Welcome, Leon!

Writer / musician / stand-up comedian, Leon Peter Blanda, struggles to compose his own bio, but here’s the facts:

His published work includes the epic Western/dark fantasy, High Moon; the supernatural horror/black comedy, Old Soul; and the autobiographical, coming-of-age traumedy, Dog Years.

Gluttonous for audience attention, he sharpened his stand-up fangs at dive bar open mics in New Orleans, Louisiana, until he was funny enough to host and/or feature for famous comedians in bigger venues: Bill Burr, Tom Segura, Hannibal Burress, the Sklar Brothers, Bobcat Goldthwait and many more. Yes, he’s bragging.

Clay McLeod Chapman (author of Devil Inside) called Leon Peter Blanda (author of Old Soul) a “bayou-bound William Peter Blatty (author of The Exorcist).” Still bragging.

About High Moon

There’s not enough tombstones in the whole Wild West, to mark the fresh graves of all the killed dead, in this harrowing tale of a vampire-turned-sheriff and his bloody revenge. 

HIGH MOON drags you into the darkest corners of the post-Civil War Old West, where the burden of mankind’s salvation falls to the monsters who lurk in shadows.

“Fine! Whatever! It’s a good book and people should buy it! Now will you untie me!?” – Andy Weir (author of Project Hail Mary)

Interview with Leon Peter Blanda

Tell us about yourself – what is something readers would be surprised to find out? 

I think readers would be surprised to find out how long I spent trying to think of a funny or clever answer to this first question. I’ll give you a hint: too long. If I really wanted to leave an indelible scar on the mind’s eye, I’d tell you the true story about the time I had to help my dad bury a gigantic, dead horse in my backyard, and what we had to do to make the horse fit in the hole. You can read all about it in my coming-of-age memoir, Dog Years, which can be found on my website. No pressure. I’m glad you’re reading this interview.

What inspired you to write this story?

I LOVE THE GUNSLINGER! Some folks complain about how slow it is, but I locked in immediately. Stephen King’s magnum opus, The Dark Tower, blew my brains out, especially the escalation from The Gunslinger to The Drawing of the Three. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was ill prepared for the coke-fueled 80’s action movie/magical fantasy/buddy comedy that exploded from the pages. Stylistically, genre-wise, tone and tempo—the whole series is a rollercoaster coming off the tracks. Every book is a huge departure from the one prior, but maintains the thread of Roland’s unwavering desire to reach that goddamn Tower and ascend to the top. 

Reading The Dark Tower revealed something to me about myself that I had always known, but had never put a button on, and that is the fact that I love genre defying stories. I love tropes being turned upside down and inside out. I love when elements of multiple genres are scrambled together and birth something utterly original. I love, love, love an interconnected universe. And I’m absolutely head over heels for a big, fun twist.

Inspired by that startling series of revelations, I began to write my debut, High Moon—which has been described (by me) as Tombstone meets the Universal monsters.

It was the beginning of the pandemic, and performing stand-up comedy to a live audience had disappeared overnight. So, for almost a year, I had no creative outlet, until I decided to sit down and finally write a heartfelt period piece about a down-on-his-luck cowboy-vampire and his ragatag gang of mismatched misfits and monsters.

High Moon was the first time I’d ever written anything with me in mind as the audience. I wrote it assuming nobody would ever read it, which I believe was quintessential in helping me complete it. But, when I finished, I queried it, and nobody wanted it. So, I self-published, and some folks did read it, and seemed to enjoy it, some connecting with it on levels I had hoped for but only in my wildest dreams. For that, I am eternally grateful. 

Tell us about your new book!

Old Soul is not a Weird West tale in the strictest sense, like High Moon.

Old Soul is set in modern times, in a rural Louisiana swamp, and features an exorcist, Charlie, who’s forced by divine intervention to become the reluctant guardian/sidekick to a possessed little girl, Lucy, in order to solve a greater mystery. Their dynamic was inspired by my favorite, hilarious odd couples: Martin and Lewis, Jake and Elwood, Homer and Bart, Murtaugh and Riggs, Indiana Jones and Short Round. Charlie and Lucy’s frenemy relationship rings of Mattie and Rooster in True Grit, and the stakes in the story are similar to those presented in Fistful of Dollars or The Magnificent Seven, but cranked up to an  apocalyptic scale.

Old Soul synopsis:

When viral videos of the Dalai Lama, the pope, and the U.S. president spontaneously combusting ignite a media firestorm — the Vatican dispatches Brother Charles Antoine Leviticus, a tired, pragmatic member of a clandestine order known as The Brotherhood, to investigate. A cold trail  leads Brother Charlie to a trailer park in Pearl Creek, Louisiana, to perform one last exorcism before retirement. Lucy, the entity possessing the young girl, refuses to leave or can’t, until Charlie agrees to help solve her own mystery. What begins as routine demonic extraction in a rundown Louisiana trailer park quickly spirals into a high-stakes hunt for a biblical plague of sentient snakes and a conspiracy that may link the world’s most powerful men to a malevolent force older than faith itself.

Part horror, part road-weary character study, Old Soul balances gore and heart with sharp, unexpected humor.

What are you reading right now?

Running the Light by Sam Tallent. Sam is an inimitable stand-up comic and author. He’s the kind of comedian other comedians stop to watch, and he just so happens to craft some of the most undeniably stirring prose ever put to paper. He’s like a punk rock Kurt Vonnegut, who was pretty punk rock already. Sam was also a limitless source of guidance and encouragement when I was navigating the choppy seas of self-publishing for my debut, High Moon. For his kindness and generosity alone, I am his biggest fan. I can’t wait to read his new book, Brut. Sam Tallent is one of one, an unstoppable force of nature, and a genuine mensch of the highest caliber.

Favorite weird west movie/book/comic/etc. and why?

I mean… Honestly? Wizard and Glass, which I realize is another Dark Tower book, but it’s got everything: horror, mystery, adventure, romance—stop me when I hit a genre NOT in Wizard and Glass—sci-fi, comedy, drama… I could chop it down to subgenres if you want me to.

But, while I love Sai King’s Dark Tower and all its interconnectivity to his other work, the first bit of Weird West I fell in love with was Big Trouble in Little China. 

Now that’s a Weird-ass Western: A cocky cowboy rides into town on his trusty steed, and gets caught up in a blood feud between two, warring magicians and their rival gangs. Given no choice but to fight, the cowboy and a ragtag group of mismatched misfits have to save the world—and a couple green-eyed ladies—from an evil Wizard and many Chinese hells. You know what ol’ Jack Burton would say? He’d say, John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China is one hell of a Weird West tale.

Anything else you’d like to add about writing or the Weird West (tips, etc.)?

Write bad. It’s okay. Everyone says the first draft is garbage, and that is true. So, get all the garbage out of your system as fast as possible. Once it’s out, then you can sift through the mess to find anything edible or valuable. Does that make sense? I think it makes sense. It makes sense.

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