Margaret Nolan-Williams: "To be honest, I never was. I have dyslexia and school was a nightmare for me. I was never diognosed with it until I was 22 and by then it was too late to do anything about it. I had my own tricks that I taught myself over the years to survive such as word association. I never started actually writing until 3 years ago when I finally was dragged out of the dark ages by my best friend and taught to use a computer. I quickly found out that a keyboard is a dyslexic's best friend and spell check was indeed my salvation. I finally got the nerve to post a poem on a website and met a fellow poet on the site by the name of Dr. Carl Miller. Over the next 6 months we became e-mail buddies and he convinced me I was worthy of the title 'writer'. During one of our weekend conversations via Instant Messages, he literally 'dared' me to write a book.

"I am not one to pass up a challenge, so I wrote a character outline and a few tentative chapters and sent them to him. He replied with only 'Where's the rest of it?' I sat back and decided that I liked what I was doing, so I put away the book and did a few months research on the web. In a nutshell, I taught myself how to write a book. I combed over publishing websites to see exactly what they wanted, writers sites to learn how to do a proper manuscript and I even went so far as to jump on a link to brush up on my punctuation, sentence structure and basic English skills. Then I went back to the book.

"I stopped when I was 15 chapters away from the end because I got a sudden case of 'I'm just an average housewife with no higher education...who's going to read this so why bother?' I basically got scared and stopped writing to wallow in the pity party I was hosting for myself. It was then when I ran into a very good friend of mine who is a recording artist. He sat me down and told me that I had to try or I would spend the rest of my life wondering 'what if'. He also told me that it didn't matter if I made it to the Best Seller's list or not; as long as I knew that I had tried my best and did it on my own terms that I had nothing to be ashamed of in the end. So I finished the book, send out a 1001 query letters and waited. I got an acceptance letter from Publish America the day before my birthday and that was the best present I could have ever received."

Nalynas: "In your book, Shadows Within, the heroine starts out as a strict Catholic, yet open-minded. Are her experiences concerning the discovery of Wicca similar to your own?"

Margaret Nolan-Williams: "Actually the answer is no. I was raised in the Catholic faith, but I had always questioned it from an early age. There were too many contradictions that I never could understand and never felt comfortable with the Holy Church's ideologies. I had always felt out of place, as if I had been plucked from a century ago and dropped into the current time frame. I have always been what they call 'an old soul' and was quite literally a geek growing up. I never understood why I felt this way until I happened to run across the tail end of a documentary on television. I never found out the name of it, but there was a woman from England who mentioned Paganism. I was completely floored by the look of perfect serenity on her face...she was totally at peace with herself. And I wanted that for myself. Morrigan I guess you could say is the total reverse of myself. She is truly in love with her faith and has a hard time reconciling the fact that it's not the only belief system out there as where I could never understand why there could only be 'one true faith'."

Nalynas: "How did you discover your own path, and how long have you been following it?"

Margaret Nolan-Williams: "My self appointed title is Solitary Eclectic Heinz-57 ordinary Pagan Witch. I practice alone and my personal belief system is my own invention, hence the Heinz-57. I am an ordinary person who lives a simple life. I've been Pagan all of my life, but never realized it had a title until 3 years ago. When I researched the word 'Pagan' I felt a series of clicks inside of me, as if someone had taken all of the pieces jumbling inside of me and put them all together to form a picture. Just what that picture shows is slowly being revealed to me as I go along."

Nalynas: "Is there a particular path you feel most drawn to?"

Margaret Nolan-Williams: "I have researched and studied many branches of the Paganism tree but none have ever been completely for me. Granted, all of them are lovely paths, but I can't honestly say that any one of them have called out to me. By some definitions, Pagan means 'country dweller'. Since nothing would make me happier than being placed on some fertile land out in the middle of nowhere with only myself to rely on, then yes, I suppose being Pagan suits me to a T."

Nalynas: "I know you knew this one was coming, so we might as well get it out and over with. Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?"

Margaret Nolan-Williams: "Yes, I do. First and foremost, get over yourself! By that I mean that one cannot rely on degrees, titles, laurels or whom one knows to make it as a writer. It has to come from the heart, period. Anyone can write words, but it's the heart and soul of the writer that must be included in the creation. Without that, it's nothing more than fire starting material. I recently critiqued a friend's book and, after finding it rather dry of emotion, I told her that she had to understand who would be reading her book should she ever get it published. I told her that most readers are common everyday folks who read as a form of escape from their mundane lives and unless they can walk in the characters shoes and become them for just a little while, then they won't bother reading the rest of the book. Readers want to be the character and be able to put themselves in the story, not walk behind them and hope to catch up with them eventually. Writing fiction requires imagination, and when there is none to be found, what's the point of it all?"

Nalynas: "How did you come up with the idea for Shadows Within?" Margaret Nolan-Williams: "That is the result of the dare from Dr. Miller. When I jokingly asked him what I would base the book on, he simply replied, 'Write what you know.' After researching Paganism for months before, I had my basis before me and didn't even realize it."

Nalynas: "Do you have any plans for a second novel?"

Margaret Nolan-Williams: "Yes I do. The title is 'White as Jet/Black as Ivory'. It's based on Selina LeBeau, Morrigan's best friend. All I can tell you is that she will be tested in more ways than she ever thought she could and that she will learn a very harsh lesson about herself. The book will be set in New Orleans and involve Wicca, Petro Voudon, Santeria and Haitian Voudon."

Nalynas: "How did you come to learn about the job opening as a host for AOL's Instant Cafe?"

Margaret Nolan-Williams: "Well, I happened to have wandered into the Cafe on Halloween night 2 years ago. When I looked around, I saw goblins, ghouls, and gopher guts. Everyone was lovely to me and I enjoyed myself. I came back and after a few months, Host Novl Wrmhrt and Host Novl French convinced me that I needed to be a host. (Actually there was a lot of duct tape and Chinese water torture involved.)" (ed. note: *chuckling*)

Nalynas: "Do you enjoy your work in the Cafe?"

Margaret Nolan-Williams: "Yes, I do. I like the young writers that come in the Cafe. I enjoy the people I work with and the folks that come in. "

Nalynas: "I want to thank you for taking the time to answer my questions today; is there anything else you'd like to add before I go?"

Margaret Nolan-Williams: "I want to thank you for giving me my first interview. I've never done this before and was rather apprehensive about it, but you put me at ease and I very much appreciate it :)"

Margaret Nolan-Williams is a freelance writer and owns a small hand-made candle business. She volunteers on AOL in a writer's chat room encouraging young writers to never give up their dreams and keep writing. Margaret is also a self-proclaimed Karaoke addict.