Synopsis: Bell Book & Bones

When freelance writer Darcy Tillman reluctantly accepts a contract for a book on the history of a little known pagan sect, she has no idea that she is about to tumble through-the-looking-glass, discovering uncomfortable truths about human nature, magic, and miracles - as well as a sinister intent behind the book project.

The Bell Book Believers lay claim to a long tradition of magical practices, dating back to the Victorian Age, when their founder, Ol’George, watched his elderly grandmother (a midwife and herbalist) suffer through an Exorcism at the hands of the Catholic Church. George’s entire family were excommunicated for having supported her witchcraft, and young George vowed then and there to keep their family beliefs alive by founding the secret society of The Bell Book Believers.

There’s just one problem - it never happened.

The real origins of the Bell Bookers are far more mundane than the popular exorcism-excommunication story, but still fascinating their own right - and perhaps even more legitimately spiritual.

But truth isn’t always welcomed in The Tradition (as the Bell Bookers are known among themselves) and the deeper into the project Darcy delves, the more resistance she meets. Uncovering the sect’s questionable claims threatens its member’s beliefs, influence and even income. Within The Tradition itself, various branches of the Bell Bookers are in competition with one another, each claiming to be the legitimate heir to Ol’ George, each eager to discredit the others. And complicating things even further, a local fundamentalist church has been picketing the more mainstream Pagan and Wiccan community, whose members are not eager to have the more unsavory rumors about the Bell Bookers being spread around town.

As the tension mounts, Darcy herself becomes the target of harassment from several fronts, culminating in being run off the road in an auto accident that leaves her hospitalized with a major concussion. Concerned for her well being, Charlie Watson (a previously reluctant source from early days of Bell Bookers) finally steps forward, offering help not only with the project, but with her physical and spiritual healing.

Finishing the book becomes an act of initiation for Darcy; an initiation not into "The Tradition" of the Bell Book Believers, but into a wider human spiritual tradition, one shared by mystics throughout time.

(If this looks familiar, it's because i failed spectacularly with it last year. With fresh eyes, a blank slate and a clear mind, I'm tackling it again, from scratch, with the help of flaming squirrels, a possessed poodle, and lots of Febreze)