the, I guess the, maybe it's not even a question. It's just a statement of like, I love that. it I mean, it's,
00:42:05
Speaker
off all obviously like I'm trying not to give any spoilers and it's really hard. It's really hard. now But I love how, you know, Violet was able to kind of get out of that situation, even though, I mean, how she ended up finding out about everything and what happened, um ah it cost her a lot emotionally. But being able to be in that place where it's like,
00:42:32
Speaker
okay, I'm not, like, this person doesn't have power and control over me anymore, even though they did do something terrible that also affected how they lived the rest of their life. But um how how did that, like, those those themes, like, that that influence anything from your personal life? Or, you know, how did that come about?
00:42:55
Speaker
Yeah, well, it's it's so interesting because I do think witchcraft is uniquely equipped to tell stories of power and control. because And especially since this was a look at trauma, and so much of trauma is rooted in often somebody trying to control another person. And because of the way magic works. It's just, it's, it's the perfect metaphor for that.
00:43:22
Speaker
And that is one of the things I wanted to set out to do with the magic in this book from like a literary standpoint is to use it as a metaphor in that way, which is why early on we see a couple chapters from Clara's perspective where she's casting some spells and she's been given rules that you can't cast a spell about somebody else without their permission. And she does it anyway. um And the consequences of that are, i was going to say they're not dire, except that something happens to the house. So actually they're kind dire, even though, even though it's, it's, it's done in a way that feels very soft and cozy. But so, so even from that,
00:44:04
Speaker
from Clara's perspective where she's trying to help somebody without their permission versus potentially casting a spell that's trying to harm someone or control someone or take something from someone.
00:44:16
Speaker
Magic is just such a good way to explore that concept. And I do agree, like the ethics of it, it's like, you know, I practice and if I'm going to do a spell that is about my spouse's career, about anything that is going on with him, I check first. Like I'm not going to,
00:44:34
Speaker
i've I'm not going to light a candle for him unless he's like, no, yes, I'm on board with this. Or friends or things like that. You know, if i know somebody who's going through something and I'm like, oh, okay, well, are you okay with me doing a protection spell about this? it's And I think that consent is so important in magic, in witchcraft, when you are doing anything that involves anyone else. And I did definitely wanted that to be on the page too. And just in terms, again, you know, if anybody reads this book and goes, oh,
00:45:03
Speaker
Real life witchcraft actually sounds super interesting. I would like to dive into that. Well, good. Now you're going in with a foundation of ethics, which I think is super important. Yes. I know Sam already said it, but we loved that in the book because that is something that we harp on quite a bit on the podcast, especially when we're covering topics that you know could potentially – if somebody didn't know and they're just like, oh, I'm going to jump into this, you know we we want to make sure that they're like – given all the tools to do it appropriately.
00:45:38
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. And um our next question, you've already answered it. So I'm just going to skip that. I was talking about real life dynamics and experiences. And if there's any relationships within the book that were influenced by real life experiences.
00:45:50
Speaker
Um, but as far as like looking forward, so what's next for you? Creativity, creatively, creatively. Good Lord. I cannot talk or magically. Is there, you know, anything that we should be adding to our TBR for the near future? oh yes. Okay. Actually, before I do that, there is one other thing about real life experiences wanted to share, which is because earlier we were talking about, you know, finding compassion for people who hurt us and,
00:46:20
Speaker
one of my abusers was my mother and her, I actually pulled the moment of grief for Regina and Violet from her life. She was 13 years old and her mother was killed in a car accident where she was impaled by a tree. And, um there was a lot of like blame around that that my mom had placed on herself because she was supposed to be babysitting her siblings and they got in a fight and so they had to get a babysitter. Her mom was driving the babysitter home. So like that piece of the story is also...
00:46:55
Speaker
In terms when we write books as witches, like for me, that was me wanting to kind of put healing potentially on the page for her if she ever goes down that path and finds it. Not necessarily something I want to be involved with personally, but putting it on the page, I think, was an act of healing and magic for me. So just wanted to touch on that.
