Interview with Deborah Luna Santarelli, Gothic model and Italian writer. Sleeping tales is the title of her book, a collection of short stories inspired by the dark world and embellished with the author's unmistakable style. The book's cover image was created by Italian photographer Cunene, who captures Deborah in a magnificent shot. Deborah tells us about her shoots and her future plans.
L: If I asked you to tell me about yourself, how would you describe yourself?
Q: I am a simple, quiet person with a passion for books, tea, and dark, old-timey atmospheres.
L: You are a writer and a model. How and when did these two passions come about?
Q: Definitely the first to be born was a passion for writing. I was making up stories, fairy tales and characters for my younger sister from a very young age, my first poems were noticed by teachers when I was eight years old. It is a passion that has been with me all my life.
Modeling, on the other hand, came later, by chance: when I was twenty-two, when I moved to Milan, one of my roommates was a make-up artist, so I found myself posing for her for some particular make-ups. I liked it so much that I decided to continue, using those first shots as the basis for a portfolio.
L: What fascinates you about the gothic-dark world and the 1950s style?
Q: The decision to pose for 50′s shots was born at the beginning, given mainly by the fact that my body for its shape very much respects that of the women of that period, but to be honest I never found anything else that accumulated me to them.
On the other hand, my real passion is the dark and gothic world; everything dark holds for me a timeless magic with irresistible appeal. For this reason, my stories are also part of this world that I call "The World of Sleepiness" where I always feel comfortable and understood.
L: When do your first shoots date back to? What was the one that got you most involved?
Q: My first shoots date back to 2009-2010, I definitely got very involved in the sets curated by Cunene, who has a taste that I find very much in tune with my own.
L: The darkest photos in which you have been immortalized? Which ones deviate from your gothic-romantic genre?
Q: I always maintain a certain romantic aura in my photos; there are few works that deviate from this style of mine. You can find a hint of blood in some of Jillian's shots, which portrayed me as a Little Red Riding Hood killing the wolf, and as a Snow White beside a decomposed apple. My early work with Ettone also goes in a slightly different direction from my canonical style, even touching on the soft fetish and bondage genre, but in a very self-deprecating key. Some of my Manuel Bravi shots, which portray me as a dark red-eyed vampire hiding in the shadows, also give me a darker tint.
L: Which photographer would you like to collaborate with in the future?
Q: I would love to collaborate with foreign photographers like Somnolent Images or Miss Aniela.
L: Can you tell us about your short story "The Gifted Fairy" and your poem "The Death of the Soul"?
Q: The Gifted fairy was my first work to win a contest: it is a very short story, published in VolanZine about a little girl who receives a fairy-shaped pendant as a gift from her neighbor and best friend, who is leaving for war.
The death of the soul is instead a very intimate, almost hermetic poem that I wrote during a period of deep depression, minutely describing my state of mind.
L: "Sleep Tales" is the title of your book. What can you tell us about it? What were you inspired by for each story?
D: Sleeping tales is my first book, published in 2012. The settings are very varied, but undoubtedly fairy tales had some influence, reinterpreted of course in a more gothic and macabre key. My inspirations include Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, Thumbelina, Beauty and the Beast, but I was also inspired by Greek mythologists and contemporary writers such as Banana Yoshimoto and Dino Buzzati.
L: Who would you recommend it to?
Q: To anyone who likes fairy-tale atmospheres, but without sacrificing a little darkness. Happy endings are often banished from my stories, but from time to time it is possible to glimpse a little light.
L: Can you tell us about the cover of this book?
Q: The image for the cover was made by Cunene and is captioned with respect to one of the stories: Selene and the dark. It is a reinterpretation of the moon myth: on the one hand we have Selene, symbolizing the full Moon and its light, and on the other hand we have Hecate, or the dark side of the Moon, whispering maliciously in Selene's ear. I found this to be an explanatory image of the dual nature of my book.
L: What can you tell us about The Chronicles of the Fallen?
D: The chronicles of the fallen is a project I am pursuing with GS Editions. It is a dark fantasy e-book, featuring vampires, elves, angels and wizards.
L: What are you currently working on? Upcoming photo shoots or literary works on the horizon?
Q: I have recently joined the Maidolls group with my character: Luna Reglisse, a dark lady and cursed poetess. We are doing some shoots to promote the new dolls, but collaterally I will also be doing my own projects, again in the gothic field. A sequel to "Tales of Sleeping," or "Voices of Dolls," a collection of dark-tinged tales inspired by porcelain dolls, is currently being written.
L: What is your relationship with horror? Who are the genre directors and writers who have always fascinated you?
Q: I've always loved horror since I was a child, I started reading Stephen King novels very early and I love Murnau, Wiene and the whole vampire filmography (except Twilight, but in this context it seems almost obvious to me to specify that). My favorite character is Claudia from "Interview with the Vampire," I find myself in her dual nature of vampire-child.
L: An opinion of your own on this interview?
Q: That was great food for thought, thank you!
L: Please leave a message for the DarkVeins community and everyone reading this interview!
Q: Thanks to everyone who follows me and also to those who will decide to do so after this interview, and stay dark! A kiss to everyone!
L: Thank you Deborah, it was a pleasure chatting with you!
