Kim Batchelor

Writer of magical realism and other imaginative fiction

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Jan 18 2018

The Story in Every Picture

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Three days before the end of 2017, I found myself facing the dilemma of having read only 29 of the 34 books I’d planned to read that year. I had three options to meet my Goodreads challenge: (1) fail or (2) cheat by indicating I had met my target. Instead I choose a third option—read some of the many graphic novels I’d purchased or downloaded. Over three days I read five different novels of varying lengths, each one completed in 30 minutes to two hours. Immersing myself in these often visually stunning and occasionally poignant works was much more of a pleasure than a chore.

A Witch on Chicken Legs and Other Stories

Baba Yaga’s Assistant, a middle grade comic book by by Marika McCoola and  Emily Carroll featured my favorite fairy tale character when I was a child. Baba Yaga is a witch in Russian folklore who consumes bad children and lives in a house on chicken legs. Becoming Baba Yaga’s assistant provides the main character, Masha, the opportunity to find a purpose after the death of her mother by helping bad children become good ones and thereby helping the children avoid her boss’s plate.

Two of the most beautiful were intended for adults–Beauty  by Kerascoët and Hubert–illustrates how important it is be careful what you wish for. Troll Bridge by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran initially feels like a children’s fairy tale but delivers a much more adult message. It relates the story of a boy repeatedly avoiding the consequences of a troll whom he calls “all my nightmares given flesh.” When he reaches adulthood the boy now a man who has betrayed someone he loves gives in to the bitter end the troll has waiting for him. The grotesque scenes mix with beautiful illustrations of nature.

The Intersection Between the Real and the Imagined

The most poignant for me was Becoming Unbecoming . Using black and white and mostly muted tones, the author and artist who goes by Una tells a powerful story of the women in her small town in Yorkshire who were killed by a serial murderer—and how the police made inaccurate assumptions about the woman that kept the real killer from being identified putting more women at risk. She juxtaposes this story line with her own history of sexual abuse. The book was so powerful that I revised my manuscript, Gem of the Starry Skies. The main character Gwen reads the book and relate it to her own experience with being threatened by a boy at her school, a boy who had attempted to assault her at a party.

The Picture that Inspired a Fictional Place

What all of these books have in common is that they tell stories through the power of images. That fact reminded me  how my newest work in progress, set in a rural area, has been influenced by the image above that I found when searching stock images. The picture immediately took me to a place that seemed familiar yet also unreal and mystical. This is the countryside that is the home of the Sullivans—Ash and Naomi—a brother and sister whose lives are changed when an unusual carnival comes to town.

Pictures in my head—conjured from dreams, meditation, letting my mind wander—are  the seeds as well as the foundation of any writing I create. I look forward to what my subconscious will find next and the story it will tell.

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Written by Kim · Categorized: Magical realism, Storytelling, Witches, Writing · Tagged: Graphic Novels, Pictures

Oct 29 2015

The Witches of Finnmark, Norway

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Norway - Witch Memorial4 Finnmark, site of visions of the northern lights and land of the midnight sun, is a county in far northeastern Norway. In addition to ethnic Norwegians, the area is home to the country’s indigenous Sami, a more accurate name for those we often refer to as Lapps or Laplanders. In this region of craggy mountains sits a memorial to the dozens of individuals who were killed after they were convicted of being witches.

Most of us have heard of the Salem witches, inhabitants of Salem, Massachusetts executed for their supposed involvement with the dark arts. In 1692, 14 women and 6 men were accused of being witches there. Their convictions were examples of the failure of due process and the triumph of superstition and malicious intent. Stacy Schiff, author of a well-regarded biography of Cleopatra, has just come out with a new book on that period, The Witches: Salem, 1692. The Witch Trials Memorial was dedicated by Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel in August 1992 as part of the Salem Witch Trials TerCentenary. The Memorial consists of 20 granite benches inscribed with the name of the accused and the means and date of execution.

Thousands of miles from Salem, the trials of the witches of Finnmark took place during the period of 1600-1692. Just over ninety people died as a result of the trials, this in a town of fewer than 4000. Most were subject to torture prior to their convictions. The few men convicted and executed were Sami, their traditional religious practices bringing suspicion upon them. The women were also accused of using witchcraft for both harm and healing. Researcher Torbjørn Alm makes the case that consumption of ergot, a fungus that often grows in rye flour, found in milk, bread, and beer might have resulted in behaviors associated in the common lore as being witchcraft. Ergot poisoning can cause many physical symptoms that also include vision problems, confusion, spasms, convulsions, and unconsciousness.

A friend of mine recently traveled to Finnmark and visited what she describes as a very moving place, a memorial to those burned, hanged, tortured to death, and drowned . (Suspected witches were often subject to the “float” test—if someone floats, he or she has to be a witch, ala Monty Python’s Holy Grail movie.)

Details of the charges against these tried and convicted hang along the corridor of the memorial (see photo) providing a moving recognition of the injustice of this period. A light burns for each person burned or drowned for the crime of being deemed a witch, and an eternal flame lights an adjoining structure.

These memorials—in Finnmark and Salem—remind us of the human costs of a community’s fear and suspicion. In this time of hallowing—making holy or sacred, consecrating and venerating—it’s important to remember that in our history there are darker stories than modern horror tales may tell.

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Written by Kim · Categorized: Witches · Tagged: Halloween, witches

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