Friday, May 16, 2014

Starblood Trilogy by Carmilla Voiez Blog Tour

Carmilla Voiez is a pioneer in horror writing. Her visceral and violent no-holds-barred descriptions of magic, sex, demons and obsession might remind some readers of Clive Barker's wonderful works of horror and dark fantasy, however her stories are told from a uniquely female perspective. Old tropes of hapless female victims pursued by psychotic male killers are reversed or expelled and the result is disturbing yet at the same time refreshing.

Starblood has been released as a trilogy in three separate books Starblood, Psychonaut and Black Sun previously and these are all still available for Kindle or in paperback. However, on the 16th May 2014 a new volume, beautifully edited and perfected, of all three stories in one huge package will be available on Kindle, bringing Voiez's work to a whole new generation of horror readers.

There will be a release party on Facebook to celebrate the launch. Once the book goes live on Amazon this link will take you to that page. In the meantime it will direct you towards the party event where you can find out more. http://smarturl.it/TheStarbloodTrilogy

Praise for Starblood -

“In a market flooded with badly written supernatural romances passed off as horror, Carmilla Voiez is a prophet of the uncanny. Not since Clive Barker has any author mastered pure, visceral atrocity, and yet her characters maintain an elegance and humanity that turns what could just be a blood sport into a Shakespearean tragedy. Starblood may be the only true female horror novel in existence, and within its pages a reader is forced at knifepoint to see the world through the eyes of the raped, the abused, and the unloved with hateful clarity. She makes us bear witness to the demons we ourselves create. You don't read her books. You survive them.
” Jef Withonef, Houston Press.

Praise for Psychonaut -

"Carmilla Voiez is more of a singer than a writer. She tells her compelling story in a hypnotic, distinctive voice that brings her eerie world vividly to life." Graham Masterton

“Psychonaut is a book of mad impulses, inner vision, sadism, escape and belief. You feel uncomfortable reading it, like Alex strapped to the chair in Clockwork Orange being taught to feel sick at atrocity. Rather than leave us crippled by response, though, Psychonaut bears you through the hurt towards the only paradise we can be assured of...a love past fault.” Jef Withonef, Houston Press.

Praise for Black Sun -

“This is the concluding novel in the Starblood trilogy. Satori has brought Star back to the physical world, and the second novel, Psychonaut, could well have ended on that happy note, but as we know by now, Carmilla Voiez doesn't do clichés. Satori and Star have not returned alone: insidious influences from both the astral plane and the physical world intermingle in a web of deceit and betrayal of Wagnerian complexity. Even that which is not what it seems is not what it seems.

If you are a horror fan, the Starblood Trilogy has everything to recommend it. If you are not, you will enjoy having your comfort zone challenged - I certainly did.” J.R.B.

Author's bio -

Carmilla Voiez is a new voice in the world of horror. While the imagery harks back to the writings of Clive Barker and H P Lovecraft, her voice is uniquely female. Starblood is perhaps the first true female horror story ever written, dealing with both sexual violence and the struggle of a woman trying to make sense of a senseless world.

Carmilla grew up on a varied diet of horror. Her earliest influences as a teenage reader were Graham Masterton, Brian Lumley and Clive Barker mixed with the romance of Hammer Horror and the visceral violence of the first wave of video nasties. Fascinated by the Goth aesthetic and enchanted by threnodies of eighties Goth and post-punk music she evolved into the creature of darkness we find today.

Living in North East Scotland, she finds inspiration in the wildlife, castles and desolate places which surround her. She lives with her two children by the sea.

Her books are both extraordinarily personal and universally challenging. As Jef Withonef of Houston Press once said - "You do not read her books, you survive them."

Signed to Vamptasy Publishing in 2012 three books in the critically acclaimed Starblood Trilogy have been published and she is currently working on a vampire tale. She has also edited and compiled a collection of psychological horror from the best new talent in the world of horror writing "Broken Mirrors, Fractured Minds". Carmilla Voiez is a name to watch.

You can find Carmilla's full bibliography at Amazon – http://smarturl.it/CarmillaOnAmazon
her blog can be found at http://carmillavoiez.wordpress.com
and her Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/Author.Carmilla.Voiez

Excerpt from The Starblood Trilogy - 

The more Satori practises the more he realises that he has gone beyond what Paul can teach. Paul’s books, however - opening them, absorbing their musty pages and archaic language, he can smell power. Energy lifts from each paragraph and crackles in the air around him. He doubts their owner has read even a tenth of them. The secrets they hold: power beyond reckoning. He will learn how to defeat Lilith, he is certain of it. But how long will it take? Will I run out of time? He could spend an entire lifetime in these books and still leave some pages unturned.

The room has settled again. His eyes are ready to focus once more. Instantly, Satori forgets the idea of coffee and returns to the book on his lap. He sits cross-legged on the floor. His eyes pore over the words. A noise behind him makes him jump.

‘Paul, you scared me.’

‘Sorry Satori. I brought you some water and I’ve made lunch. Would you like to eat?’

Satori shakes his head. ‘Your library is amazing, but I can’t find the answers I need. These books just don’t cover battling anything as powerful as Lilith.’

‘Well think about it, Satori. What is Lilith? If it’s a demon then it’s as powerful as Asmodeus or Satan. But the Kabbalists call it a god. I’m not sure we’ll ever find the answer,’ Paul says. ‘You might as well rest for a while. I’m worried you’ll burn out.’

‘There is always an answer. We just need help. Maybe to fight a god you need a god. But who? One of the old pre-Christian ones? Do you really have no ideas?’

‘I have one.’ Paul walks across the room to a black lacquer cabinet. Taking a key from a chain around his neck, he unlocks the door. On a shelf at chest height Satori sees something covered with black linen. Paul beckons him over. Even covered, Satori can feel the object’s power. It frightens him.

‘What is it?’ he whispers.

Paul pulls the material away and Satori faces a clay head. Glyphs are carved across the forehead, cheeks and on either side of the chin. The eye sockets are filled with obsidian and the mouth, opened in an eternal scream, is stuffed with red clay.

Satori lifts his hand towards it.

‘Careful,’ Paul says.

‘What is it?’ Satori asks. ‘It feels … powerful.’

‘It’s a vessel of Balon,’ Paul answers, staring at the head. ‘And if you break the seal, the demons inside it will tear me apart. It’s an oracle of sorts. If I ask it a question it has to tell me the truth.’

‘Ask it about Lilith,’ Satori says.

‘What precisely do you want me to ask?’

‘Can I destroy her?’

Paul lifts the head and sets it on a low table. He pauses then turns it a few degrees anti-clockwise. His movements are gentle and full of reverence. A thread of sweat trickles down his brow as he concentrates. ‘Vessel of Balon, I have fashioned you with my Art. I have given you life. Now answer in truth. If the sorcerer Satori battles Lilith, can he destroy the demon?’

The room is silent. The glyphs on the head glow red. Its obsidian eyes shine as if lit by an internal fire. Satori’s ears strain to hear the answer. Holding his breath, he watches the head. Every hair on his body stands on end. In spite of his fascination and desire for knowledge, his body tells him to run from the room and never return. A trio of cold, powerful voices echo each other. ‘No.’

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