A splendacious interview with the award winning writer of 2022, Paul De Blassie III

 Paul DeBlassie III, Ph.D. is a depth psychologist and award-winning writer living in his native New Mexico, crafting metaphysical thrillers energized with trickster mischief and natural magic. His novels, visionary thrillers, delve deep into archetypal realities as they play out dramatically in the lives of everyday people. Metaphysical dramas set in the mythopoeic realm of Aztlan open vistas of danger, conflict and potential transformation. Good and evil are pivotal arenas for unfolding tales of the supernatural.

Together with visionary/metaphysical novels, he also writes blogs and archetypal essays on trauma, dreams, spirituality, and intuition. As a native New Mexican, he has been deeply influenced by the mestizo myth of Aztlan, its surreal beauty and natural magic. Memberships include the Author’s Guild, the Depth Psychology Alliance, the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, and the International Association for Jungian Studies.

Reading turns us within to mythopoeic places of challenge and hope.

Paul’s writing is informed by his personal and clinical understanding of the unconscious mind. Treating patients in depth psychotherapy for over thirty-five years has inspired stories about human conflict and transformation in the areas of love, relationships, and spirituality. Stories imbued with archetypal symbolism and narrative drama affect the unconscious mind in potentially transformative ways. Inspirational essays in consciousness and depth psychology move into realms of both darkness and hope that can open mystic paths of human experience.

Questions

1) When did you start writing?

Ans)I’ve been a psychologist/writing/publishing in depth psychology and metaphysical fiction for the past 35 years.

2) When was your first Novel published? 

Ans)The Unholy: A Supernatural Tale of the Dark Side of Religion

3) Do you wish  to inspire people through your writing or do you wish to write as a hobby?

Ans)I’m a professional writer who seeks to inspire readers to see what they have not seen before.

4) What inspires you to write?

Ans)I’ve treated patients for forty years suffering from emotional/spiritual crises, the experience forming a collage of mystery that generates metaphysical thrillers.

5) What was the whole idea behind penning down the novel "Goddess of Everything"

Ans)People suffer from the dark side of religion - what appears good on the outside but in reality is manipulative and oppressive – it pops out crisis and births what readers have called compelling storytelling.

6) Who are your favourite characters from your novel and why ?

Ans)It’s the women in my stories who speak to the power of the deep feminine in the human soul that confront danger and make life-changing decisions.

7) To write against something as powerful as Church, were there any second thoughts in your mind that if you would be backlashed?

Ans)Oh . . . people have cried out that I’m antireligious and antichurch – like a literary antichrist – in reality, I write simple stories of the dark side of religion seeping into the mind in complicated ways.

8) As per you, is religion important in today's world? 

Ans)What’s important in today’s world, vital even, is discovering what is spiritually meaningful for you.

9) Why do you think it's so easy to control people in the name of religion/ faith?

Ans)Because it’s about eternal matters, soul realities, that affect us to our core!
 

 10) This is one of my favourite questions.
Do you believe religion should be a private matter and is it okay if people express their religious sentiments publically ? ( By wearing religious attire or praying in public)

Ans)It’s perfectly fine, to me, to express yourself in whatever way is meaningful to you spiritually as long as it is not intrusive or violating of another’s space. Be true to yourself and respect others and where they are at.

Fun Questions

a) Your inspiration -
My wonderful artist and wife of 45 years, Kate, sets my mind going and life humming.

b) Any other hobbies apart from writing - Writing and psychotherapy are my professions; stone carving, tennis, and squash are what I do for kicks.

c) Your favourite holiday spot -
 I love the beach, our favorite spot a little jewel in CA.

d) Your favourite book and film Book -
Old Man and the Sea; Film: Doctor Sleep

e) Your favourite singer -
Tony Bennet

f) Your favourite writer Two -
Algernon Blackwood and Ernest Hemingway

g) The person you love or trust the most.- Kate, my all together fantastic wife!

h) What does life mean to you? If given a chance what would you like to change on this earth or add? -
Life means living our ongoing and always evolving truth.

i) Any message to Indie authors or those who inspire to write. -
 If you feel it, write it!

Interviewed by Ayesha F Muskaan ©