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Welcome to the latest incarnation
of TWPT
and what it has grown into over the past year while it was on hiatus.
As you can tell by the brand new logo above and the subtitle it
should be apparent that we are working towards refining just what it
is that TWPT
stands for and where it will be headed as we move forward. Basically
we have not changed radically since last we spoke but we do feel that
the websites that try to be everything to everybody tend to lose the
personal feel and are not as effective as those that focus on certain
aspects of the W/P community and cover them in depth.
TWPT
was never an everything kind of site but in some ways we were
drifting in that direction and when you try to do too much you dilute
your efforts to the point where everything turns out looking like a
digest version of a more focused kind of site. In other words you are
moving towards a site that takes the broad view on everything and
doesn't get down to the nitty gritty of helping folks with concrete
information that is meaningful and helpful in an everyday kind of
context. That was something that I never wanted for TWPT
and I felt that it would be good to take some time off to rethink
what it was that we wanted to accomplish with TWPT
and how those objectives would be achieved.
As TWPT
returns to the web you will find that it has been trimmed down so as
to offer a more focused view of the W/P community and the activities
that continue to shape it. Our Author's Corner is going to continue
on as a regular feature here at TWPT
and as one of the more popular and unique areas of the site we feel
that it will continue to draw those readers who want to know more
about who lurks behind the books that appear at their local
bookstores and help readers to evaluate whether a certain author's
books or views match their own. One of the primary resources for a
solitary along their path are the books that they can obtain by mail,
at a local bookstore or through their local library system and we
want to be able to allow readers to take a look at the author who
wrote the book so as to see if the mindset that created the book is
compatible with what the reader was looking for. Boudica and I are
readers and enjoyers of these self same books and as we watch an ever
growing tide of new titles coming out each year we realize that it
must be incredibly hard for the average W/P to decide which book to
spend their money on. We hope that we can shine some light on the
lengthening list of titles that sound interesting and give the
readers of TWPT
an advantage when it comes to making their buying decisions.
A further aid that will be offered
on TWPT
is the returning Bookviews section which will continue to take a look
at many of the titles that appear each year from a variety of
publishers and offer our readers some information to help them
evaluate the endless choices that face them everytime a new title
appears. TWPT
will be taking a critical look at the books that appear and evaluate
them on their merits for our readers and not on their hype or on an
author's past reputation. We want to not only guide our readers to
those titles that will be more than worth the money that they spend
on the book but also to keep them from spending money on titles that
are repetitious, unoriginal and/or are simply covering the same
ground that others have covered before them. This might sound a bit
harsh but there is no reason that the W/P community should not expect
quality and originality in its authors and the books that they
publish. W/P's are a well read bunch and authors and publishers
should respect that as they choose the authors and the titles that
they are going to publish each year. There will always be beginners
in the W/P community so a certain percentage of those kinds of titles
are to be expected but don't forget about those who have advanced
well beyond the beginner level. We won't.
Finally we would like to make this
an interactive experience on all of our parts so
we encourage you the reader, the publisher, and
the author to participate in the creation of TWPT
as an online forum that will become a respository
of mind stimulating articles, reviews, rituals and
interviews. If you are a regular reader be sure
to drop us a line and let us know what you think
about the latest batch of books that have appeared
on the site. Let us know which ones have really
helped you along your path and that you would recommend
to anyone seeking information about that particular
subject. Help us to understand what it is that you
liked about the book and what it is that you didn't
like. Try to be specific about these points so that
we truly understand where the books veered off course
for you.
If you are a publisher of Wiccan/Pagan
titles both fiction and non-fiction and you don't
see your titles on the site then by all means send
them along to our reviews editor Boudica and we
will see what we can do about adding them to our
new release listings. We try to catch most of the
titles that are being published but there are many
that will not get seen simply because we don't know
you are there. Make yourself known.
If you are an author looking to
be part of our Author's Corner interview series
then please drop us an e-mail and we can discuss
the openings in our upcoming interview schedule
and perhaps we can work something out. As you may
also have noticed many of the authors that we have
interviewed end up appearing in other places on
TWPT by graciously submitting rituals, articles
and other material for use on the website. If you
would like to become part of this exchange of information
by submitting articles for use on TWPT then don't
hesitate to initiate a dialog with myself or Boudica.
This actually serves a threefold purpose, it gives
our readers more opportunities even beyond the interviews
to get to know the authors. Secondly it helps to
promote those talented individuals who are able
to craft their ideas into words and to stimulate
ideas among the Wiccan/Pagan community. Lastly it
helps to create a stronger TWPT by allowing us to
become a channel for all of these great words and
ideas that pour out of the hearts of these established
and aspiring writers. Sort of a win-win-win situation.
Everyone walks away with something.
Thanks for joining us as we step
back onto the internet stage with a revamped and
hopefully better TWPT. As an old timer when it comes
to hanging out on the internet (signed onto the
old Prodigy Wiccan bulletin board around 1991)
I'd like to remind you that the internet was what
allowed many of us to make contact with those of
like mind. For Wiccans/Pagans and any number of
minority belief systems it allowed us to see that
we were not alone and that there were others just
like us scattered all around the country and around
the world. Let us know what your thinking and let
us know what you are reading. Let us know what you
think of the interviews that we conduct and let
us know if there is something else to do with books
that we are not covering as of yet. In other words......COMMUNICATION....is
the key.
Blessed
be and welcome back Imajicka and Boudica
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