https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2020/11/vbt-hungry-business-by-maria-deblassie.html
Maria DeBlassie will be awarding a free ecopy of Hungry Business to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Author Interview: Maria DeBlassie
1. How did you choose your genre? What made you write this book? I write inspirational non-fiction, cozy Gothic stories, urban fantasy, and romance. I find they all nourish one another. My non-fiction books on everyday magic help me craft the enchanting worlds in my fiction and my genre stories guide me deeper into everyday conjuring in my life beyond the written word. Hungry Business is one of my cozy Gothic stories. It’s about how dating is the zombie apocalypse of the soul. Everyone’s had them—those dates that leave you feeling hopeless or uninspired or fearful that you’ll never find love. It’s an ugly, hard feeling, but one that was important to write about. Sometimes the best thing we can get real about what’s not working in our lives so we can make room for hope and growth. lt’s a little creepy, a little chilling, but a whole lot hopeful. The Gothic genre is all about facing the darkness so that we can find the light.
2. Writers write what they know, and must observe the world. Are you a firstborn, middle, or last child, and how does this shape your view of the world? I’m right in the middle. I’ve got two older siblings and a younger one. I think it’s taught me how to be a great observer. When you come from a big family, you learn to be loud and loving and communicative, but you also learn to watch and listen. It teaches you a lot about human nature!
3. Where is your favorite place to write? I should say my writing nook—the place I’ve carved out in my apartment that has an overstuffed bookshelf, great reading chairs, and the lovely writing desk I’ve been writing on since I was a teenager. And I do write there often. But I also love writing at my kitchen table. A pot stew on the stove and the kettle on for hot water. Endless mug of tea by my side. Bliss!
4. How do you feel about killing your darlings, and what do you do with the remains? It’s not pretty, but we’ve got to do it for the sake of the story. I put all the remains in my literary compost! If I wrote it, I feel like it helped me get where I needed to in the story, even if I had to take it out at the end. I take those scraps and fold them into my compost among my wriggler worms and coffee grinds. May they give me fertile soil for the next book.
5. You are introduced to your favorite author. Who is it, and what is that one burning question you must ask them? Oh dear, that’s a tough one! I’m not sure I’d want to, honestly, for fear of dispelling the magic of their stories. I’d rather stumble across an author I love, make some sort of strange and knowing eye contact from across the street, and keep walking. There’s power in mystery.
6. Inquiring minds want to know…tell readers something about you that no one knows. This is kind of an open secret at this point, but I’m a bruja. I believe in everyday magic, the power of the universe, the seen and the unseen, and the daily spells we cast without thinking—the wishes, thoughts, and actions we cast out into the world to bear fruit. When we’re more intentional about this energy, we can direct it towards hope and healing. I also hoard way too many mason jars, have my own witchy herb garden, deal the tarot, and know that storytelling is one of the deepest forms of magic.
7. You are stranded on a deserted island with only a backpack for company. What three items are in your survival pack? Hmmm…I would definitely bring my familiar, a black cat named Smoke. He’s a crafty fellow and could likely get me out of all sorts of trouble, plus a pen and notebook—there’s plenty of spells and stories I could create with just those two things!
8. If you could have one superpower in your existence, what would it be?
Hmmmm…maybe to be like those super-cool abilities like being able to be at peace when the world storms around you. Is that a power? Feel like it’s something I’m still learning how to do, so if I ever achieved that kind of equilibrium it would feel pretty magical!
9. Favorite snack? Popcorn with nutritional yeast. Delicious!
10. Indy 500 – Do you know how to get where you’re going or do you drive the speed limit? I’m a granny driver, so I’d probably be five miles under the limit—but I’d eventually get to my destination, ha.
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Hungry Business: A Short Story
by Maria DeBlassie
GENRE: Gothic, Horror (Cozy)
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BLURB:
From the multi-award-winning author of Everyday Enchantments: Musings on Ordinary Magic & Daily Conjurings comes a cozy Gothic short story about searching for connection in a world that’s forgotten the power of everyday magic.
Looking for love can be deadly…
You know how it goes. You go out, hoping to meet someone. You wade through your fair share of brainless automatons, lifeless bodies, and ravenous undead good at passing as human.
The more you go out, the less hope you feel and the colder your body gets. But you keep at it. All you need is one beating heart to match your own before yours stops pumping altogether. How hard can it be to find one living, breathing human in a city full of bodies?
Dating.
It’s hungry business.
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Excerpt:
The things you do for love. Like talking yourself into thinking that the lifeless body across the table from you has his own kind of charm. Surely his gray pallor is only a trick of the light. His skeletal frame might even be considered athletic. You try not to look at his chipped and bloodied fingernails as you force down your mediocre steak tartar. Sadly, that room temperature appetizer will be the hottest thing on the menu tonight.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Maria DeBlassie, Ph.D. is a native New Mexican mestiza blogger, award-winning writer, and award-winning educator living in the Land of Enchantment. Her first book, Everyday Enchantments: Musings on Ordinary Magic & Daily Conjurings (Moon Books 2018), and her ongoing blog, Enchantment Learning & Living are about everyday magic, ordinary gothic, and the life of a kitchen witch. When she is not practicing her own brand of brujeria, she’s reading, teaching, and writing about bodice rippers and things that go bump in the night. She is forever looking for magic in her life and somehow always finding more than she thought was there. Find out more about Maria and conjuring everyday magic at www.mariadeblassie.com.
Social Media Links:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7rY-gLkSH-w8uuVyrhVALA
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17535853.Maria_DeBlassie
https://www.facebook.com/EnchantmentLL
The book is $0.99 during the tour
Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Hungry-Business-Short-Maria-DeBlassie-ebook/dp/B08L48MVHD
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3 responses to “Author Interview: Maria DeBlassie & Hungry Business”
Thanks for hosting!
Thank you for featuring me on your blog!
It’s a pleasure to have you here Maria! Congrats on this exciting release!