Gryphon's Home Page
Descriptions and Excerpts from Current Fiction Novels
Journal Entries and Essays
High Country Writer’s Challenge
Pagan Articles
Poetry
Changers: A Family Novel
On this page...
Most Recent Published Works
Agents' and Editors' comments about my work.
What other folk are saying about my writing.
The twisted road that led me to be a writer...
Women’s Herb Corner
This series of columns is being published in If… Journal
Co-authored with Kathy Sage
Fenugreek, Issue #101, December 2006 (748 Words)
Siberian Ginseng, Issue #100, November 2006 (800 Words)
Black Cohosh, Issue #99, Sept/Oct 2006 (759 Words)
Red Raspberry, Issue #98, July/August 2006 (266 Words)
Chasteberry, Issue #97, June/July 2006 (236 Words)
Dong Quai, Issue #96, April/May 2006 (237 Words)
Red Clover, Issue #95, Feb/Mar 2006 (212 Words)
Stonework: Sacred Purposes and Meanings
Written with my father, Al Thurston. Working with rocks in sacred and ordinary landscapes (1350 Words)
Stones: the Memory of the People
Memories can be revealed through digging on the path. (985 Words)
If… Journal, Issue 101, December 2006
Crowned by the Goddess
A walk on the Nature Trail with my class of High School students in the autumn brings out the children in all of us. (1330 Words)
Blessed Be, Issue #30,Winter, 2006
Your Retreat May Be Simpler Than You Think
Step-by-step creation of a simple, outdoor elemental retreat.(720 Words)
If…Journal, Issue #100, Nov, 2006
The Power of the Word
Four Ritual Summits to change the World Energy. (2400 Words)
If… Journal, Issue # 99, Sep/Oct 2006
My Elemental Vacation
Or, how Gryphon almost burned down an entire island paradise! The easiest way to make the Goddess laugh? Make a plan. She finds detailed plans especially amusing. (2240 Words)
SageWoman, Issue #70, Summer/Fall, 2006
Fire Invocations of the Sacred South
A call to Fire in Ritual. (85 Words)
Circle Sanctuary, Vol. 28, No. 2, Summer 2006
Life Harmony: Mind, Body and Spirit
The importance of balancing these three areas of the Whole. (1200 Words)
If… Journal, Issue #95, Feb/Mar 2006
Celebrating the Seasons: The Cloak of Spring
A poem, an experience, a daily rite and magic for the season. (650 Words)
Circle Sanctuary, Vol. 28 No. 1, Spring 2006
What agents and editors are saying about my writing…
Dear Wendy,
Congratulations, we have accepted your feature submission, "Elemental Vacation" for publication in the Harmony issue of SageWoman. I particularly liked this feature because of its honesty, candor, and delicious wit.
Blessings,
Cristina Eisenberg
Managing Editor, SageWoman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm taking advantage of your knack for letting readers smell, taste, and feel your words, not just read 'em on a page, you see. Thanks for sending this. I really love your work. You're good at making readers forget they're looking at letters on a page and see your visuals in their minds.
Schuyler Kaufman
Editor, High Country Writer’s Journal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We read Night Hunters with interest. The concept is intriguing, and elements of the writing are very strong… there's a lot to recommend the book.
Gina Panettieri,
Talcott Notch Literary, Inc
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am impressed by the premise of your book. The story itself is original; the pagan culture of the changers and the island certainly has not been done before and should give the novel a special appeal. Its sexual overtones seem to have been blended seamlessly into the world of your novel and will, no doubt, give the novel more commercial appeal. The theme of love and the clash of two impossible worlds plus other similar themes your premise allows gives the novel more depth... We do not fear the dark for its lack of light but for what it hides. V is fascinating as much for what we know about her as for what we do not know.
Dr. William Brown
QCorp
~~~~~~~~~~~
What other folk, are saying about my writing…
"So far I couldn't stop reading."
"Beautiful story and beautifully written."
“Compelling scene! I think the intensity between the two (and the explanation of the Runes' meanings) creates enough interest to hold the attention of folks not familiar with the Runes; while the
tit-for-tat with the Runes make for interesting parallels to the lore for those of us who do know (like Odin and Thor countering each other's blessings and curses for a favorite of Thor's). This is good stuff! Reminds me of the realist Celtic myth/fantasy style that Charles de Lint's work has popularized (of which, The Wild Reel, by Paul Brandon, is my current favorite)."
"V sure has balls for a woman! I like her."
“…heavy stuff… the passage you wrote is beautiful. I can feel it happening.”
"You are so talented and able to express each character so well. The way you describe their feelings is amazing. It is though I could see this all happening right in front of me."
“I really, really enjoyed it. I was hooked on the storyline and had to finish it.”
"...compelling and well-written..."
“How you touched my heart. I felt I could see your characters sharing those moments you wrote about.”
"I am very impressed with your talent....Sounds like a good movie could come out of this...."
“Damn. That was beautiful. Thanks.”
“I sit here with tears in my eyes.”
The twisted road that led me to be a writer...
From my earliest memories, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said the same three things. A writer, a detective or an actress. Long ago I realized that I am an actress already, depending on the situation and the people involved; I guess we all are. I was in drama in HS and acted in several plays.
Detective work, however, is still of much interest to me. I find that I am a detective every day, especially as a High School teacher. Where was this student for the last 15 minutes? What does the administration really have planned for the greenhouse? If I give the guidance counselors plants will they point more students in my direction? How can I get more community support for my Agriculture Program? Pretty dry, but still interesting in a way.
My desire to write, however, has never waned or changed direction. Even in elementary school, I was writing supernatural and science fiction stories. In Junior High I was mainly writing science fiction. By High School, I was writing literally notebooks and notebooks of science fiction and horror. In college I added a little poetry (free verse, iambic pentameter and the whole biz).
Most of my success, however, has been non-fiction, which actually accounts for the tiniest part of what I have produced. My Pagan columns have been published in a few widely scattered periodicals, so I'm a syndicated columnist. As long as that doesn’t hinge on being paid. I don’t get paid, I just get copies.
So, here you will find an index to my Pagan columns (including my speech at the “We still work magic rally”) and the little bit of poetry I feel deserves to be on display. You can also read the bones of a novel I'm writing with my family; Changers. It's stalled recently, but it's very hard to keep this bunch of folks on track!
At the back of my mind I'm always thinking of being a writer full time. I'm writing new novels and reworking old ones to send off. I've been organizing all my personal stuff recently and am amazed at the sheer volume of things I've written. I'm very good at beginning a story or a novel and I'm am even fair at getting to the middle of it. It's the ending that's difficult. Maybe I just don't want to place that last bookend and call it done… then again maybe I'm just lazy…
