These would be my Frequently Asked Questions if it were up to me.
What are your favorite forms of procrastination?
I spend way too much time reading novels. I’m a sucker for science fiction and for mysteries. I love the Murderbot books. I, too, have hacked my governor module. I am very into dancing and will often answer the pull of live music, especially if it brings me to a place with a good dance floor for swing, Latin and ballroom dances. But I’ll dance anywhere. My favorite is dancing around a bonfire to pagan drums.
So which is it–are you a writer or a musician?
Yes.
Do you do music and writing for a living?
If only. No, I’m a retired teacher. I’ve always done creative stuff, but once I got free of the world of gainful employment, I started writing stories and songs as my retirement ‘career’. Before all this, I was a college professor in a ski town in Colorado, which was also a very nice life. I enjoy investing (not kidding) and did pretty well with it, so I was able to retire early and become the creative bum I am now.
Why should we think you’re cool?
I am cool in many ways, but one of the coolest things I’ve ever done is to go into the Peace Corps when I was 53 years old. I got posted in the Andes in Peru and was one of the highest-altitude volunteers in the world at that time. My village was above 11,000 feet and a lot of my ecotourism work took me uphill from there. I dated the local Quechua shaman and that got me into a lot of spaces where most visitors would never be invited. I got to be the Coca Mama in ritual and that was very cool. Heather Greene interviewed me during my first year, and published an article about my experiences on The Wild Hunt: Pagan News & Perspectives. You can find it here.
Are you a good witch or a bad witch?
Come now, you don’t really believe in those worn-out dichotomies, do you? You do? Well, ok, then I’m a good witch. The word witch has a lot of baggage, so maybe we’ll just say I’m a Pagan Priestess. I’ve conducted a lot of ceremonies, led music around a lot of bonfires and I can read Tarot cards like nobody’s business.