<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Eloquent Peasant Books]]></title><description><![CDATA[Writing and publishing novels of Magick, Mystery, and Romance]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 06 Oct 2026 15:18:44 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.michalea.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Choosing a Market]]></title><description><![CDATA[Selling books at markets sounds simple: figure out where your readers are, set up a table, and sell them books. If only. The basic idea is sound. My friend, a food critic, wrote a book about the evolution of Southern cooking. Farmers’ markets and foodie conferences were obvious possibilities. I write witchy romantic suspense, so I go to witch markets, pagan events with a vendor area, craft fairs, and book festivals. Finding a market that caters to your target audience is only the beginning....]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/choosing-a-market</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ab3da6f623d83f4dfca78c2</guid><category><![CDATA[✍️ Writing Life]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:09:40 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_8e7f506cb0c9463198d85aad687c25a3~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Before You Pay for That Author Table…]]></title><description><![CDATA[A few years ago, a friend of a friend knew the owner of a witchy shop in Chicago. I was going to be in town for a week, and the owner invited me to do a reading and book signing. Great! The coordinator and I exchanged enthusiastic emails. She joked that she didn't know there were witches in Texas. (It's a big place, darlin'.) We discussed the reading. We discussed the event. We even got down to the important details of the after-party: Did I prefer red wine or white? I bought a new dress....]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/before-you-pay-for-that-author-table</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aac28113f6cb6099e559e31</guid><category><![CDATA[✍️ Writing Life]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2026 14:35:06 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_eea15a8a15b44dfa964523736e296ba6~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Wishing You a Happy Labor Day]]></title><description><![CDATA[No longer working for the Three Initial Company has an unexpected occupational hazard: I forget when Labor Day is. Fortunately, a post this week reminded me it was coming up. And then, as reminders often do, it jogged my memory about a previous post that was much more interesting than having a day off work: what was it like to actually work in ancient Egypt? So I dug it out of the archives, dusted off the sand, and decided it was time for an update. Turns out working in ancient Egypt was not...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/wishing-you-a-happy-labor-day</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a95997b978d27f7d8e5f3fe</guid><category><![CDATA[ Ancient Egypt]]></category><category><![CDATA[✍️ Writing Life]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 05 Sep 2026 05:15:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_2538ad8289a547c482ddeb0f1bc85960~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Walking on the Moon in Ancient Egypt]]></title><description><![CDATA[July 21, 1969. My leg bounced with nervous excitement as Neil Armstrong descended the ladder. I was sixteen years old, crammed into the living room with family and friends, and convinced I was watching gods walk on the moon. Who else but gods could stride between worlds? It wasn’t the first time space had dazzled me. Eight years earlier, on May 5, 1961, my teacher marched our class into the school auditorium, where a hulking nineteen-inch black-and-white television perched on the stage. We...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/walking-on-the-moon-in-ancient-egypt</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a8ef5c4e4f65c92ab5a8e93</guid><category><![CDATA[ Ancient Egypt]]></category><category><![CDATA[✍️ Writing Life]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2026 14:46:46 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_de2a379459e64e708fe0d7abf93f74c3~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Sprinting, Scrumming, &#38; Writing ]]></title><description><![CDATA[I worked for a big, three-initial company for twenty years as a writer, editor, and publications manager.  With 15 writers as direct reports and more competing demands on my time than I can remember, I lived by my calendar and became so proficient in juggling that I considered a career in the circus. During that time, the company invested heavily in agile. Not gonna lie, I rather liked the methodology. Seven years ago, I left the company and began writing novels. Or as I like to call it:...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/sprinting-scrumming-writing</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a83201a0c311159648e175e</guid><category><![CDATA[✍️ Writing Life]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 18:09:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_44e902a702f8460ba83499157f0c94ee~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Most of my ballgowns. . . ]]></title><description><![CDATA[How I shop for clothes for the main character of The Wheel of the Year Mysteries.]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/most-of-my-ballgowns</link><guid isPermaLink="false">60579743e3655c001501025c</guid><category><![CDATA[✍️ Writing Life]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wheel of the Year Mysteries]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2026 19:16:38 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_06350aef85b0468cb54656bba9950192~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_962,h_356,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Recasting the Spell ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Miranda and Caliban: The Magic Beneath The Tempest Synopsis:  Start with Shakespeare's Tempest. Add a girl growing up in isolation on an enchanted island, hidden away by her father,  a powerful magus determined to keep her safe at any cost. What of Miranda, the dutiful daughter shaped by his will? What of Caliban, the so-called savage bound to serve him? Start with Miranda and Caliban. In this luminous retelling, Jacqueline Carey turns the lens. Miranda is tenderhearted, loving, and achingly...