Meriam Wilhelm: Featured Author of the Month
August 7, 2018 by Meriam Wilhelm in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Featured author, Meriam Wilhelm, Witches of New Moon Beach
Meriam Wilhelm: Featured Author of the Month
For thirty-five years, Meriam Wilhelm worked in education. From high school teacher to college dean to her favorite job of elementary school principal, she took an excitingly non-traditional pathway, always passionate about shaping young minds.
When she retired, something magical happened. Wilhelm was bitten by the writing bug and her chosen genre was paranormal romance – specifically of the witchy persuasion. Now, six books into The Witches of New Moon Beach series, she is bringing her passion for learning to her new profession.
A world traveler, Wilhelm has researched the history and culture of witchcraft and found inspiration as far away as Bergen, Norway and as close as her home town. A Redondo Beach resident, she decided there was no better location for her family of witches to reside than the beaches outside her own front door. “I think there is magic in everyone you meet,” Wilhelm says. “You just have to look for it.”
In her case, you also must write about that magic. Currently, Wilhelm is working on book seven, The Witch of Bergen. She is the recipient of the Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewers Choice Award. She is married and the mother of three grown children and a brand-new grandma. When not writing or traveling, Meriam Wilhelm can be found at her sewing machine, at yoga class or, of course, reading.
Meriam Wilhelm: August Featured Author of the Month
August 1, 2018 by Meriam Wilhelm in category Writing tagged as August, Author of the Month, Featured author, Meriam Wilhelm, Witches of New Moon Beach
Meriam Wilhelm: August Featured Author of the Month
For thirty-five years, Meriam Wilhelm worked in education. From high school teacher to college dean to her favorite job of elementary school principal, she took an excitingly non-traditional pathway, always passionate about shaping young minds.
When she retired, something magical happened. Wilhelm was bitten by the writing bug and her chosen genre was paranormal romance – specifically of the witchy persuasion. Now, six books into The Witches of New Moon Beach series, she is bringing her passion for learning to her new profession.
A world traveler, Wilhelm has researched the history and culture of witchcraft and found inspiration as far away as Bergen, Norway and as close as her home town. A Redondo Beach resident, she decided there was no better location for her family of witches to reside than the beaches outside her own front door. “I think there is magic in everyone you meet,” Wilhelm says. “You just have to look for it.”
In her case, you also must write about that magic. Currently, Wilhelm is working on book seven, The Witch of Bergen. She is the recipient of the Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewers Choice Award. She is married and the mother of three grown children and a brand-new grandma. When not writing or traveling, Meriam Wilhelm can be found at her sewing machine, at yoga class or, of course, reading.
I Want a Red Front Door
July 20, 2018 by Meriam Wilhelm in category A Bit of Magic by Meriam Wilhelm tagged as dreams, fantasy, imagination, writing
I want to paint my front door red, or peacock-blue or maybe even black. I want to hang a swing in the middle of my office. Not one of those old, boring, wicker egg-shaped deals. I want a swing with a wide wooden seat that’s painted Tangerine Tango Orange. Oh, and the swing has to be suspended on long, thick oatmeal colored macramé ropes that are soft to the touch. Of course, my swing must be hung in a fashion that allows me ample room to pump my long legs so I can stretch my toes up towards my ceiling. And speaking of ceilings, I also want to add a skylight or two to my office, so I can see the stars while I’m enjoying my evening swing.
While I’m heading through my list of wants, I want to create the perfect fashion line that will of course be featured in the next Vogue Magazine and worn by Oprah, Emma and Reese. I wish to build a massive teak table for my office that’s big enough for me to lay out yards of fabric and tons of books I’ve yet to read by authors I’ve never heard of. I want to speak three more languages, be known as an expert on healing crystals and travel to Australia.
For a woman in her sixties I still have a lot of wants, desires and dreams. But my front door will probably remain white, my office is too small for a large table, let alone a swing. And since there is a second story comfortably resting on top of my home office – the sky lights are out. I’m creative and I do sew, but not well enough to ever be featured as a designer in any magazine. I speak English and a bit of Spanish, know a smidgen about healing crystals and have never been to Australia.
So how do I not despair and continue to power through my life with such a big list of unfulfilled dreams? I imagine, envision, research, fantasize, visualize and then… I write. In short, I give life to my dreams when I tell my stories.
When I write, I control my whole world. I have the power to bring life to any desire, curiosity or interest I might have. My characters can be fashion designers, carpenters or creative entrepreneurs. They can be rich, curious, beautiful, provocative, engaging, powerful, sarcastic, brilliant, silly or any other quality I might wish to paint them with. I’m not confined by financial restrictions, time, geography, ability, language, knowledge or skills. All of these can be addressed with a some hard-core research and quick run of my fingers across my computer keyboard. My only limitations are those created within my mind.
That’s one of the reasons why writing sometimes makes me feel giddy with power. I can do or be anything through the manipulation of words. I can paint my front door any color, have my own swing, become a famous fashion icon or anyone else that my imagination so desires. Rather than growing frustrated with my earthly limitations, I simply find the words to experience my desires through the stories I write. Even if I can’t actually physically have it all, I can imagine what it would be like.
I love to pick out something that seems totally unattainable and bring it to fruition through the plot, setting and characters who live in my stories. And since I write about the paranormal world, I have even greater freedom to pretend.
It’s all rather magical and I love it.
1 0 Read moreBOOK A TRIP
June 20, 2018 by Meriam Wilhelm in category A Bit of Magic by Meriam Wilhelm tagged as books, bookstores, summer trips, traveling with children
Book A Trip
Summer is just around the corner and many of us have already started planning our family vacations. If you too are in the midst of gathering travel ideas, don’t forget to include your kids in the process.
Not sure how to start? It’s as simple as a trip to Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local library. Find a book or two about the places you plan to visit. A well selected storybook or child focused travel book can be an invaluable tool when it comes to building enthusiasm, sparking curiosity and planting important destination facts.
Get your kids excited about where they are going and what they’ll see. Introduce them to some of the town’s historical characters, artwork, curious facts or interesting folklore. By providing them with an engaging preview of the places they’ll see, you’re more apt to get their buy in.
But don’t stop there. There are two more things you can do to make your trip all the more memorable for your child.
While on your trip, collect an age appropriate book or two at each of the sites you visit.
These books are sure to capture kid friendly info about:
• The people who live or lived there
• The geography & ecosystem
• How the state or country came to be?
• Important historical figures
• The culture
• Language
• Flowers & animal life
• Curious facts, legends & folklore
Make sure that you or your child write down on the back cover, the date and place where you bought the book. Add one thing your child found most interesting about the place. And if time allows, take a moment to read a little something from the book while you are still there. By doing so, you might just find another place of interest close by that you’s like to visit.
If the book happens to mention that Lupines fill the hillsides just outside of town, go looking for them. If the story mentions a historical site or local birds, make a point to check them out. And once you’re home, read the stories together. Encourage your kids to compare and contrasts the places you’ve been and the things you’ve all seen as a family.
Finally, consider having your child keep a travel diary. They don’t need to write a novel and this isn’t even something in which you’ll want to correct spelling or sentence structure. Just let this be a chance for your child to capture a few of their own personal memories of what they found most exciting about their trip.
Looking for something to do on a rainy afternoon next winter? Have your kids take out their books and journals, make some popcorn and sit down and share recollections of your exciting family vacation.
1 0 Read moreFrom Empty to Energized
May 20, 2018 by Meriam Wilhelm in category A Bit of Magic by Meriam Wilhelm tagged as creativity, the writing processI knew that I needed to work on the next chapter of my book if there was any chance it would be completed by this July. But did I? Did I hit the keyboard, do a little more research on witchcraft in the 1600’s or even pick up my editing pencil to work on what I’d already written?
No.
Instead, I sewed. I made my granddaughter bibs and blankets and stuffed bunnies. I made pot holders and hot mitts. I love to sew almost as much as I love to write and my two passions often collide with each other. Truthfully, I know I often turn to sewing when I’m stuck for an idea and I was good and stuck! I had a million directions that I wanted to take my story, but no clear path. It always seems that when I’m three quarters of the way through writing a new book, I lose speed, my focus waivers and I become fearful that my creativity is ebbing. A scary feeling indeed for any new writer like myself.
So what did I do?
I transferred all of my energy into my third passion – reading. But not just any reading. I was seeking something to jolt my spirits, inspire my creativity and get me motivated. So I want to share with you where I found it – in case you’re ever searching for something to inspire your own creativity.
Visiting Barnes and Noble with my sister, on a quest for a book about how to build a bird house, that’s creative right? – I stumbled upon WHERE WOMEN CREATE. It’s a great magazine, albeit a bit pricey, that shares the stories of truly creative modern day women. And what a great treat it turned out to be!
I savored the magazine like a fine wine. Okay, I savored it over a couple glasses of fine wine before deciding that I wouldn’t just speed read through the pages. I wanted to immerse myself in each woman’s story, take in her words of inspiration and enjoy the great photography that accompanied each story. I read an account or two each day over the next week. Of course, I soon realized that I had to replace the wine with cups of hot hazelnut coffee – my favorite – if I was going to get the full value out of this periodical.
The magazine focuses on women who express their creativity daily in a myriad of ways. It talks about what they do, where they do it and how many have been able to make a successful career using their innovative skills. They share their tricks of the trade, their frustrations and inspirations. Some seem to have realized success early on while others have worked for years to bring their dreams to fruition.
Anyway, I truly enjoyed the inspiration I found within the pages of WHERE WOMEN CREATE . These are artsy women who have created magic, many of them from their own kitchen table. The magazine is a relaxing trip through the lives of inventive, resourceful women. I can’t tell you for sure whether it was the wine, the words or the wonderful stories that inspired me to return to my writing. Whatever it was, it worked and I am back with a renewed spirit.
Oh, and guess what I else I found in the magazine? A sister series; a magazine (apron*ology). Now I can be inspired with both my writing and my sewing. Who knew?
Have a wonderful, inspired and magical day!
1 0 Read more
