Hungry Mature Twilight fans feed on new gothic suspense, “The House on Black Lake”

With her life falling apart around her, Alexandra Brighton escapes with you son, Samuel, to Black Lake – and into the home of the man who has haunted her thoughts for years. But little is as it seems in the idyllic world of Ruth and Ramey Sandeley, where modern luxuries co-mingle with ancient rituals. As the summer solstice draws near, Alexandra finds herself lured into a world of mystery and seduction that compels her to confront the forces that have shaped her life’s path. Ultimately she must decide where this journey will lead – if she and her son are to survive.

Set against the haunting backdrop of Montreal and its surrounding countryside, debut author Anastasia Blackwell’s novel explores how one woman’s pursuit of her divine path leads to a shadowy world of ruthless passion and dark secrets.

The journey to Black Lake is sensuous, erotic, romantic, and dangerous. Fasten your seat belt as you enter Zito Zahn 's cab and be prepared to take an odyssey into the unknown.

Author Anastasia Blackwell is an award-winning producer, writer, actress, voice-over artist. She collaborated with a noted cinematographer to produce a book trailer and created music videos based on scenes in book.

To learn more about the book, author, news, video, photographs and upcoming events go to www.houseonblacklake.com.

Earlier this year I started a group called WAM JAMS!  to create a community of writers, artists and musicians to  meet and create original work. Collectively we have bargaining power and a far wider reach to other communities to barter and share resources and talents. By doing so, I felt we artists could create our own philosophies and change our country and world from the inside out.

I also created the group for greater autonomy and control over my career and success. I was weary of banging on the door of the gate keepers, trying to play by their rules. I found myself reediting my book to fit the commercial desires of agents, and seeking to change my look or attitude for acting auditions. I was performing the roles of women that did not reflect my depth and complexity or the deeper and more profound issues of my women friends. I listened to stories of years of rejection slips and genius in isolation, working against the status quo - many driven to the point of giving up, and felt the need to do something. I saw in the hopelessness of others an opportunity to help artists find their way to their dreams - and this has become my mission.

As with bands of animals, communities are created to protect the individual and to fulfill their needs. We have the opportunity to create new dreams, to visualize a totally unique and visionary view of how we would like our communal world to evolve.

Alexandra, the heroine in my book, makes a promise at a shrine in return for an unmarked face - Truth for Beauty. As I finished my book I realized that I, like my dear heroine ,had a price to pay. The truth is that I made my own deal at St. Joseph's shrine. I suffered a paralyzed vocal cord after the birth of my son and the affliction was deemed permanent. I was an actress and voice-over artist with a powerful voice. How was I to live the rest of my life as a freak who could barely speak above a whisper? My vow at the shrine of St. Joseph - to follow my manifest destiny in return for the return of my voice led to the downfall of all I believed important in my life. But it also created this book and pushed me far beyond my former boundaries. It fostered independence, autonomy and free thinking. My two sons, educated in truth,see no boundaries around who they may someday become.  It is my supreme desire to find the eternal truth, unencumbered by the laws and mores of society, that drives all of us.

And so I made the decision to lure other artists out of hiding and have them tell their stories, expose truth, create new forms of art - a renaissance out of the darkness of the commercial age. My goal is to create something new and spectacular - a blend of theater, music and art - something the world has never seen. We turn to cable and blogs - longing for truth lost inside boxes and on screeens. But I envisioned something far more human. As in all social upheaval change starts with one voice - and in my case this voice is a miracle of God. In one human being lie all the mysteries of the universe.

AB

Frazer Bradshaw, cinematographer for House on Black Lake trailer, recently produced a film that's winning indie awards worldwide.  Following is info regarding upcoming film festivals:

Everything Strange and New is screening at BAM in Brooklyn on Sunday the 21st at 3:30 and Tuesday the 23rd at 9:30. BAMcinemafest is in it's first year, but we're playing with just 13 other features, some of which are pretty high profile; the fest is by invitation only.

Next stop is Munich on June 30 and July 2. Then on to Karlovy Vary, an A-list EU festival in the Czech Republic (supposed to be a particularly fun festival, or so says programmers). Playing in Karlovy Vary on July 7 and 8.

A.

The presence of psychic phenomenon resonates throughout my book.  Alexandra has powerful dreams she does not understand and a dream of a diseased woman handing her a trio of spheres, with Ramey Sandeley's eyes blazing through her sunken orbs, is the catilyst for her to make the journey to Black Lake. 

Later,  when Ruth takes Alexandra into the underground, she is told some very frightening pieces of information from  Kevin, a clairavoyant from an ancient Scottish clan who have carried on "the gift" for centuries.  In fact, it is Alexandra's denial of her own gift that has led her to her despair and near self destruction.  It is not until she sees the trio of spheres in the glen that she realizes that her destiny is actually a path that has been laid out, and the road is in fact her own personal truth.

As I finished writing  the book, I realized that although I was very aware of  my own psychic abilities and sought to understand dreams and honor synchronicity and premonition, it was very difficult for me to let go and trust that these indicators were realistic.  However, every step in the writing of the book, photography and filming of the trailer have been steeped in messages and helping hands, none of which would have occurred had I not listened to the messages of dreams, intuition and the blessed souls who met me with perfect timing in my journey and offered their personal gifts.

A.

The genesis of House on Black Lake Lake did not come in a dream, as did Stephanie Mayers, Twilight, although many dreams conbributed to its execution. The beginning of my story began with an actual experience not unlike that of Alexandra's.  I was a newly separated mother invited to holiday at the summer home of friends.  On the night of our arrival, my son and I were rowed out to stay in a decaying house on an island in the middle of the lake.  The remainder of my stay was steeped in drama and mystery, and when I returned I told the story again and again, until one night years later I told the story to a man who would encourage me to set the story to paper.

