It is my pleasure and honor to introduce to you my good friend and fellow blogger, Charles F. French. As a professor of literature, he shares with his readers his extensive knowledge and his love of reading, writing and learning, especially Socrates, but it doesn’t stop there. As a mentor, his love of Shakespeare, Stephan King and many other great writers make his daily posts unique and also presents to his readers a teachable moment, something his fellow bloggers look forward to.

It is my great pleasure to host the seventh day of Dr. French’s blog tour, for his new book, Maledicus:  The Investigative Paranormal Society, Book I. Today, I will be conducting an interview with Charles F. French’s intriguing main character, Theodore Roosevelt Franklin.  At the end of the  interview with Mr. Franklin,  there will be a short excerpt from the novel, featuring Maledicus.

Interview with Theodore Roosevelt Franklin

Karen: Hello, Mr. Franklin. I would like to welcome you to this interview and thank you for being willing to answer my questions.

Roosevelt: You are very welcome, and thank you for hosting me.

Karen: And you are welcome. I noticed that you were in the military; would you please tell us something about that experience?

Roosevelt: Certainly. I served in the United States Marine Corps just after finishing my Bachelor’s degree. I came from an upper-class and very wealthy family, and it would have been very easy to manipulate a deferment to keep me from that service. I despise such usage of wealth, and I saw it as eminently unfair that others not born to the same privilege as me should have to go if drafted. I also have as one of my life heroes Theodore Roosevelt—quite a coincidence with the name, is it not?  My parents had an interesting sense of humor. But I am going off topic.  I enlisted and was given the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.I had two tour of duty in Vietnam, and I saw a fair amount of combat, including the Tet Offensive. What I saw also convinced me that war should be the last choice for humanity and never the main option of solving conflicts. It was horrible, and I will refrain from speaking about it in detail here.I did, however, form two lasting and long friends from that terrible conflict—Samuel, who is part of The Investigative Paranormal Society and George Bruno, who is now a Catholic priest.

Karen: What did you do after your time in the Marine Corps?

Roosevelt: I returned to the academic world and concentrated on my graduate studies. I earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in history and then became a professor at Bethberg University. I taught there for almost 30 years before retiring, and I can say that I am very lucky to have had a career that I loved. I especially loved teaching, much more than the required research.

Karen: Do you mind if I change the direction of this interview a bit?

Roosevelt: Certainly, you may.

Karen: What would you consider the happiest moment in your life?

Roosevelt: That is an easy question to answer—the day I married my wife Sarah. I had never been married before, but it was love at first sight for us, and I did not think it was possible before. But from the moment we met, I knew I loved her and wanted to marry her. We met in a bookstore, and I have never been happier than when we married.

Karen: And your saddest experience?

Roosevelt: Unfortunately, that, too, is a question with a ready answer. My beloved Sarah died of cancer only a few years ago. I would rather not say much about it, only that I did not think I would survive her loss.

Karen: If I may, and if this is too personal, please feel free not to answer: I see you still wear your wedding ring. Why do you do that?

Roosevelt: I do not mind your question—I will always be married to her, and there will never be another woman in my life. I will wear this ring into my grave.

Karen: Thank you for your openness. Now, for my final question: why did you help found a paranormal investigation group?

Roosevelt: My two closest friends are Samuel and Jeremy, and like me, they have lost loved ones to death. We are all retired, and we want to know—is there life after death? We have the time, and the resources, so we decided to see if we could get some answers for ourselves and not simply wait for our deaths to find out. We hope to be able to investigate this mystery of life and death.

Karen: Thank you so much for your time and patience.

Roosevelt: Not at all. You are very courteous.  I appreciate your questions.

MALEDICUS

An Excerpt from the Novel

Chapter 28 The In Between – December 13th

“Ohhhh, this is delightful! These old fools and their meddling friends will add to the dish of the woman and child. I will taste each of them separately, and it will be a delicious feast! The old men and their helpers will be the appetizer, and the woman and child the main course!”

Maledicus’ form undulated in the murky darkness, his shape ever changing and growing, as he looked more and more like THEY. After all, he was formed in THEY’s image. The image of his victims’ faces pulsed against his form, all showing their torment, trapped in the hell of his being.

Each will feed me with their pain and fear.

I will have their souls.

I will continue to grow stronger!

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