W.L. Hawkin
W. L. Hawkin writes “edgy urban fantasy with a twist of murder” from her loft near Vancouver, B.C.
Her novels—To Charm a Killer, To Sleep with Stones, To Render a Raven, and To Kill a King each stand alone but form the Hollystone Mysteries series. This coven of West Coast witches, and their eccentric friends, solve murders using ritual magic and a little help from the gods.
Although she’s an introvert, in each book her characters go on a journey where Hawkin’s travelled herself. She researches all her locales (Ireland, Scotland, the B.C. Coast) to soak up the sensory landscape. In 2017, she climbed Croghan Hill in Ireland to survey the land her king would rule in To Kill a King, a romantic time-travel thriller set in Iron Age Ireland.
A seeker and mystic, fascinated by language, archaeology, and mythology, Hawkin graduated from Trent University, Ontario, and has post-bac diplomas from SFU in B.C. Her background in Indigenous Studies and Humanities informs her work. She found her voice publishing poetry and Native Rights articles in Canadian news magazines and is now an Indie author/publisher at Blue Haven Press. http://bluehavenpress.com
Marina Raydun: Talk to me about West Coast witches. How are they different from your East Coast variety?
W.L. Hawkin: Well, the only East Coast witches I’ve heard of lived in Salem, Massachusetts, and we know how that turned out. Of course, that was a few centuries ago, and I’m sure things are different now.
I think the weather is a huge factor in contrasting east and west. There is a different energy here. I mean, West Coast weather allows for stream bathing at Samhain as the coven does in To Charm a Killer, and Winter Solstice rituals in the woods. You can’t perform rituals in an East Coast blizzard or hurricane unless you’re in the South. Plus, my witches get to hang out on Commercial Drive in Vancouver, dance near-naked in the rainforest, perform at a downtown Goth club (Estrada’s a stage magician), and travel up the West Coast of B.C. by yacht.
MR: I love the fact that you research locations you choose as settings for your novels! What sort of pilgrimages has this taken you on? Why is it so important to soak up that sensory landscape when you're creating?
WLH: Land, especially trees, earth, and rock takes on the energy of the past and contains the energy of the present. As Dylan McBride explains about the standing stones in to Sleep with Stones, “Like silent witnesses, these massive stones take on the essence of the land and the memories of the people. Limited by their inability to move, they see, hear, and absorb, yet cannot act. Trapped by inertia, most are eager to converse, even the fiercest of them.”
I’m not a stone wizard like Dylan but I need to walk on the land to feel the energy and gain a sense of place. Setting plays both character and symbol in my stories. That’s true of the Hollystone Mysteries (set in contemporary and prehistoric Ireland, Scotland, and the British Columbia coast) and also my latest small town romantic suspense novel, Lure, which is set on the Chippewa reservation in Minnesota. Being outside, in nature, is as important to me as it is to my characters.
I’ve travelled to most locations and that allows me to add details I might not otherwise discover. For example, one of the key characters in To Sleep with Stones was inspired by a story told to me by a bed & breakfast host in Tarbert, Scotland. He talked about being gobsmacked by a local man he knew who disappeared for a few months and returned as a woman. I thought, what would it be like to grow up transgender or gay in small-town Scotland? That theme permeates the story.
My most exciting pilgrimage was climbing up through a cow pasture to the top of Croghan Hill in the Irish midlands. This was the hill where my prehistoric king would be inaugurated and then ritually murdered in To Kill a King. I needed to look out over the land he would rule and see what he would see. The trip really helped me put 200BCE Ireland into perspective and gave me insight into what my characters would experience when they found their way home again through time. This book is based around a real bog body unearthed at the base of Croghan Hill.
MR: Your area of expertise is Native Rights and Humanities. How has learning about Indigenous cultures of Canada affected or inspired your work?
