by Timothy Pike

This month, we’re talking with W.L. Hawkin, an award-winning author based in British Columbia, Canada. Her latest novel, To Dance with Destiny, is the fifth installment in her Hollystone Mysteries series. “The series,” Wendy says, “revolves around a coven of witches called Hollystone, who solve murders using ritual magic and a little help from the gods.”

It all started when Wendy pitched a book to a New York literary agent, who said the story was too predictable. But instead of giving up, Wendy doubled down—and set out to learn all the ins and outs of mystery writing. Armed with this new knowledge, she rewrote the story, and the Hollystone Mysteries series was born.

Read on to learn more about this author’s fascinating journey, including the 1980s movie she saw in a New York hotel room that made her want to be a writer, how she fell in love with the Pacific Northwest, and the one thing she does to sell books that works better than anything else.

What do you like most about life in the Pacific Northwest?

Now, that’s a question I’ve never been asked. I was born in Toronto, Ontario, and grew up on a small farm in Pickering. In April 1990, I flew west to stay at a friend’s place on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. I fell in love with the evergreen forests, the sea, and the mild weather. There I was riding a horse among the skunk cabbage and wearing my jean jacket, while back in Toronto a blizzard had everything frozen under layers of snow. It took another seven years before I was able to pack up a U-Haul trailer, my teenage daughter, and a six-month-old puppy, and drive across the country to my adopted province. I’ve explored much of the Northwest Coast—even worked as a remote lighthouse keeper—and that rugged edge seeps into my books.

To Dance with Destiny just came out, and it’s Book 5 in the Hollystone Mysteries Series. Can you briefly catch us up?

I’d love to. The series revolves around a coven of witches called Hollystone, who solve murders using ritual magic and a little help from the gods. The main protagonist is a free-spirited magician who’s dedicated to his role as High Priest of Hollystone Coven. Estrada tends to travel frequently in his quest to save his family and friends from calamities and murderous situations. Coincidentally, I’ve traveled to every place he’s been. Each book is a self-contained mystery or thriller, so they can be read as standalones—in fact, some reviewers have read them in reverse order. But each book also chronicles Estrada’s emotional growth (and sometimes lack thereof) as he deals with personal issues through relationships. The books are edgy LGBTQ+ mysteries and thrillers and are intended for older teens and adults.

We first meet the witches in To Charm a Killer when they spin a charm to catch a serial killer preying on Vancouver witches, and everything goes haywire. A seventeen-year-old girl gets caught up in their spell, and Estrada travels to Ireland to save her from the killer. In To Sleep with Stones, he travels to Scotland when coven-mate Dylan McBride is arrested for murder on Summer Solstice. Estrada joins forces with a feisty Irish archaeologist named Sorcha to find the real killer and free his friend from prison. While he’s away, his melancholy lover, Michael Stryker, gets involved with a rather nasty vampire who threatens to take his revenge on Estrada. That revenge is carried out in To Render a Raven when Diego abducts Estrada’s baby. The coven and Michael sail up the Pacific coast by yacht to rescue her and destroy the vampires. In Book 4, Estrada and Dylan time travel to Iron Age Ireland when they realize Sorcha is stranded there with Druid warriors. To Kill a King was spawned by a real bog body I spent time with at the National University of Ireland, Dublin. When Sorcha falls in love with the soon-to-be king, she vows to save him from his fate and gets into big trouble.

To Dance with Destiny begins exactly where To Kill a King ends, with Estrada, Sorcha, and Conall (an Iron Age bard) stranded in modern Ireland. They’ve just ridden through a wormhole from Iron Age Ireland and have nothing but each other and the horses they rode in on. One thing has changed. The Ancient Horned God, Cernunnos, has brought them back prior to the events in To Render a Raven, which means Estrada has the gift of time and foreknowledge. He’s determined to thwart his daughter’s abduction by vampires and save his lover, Michael Stryker, from the tragedy that befalls him. But Destiny is a wicked dancer, and chaos ensues.

“When I’m tuned into the creative force,” Wendy writes, “I’m not thinking. How do I know? Characters think, speak, and act in unexpected ways that surprise me.”

What set this series into motion?

Several years ago, I had an idea for a story where a young girl is abducted by a priest. I pitched it to a New York agent at the Surrey International Writers Festival, and she said it was too predictable. At the same conference, I bought Hallie Ephron’s wonderful book, Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel (2005), after attending her workshop. I took Ephron’s advice, added red herrings, several more characters, and this wonderful Wicca coven. My daughter and I actually came across a circle of people chanting “Diablo” in the woods at Buntzen Lake one day, and I decided this was where this eclectic group would meet to practice their rituals. Estrada came fully formed, as if he’d been waiting for me to write his story all along, and he’s never left. That is how the Hollystone Mysteries series was born.

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

I think this happened in the 1980s, when I first saw Romancing the Stone on HBO in a New York hotel. I ordered it at least five times while my ex-husband was out at rehearsals. I wanted to write romantic adventures like Joan Wilder and conjure my own Jack T. Colton. I actually wrote my first romantic suspense novel not long after, then wrapped it in brown paper and carried it through many moves. That book is Lure: Jesse & Hawk. I rewrote it a couple of years ago, and I’m proud to say it won a National Indie Excellence Award this year.

How often do you write?

When I’m in writing mode, I can sit down and type for hours and hours. But writing is more than the actual act of putting pen to paper or fingers to keys. So I’m writing constantly, whether I’m analyzing a film or TV series, reading a novel, walking in the woods, listening to the voices in my head, or dreaming.

Do you sit down to outline a novel, or does it just come together as you write?

I haven’t written an outline since the second book. To Sleep with Stones was a murder mystery/urban fantasy, so it required some of the aspects of the who-done-it genre, like red herring characters, but it also spun out on its own when Michael Stryker stole a million-dollar yacht from the vampire and took off with the young man the vampire considered to be his son. After that, things evolved into my current process.

Get out and meet your readers. Don’t just put your e-book on Amazon and blast social media. You need to tell people about your stories and give them a chance to hold your print book in their hands.

What role do your muses play in guiding you through the writing process?

Funny that you should mention muses. On January 9, 2024, my next book launches. It’s a non-fiction book called Writing with Your Muse: A Guide to Creative Inspiration that describes my intuitive process, offers strategies, tips, and techniques, and even science to back it up. To answer your question, my muses (and there are many) feed me the story. For example, right now I’m drafting a completely new novel, and I don’t know where it’s going. It’s historical fiction set in the Rumrunner era in southern British Columbia and spins off the “true crime” murder of a man and his son who were running booze to the States in 1924. I ask the question, “What happens next?” and my muses send me the scene either in a dream or a knowing. My job is to listen, then take what I see and hear and find the right words to make it work.

Who has been a big influence on your writing?

The progenitors of urban fantasy: Charles de Lint, O.R. Melling, Holly Black, and Cassandra Clare. I just discovered Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle, and I’m blown away by her writing.

Have you encountered any obstacles along the way to writing success? How did you overcome them?

My biggest obstacle, and I think this is true of many authors, is discoverability. When people read my books, they love them and want more, but getting a potential reader to find your book in the maze of books available is near impossible. Most readers will only buy a book if they’ve heard of the author. Having a publicist has helped some, but what’s made the difference for me is live markets where I set up my table and talk to people. They usually come by because they’re attracted to my tattoo cover—The Hollystone Mysteries are all tattoos worn by the characters in each story—and once I start to explain the books, if they’re at all into urban fantasy/mystery/LGBTQ+ thrillers, they’ll buy the first one. Often, they’ll buy the entire series in print.

Also, I work with librarians and will tell readers: “Borrow To Charm a Killer from the library, and if you like it, e-mail me. I’ll get the others to you.” This summer at the farmer’s market, one man bought To Charm a Killer. Three days later, he e-mailed me to say he wanted all the rest. When I met his wife in front of the library, she said, “My husband’s reading again because of your book!” This is the absolute best thing a writer can hear. So, my advice is to get out and meet your readers. Don’t just put your e-book on Amazon and blast social media. You need to be real and approachable. You need to tell people about your stories and give them a chance to hold your print book in their hands.

What’s your best advice for writers who struggle to get words on the page?

Ha. Read my book, Writing with your Muse, and stop thinking. Here’s a brief excerpt:

“You’re best when you’re not in charge. The ego locks the muse.”
—Robin Williams

I’ve done many things to connect with my muses, including going to the Underworld on a shamanic journey, offering them a place to hang out, and giving them free rein. Later, I do the hard work of getting the right words on the page alone, and then I revise and revise. But writing with your muse happens without thought. It’s about igniting the initial spark. Revision is a different process. And it takes thought.

Let me say it again: When I’m tuned into the creative force, I’m not thinking. How do I know? Characters think, speak, and act in unexpected ways that surprise me. In To Sleep with Stones, I wrote through the deaths of two characters, wiping tears from my eyes. I had no idea they were going to die.

That’s a deep connection. Thought is analytical, sometimes critical, and often judgmental. It can block the creative process. Writers who stare at blank screens are thinking. So, stop thinking and start connecting with your muse. How do you know when you’re connected? Your characters will come alive. Time will stop.

What’s the next thing we can look for from you?

Writing with your Muse on January 9th, and then who knows? I’m publisher-shopping a lighthouse mystery right now. It’s about a woman who returns to the lighthouse where she grew up, after her father burns to death in his sailboat and leaves her a startling confession: “Your mother didn’t jump from the cliffs. I pushed her.” The trauma triggers her ability to see ghosts, and the ghosts at Feroz Lighthouse want her gone. That’s my elevator pitch for Retribution.

W.L. Hawkin is a genre-blending author. If you like “myth, magic, and mayhem,” her Hollystone Mysteries feature a coven of West Coast witches who solve murders using ritual magic and a little help from the gods. Her romantic suspense novel, Lure: Jesse & Hawk (2022), won a National Indie Excellence Award, a Gold Reader’s Choice award from Connections E-Magazine, and a Crowned Heart Review from InD’tale Magazine. In Writing with your Muse: a Guide to Creative Inspiration, she explains her writing process and offers tips and techniques to help writers get their words on the page.

Visit Wendy at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.