In a seaside bar in Venice Beach, California the elderly poet, who was a muse to younger writers, told me to go home and describe how it felt to be rowed across the lake to the house on the island.  The story would  take its own shape once I started, he told me.  When I returned to my home in the San Francisco Bay Area, I fell while watering a plant and landed in bed or on crutches for over a month.  I felt terribly sorry for myself, and began to write The House on Black Lake.  As the old man advised, the story did take on its own life, in a way I could not have possibly imagined.  None of the scenes were designed by me - they all came unbidden.  As example, I dreamt that a handsome French looking man approached me in an antique store, and as I admired a French armoire he said," just because it says its French it doesn't mean it actually is" - then he said the name Labat's.  There are endless stories and anecdotes for nearly all of the scenes in the book.  They are all interwoven with experiences, and yet separate, with a life of their own. 

What has surprised me most about setting out to write this book, is that it has rewritten the script of my own life.  The journeys I have taken to bring truth to the book have enriched my life with incredible experiences, and many new friends who are still in my life.   Goethe's quote about boldness having power and magic is true - if you have something inside that aches to be brought to life - begin it now!

A.

The struggle between the forces of good and evil are rich in story telling and folklore throughout the world. Parables, fables and fairy tales depict characters struggling to gain control over a repressive environment. Much of art and literature, past and present,could be interpreted as the expression of the soul's struggle to free itself from hostile forces. In the face of tyranny, self expression will find its way into any creative medium available, and it is often clothed in symbolism.

Witches, cruel stepmothers, wolves, evil kings and queens and other beasts, all conspire to bring down the innocent. Often the protagonist must undergo a series of trials or transformations in order to achieve self actualization. Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz, finds deliverance in the magic shoes she has won the right to wear through a series of trials. When she returns home, she is no longer the innocent girl - she now contains a strong sense of self. Cinderella also attains her freedom through a series of trials that lead her to fit into the glass slipper.

The movie Star Wars fully fleshes out how evil is formed, and the extreme need of the dark side to suck the light from the vibrant to absorb power. Darth Vader, in the trilogy of Star Wars, represents this force. Vader experienced unbearable loss, shame and guilt when, in a fit of rage, he caused the eventual death of his wife. The burned and charred remains of his once passionate and loving nature are covered by a hard black mask and his body put together with artificial limbs covered in black. The only emotions now felt by Darth Vidor are the toxic remains of his self exhumed body. He feeds off the fear of others, and has an insatiable need to control  everything in his Universe. Through projective imagination he is capable of creating a vast army of supporters in harnessing the dark energy forces of the Universe.

Luke Skywalker conversely represents the light. He is the son of Darth Vader, but has been raised by another, so he is not contaminated. He has been taught to view Darth Vader as the enemy, as he represents the death of Democracy in the Universe. Luke Skywalker spends most of his formative years learning how to use his inner strengths to gain power over The Dark Ones. His education is taken in secrecy - and inside a safe haven he learns the Secrets of the Masters. By mastering his internal powers, he draws in the energy of the universe. In this final battle, Vader and his Master are destroyed and the union of Brother and Sister preserved- Democracy and Freedom for the Universe

Homer, in the Iliad and the Odyssey, spends seven years facing horrendous trials, growing and developing as a man, before he finally finds his way home. With every trial, it appears that Homer is a dead man, but he perseveres because the powers of passion and resolve are greater than the forces that seek to contain and destroy.

Stories of the struggle for personal freedom and self expression have been with us since the dawn of mankind. Both ancient and modern, they share the painful burden of the oppressed and the steps that must be taken for transformation to occur. The exposure to truth is the first step towards personal freedom. The journey begins with a commitment to oneself to begin the task of transformation.

The characters of Black Lake, are all moving along this continuum.  One will fall into a pool of darkness, one will be sacrificed, and one will find redemption.  All will be affected as each evolves - and so it is with all of humanity.

When Alexandra  arrrives at Black Lake she feels her life has been shattered.  She sees no way out, no hope for the future.  But sometimes the most dreadful things that happen in a life are exactly what one needs to turn off the known path and move in another direction. 

"Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like a toad, ugly and venomous,

Alexandra encounters a number of female predators in her journey through Black Lake. In the beginning she is as drawn in by the predatory women as the males. However, as she evolves she learns to disengage and reclaim a more powerful womanhood, based on a higher purpose and the values of dignity, self respect and a desire to foster the best in all relationships.

Female predators in the wild can be as vicious as any male.  They come in many forms, from the vicious wild cats to the shy Black Widow who catches her prey in a messy looking web, and who may or may not kill and eat her mate after he has helped her reproduce.  The human female predator can be just as vicious and toxic.  These women are not usually particular about prey - they can be any sex, race or age, as long as they feed their needs.  However, it is the mate who must be particularly careful - for she is unquenchable.   The dominance of the female predator is often masked, camouflaged to fit in with the territory. Like all successful predators, this kind of female knows how to spot vulnerability, and neediness.  Then, when the guard is down, she goes for the jugular.

          But, first there is the stalk - she feeds your ego, laughs at your jokes,  understands your needs, sexual and otherwise.  What you don't know is she is a master at camouflage and subtrefuge.   She's an emotional roller coaster, exciting, intriguing. Or perhaps the girl is quite demure - it all depends on the nature of the hunt.  Regardless of  manifestation, she will become a mirror of what you are looking for, and understand and need you like no other. This is the early part of the stalk.  Once she's got you by the neck, you won't see her look at you with enticement.

A predator never looks into the eyes of the prey once the victim is taken.

 At journey's end Alexandra will have outwitted one of these predators and guided another to gain what she desires through self actualization.