Skein

From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights: Lily handed Myla her ball of thread. “You keep it,” Lily said. “I might lose it. Or a cactus faery might snatch it from me. Or a coyote might sing a song I really like so I’d give it to him in thanks. Or a hummingbird might want to use it in her nest. Or a spider might decide it wants a web made out of red hair. You never know."—An Old Mermaid Sanctuary

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Familiars

For today’s date from The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights: Sara liked the desert immediately. It was familiar in a way she did not quite understand. The silence throbbed in her ears like a distant ocean. In the forests and on the plains they had crossed, Sara had heard and sometimes seen coyotes, but the ones in this desert were different from those. These ones were leaner, more curious. They stopped and watched Sara and the others, seemed to be contemplating whether they wanted to stay and chat for a while. —The Fish Wife

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Again

From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights for today: Sara began dreaming again. This time she was swimming in the auld sea as it dried up and she walked up into the new desert, near the Old Mermaid Sanctuary. Her children were running around the patio. The house was full of people. They laughed and sang and worked and played. And the cacti, palo verde, and mesquite moved and danced slowly to music only they could hear. Two desert faeries sat in the sand drinking tea. They looked up at her and invited Sara for a “spot a tea.” Her girls called to her and she went running into their arms. —The Fish Wife

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Dreams

From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights for today: “I had that dream again the other night,” Myla said. “Where I’m in the Old Mermaid Chapel and the desert is singing to me.” —An Old Mermaid Sanctuary

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Stories

From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights: “I’m not going away, Lily my Lily,” Myla said. “And even if I did, even when I’m gone, the Old Mermaids are with you. They’re in your heart. And mostly, they’re in the stories.” —An Old Mermaid Sanctuary

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What Is Unseen

For today's date from The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights:  Some bird Butch couldn’t see and whose song she didn’t recognize called out from the madrone. Butch smiled. Everything was so bright and clear. The small white flowers on this madrone looked like bells, and she was pretty certain she could hear them ringing. —Butch: A Bent Western  

(This isn’t a photo of a madrone tree, but it’s so evocative, and it puts me in mind of Butch. I took this photo along a stream in Sedona.)

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This is the Place

For today's date from The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights: And so it was that the New Woman came to the Old Mermaids Sanctuary one day. She was standing on one side of the wash one moment; then in the next, she walked across the wash and into the sanctuary. She immediately felt at home. She knew this was the place she needed to be. This was what she had been looking for all of her life. And now she was here. —The Second Book of Old Mermaids Tales

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The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights: A Year and a Day Journal

We love The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights so much that we decided to make a companion for it: a BIG sumptuous luxurious "a year and a day" journal. This 8.5 x 11 book has the same cover as The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights: A Daily Guide to the Magic and Inspiration of the Old Sea, the New Desert, and Beyond, but we've removed the dates so you can put in your own and we've made one journal lined and one unlined; you can use both for journals or use one for a journal and one for sketching or mix and match. A Year and A Day is a traditional period of time set aside for study or initiation: and you can begin any time. We hope you will find these journals inspiring and beautiful. Everyone who has seen it just oohs and ahs over it. This is a perfect place to tell your own story and find your siren song.  unlined • lined

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Gifts

From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights for today: "I gift you with the mysteries of the Old Sea." 

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Wild Ride

From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights for today's date:

Because I'm a writer, I often see the world in metaphor—the land is like our body, the land is a quilt, the land is our mother. But I feel the world in my bones, too. I breathe the world in and out. I take off my shoes and I step on the grass, on the dirt, on the earth, and feel my soles against the soul of the world. I feel the Earth—Nature—beneath my feet like an ocean wave and I know I should grab a surf board and enjoy the wild ride.  —Under the Tucson Moon

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Why Does the Dirt Shine?

From The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights for today's date:

“Why does the dirt shine?” Lily asked.

Myla smiled. The Church of the Old Mermaids had no dogma, but Myla did adhere to at least one golden rule: Answer all questions put to her by a five-year-old child with honesty and beauty.

“Well, Lily my Lily,” Myla said, “I can’t be sure, but I think those shiny bits of sand are star dust—at least that’s what Mother Star Stupendous Mermaid told the other Old Mermaids when they first got to the New Desert. They had to sleep in the wash for a while, and Mother Star Stupendous Mermaid told them the sand would keep them warm and give them good dreams because it was made from star dust, shed by the stars the way we shed skin. I’m not sure the Old Mermaids believed her, but they did agree that the star dust was much more comfortable to sleep on than they would have guessed.”

—An Old Mermaid Sanctuary

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The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights

We are so happy, elated, ecstatic, and happy (did I say) to announce the publication of The Old Mermaids Book of Days and Nights! We found 364 quotes—one for every day of the year—from the Old Mermaids novels (and from my other novels) to create this inspirational, sometimes humorous, sometimes mystical, always mysterious collection. It's available in print or as an e-book. (Here's the kindle version.) Even if you get the e-book, I hope you can get the print book. We just love this book! 

From the cover: Kim Antieau guides you through a year of wisdom, humor, beauty, inspiration, and love in these daily quotes from her own writings featuring the Old Mermaids and some of the other wise and mystical characters from her books and stories. See what gifts Grand Mother Yemaya Mermaid, Sister Laughs A Lot Mermaid, Mother Star Stupendous Mermaid, Sister Sheila Na Giggle Mermaid, and others have to share with you all year long. (Cover art by Nancy Norman.) You can read FAQ and some excerpts here.

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