00:47:18
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I'm like, touch on whatever you want. You can cover whatever topic. We're here all night. In terms of what's next, I don't have anything sold yet. I am working on a project that I am having so much fun with that hopefully will sell. I can't say too much about it, but what I will say is it's probably – A thing that happens with my books is they get marketed and I and i don't know how much y'all are in the literature book bookish spaces, but my books get marketed by readers somehow as cozy fantasy. And cozy fantasy is a really specific subgenre that my books do not fall into because there is not trauma in cozy fantasy. Right. So I will get reviews from people who are like, I was told this was cozy fantasy and it's very traumatic. and i'm like like Sorry about that. appeal yeah We're on the path for healing. But yes, it does start from a place of trauma. um
00:48:18
Speaker
But the book that I'm working on right now, might actually end up being cozy fantasy. And so it's really interesting. Like it's, it's much more lighthearted and I'm excited about it because it deals with found family in a way that my other books have found family in them. Like,
00:48:38
Speaker
I would say Witches of Honeyself House very much does, but this is like much more broad in terms of found family and and in terms of like a coven. And so I'm really excited to explore those themes. So we'll see.
00:48:50
Speaker
Hopefully that will sell. That is what I'm working on right now. um I love that idea. I know. I'm like, oh um let us know when it's when it does sell because it's going go. Okay, I will. Add other things to your TVR. My debut in the Shadow Garden is about witches with a magical garden in a town where – There's a family of witches who heal their neighbor's pain, feed it to their magical garden. It produces like magical fruits and vegetables. And then there's a family who produces a bourbon you can take a shot of once a year and forget your worst memory. And 25 years ago, the entire town forgot an entire summer. And so the secrets of that summer are starting to come to light. um
00:49:27
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. I need to read that immediately. And then the last thing I'll say, and not to plug my newsletter, but for people who subscribe to my newsletter, you get welcome email that includes a unpublished 40 page page.
00:49:46
Speaker
prologue of sorts to Witches of Honeysuckle House. Because the book was much longer when I sold it. And my publisher was like, we need to pare this down. But there was, and I found ways to do it. And I'm very happy with how the book turned out. But this prologue gives context of what happened the year that Evie and Florence's mother died.
00:50:07
Speaker
So that whole section. So, and you can just find my newsletter on my web website, but it's like, it's, so it's like ah you get like ah an ebook file essentially to read and it's,
00:50:20
Speaker
I just wanted to preserve the pages because I worked very hard on them. Yes. So for our listeners, what is your website if they want to? Oh, yes. Great question. My website is lizparkerwrites.com. Perfect. And that's where I am pretty much anywhere on the internet.
00:50:36
Speaker
Perfect. We did have a couple of fun questions that we thought would be really fun to kind of end the episode on. So if Honeysuckle House had a soundtrack, what songs would be on this?
00:50:50
Speaker
Okay. So it's what a wonderful question. Honeysuckle House does have a soundtrack. And if you to – I think it's my Instagram. Okay. My link menu on Instagram, there's a link to all of my book soundtracks because I – i find soundtracks very important to helping me write. I'm double checking to see if that's yes. There's a writing playlists link on there. Perfect. And Witches of Honeysuckle House.
00:51:21
Speaker
So I'm going to give you a couple of the songs. One of the primary songs that I listened to on repeat when writing this book was um Cinnamon by Hayley Williams.
00:51:32
Speaker
And that song is so witchy and I really love it. And that one was a big one. Then another one that was probably one of the biggest ones was Deep End by Holly Humberson. um And that one, like You just have to listen to it and then you'll be like, oh yes, I do see. Those are like the two big songs. But yes, there is a full playlist that I have that's publicly available.
00:51:59
Speaker
ah yeah I'm going to have to go listen to it now and get like the honeysuckle vibes. And then read it again. Yeah. oh And then, so the last question that we have is if you could leave readers with one spell, blessing or intention, what would it be?
00:52:23
Speaker
Oh, that's a great question. Hmm.
00:52:31
Speaker
I think actually what I would leave readers with is a tarot spread. So not any of the things that you asked. um and and Throw the question away. Here's what I would do. if if If you go to my Instagram or you go to my newsletter, you'll have to dig for a little bit because it's kind of far down on my newsletter. But i think it's near the top of my Instagram right now. I actually put together a tarot spread, a healing tarot spread for this book. Yes.
00:53:04
Speaker
and And it's like lightly, ba very loosely based on the Celtic cross spread, but fully adjusted to being a healing journey. And that is what I would leave readers with.
00:53:16
Speaker
of this book with, because I think, especially again, for people who are like worried and and like, is tarot safe? I don't know. um This spread is, is all about healing. So like, how can it be anything except safe and taking you on that way? So that is what I would leave readers with, I think.
00:53:35
Speaker
And listeners, the listeners of the podcast, of course. I think that's absolutely perfect. Mm-hmm. Are there any like last thoughts, last plugs or anything that you want to add?
00:53:50
Speaker
um Well, I will do a quick plug, actually. One of my best friends had a book come out last week and her name is Amber McBride. It's a picture book. So this would be for any parents who are listening. um She is a hoodoo practitioner. So obviously hoodoo is a closed practice, but the book is, the picture book is so beautiful and it kind of, it's a really nice book.
00:54:14
Speaker
educational piece, I think, for people for children who are wanting to know more about other cultures as well. And she has grounding exercises at the end of it that are safe that are fine for anyone to do. um And it is called Magic Hoodoo Child. And like I said, yeah, it just came out a week ago today. So I will plug that. Yeah. it's It's one of those picture books that... um
00:54:40
Speaker
if I didn't have an estranged relationship with my sister, I would tend to her children. But that's where we are. So I cannot at this time. But it is one. It's oh, and the illustrations are so beautiful. Anyway, will plug that book, I think.
00:54:55
Speaker
I love that. And then, of course, for all of our listeners, just look up Liz Parker writes on social media, online, sign up for the newsletter, read this book because it was amazing.
00:55:08
Speaker
okay yeah And we don't give five-star reads to everything. We don't. This is five-star read. This is five-star read. Thank you. This is a book that I keep on my shelf and read again. So yeah.
00:55:20
Speaker
Yeah. This was so wonderful. Thank you so much for bringing me on. I'm so glad y'all read the book and that you love the book. Like, like I kind of was saying, it means so much to me to have witches like my work. Yeah.
00:55:35
Speaker
like Like we've said like a million times already, but like it was just so refreshing. It honestly just picking up a book that has a lot of the things that we do or that we practice or that, you know, people ask us to cover on the the podcast. And we know like we've gone on a deep dive and we know a lot about it. It's so nice to like have somebody get it right and not have to, you know, get pulled out of that element to be like, well, that's not how I know it. That's not how it's done – Yeah.
00:56:06
Speaker
Look, I'm to be feeling great about myself for days. You should. You should.
00:56:19
Speaker
That's a wrap on this episode of Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. We hope you had as much fun as we did. If you loved this episode, we'd be eternally grateful if you left us a five-star review wherever you listen to your podcasts. It helps more witches, seekers, and magical misfits find our show.
00:56:35
Speaker
Want even more Get In Loser content? Join our Patreon or Supercast Coven. As a member, you'll get early access to episodes, a monthly newsletter, exclusive printable shadow working for more pages, access to our witchy book club, promo codes for merch, and so much more. Just check the show notes for the link or search Get In Loser We're Doing Witchcraft on Supercast and Patreon.
00:56:56
Speaker
You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Get In Witches or email us at we'redoingwitchcraft at gmail.com. Join us next week for part six of our Occultist series. Until then, stay magical, stay curious, and as always, blessed be witches.