#BadMoonRising: Diaballein by Cage Dunn #horror #darkfantasy

On By Teri PolenIn Bad Moon Rising

Today we have an author making a first time appearance at Bad Moon Rising.  I read a wonderful review of Diaballein last week at D. Wallace Peach’s blog HERE  The list of three items to take into a haunted house totally makes sense – well thought out.  Welcome Cage Dunn!

Would you rather sleep in a coffin for one night, or spend a night in a haunted house?

For prickly-skin inspiration, I’d like to walk through a haunted graveyard at midnight on my way to sleep in the abandoned haunted house, but not in a coffin.

What three items would you take to the haunted house?

  1. eReader, of course, ‘cos how else am I going to get weird reflections of the ghosts who think I can’t see anything behind me?
  2. Pump-up mattress, ‘cos even sleeping with ghosts should offer some comfort, and old haunted houses are not conducive to a good night’s sleep, are they?
  3. A notebook, so I can offer to relay the stories the ghosts want to have told.

Ghosts have many stories to tell, many woes to share, and if I can steal one idea from any of them, or show a reader what it feels like to be there, how the heart races at the tickle of cold air that touches the face like a dead lover’s caress – that’s a good moment. Fear is the anticipation of something bad happening, and I love to talk to the things that cause fear, find out why they do it, how it works.

Would you rather boogie down to Monster Mash or get your groove on to Thriller?

For musical inspiration, I’d like to boogie down with Monster Mash followed closely by Thriller.  Music is the soul of writing stories. A piece of music can inspire a story or enhance it. The rhythms of the sound transferred to the story demonstrate the subtext, the pace, and the sense of movement. Not every piece of music works for a story, but when it’s right, it’s so very, very right.

Do you write to music?

Funny you should ask that. I do, but only sometimes. I’m tone deaf, so the music can’t have voices, and if it’s the wrong music, I can’t write. So the music has to be non-vocal, and clearly defined between beats. It’s the beats I feel that need to be expressed into the pacing of the story, or the feel and atmosphere. It may not make sense, but it’s fun.

What is the hardest part of writing an author bio?

Do I have to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I mean, I tell stories … but in the end, I told enough of the truth mixed with enough of the dreamer to satisfy both me and the muse. Maybe.

What are you working on now?

There are two series, or maybe serials, in novella formats.

The stories are based on the paths taken to achieve the highest level of magic. Not the type of magic that waves a wand, but the real magic where a person calls on their elemental nature, their strengths through familiars, and patterns of power to assist the people in the world who need it.

The second is a series about a man I’d call a negotiator, a fixer. He knows everyone on the dark side, and everyone knows him. The man youu call when you want a good thief to retrieve the family secrets, or to barter for the return. This man employs the skills of psychics and future-tellers as well as punishers and common thieves. You want something done on the quiet, he’s your man.

One man, one woman, one Diaballein — who will survive?

Kano Varre seeks a rare mineral in Outback Australia to prove his controversial and dangerous research — what he finds is a nightmare.

His body is possessed by the Diaballein, whose purpose is to open a gateway for his brethren, Kano must defeat the enemy while there’s only one, and he needs Eyza’s help to do it before the world falls into slavery, torture, death — worse than any nightmare ever imagined.

The gate is open …

Purchase Links

Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/cagedunn 

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cage-dunn

Books2Read: https://books2read.com/ap/nkG5gn/Cage-Dunn

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/CageDunn

Author Bio

Cage Dunn is a dedicated Fibber, Fabricator, Teller of Tall Tales who writes Australian stories, rural and outback urban/dark fantasy, horror, and twisted tales, stories about fearful things, dreams and horrors.

Cage was born in the wide-open landscape of inland Western Australia, lived all over the startling country of Australia – now in Adelaide – and worked at everything from sewage collection to computer programming. Still learning, still writing, still scaring the pants off those willing to listen to the stories …

Social Media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cage_dunn   @cage_dunn
Blog: https://cagedunn.wordpress.com

49 thoughts on “#BadMoonRising: Diaballein by Cage Dunn #horror #darkfantasy”

  4. Loved reading this one! It’s obvious to me you are a man who understands the power of words, Cage, and I enjoyed your interview answers immensely! 🙂 I haven’t read a lot of horror or truly scary tales in recent years, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to check this one out.

