Marilyn Gustin is the author of Companion Guide to The Awakening Tales, available for purchase by clicking here. This four-part interview was conducted by email. One part of the interview will be posted each week. Here is Part 3:
 
TheIndigoWizard.com Can you describe Owl for us? What draws you to that character?
 
Marilyn Gustin: Far be it from me to describe Owl! That’s for each person who works with the Tales to discover.
 
I suspect what you may be wondering here is why I am “Apprentice to Owl.” That started when Sr. Paula began referring to me as Owl, and I suspect she did that because she sees similarities of mind and personality there. At first I didn’t like it much, but gradually as I came to accept my own nature and my gifts more fully, I could see the similarities that she saw—and value them. When I wrote the first Guide (for The Awakening Tales), I felt quite daunted by my task and it helped me when I thought of myself more as an apprentice than a writer or teacher. So I apprenticed to Owl. It seemed only right! And it stuck. Though, to tell you the truth, I often feel a lot more like Mouse.
 
TheIndigoWizard.com: What do you want readers to take from Owl's Perch?
 
MG: Owl’s Perch is an offering. Nothing more. I have learned a lot from the Tales, and I continue to learn in living. One of the things in life that I cherish is when someone else shares with me what they have learned and how they learned it and how they use it. And so in Owl’s Perch, I offer in short bits some of what I’ve learned. I hope that my learnings may perhaps match someone else’s need and become useful.
 
TheIndigoWizard.com What can people look forward to on Owl's Perch? What's coming next?
 
MG: What’s coming next on Owl’s Perch? Well, now, I don’t know at all. This is not something I’ve planned a long way ahead—and even if I had, Owl might have quite different ideas when I get there.
 
All I know is that when I’m working with Owl’s Perch, more often than not, an owl of the more physical kind shows up nearby. The other morning, a pair were singing to each other not far away, as I reflected what I’d like to write for the next twig of Owl’s Perch.
 
Sometimes the offering begins with a tiny idea and expands as I write. Sometimes it takes turns that surprise me and then I know that it’s not only Marilyn writing along on her keyboard (those are the most happy times).
 
But I have no agenda at all for the readers. In fact, I’d be delighted to know more of what they do find there, or if they have questions I’d be happy to respond.
 
Part 4 of this interview will be posted next week.