Auralee Wallace is…On the Writing Block!

Sherry Ickes
May 5
3 min read

Are you someone who enjoys mysteries featuring witches and fantastical elements woven into the storyline? Then this next author is for you to give a try, my fellow readers!

After spending her formative years reading Grimms’ fairy tales and stirring up potions in the creek behind her house, Auralee Wallace knew she would grow up to be a witch. When that didn’t work out, she decided becoming a writer was the next best thing. Now, Auralee is the author of multiple novels, including the “Otter Lake Mystery” series and “The Evenfall Witches B&B Mysteries.” She lives in Ottawa with her husband, kids, dog, and cat.

What is your ultimate goal as an author?

I've been writing for years and I'm not sure anyone has ever asked me this! Fundamentally, I feel like every author has a drive to create. Psychologist, Abraham Maslow, once said, "A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself." I believe there’s a lot of truth in that. I get angsty and restless when I go too long without writing. Beyond that, my goal is to write honestly. I want to be true to myself even within the real constraints of publishing, which can push you toward trends that don't always fit who you are. The books I'm most proud of are the ones where I didn't second-guess myself. I believe readers can feel authenticity.

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you write whenever you can squeeze it in?

Sigh. I’ve spent nearly fourteen years writing full-time and I still haven't mastered the “writing schedule”. At times, deadlines push me to work seven days a week, and then I usually take a break. Oftentimes that break goes too long, and when that happens, all the old insecurities come flooding back. Writing a single page, let alone an entire book, feels impossible. What I've learned is that the only way to get through this is to just sit down and write something. It doesn’t matter if it’s terrible. You can always make it better later. Just write something.

Any advice for other authors?

Be gentle with yourself. Writing requires real vulnerability. You are essentially exposing your thoughts and feelings to the world and that takes courage. I know it’s easy to get wrapped up in daily word counts and self-imposed deadlines, but if you want to be productive long-term practice self-compassion. Be your own number one fan.

Do you prefer pen and paper, or computer for writing?

For planning, I LOVE a pretty notebook and a good selection of colored pens. (I have spent many a procrastinating hour shopping online for notebooks with cover art that matches the vibe of whatever I’m working on. Personally, I like spiral, hardbacked, A4 notebooks. And by like, I mean I won’t use anything else.) Once I start drafting, though, it has to be on computer. I've been known to edit a single sentence dozens of times and doing that by hand just isn't realistic.

What is In the Company of Witches about?

For four hundred years, the Warren witches have used their magic to quietly help the citizens of the sleepy New England town of Evenfall thrive. There’s never been a problem they couldn’t handle. But then Constance Graves—a local known for being argumentative and demanding—dies while staying at the bed and breakfast Brynn Warren maintains with her aunts. At first, it seems like an accident…but it soon becomes clear that there’s something more sinister at work, and Aunt Nora is shaping up to be the prime suspect.

There’s nothing Brynn wants more than to prove Nora’s innocence, and it hurts her to know that even two years ago that might have been easier. Brynn, after all, is a witch of the dead—a witch who can commune with ghosts. Ghosts never remember much about their deaths, but Constance might remember something about her life that would help crack the case. But Brynn hasn’t used her powers since her husband died, and isn’t even sure she still can. Brynn will just have to hope that her aunts’ magic and her own investigative skills will lead her to answers—and maybe back to the gift she once thought herself ready to give up forever.