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/miranda-and-caliban</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6094c676596f190016182357</guid><category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2026 16:44:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_1ca942abec484f32aef4d9ee7bd096c7~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Stacking the Deck]]></title><description><![CDATA[Tarot doesn’t behave the same way in fiction as it does in real life. That’s where things get interesting. In my previous blog post, I mentioned that The Wheel of the Year Mysteries really has four main characters: Maren, a witch Cyrus, her tech-billionaire partner A shadowy villain, who self-identifies as Alexander the Great, determined to keep them apart … and Tarot. Maren and Cyrus follow their instincts. Villains follow their ambitions. Tarot follows its own rules. When Tarot appears in a...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/stacking-the-deck-creating-tarot-readings-for-fiction</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b81bd5bae3e800161a6cd8</guid><category><![CDATA[✍️ Writing Life]]></category><category><![CDATA[ Tarot]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:16:34 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_b5512a358a694b6481b83f0d0b362da8~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Crown, Cards, Coven, &#38; Code ]]></title><description><![CDATA[February and March turned into an unexpectedly thematic reading months. I didn’t plan it, but every book circled the same gravitational pull: power—who holds it, how it’s performed, and what it costs. From royal image-making and wartime espionage to witch hunts, tech-world manipulation, magical systems, and a futuristic homicide detective who never lets go of a case … the throughline was unmistakable. Some books dazzled. Some frustrated me. A few did both in the same breath. But all of them,...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/crown-cards-coven-code-what-i-read-in-february-march</link><guid isPermaLink="false">698684c1e14322a9a912db3a</guid><category><![CDATA[ Tarot]]></category><category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 17:05:30 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_1007998739bd417fb923cb4db4cb5f5b~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[My Witch Solves Mysteries with Tarot ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Maren Lilienthal, Cyrus Harper, and a mysterious adversary from The Wheel of the Year Mysteries hold Tarot cards that unveil their destinies and intentions: Maren with the Wheel of Fortune, Cyrus with the Knight of Pentacles, and the shadowy figure with the Magician card, foretelling a tale of magick love, and looming conflict. Fifteen years ago, I had an idea for a mystery novel. The sleuth would be a witch. The problem? I had no idea how a witch would actually solve the crime. Spells? Too...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/why-my-witch-solves-mysteries-with-tarot-not-magic-spells</link><guid isPermaLink="false">62ac872515bc1410fea6f9f1</guid><category><![CDATA[Wheel of the Year Mysteries]]></category><category><![CDATA[✨ Witchcraft & Paganism]]></category><category><![CDATA[ Tarot]]></category><category><![CDATA[✍️ Writing Life]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 15 Mar 2026 16:46:26 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_a856db0e37024a6a915919bb82aeb98c~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Scroll of Saqqara: a Review]]></title><description><![CDATA[I've loved ancient Egypt for as long as I can remember. The theology, the magick, the sense that the universe runs on laws both visible and hidden. It shaped me as a reader and eventually as a writer. So when I say Pauline Gedge gets it right in The Scroll of Saqqara, I say that as someone who has spent years walking those sands in books, in imagination, and in real life. So, what about this book? Amazon sez Prince Khaemwaset, son of Ramesses II and revered physician, longs for the...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/scroll-of-saqqara-a-review</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6094cc2c537cc7001559db42</guid><category><![CDATA[ Ancient Egypt]]></category><category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2026 16:22:59 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_3cbacf63905844ce8eadbb3ba17f0a1c~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Not a Relic, Not a Metaphor]]></title><description><![CDATA[T.H. Matteson, Examination of a Witch 1853  Public Domain I set up Google Alerts to do what I’ve always done as a writer: pay attention. (You can set them up, too; click here.) What I'm Seeing The alerts arrive quietly in my inbox—links gathered by an algorithm trained to notice patterns long before we do. I’ve asked it to monitor topics I care about: ancient Egypt, Egyptian archaeology, Isis the goddess, Paganism, Tarot, Wicca, and Witchcraft.  They're subjects of history, spirituality,...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/not-a-relic-not-a-metaphor-thirty-days-of-persecuting-witches</link><guid isPermaLink="false">696128826d2e4f0e0979b1a0</guid><category><![CDATA[✨ Witchcraft & Paganism]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 15 Feb 2026 06:00:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_07164bc216d8420b88b71aed4f399935~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[January Reads: A Slow Month  ]]></title><description><![CDATA[January reading happens under strange conditions. The light is thin. The nights are long. And when I’m deep in a manuscript, I read the way a witch reads signs—carefully, skeptically, looking for truth beneath the surface. This was not a month of comfort reading. It was a month of assessment. Of watching how stories are built, where they falter, and whether they keep their promises. Some books offered momentum. Some offered meaning. One offered what can only be described as literary endurance...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/january-reads-a-slow-month</link><guid isPermaLink="false">695549dc810abc75244a14c5</guid><category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 01 Feb 2026 06:56:02 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_1f2ad9a5196844c69edb19d359a785de~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Turning the Wheel]]></title><description><![CDATA[I'm using organization as a theme to improve creativity and productivity.]