Dalea’s Blog.
Step into a realm where storytelling, creativity, and soul meet.
On this blog, you’ll find behind-the-scenes insights from my books and movies—including The Christmas Witch, Lost in Time, and the ever-expanding Amberlight Valley universe. I share writing tips, character deep dives, world-building secrets, personal reflections on creativity and healing, and updates on film festival journeys and screenplay adaptations. Expect cozy magic, mythic themes, seasonal rituals, and musings on what it means to be a neurodivergent creative navigating life with heart.
Whether you’re a reader, writer, dreamer, or filmmaker, there’s a spark here for you.
Samhain Tools, Rituals, & Recipes from the Amberlight Apothecary
In Amberlight Valley, a little Apothecary sits along the main street, where the kettle is always warm and the shelves smell of cinnamon, rosemary, and something you can't quite discern that feels a bit ancient. On Samhain morning, the whole valley glows gold, and an ancestor altar comes to life: framed photographs, candles, crystals, a pocket watch that still keeps someone's time. Today, I invite you to bring a little of that Apothecary whimsy and magick into your own home. Pour a cup of something cozy and let's begin.
From Befana's Grimoire: A Mabon Harvest Intention Ritual
Ah, Mabon. Or the Autumnal Equinox, if you like your magick a little less mysterious. Some call it the Witch's Thanksgiving. I call it Mabon. This is the second harvest… the one that comes after the fields have already given so much, after the long stretch of summer asked you to do, do, do. Mabon is different. Mabon asks you to stop and take stock. What did you actually grow this year? What's ready to be gathered in… and what's ready to be let go?
From the Amberlight Apothecary: A Midsummer Cooling Herb Guide
Midsummer herbs are not the herbs of warming and stoking. They are the herbs of cooling, clarifying, and opening. They are here to help your nervous system remember how to be soft. To help your creative mind release its grip on the spinning and find the still point underneath. To help your body feel like somewhere worth being, even in the heat. Here are the herbs I return to each July for clarity, for calm, and for the kind of creative fire that burns steady and long rather than hot and frantic.
From the Amberlight Apothecary: A Summer Solstice Solar Tea Ritual
The light of June arrives golden and unhurried, spilling through every window like it has nowhere better to be. It lingers past dinner, long after the dishes are done and the day has softened into evening. And if you sit still long enough in that light… really sit in it — something inside you shifts. That's Litha speaking.
You might know it as Midsummer, or simply the Summer Solstice. It goes by many names across many traditions, and all of them are pointing at the same threshold: the longest day of the year, the moment the sun reaches its peak, and the quiet turning that follows. From here, the days grow shorter by increments.
From Befana’s Grimoire: Celebrating Beltane
Ah, Beltane. Or as some might call it — Walpurgisnacht, Calan Mai… or simply May Day, if you prefer your magic with a bit less flair. But don’t let the softer names fool you, darling. Beltane is anything but quiet. This is the fire festival. The bloom after the bud. The moment the earth stops whispering and starts singing. If Ostara was the gentle awakening, Beltane is the full-bodied yes.
From the Amberlight Apothecary: Cleanse Your Space with the Spring Equinox
A gentle Ostara ritual for renewal, intention, and light.
The Spring Equinox is here… the sacred midpoint where day and night stand in perfect balance. Also known as Ostara, this is the moment when the wheel of the year tips toward the light. From here on out, the days stretch longer. The sun lingers. The earth begins to stir. You can feel it, even before you see it. Tiny buds pushing through soil. Hatchlings cracking through old shells. Baby animals wobbling into the world. The Spring Equinox is not loud. It is subtle and powerful at once — a season of awakening. And just like the earth, we are invited to wake up too.