WLH: I can’t call myself a Native Rights expert but my heart opens to the injustices perpetrated against Indigenous Peoples in the name of progress, particularly in Canada. Many of these horrors, like the atrocities experienced in residential schools are just coming to light, and we’re understanding how the schools were set up to hold the People hostage so the government could take their land for development. I got into Native Rights in the early 1990s when I was studying for my degree in Indigenous Studies at Trent University in Ontario. I went to hear Indigenous orators tell the story of their people and the land, and then I wrote about things like the impact of Hydro Quebec’s power projects on the James Bay Cree and their land.
Indigenous characters have found their way into all of my books. Estrada is the main hero in the Hollystone Mysteries. His mother is Mayan, but like some Indigenous people he’s grown up in the city away from her, and doesn’t know his culture. His #ownvoice is culturally drenched in downtown Los Angeles and Vancouver. When he meets a young Sto:lo man in To Charm a Killer, he doesn’t understand when Josh asks, “What tribe you from?” This not-knowing affects Estrada deeply. “What he remembered most were bad times in L.A. and worse times in Canada.” I keep hoping he’ll take a pilgrimage to Mexico and find his mother and abuela.
My latest book, Lure, is set on the Chippewa reservation in Minnesota. Hawk’s character is definitely inspired by the spiritual work I did at Trent, and Elders I listened to along the way. Hawk is not Indigenous, though he has Metis ancestry and feels this culture in his bones. He was adopted into the culture by an old Anishinaabe couple, Joe and Effie. He spent childhood holidays with them, they taught him many things, and supported his choice to go and live on the land.
MR: What is the first book that made you cry?
WLH: Old Yeller, and now I have a yeller dog of my own. The death of an animal affects me, as it does Jesse in Lure. I do understand the need for mercy though. It’s the quality of life that’s important. Poor Old Yeller was destined to move on though the story is heartbreaking.
MR: What do you owe real life people upon whom you base your characters?
WLH: I don’t base characters on people I know. They’re all fictional and come to me with their quirks and eccentricities. I am working on a new project, though, based on my own ancestors and bringing them to life is challenging. I know some things about them, but most are factual, like where they lived and how they worked in a particular time and place, but their personalities are elusive. I’m going to lean heavily into meditation and ask them to come to me, so I can get to know them.
MR: What does literary success look like to you?
WLH: I want people to enjoy my stories and for that to happen they have to find them. So being known and discoverable factors in. When I meet people and talk about my work, they often get excited and want to read it. That’s why I prefer real-life markets to social media. The energy is so different. Success to me is having people read and enjoy my work.
MR: If you had to do something differently as a child or a teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
WLH: I don’t know. My childhood certainly informs my writing and I’ve always been fascinated by stories and words. But I think if I changed something, I wouldn’t be the me I am today—though there are a couple of things I’d like to stop myself from doing. As a child, I was a loner and spent most of my days out wandering in nature or riding my horse. You’ll find me in the character, Jesse, in Lure. I was an at-risk kid looking for belonging. Like Hawk, I grew up feeling like I was born in the wrong century to the wrong family. My personal experiences allow me to empathize with characters.
MR: Is there one topic you would never write about as an author? Why?
WLH: I try not to write about things I’m uncomfortable reading, so . . . animal cruelty, torture, rape, war stories, apocalyptic dystopias, or losing someone to a dreadful disease. These things happen but I’d rather not focus on them—not that my writing is all hearts and flowers. But I try to keep a wide angle on the lens. For example, I write about pedophilia because it’s something Michael experienced that affects him in To Render a Raven, but I wouldn’t zoom in on an actual scene. In To Charm a Killer, Maggie is almost raped. That’s a common experience for teens and I’ve been through enough of those experiences myself to know how it feels, as do many of us. And, of course, there’s death in my books because that’s part of life.
MR: Is there a book you wish you’d written?
WLH: Harry Potter! Why not? Harry’s a true mythic hero living a fantastical adventure.
To read W.L. Hawkin’s novels, please visit her Amazon page.