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/turning-the-wheel-organizing-for-creativity-in-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">695480d93005d37b905ea076</guid><category><![CDATA[✍️ Writing Life]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2026 07:00:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_90a7213572ff4d048c9fe3688f68c95c~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[December Reads]]></title><description><![CDATA[December reading always sounds ambitious. . .in theory. In practice? Between holidays, end-of-year chaos, and the small matter of diving headfirst into drafting the next Wheel of the Year Mysteries book, my reading time shrank faster than daylight before the solstice. While everyone else was wrapped in Yule vibes, I was already sneaking glances ahead to Litha—sun, fire, and long days where secrets don’t stay buried for long. So this month’s reads skewed toward the cozy, the witchy, and the...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/december-reads-witchy-wintry-and-a-little-wicked</link><guid isPermaLink="false">693af9610b27bc7cafcc6fe4</guid><category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category><category><![CDATA[✨ Witchcraft & Paganism]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 2026 06:12:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_e019929b3377431184b381a2e362cf9d~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[At Yule. . .]]></title><description><![CDATA[You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Oh—wait. Wrong winter myth. Still, the problem holds. When it comes to Yuletide, we tend to remember the characters who’ve been stamped, merchandised, and mall-Santa-fied into cultural immortality: Father Christmas. St. Nick. Santa in his many red-suited incarnations. In recent years, Krampus has clawed his way back into the collective imagination, and...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/at-yule-remember-the-ladies</link><guid isPermaLink="false">692da17a745789e635cd7655</guid><category><![CDATA[✨ Witchcraft & Paganism]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2025 15:53:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_43066867f1824eb3977e0394d16decd7~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[November Reads]]></title><description><![CDATA[Alchemised A thousand-page dark fantasy of necromancy, alchemy, and missing memories… that somehow still didn’t reveal its own. It’s atmospheric and ambitious, but often repetitive. And if someone hadn’t whispered “Harry Potter fanfic,” I never would’ve spotted it. But I did finish all 1,000 pages, which is an accomplishment worthy of a solid three stars and a very long nap. Boleyn Traitor Yes, yes, I always insist I’m over Tudor fiction … and then a book like this comes along and proves me a...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/november-reads</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6932db9b4a571eee42e9740c</guid><category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 06 Dec 2025 05:49:56 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_7791151a3967478392c24010262cf4fd~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Wicked: For Good ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Wicked: For Good has officially landed, and the pop-culture cauldron is bubbling over. Between the fashion deep dives, history threads, and behind-the-scenes lore, there’s a lot to sift through—so I gathered some of the most interesting reads in one place. From Elphaba’s now-infamous “sex cardigan” to Ariana Grande’s vulnerable Glinda couture, plus a few real-witch reactions (mine included), here’s your curated tour through everything Wicked. I’ve also added a few fun facts about how Wicked...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/r-u-wicked</link><guid isPermaLink="false">691d47ed972cbe45f90250d5</guid><category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category><category><![CDATA[✨ Witchcraft & Paganism]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 01 Dec 2025 12:52:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_d23ca7c1ce234362ba3e82c9f46ecd28~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cinder House: A Review]]></title><description><![CDATA[Cinder House by Freya Marske What Amazon sez: Sparks fly and lovers dance in this gorgeous, yearning Cinderella retelling from bestselling author Freya Marske—a queer Gothic romance perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and T. Kingfisher. What I say:  Cinderella, but make it feral. We like to pretend the original story is wholesome: all pumpkins, wishes, and a girl who just wants to go to the ball. But if you actually read those older versions? It's all human bondage, dismemberment, bird...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/not-your-mother-s-cinderella</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6910a6f96d12760ab236bc9e</guid><category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 15 Nov 2025 07:17:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_525515fba7be47278263c28d4a23c1d4~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[When the Veil Thins. . .]]></title><description><![CDATA[As the veil thins and the year turns toward darkness, we instinctively reach for stories — the strange, the magical, the forgotten. Samhain invites us to look back: at the histories that shaped us, the myths that haunt us, and the mysteries we still chase. Here are some articles that explore witchcraft, folklore, and the supernatural from every angle: academic, historical, and delightfully uncanny. Connecticut’s growing witch community  — and the witch crawl bringing them together Forget...]]></description><link>https://www.michalea.com/post/when-the-veil-thins-stories-for-samhain</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69019f99ed0505ad4a2b150c</guid><category><![CDATA[✨ Witchcraft & Paganism]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2025 05:47:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e2c40_b28365dfce0f42f5b029f2646d1c5b27~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_851,h_315,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michalea Moore</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>