    Great post all around! Sharing! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

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      1. I finally put up pics on my ‘About’ page, so now everyone knows I’m female. It’s interesting to see the different way people react to me depending on whether they think I’m male or female. And don’t tell anyone, but I use those reactions for characters …

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        1. Utterly brilliant idea, Cage. And with your name, you can get away with it very easily. I’m not too sure I could do the same, since I’ve never heard of a guy named Marcia. 😀 I should have checked your page much sooner, though, and then I wouldn’t have made such a blunder, but maybe you can use it as part of your clever research for characters. 😀

          Liked by 2 people

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          1. I do. Every response, regardless of circumstance, leads to a character background/page/attitude. We can’t help ourselves (and I don’t mind being called the wrong thing — foster kids taught me a lot).

            Liked by 2 people

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  5. Reblogged this on The Write Stuff and commented:
    It’s Day 3 of Bad Moon Rising over over on Teri Polen’s blog, and her guest today is Cage Dunn. If you love really shivery books, you definitely want to check out this post. And while you’re there, please remember to pass it along so others can enjoy it as well. Thanks! 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

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  6. It’s wonderful to learn about Cage Dunn! What she said about music touched a chord in me. She is right. It’s the beats. I absolutely cannot listen to music with words, or even a song I know the lyrics to while I am writing, or I wind up with the words from the song running through my head instead of what I should be writing. Great interview! Thanks, Teri!

    Liked by 3 people

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    2. It’s so strange how people are different. I could write while there’s a party outside, but not with a talk-back show on the radio.
      Maybe we each have a preferred communication medium …

      Thanks for being part of the discussion, Jan.

      Liked by 3 people

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  7. I could totally relate to Cage’s answer about music. It has to be instrumental and just right for what I’m writing at that moment. It’s so influential that it can sway a scene. A fun interview and Diaballein is a great read. Fun to see Cage here, Teri. Happy October!

    Liked by 3 people

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    2. I agree about the scene being swayed by the music or noise the writer is experiencing during the construction and writing of the scene.
      Happy October to all! — Our pumpkins seeds are being planted now, ready for the warm weather.
      Hmmm, I wonder if the Antipodeans could start an Autumn celebration starring the harvest?

      Liked by 3 people

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    2. Thank you, Tori. I love the way you use your name to make a unique moniker. One of my favourite pastimes is to find names that aren’t well-known, but have a deeper meaning. I will remember your name for that quality.

      Liked by 1 person

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  13. Hi Cage! Your book intrigued me when I read D Wallace Peach’s review earlier this week. Now I’m sold – off to add a copy to my TBR. See, I’m an Aussie too (currently in the lepper colony also known as Victoria), and I LOVE dark fantasy and horror. So, you sound like a writer after my own heart 😊
    Great to meet you!
    Bad Moon Rising wins again 🤗

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you Jessica! I spent a lot of years in Vic, and the next series is based in that state — the only thing I don’t like about Victoria is the snowfields! But the old buildings, the laneways, the old trees in the inner suburbs … all fodder for the creepy stories.

      Liked by 2 people

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    1. I think (or at least, like to believe) that everyone wants an audience, or at least an ear, to hear their story. if I promise to tell it to the world, they won’t try to do harm to me — and I get some new story prospects! and it may calm them enough that they pass on from the ground they haunt to somewhere beyond the ability to belt me for telling their story wrong. Fingers and toes crossed.

      Liked by 2 people

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  16. Nice to learn more about an author whose works I’ve read (some of ’em anyway). I’ve found you have to be careful with music; it can worm its way into your writing and complicate things. At least, that happened to me a couple times. Diaballein has two kinds of horror–internal (fear of what might happen–great definition) AND external–an alien entity. They’re intertwined quite effectively.

    Liked by 3 people

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