East S.M.: East S.
M. is an Appalachian Occultist, Diviner, educator, artist, performer, and now
author. A cosmic being in her own right, she was born in a small Kentucky town
that sits inside a meteorite crater. She spent her childhood studying under a
strong matriarchal family that imparted its intuitive gifts and Appalachian
Spirit practices from prior generations. East is continuously inspired by music
and the power of myth. She enjoys reading paranormal, adventure, and occult
fantasy fiction works. One of her highest callings and greatest gifts in life is
to share her divinity and intuition through teaching and facilitating sacred
ritual spaces. A wild past of wonderful and sometimes unspeakable experiences,
and decades of empowering others to seek their own quests, has called East to
share Mercy’s story in the esoteric genre of Occult fiction. Her debut novel is
the first in an anthology that reimagines the Spirit world, the human condition,
and the necessity of both evolution and devolution within our lifetimes. https://theartisteast.com/.
An Interview with
East S. M.
Why did you
decide to have the book released on the Summer Solstice?
My artistry,
relationships, essentially every aspect of my life, is led by my desire to
connect with any experience in the most sacred way. Nature’s cycles, as they’re
displayed through seasons, beautifully mirror our own cycles as human beings.
Summer solstice finds the seeds in the ground, they’re growing, and it took hard
work to get it there. As an occultist I could say many things regarding the
sacred symbolism of summer but valuing the action of showing up and celebrating
hard work seemed like appropriate energy for launching my story into the world.
I needed to know this journey would begin from a space of celebration no matter
where it goes.
How has writing
poetry influenced your writing of occult fantasy?
Poetry forced me
to see the ordinary in an extraordinary way. I’ve always been drawn to darker
artistic content, and the influence of both pushed me to accept more
nontraditional ways of expressing myself. My own growth of creative
self-acceptance seemed more rapid in spaces where I shared poetry vs writing
groups. If it wasn’t for reading forlorn poetry in late 90’s coffee houses I
would’ve never started believing in the possibility of pursuing artistry full
time.
How do you feel
divination is represented in works of ction, and how has divination influenced
your creative process?
Not always, but
often divination in media is presented as dramatic fortune telling and often
the cards or symbols referenced are either untrue or so watered down it takes
the sacredness away from such a beautiful resource. I would love to see a
variety of how it’s presented on both the giving and receiving end of readings
in art. In my own writing my character’s readings make sense to their journey.
I try to steer away from exact predictors as fate always has its freedom to
shift depending on the choices we make.
I utilize
Divination as a tool for writer’s block or initial inspiration. Tarot, also
known as the fool’s journey, mirrors every experience a human will go through
on the path of life. It displays the soul’s reaction to becoming the best
versions of ourselves through triumphs and challenges. I often execute readings
to establish background for characters or world building. I’ll be offering a
creative writing with tarot workshop over the next year where I’ll share in
detail some of those techniques.
What do you
hope readers will take away from Mercy’s Quest?
Mercy is on a
quest to uncover a family mystery but finds herself quickly on the path to
discovering a deeper truth regarding her purpose in this world. Variables in
our lives are always in motion affecting outcomes every second. Our reaction to
the challenges we face on that search are character defining opportunities that
equip us to grow into better versions of ourselves. My desire is for people to
understand there’s no need to rush their evolutionary process in this world.
There’s no perfect plan that will see you through to the end. Mercy makes the
decision time and time again to show up and trust the process. My desire is to inspire
folks to trust that the grace in which we handle the road is far more powerful
than reaching the end of that road.
How did
traveling the world for work while writing this story influence your writing?
It was a beautiful
May morning in England, and I had just purchased a private pass to tour inside
the Stonehenge round. Tourists typically only view it roadside, but I had an in
and was going to honor my inner Arthurian nerd, living fully in this moment. As
luck would have it the bus that brought us to the stones broke down in the
parking lot. I spent hours, sunset through midnight, lounging in this mystical
ritual space. I always seem to find myself in similar magical misadventures
everywhere I go. My travel journals are full of adventures from underneath the
streets of Budapest, to the shores of Ireland, to a middle of nowhere berry
forest in Finland, and then there was one time I swore I met the devil himself
in an airport in Amsterdam! My writing reflects my experiences in this world,
and I pull the energy from real travel moments in hopes of providing more
environmental authenticity.
You mentioned
this story came to you in a dream. That sounds so fun! Can you tell us about
that, and describe its vividness?
This is a long
story, but I will do my best to be concise. A god of old came to me in a dream
and in this dream, we were burning down houses. I asked him why we were doing
this to which he replied preparing a new path. He kept showing up in dreams in
spaces where he wasn’t a major player in the theme of the dream, just a
background eye of observation. The dream often centered around a tree on my
actual property.
Around this same
time, I made a social media post regarding the importance of respecting the
workspace of street buskers. My dad reached out to me after reading it
encouraging me to lean into writing more. I am a performance artist but never
considered the possibility of writing an actual novel. The combination of his
belief in me brought all the interesting dreams to the front of my mind and
just like magic I saw the entire story in my head along with the voice of my
muse.
My great
grandmother had a box on her mantle that contained something we were told was
dark and sacred. Do not touch! I took the story I’d been holding in my heart
since childhood regarding what I imagined it was, and that became the
foundation of this grand world that was gifted to me by my dream muse.
Wouldn’t you know
it, I started writing that story and guess what happened? The tree that kept
showing up with my muse in dreams was struck by lightning. The strike caused a
branch to snap, destroying my mailbox by the street. Where’s the magic? I
ordered a new tarot deck only to nd it landed at the foot of the tree among the
storm’s chaos. The package was destroyed by water and the box holding the cards
was warped and open. Guess what lay outside the box? Three tarot cards in a
perfect row: Judgment, The World, and The Magician. I am on my path of destiny
and the Universe is making a way for me to have the resources needed to support
my manifestations. The storm gave me a reading laced with the assurance of
knowing I was on the right path.
What authors
inspire you?
Anne Rice for a
number of reasons. The Vampire Chronicles was the rst series I obsessed over as
a young reader. I’ve been fascinated by vampire lore since childhood and her
attention to detail painted elaborate worlds, and dramatic characters that
played out like seamless cinema in my mind’s eye as I read along. “Interview
with a Vampire” was the first book to film fiction I read before a film was considered.
Amusingly, I was a pre-teen at the time and felt so grown having accomplished
such a task!
Neil Gaiman has this
way with character presentation that pulls me deep into the heart of his story.
I am a huge fan of Fantasy worlds overlapping with real world scenarios.
Intermingling worlds have a presence in my own writing. Mr. Gaiman is a
literary rockstar that does this masterfully.
What do you
think about books to film/do you think your book would adapt easily to film?
My artistic
background goes further than writing. I think because of that versatility I’m
forgiving of how film chooses to convey a story. I believe reading a book is a
magic that can’t be duplicated and presenting it through different expressions
like film give it the flexibility to become something unique. However, it’s
unlikely I’ll read the book if I happened to catch the film first.
I’d love to see
the Mercy’s Quest trilogy, as well as the spin o novels transition to film. The
story is action based in mystical settings around the world creating an
opportunity for something incredibly visually appealing. The characters have
such deep back stories there’s an opportunity for multiple lead story
developments within the world. It would be an absolute dream if that were to
happen.
This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned
