THE
UNHOLY
By
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.
+(1).jpg)
Excerpt 2
“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.
How to handle negative criticism.
The
most important thing for me to remember about criticism and The Unholy is to
realize that it sets off a religious complex in people who haven’t come to
terms with the meaning of religion, freedom, spirituality, and love in life. If
there is conflict in the confluence of these areas for an individual then they
may hate the novel. It makes them vulnerable and suddenly what they’ve wanted
to cling to and perhaps find redemption in becomes threatened. Instead of
looking within and wondering, pondering the source of their intense emotional
reaction, they take it out on the story and may rage against it. Intense
emotional reactions are always telling, there is stuff lurking underneath. With
The Unholy it provokes strong feeling and may cause folks to love it or hate
it…depends on where they are and how they are feeling about themselves and
their life. So, I take all this into account when I receive negative criticism.
I believe it is helpful in maintaining a certain remove, a distance so that my
objectivity remains as clear as possible. There was an initial reaction by a
few church folk to The Unholy, stating or really wondering if this was a novel
that “is just about slamming religion.” Actually I enjoyed answering them and saying
that the novel is not about religion so much as it is about the dark side of
human nature, religion just being the particular venue for this story. There is
a dark side to religion, something they agreed with, and The Unholy takes this
reality and dramatizes to show how good and evil can be masked and show up in
the most unlikely of ways. This addressed their criticism and interestingly
enough set them more or less at ease about reading a terrifying novel about the
dark side of religion!
.jpg)
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.
LINKS
Author Links
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Paul-DeBlassie-III/e/B00E5TBJXY/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
Website: http://www.pauldeblassieiii.com/
Buy Links
BN.com: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-unholy-paul-deblassie/1116061527?ean=9780865349599
The author will be giving away a $25 Gift Card to a commenter on the tour. Make sure you follow the blog and the rest of the tour for more chances to win!
http://goddessfishpromotions.
The author will be giving away a $25 Gift Card to a commenter on the tour. Make sure you follow the blog and the rest of the tour for more chances to win!
http://goddessfishpromotions.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Posts
