"'It's just a few cuts on your thumbs and back.''I know.'Trouble was there was no coming back from the cutting. To be cut in "Palo" meant that you might see all the "nfuiris", all the spirits of the dead and all "nkisis", the gods of the woods and the wind and even the few born lately into the street...But more important, once you were cut, all the "nkisis" and "nfuiris" saw you."- "Outside the Bones" by Lyn Di IorioHave you ever done something magical, dumb and dangerous for love? Fina Mata has. You see, her husband cheated on her. She... well, she might have beaten him senseless for it. No, Fina doesn't work a questionable fuf'u to get the hubby back; she is in absolute lust with Chico, her upstairs neighbor. The heat burns so deep inside her loins that the Puerto Rican witch in New York is willing to spill blood for the man.Fina's tale is divided in three parts. This is my take on part one: Lyn Di Iorio is a brilliant writer. This author has created a funny-as-all-hell protagonist, who keeps readers roaring like lunatics. Then, when there is no doubt that Fina's witchcraft is just fun and games, Di Iorio slaps the reader in the face with truths like the ones quoted above. I wrote a guest post for The Real Witches of Halloween, sharing my thoughts on Blood Magic. Blood is powerful. Blood is binding. Blood work-or fuf'u, in Fina's case-is difficult to undo. Fina Mata is getting herself in a bloody mess. And she is inviting the dead to the party too. She is brewing a spell with blood, death, passion and humor. Laughter is so wonderful in fiction; it lightens the soul and it helps the writer sneak in difficult realities. If you enjoy fiction that entertains with imagination and terrifies with possible truths, then you'll probably like "Outside the Bones" as much as I do.And because I have a witchy cousin who is very generous, you, my Wicked Darlings, get the chance to win your very own copy of "Outside the Bones". I received two copies of the novel, one for me and the other for my cousin, but he had already purchased a copy and decided to give the second away. Isn't he a darling? THIS IS ALL YOU NEED TO DO TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:1. (mandatory) - Visit this announcement page for "Outside the Bones," leave a comment, then copy and paste your remark on this post.FOR EXTRA ENTRIES (worth 1-3 entries each):2. Blog about this post (leave a link/3 entries)3. about this post (leave a link/2 entries)4. Friend Lyn Di Iorio on Facebook5. Like "Outside the Bones'" announcement page on Facebook6. Be a Wicked Darling (follow Pagan Culture through GFC)7. Comment on Blood Magic, then copy and paste your remarks on this page8. Friend me on Facebook 9. Follow Pagan Culture on Twitter* This giveaway ends October 16th at 5:13pm. ABOUT THE NOVEL"This mystery, dark-magik driven suspense story weaves the Afro-Caribbean witchcraft practice called Palo Monte -- conjuring of spirits in cauldrons containing the bones of the dead -- with the appearance of a young girl believed dead since infancy, and the mystery of her mother's disappearance sixteen years earlier in Puerto Rico. Anne Rice meets Cristina Garc'ia. Toni Morrison meets Alexander McCall Smith. Advance praise calls it "a brilliant love story full of magical urbanism that is sure to make Outside the Bones a modern day classic."But don't take my word for it! "Mystery Scene" magazine says:"Some critics of crime fiction say it's too formulaic. "OUTSIDETHE BONES "could be offered as proof that it's full of surprises. LYN DI IORIO'S "first novel is a weirdly compelling, funny, sexy, and deeply strange tale of a Nuyorican practitioner of palo monte, a Caribbean form of magic with African roots. Lyn Di Iorio, a New Yorker born in the city and raised in Puerto Rico and a scholar of Latino literature, has taken the crime story to a strange and mysterious new place. Adventurous readers interested in Afro-Caribbean culture will want to follow her there."**My Second All Hallow's Grim post......deathly bloody magic has always scared me shitless. What about you, my Wicked Darlings? Does your heart pump faster when you imagine...blood and death in your magic?
Day eleven to Get Off Your Broom, and The Real Witches of Halloween and The 2011 Countdown to Hallowe'en and yeah, party! Have you visited Danni, Lyn, Serenity and the rest of the witchy partiers yet?Last, but NEVER least, the winner ofSpooky Beauty for All Hallow's Eve is...Penny from Adventures of a Texan Zombies GoddessStop by her cyber home and let her know she is getting a ghostly necklace.Email me Zombie luv!Share
