Tuesday, July 10, 2012

FMB Blog Tour - THE HAUNTING AT BLACKWOOD HALL



THE HAUNTING AT BLACKWOOD HALL








Title: The Haunting at Blackwood Hall
Author: Barrymore Tebbs
Genre: Historical fiction, Paranormal, Thriller, Romance, Suspense, Mystery
Publisher: self-published
Ebook
Words: approx. 63,000





Book Description

Blackwood Hall is a house shrouded in silence. Nine-year-old Alice Fenn communicates only through her music. Jonathan Fenn and his sister Judith guard a terrifying family secret. The servants refuse to discuss the mysterious disappearance of a former governess. A drawing room séance attempts to make contact with the spirit of Elizabeth Blackwood. And when a diabolic madman holds the residents of Blackwood Hall hostage to an insidious reign of terror, governess Claire Ashby finds herself in a living nightmare of drug addiction, pagan rituals, and murder.

In the tradition of the great Gothic Romances, The Haunting at Blackwood Hall is a thrilling ghost story brimming with bold new twists on the beloved conventions of a bygone era.

Interview Questions:

Please describe The Haunting at Blackwood Hall in 25 words or less:
It’s about a houseful of miserable people who don’t know how to live or love, and the consequences of living a life in the dark.

What inspires you to write your stories?
I’m writing the stories I want to read and can’t find. At first I wrote only for myself, but once I started getting reader feedback, I realized there are other people who want to read dark, disturbing Gothic thrillers.

Do you have a special place you write?
I work in a cramped studio apartment that gets very little sunlight. I prefer it that way.

Do you have a playlist while writing, anything special you do while you write?
I listen to soundtracks from old horror movies, the score to Dark Shadows, modern classical music like The Rite of Spring and the works of Witold Lutoslawski.

What do you do when you get writers block?
I’m glad you asked because I don’t believe in writer’s block. All my books are carefully outlined in advance. Daily writing is simply putting clothes on the existing framework.

How long does it take you to write a story?
The first draft of my two novels took about 8 weeks – my novellas, including two unpublished ones, each took a month to write the first draft.

How many books have you written? Are they part of a series?
I have four published books and two unpublished books. All are stand alone stories, although I do plan to write a prequel about a certain character in The Haunting at Blackwood Hall sometime in the future.

What other projects are you working on?
My next novella is about a pack of evil little goblins run rampant on an English country estate in 1921. *wicked laugh*

If your book(s) were made into a TV Series, what actors would you choose to play your characters?
That’s a tough one because I don’t think in terms of basing my characters’ physical appearances on actors and actresses. I do know a woman who reminds me of Elizabeth York in Night of the Pentagram. She is a big fan of the book and will indulge me by performing the character’s lines for me.

What is your favorite paranormal movie?
I’m a huge fan of Gothic and Horror in many forms, but I would have to say that The Ring is one that I enjoy watching over and over.

Who are your favorite authors?
My pleasure reading (and to a large extent my influences) are psychological thrillers: John Connolly, Dennis LeHane, Jeffrey Deaver, are a few of the writers I read and try to emulate in terms of character and story construction.

Do you read the genres you write?
I would if there was more of it I could get my hands on.

What are your next 5 books on your to be read pile?
That’s a huge pile. Off the top of my head, Blood Secrets, an old paperback thriller from the late 70s by Craig Thomas; Amanda DeWees’ Sea of Secrets; I started Susan Howatch’s Penmarric earlier this year and had to set it aside; The Lovers by John Connolly; and Jana deLeon’s The Lost Girls of Johnson’s Bayou.

If you could date one of your characters, who would it be? Why? Laura Balfour’s twin sister, Lydia, from Black Valentines. She’s got a great sense of humor and likes to live life on the edge.

What has one of your fans said that has made your day?
You probably wouldn’t want to print what she actually said, so I’ll paraphrase: “Dude, you write some messed up stuff.”

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
If you want to write, write. Keep writing. Don’t stop, ever.

Anything else you would like to add?
If you’re a fan of Dark Shadows, or old Gothic horror movies, come hang out on my Facebook author page. I’d love to hear from you and sometimes we get some fun discussions going.

Quickies:
Vampire or Werewolf or Other  - Vampire
Beach or Mountains  - Mountains
Coffee or Tea  - Coffee
Wake early or sleep in - Wake up early – I have a dog to walk


Excerpt:

It was early, but I felt myself growing sleepier by the moment. I hadn’t been given laudanum since I was a child, and the effects were completely foreign to me. My vision grew dim, and I found I could barely hold up my head. Alice, bless her heart, came to me and pecked me lightly on the cheek, then made an effort of drawing a blanket over me.
I fell into a strange and troubled sleep. I dreamed of a line of monks marching solemnly through the ruined abbey by moonlight. Their torches cast dancing shadows against the crumbling stone walls. Then, I saw a rider on horseback, a proud black stallion which I recognized as Nigel Kent’s mount, only the face of the rider was an ugly, twisted visage like the face on Alice’s doll. Alice was there as well, and her mother came and took her by the hand and the two of them disappeared behind a stone arch and Alice was lost to me forever.
I struggled up from the nightmare and looked about the room. Alice was asleep and the fire had died down low. It must have been the dead of night. But I distinctly heard the sound of the door handle turning, and when the person on the other side of the door realized it was locked, the handle began to shake and rattle so loudly and with such force I thought the door would be torn asunder.
“Stop it! Stop it!” I yelled, and with great difficulty I hauled myself from the bed. The moment I was on my feet the shaking of the door ceased abruptly. I went to the door and laid my ear against it. I listened for a moment, but heard neither dog nor man on the other side of the door.
Satisfied that what I had heard was only a figment of my imagination, or the remnants of that horrid nightmare clinging tenaciously to my mind, I turned to go back to bed…
…And distinctly heard the sound of footsteps running down the hall.

About the Author:

Barrymore Tebbs is a photographer and writer living in Cincinati, Ohio. His writing draws on a long Gothic tradition from the cult TV classic Dark Shadows and Hammer Films, to 20th Century Gothic writers known for deep psychological undercurrents such as Shirley Jackson, Daphne Du Maurier, and Thomas Tryon, to create the Psychological Gothic, all served with a liberal dose of black humor. Very black.  He is the author of Night of the Pentagram, The Yellow Scarf, and the psychological thriller Black Valentines.


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1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the opportunity to talk about my book MaryLynn!

    ReplyDelete