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Sunday, May 17, 2009

Guest Blog & Contest with Author Joan De La Haye

This week my guest on Amberkatze's Book Blog is Author Joan De La Haye. I was lucky enough to read and review Joan's book 'Shadows' a few months ago and when she asked me if I would like to be a part of her Blog tour I couldn't refuse!

So enjoy Joan's guest blog and keep reading for your chance to win a copy of Shadows published by Rebel e Publishers.

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On Demons – Part two

The first part of this discussion can be found on Marcia Colette's blog

When I first started writing Shadows, I asked a friend and witch/ceremonial magician what he thought a Demon was. After telling me I’d asked an impossible question, I got a three-page document in answer.

He started off by stating that someone had asked Lon Milo DuQuette (a prolific occult writer - don’t worry I’d never heard of him either) if demons were an actual part of the mind or if they were real entities. He answered “Yes.”

My friend then explained that the Mental Realm is the highest of all realms. It is here that we find the Akashic records. These entities originate in these realms and are therefore of the mind.

The rest of the three pages he sent were an explanation of the different types of demons and their hierarchy, which I won’t go into today.

But as to the question, what is a demon? - I think the answer depends on you and your own personal beliefs. For some they are very real beings, who can interact and interfere in our lives. For others they are simply a figment of someone else’s over active imagination and belong in the realms of fiction.

So far I’ve discussed what others think Demons are - here’s what I think:

Demons are energetic entities or beings, that we can create with the force of our minds and then there are others who are simply just there and always have been. They feed on the energy that we give them from our belief system.

These entities cannot be stopped by physical limitations so they can take all the energy fed to them and become very powerful and, depending upon what they are created for, they will at some point turn into that and possess the person who created it.

The power of the mind is limitless and when we learn to harness our thoughts we’ll be able to create incredible things and do things we always thought impossible.
I find the theory that the gods of old are also what we now think of as demons rather fascinating. The theory goes, that because they are no longer worshipped as gods they’ve lost most of their power and are now trying to regain it by scaring people. Let's face it, we give off a lot of energy when we’re afraid - possessions etc. And also it's probably far more amusing to them to give us a fright. Read Terry Pratchet’s ‘Small Gods,’ you’ll get what I mean. He’s brilliant!

Now that you've heard what I and others think demons may be, what do you think a demon is?

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About Shadows -

Shadows will be on sale at 35% off for the duration of the tour.

Buy from Mobipocket or Buy Shadows from Amazon

Blurb for Shadows:

Sarah is forced to the edge of sanity by the ghosts of her family's past. Suffering from violent and bloody hallucinations, she seeks the help of psychiatrist and friend Michael Brink.

After being sent to an institution in a catatonic state covered in blood - from stabbing her unfaithful boyfriend - Sarah is forced to confront the truth about her father's death and the demon, Jack, who caused her father's suicide and is now the reason for her horrific hallucinations. Unlike her father, Sarah refuses to kill herself. She bargains for her life and succeeds.

In Sarah's struggle to regain her life and her sanity, she discovers more things to the world than she could ever have imagined and leaves her seeking the answer to the nagging question, "Who is really mad?

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Contest Time

Joan has nicely said she will give one lucky winner a Mobipocket version of Shadows. So if you would like to win a copy of this amazing read keep reading to find out how to enter!

To enter the contest you have to comment here letting me know what you think a Demon is!

No Demon = No Entry.

Earn another entry for each place you link this contest on the net. Make sure you add links here for me to confirm your entries!

You can also earn extra entries by emailing your friends about the contest. Just make sure you send a copy of your email or receipt to me at Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot net.

The contest will stay open until Sunday 24th of May 2009 4pm CET and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.

If you are claiming a prize, have emailed me and have not heard back before the 7 day limit is up then post a comment here on the blog. Your email may get sucked into my spam filter.

Enjoy!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for having me here Amber! I'm looking forward to seeing what people think a demon is or isn't.

Joan De La Haye
http://joandelahaye.wordpress.com/

Sage Ravenwood said...

What do I think a demon is? The equivalent of all our fears, anguish and pain rolled into one being. Take that same being withhold the human conscience and allow it free reign to bestow every travesty we wished on another and you have your demon. Can it be human? The mind is a finicky thing, who is to say we don't all have that aspect to us...we just never give in to it's torment.

Thanks for the opportunity! Indigo

ravensquietscreams@gmail.com

Mayra Calvani said...

Does researching stuff like this affect your dreams?

Anonymous said...

Hi Mayra! I guess it does on some level. I do have pretty messed up dreams...

Anonymous said...

I have my copy of the book, so no need to pick me for the contest. ;-)

Anyway, I think demons are beings who feed off the emotions of certain people in a given situation. Emotions are riddled with energy and I think they use that as a means to enter our world. It's possible for them to be figments of our imaginations, but I think it depends upon who we're talking about and their state of mind. Unfortunately, saying it's all in someone's head doesn't explain how demonic entities have been known to dwell on properties long before the new owners arrive.

Morgan Mandel said...

Pretty scary stuff. Maybe you'll want to write something light afterwards to get your mind off of it.

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

chey said...

Hi Joan,
I think demons are our own hang ups and fears, which can be used against us by others.
Shadows sounds like a great read!

Magaly Guerrero said...

Joan-

What an incredible post! I started on Macia Collete's blog and was so glad she reminded us to continue here.

Like you, I believe that the human mind is very powerful and that it can create incredible things. We give out so much energy that whatever ends up feeding on it is going to get stronger and stronger as time passes.

I don't believe that all demons are evil. I think that they are as good or evil as the energy we feed them. In other words, any demon that roams my domain is mostly good, but with a wicked sense of humor :)

Llehn said...

Wow. I've never really thought what a demon is until now. Hmmm ... perhaps I've watched too many episodes of Buffy but to me demons are simply beings from a different dimension with different value systems.

Anonymous said...

Hi Morgan! I'm so glad you've already got a copy of Shadows! I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think once you've read it!

You guys have come up with some very interesting ideas. Thank you so much for sharing them with me!

Patricia Altner said...

Very interesting post on demons! Basically I think demons spring directly from our imagination. Although at night when the lights are out, I'm not always sure.

Vickie said...

I tell my 6 year old daughter that the scary things we read or see on TV shows are not real, no such thing as vampires, monsters, etc....then we see something on the news and keep warning her about 'stranger danger'....demons are true evil sociopaths in the 'real world'. This is why I read the paranormal books I do, so I can have a varietal on different creatures..hope for the demon to turn good somehow, or tortured sould who wants to be good.