House of Seven Gables Read-a-Long - Discussion Delayed #NH7Gables

Sorry, folks! I'm running behind. Will have the discussion up by Thursday or Friday at the latest. Please feel free to share your thoughts on Twitter in the meantime using #NH7Gables

Gothic September and The House of Seven Gables Read-a-Long Kick Off!

It's time to kick off Gothic September and start the read-a-long of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables. I am so excited because Fall is here (unofficially after Labor Day, officially September 23) so the spooky/scary reading is starting and Carl's R.eaders I.bibing P.eril IX. Who else is excited!?

I am going to be doing some Gothic reading this September with The House of Seven Gables and a new book coming out in October, An English Ghost Story by Kim Newman. I'm also going to be listening to some Edgar Allan Poe on audio and, if I have time, I'll squeeze in Picture the Dead by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown.

If you want to join me in reading some Gothic books this Fall, I hope you will share what you read with me in the comments. I will be posting several times all month about Gothic topics and will share links to your posts. Also, if you would like to contribute by writing a post, please also leave me a comment. Would love to have your contributions!

If you will be joining me for the read-a-long of The House of Seven Gables, I am keeping the reading schedule fairly simple. We will have only two check-ins here on the blog, mid-book and end. You can also share your progress on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #NH7Gables. If anyone would like to have a Twitter chat at finish, please let me know in your comment below.

The House of the Seven Gables Read-a-Long Schedule

September 1 - 15 
Chapter I/The Old Pyncheon Family through Chapter X/The Pyncheon Garden (end on p. 151)

September 16
Mid-Book Check In

September 16 - 30
Chapter XI/The Arched Window through end (ending page in my edition is 309)

October 1
End of book/Final check in

Twitter/Facebook hashtag:  #NH7Gables

Happy Gothic September and Happy Fall!

The Unholy by Paul DeBlassie III - Character Guest Post

I’m Claire Sanchez, curandera, medicine woman, protagonist in The Unholy. I witnessed my mother’s brutal murder in the nighttime forest of Aztlan at the hands of a black-robed man. Hiding behind the tress, a five-year-old girl, I was powerless to help. This nightmare haunted my waking life and dreams for twenty-five years. I feared fulfilling my destiny as a medicine woman. My mother died because of who she was. Terrible fright dominated my life. The black-robed man could find me and do what he had done to my mother. Death lurked around every corner of Aztlan. Religion, I came to discover, cloaks many a sordid deed and foul personage. There was no way I could continue to run. What I most feared came my way, discovered my whereabouts, what my life was about and was to become, and who I loved. The time came for me to decide. Decisions of life-long consequence are painful, agonizing. Nevertheless, I do not regret the decision I made. I had to face the ghost of my past or forever be haunted by nightmares of what might come and what I could have done differently. I am not one to be indecisive. It was all a matter of timing. Yes, it was violent. Yes, the world of the supernatural and natural collided and forever changed the lives of so many people; but, I would not have it any other way. I needed to be true to my life, destiny, to myself as a woman who could run no longer. I could no longer cling to old ways and crippling terrors that needed to be confronted. I did what I had to do and for that I am glad and am complete. To all who read, I send you courage as you confront the dark side of religion and a woman’s quest to discover self, destiny, and whether, because of the scarring of her past, she could ever love again.
About the bookA 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.

Purchase your copy at AMAZON

About the author

PAUL DeBLASSIE III, PhD, is a psychologist and writer living in his native New Mexico. A member of the Depth Psychology Alliance, the Transpersonal Psychology Association, and the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, he has for over thirty years treated survivors of the dark side of religion.

His latest book is the psychological/paranormal thriller, The Unholy.

Visit his website at www.pauldeblassieiii.com or his blog at www.pauldeblassieiii.blogspot.com.

Connect & Socialize with Paul!

TWITTER * FACEBOOK

Watch for my review...coming this weekend!

The Never-Ending Anne Rice Challenge

Any Anne Rice fans out there? I just announced last week my new long-term reading challenge, The Never-Ending Anne Rice Challenge. To find out what it's all about and to sign up, visit the dedicated blog HERE. What better time, what with Prince Lestat coming out in a few months? Can't wait! Hope you will join me!