When Lilith speaks, it's time to listen
Introducing my first novel – launching today and totally free to read
Well hello there, and happy Beltane week!
In the decade I’ve worked closely with her, I’ve learned a powerful lesson:
That when Lilith speaks, you listen.
It’s a lesson that shaped the whole of my past year, and one that’s wholly decided what I’m sharing with you this Beltane. So let’s start from the beginning.
Or, if you don’t want the pre-amble, simply visit this link where you can read the start of Lilith: The Fallen Woman.
Lilith’s story and the little writer that (hoped she) could
At the end of 2022, during one of my journeys with Lilith she gave me a simple instruction: “Tell my story.”
It was a pretty awesome instruction really. I’ve always wanted to be a novelist and have been forever surrounded by notebooks and word documents filled with snatches of stories, but hadn’t completed a fiction manuscript since I last submitted one to an agent at 15.
But with Goddess story retellings – something you know I’m super passionate about – now filling bookshelves across the Western world, why not get the story of Lilith as I’ve seen and heard it over the past ten years down on paper and out into the world?!
And so I started to do exactly that, writing a little each and every day as I moved through 2023.
I took it slowly – the confidence 15-year-old me had in her fiction writing needed a lot of rebuilding! And, as you may remember, at the start of last year I needed a lot of rebuilding in myself too.
And at every step of that process, Lilith’s story held me so much more than I did her.
The story that is ours to hold
Because the more I wrote, the more I realised that Lilith’s story – perhaps more than any other Goddess story I know – truly is the story of what it is to be a woman in the world.
I know, I know, you’ve likely heard the mythical tale of a woman sculpted from clay who fled paradise to consort with demons and become the ultimate evil. Sigh.
But what if we viewed that through a different lens? What if we remembered that Lilith was born into a prison she was told contained everything she could ever wish for, only to realise that its walls held no space for the things that were truly important to her?
What if we remembered that in spreading her wings and rising over those walls she took herself away from everything that was safe and certain and had to rebuild her life with no template for how that might look?
And what if we remembered that she was cast as a villain by those she had disobeyed, refused to submit to and reclaimed her own pleasure and power from?
As I committed Lilith’s story to paper I came to realise how much it resonated with my own. And in doing so, felt like it gave me the wings to scale the inner walls that had been holding me captive too.
It felt liberating, empowering, and like the kind of thing that could help so many people see their own stories differently too.
Then things took a turn…
Towards the end of last year, 65,000 words into my first draft of Lilith’s story – which I’d titled The Fallen Woman – I was feeling excited. For the first time in over two decades, I had a manuscript that felt as though it might not only be good enough to go out into the world but could also help people along the way.
Then I received a text asking me if I’d seen the Lilith novel that had just been published?
To say I cried would be an understatement. I sobbed, raged, and wondered if I’d entirely wasted the past year, until some very wise people stepped into the mix.
Amongst them, my coach Owen (who writes as OMJ Ryan) reminded me that if people enjoyed this book they’d want to know more about Lilith, making it the perfect time for my take on the story to be shared.
My cousin Sarah reminded me that she’s read hundreds of books on Anne Boleyn, and still reads every new one she finds.
My investigator friend Charlie assured me that there are stacks of books about Lilith out there, and there’s still room for the one I’ve been working on.
Still though, with Nikki Marmery’s book (which is here, and I’m sure is awesome! In fact, I encourage you to read it if you feel called – though for obvious reasons I won’t be doing that until the very last part of my own Lilith story has been published) in Waterstone’s window, it didn’t feel right to send the manuscript off to agents and publishers, and so Lilith went on the shelf.
Lilith’s next instruction
Now, if you’ve ever worked with Lilith you’ll know that on the shelf is not somewhere she is comfortable to be. And so of course she had something to say about that!
Which is why, just a few weeks ago, I found myself deep in a vivid dream where Lilith and I were walking together through the streets of my city as she gave me an instruction.
“Beltane. Start sharing my story then. Do it for free, I don’t care – but this needs to be read and you need to be writing, Beltane is the date.”
She also gave me a few other instructions that felt very specific and demanding. But hey, I’ve always said she’s the patron of all things Divine Feminist, so who am I to argue?
Which is why, as of today, you’ll find the prologue and first two chapters of Lilith over on Wattpad. Just click on the link below to read, and be sure to subscribe in order to be notified as soon as the next chapter goes live.
Once you’ve read, I’d love to hear your thoughts and thank you so much in advance – from me and from Lilith – for taking the time to read, feedback and get involved, not to mention for joining me in the story of this book’s arrival!
Before I sign off, allow me to let you know of a couple of other things which are going on in my world right now, and otherwise to wish you a blessed Beltane – I hope this season brings all that you are dreaming for into being.
Elsewhere in my world
One of Lilith’s other instructions? Put a sale on your readings – now. So here goes… for two days only, you can get 10% off the price of a full Soul Integration Reading – including 12 weeks of guidance and support to connect to spirit – by visiting this link.
Re-Kindling Her Stories: Cerridwen and the cauldron of transformation. On the 15th May, I’ll be journeying with Cerridwen – archetypal angry, cave-dwelling witch or wise and wonderful keeper of the cauldron of transformation? Join me to find out! With tiered pricing available allowing you to pay whatever feels right.
If you didn’t join us for last week’s Project Earthwork Earth Day transmission I can’t recommend enough that you check it out , as this one was intense in all of the best ways! The reecording is available now on YouTube and totally free to watch.
Happy Beltane Week!