Full Moon Dreaming: Name Before the Masses Tour: The Unholy

Friday, October 10, 2014

Name Before the Masses Tour: The Unholy

Please welcome author Paul de Blassie III, who is here to talk about his latest release, The Unholy. Paul will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B&N GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. To find out where the rest of the stops are, go here. Look for the rafflecopter at the end of this post.

The Questions

1) You’re marooned on a small island with one person and one item of your choice—who is that person and what item do you have? I’m with my wife, Kate, and my guitar because I love Kate and wouldn’t want to ever be without her, the inspiration and muse of my life and writing and the planter of seeds regarding all of the dark fiction I write to include The Unholy. My guitar comes in as the thing I’d bring along because I like ending the day singing boleros, love songs, to the one I’m with—Kate.

2) Which musical would you say best exemplifies your life – and which character in that musical are you? You know, I’m not generally into musicals, but if I had to pick one it might be West Side Story as it explores ethnic tensions that are also dramatized within The Unholy as the propagators of white misogynistic religion prey on innocent and vulnerable souls, one fierce woman out to set things right.

3) Take these three words and give me a 100 word or less scenario using them: insurance, owed, talk Insurance as in fire insurance for the soul as is proferred by the dark side of religion can never be counted on for much except to set up the vulnerable party to always feel they are owed an explanation as to why the mumbo jumbo of eccelesiastical talk never came through in the way it was supposed to!

4) What is your idea of how to spend romantic time with your significant other? Kate and I enjoy fine dining and listening to soft jazz recordings done on the Blue Note label as we discuss our reads and the mind bending twists and turns of the characters.

5) When you start a new story, do you begin with a character, or a plot? A gut-wrenching scene kicks the story into gear and then scene after scene flashes onto the white screen of my mind as each dramatization impresses upon me the truth that story emerges not so much from characterization or plot as from the archetypal images and symbols that animate the characters and plot

6) If they were to make the story of your life into a movie, who should play you? To play me, you’d have to resurrect from the dead Algernon Blackwood, the great gothic horror master, and ask him how to and who could interpret in modern terms and context one who lives in a way remarkably similar to his character, Dr. John Silence.

7) Who’s your favorite horror villain and why? My favorite horror villain is H.P. Lovecraft because even as a writer he is the ultimate villain in his stories, the one who creates the scenarios that terrorize and transmogrify!

8) Do you have an historical crush and if so, who is it? Yes…my wife Kate is my historical crush since my dreams have repeatedly narrated that she and I have live through many passionate lives together, the one preceding this one having taken place in turn-of-the twentieth century Victorian New York.

9) Is there a story that you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it? Actually, I struggled with whether the world was ready to receive the reality of dark side of religion as depicted in The Unholy. Now that The Unholy has been unleashed and is largely being received with great fervor, I’m getting ready to reveal in the next year Dark Goddess---a novel about love and whether bad love is better than no love. I’m not sure the cosmos is ready for the answer, but it’s about ready to be jettisoned forth with the same phantasmagoric vigor as The Unholy!

THE UNHOLY

Paul DeBlassie III

BLURB:

A young curandera, a medicine woman, intent on uncovering the secrets of her past is forced into a life-and-death battle against an evil Archbishop. Set in the mystic land of Aztlan, The Unholy is a novel of destiny as healer and slayer. Native lore of dreams and visions, shape changing, and natural magic work to spin a neo-gothic web in which sadness and mystery lure the unsuspecting into a twilight realm of discovery and decision.

EXCERPT:

“Help me? Help yourself! Face what is yours to face,” Elizabeth hissed. She yanked the door open then forced it to slam behind her.

Claire stood still for a moment, feeling as if a tornado had swept through the room. Elizabeth’s demand had left her shaken. She drew a deep breath, then went to her desk and picked up her tea, noticing her trembling hands.

Turning toward the window, Claire saw a muscular orderly accompanying Elizabeth to the locked ward at the far end of the hospital compound. A flock of crows circled high overhead, seeming to follow the two receding figures. As they arrived at the outer doors of the locked unit, the orderly reached for his keys. The crows circled while the two crossed the threshold of the unit, Elizabeth suddenly pausing, turning, and looking outside, her gaze riveted on the flock of birds.

All but two flew off, disappearing into the piñon-covered hills. The two that remained came to rest on the red brick wall adjacent to the locked unit, their black eyes boring into Elizabeth. She looked panicked then enraged and, shaking a finger at the creatures, yelled something. Her frantic gestures told Claire that she was screeching curses to ward off evil.

Claire took a step back from the window, from the impact of Elizabeth’s rage.

The orderly grabbed Elizabeth roughly by the arm and pulled her inside.

The crows waited, watched, then flew away.

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Paul DeBlassie III, Ph.D., is a psychologist and writer living in Albuquerque who has treated survivors of the dark side of religion for more than 30 years. His professional consultation practice — SoulCare — is devoted to the tending of the soul. Dr. DeBlassie writes fiction with a healing emphasis. He has been deeply influenced by the mestizo myth of Aztlan, its surreal beauty and natural magic. He is a member of the Depth Psychology Alliance, the Transpersonal Psychology Association and the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy.