Violins Played before Junstan (The Celwyn Series Book 1)
by Lou Kemp
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GENRE:
Fantasy (magical realism)
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BLURB:
While
on a mission to avenge the death of his lover, the immortal
peyote-eating magician Celwyn is hired to deliver an automat,
Professor Kang, to a priest. But Celwyn quickly learns that
everything the priest told him was a lie. Now his ship, the Zelda, is
stuck in a horrific storm and Celwyn knows he must reconsider his
allegiance if he is to steer his vessel in the right direction and
continue his quest.
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Excerpt
San
Francisco, 1865
Late in
the evening, thick ribbons of fog moved like a living animal,
breathing, then thinning to vapor before revealing the shadows
between the wooden barrels that lined the docks. Beyond the Opera
House’s silhouette, oily glimmers of the bay cut through the
darkness, only to be obscured by the fog again.
As
Celwyn neared the docks, he heard virulent cursing above the
commotion from a carriage as it charged down the cobblestones toward
him. When the coach drew level, the driver raised a whip above his
horse. On its descent to the horse’s back, the tip suspended
mid-air and snake-like, the whip shimmied out of the coachman’s
hand.
The man
steered the hackney to a stop. As he slithered out of the high cab,
the whip followed him, wrapping around his ankles, lifting him
feetfirst into the air. His cursing echoed to screams as he
disappeared into the night sky. A moment later, a splash could be
heard, and a satisfied smile crossed Celwyn’s lips; he couldn’t
stand to see anyone mistreating an animal. The horse trotted down the
street, rather jauntily, back toward the stable yard as the magician
stepped around a snoring drunk and into Salty’s tattered and dingy
atmosphere. Celwyn could have sworn it was the same drunk he stepped
over last night.
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AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
Early
work was horror and suspense, later work morphed into a combination
of magical realism, mystery and adventure painted with a horrific
element as needed.
I’m
one of those writers who doesn’t plan ahead, no outlines, no clue,
and I sometimes write myself into a corner. Atmospheric music in the
background helps. Black by Pearl Jam especially.
More
information is available at LouKemp.com. I'd love to hear from you
and what you think of Celwyn, Bartholomew, and Professor Xiau Kang.
Milestones:
2009 The
anthology story Sherlock’s Opera appeared in Seattle Noir, edited
by Curt Colbert, Akashic Books. Available through Amazon or Barnes
and Noble online. Booklist published a favorable review of my
contribution to the anthology.
2010 My
story, In Memory of the Sibylline, was accepted into the best-selling
MWA anthology Crimes by Moonlight, edited by Charlaine Harris. The
immortal magician Celwyn makes his first appearance in print.
2018 The
story, The Violins Played before Junstan is published in the MWA
anthology Odd Partners, edited by Anne Perry. The Celwyn series
begins.
Book 1,
The Violins Played before Junstan reissue with the publisher, the 4
Horsemen on 10-17-22. The 4 Horsemen will publish the remaining books
in the series beginning with Music Shall Untune the Sky, The Raven
and the Pig, The Pirate Danced and the Automat Died. The companion
book, Farm Hall continues the story of Pelaez, another immortal
magician and Celwyn's brother will also be available.
https://loukemp.com/
https://loukemp.com/the-violins-played-before-junstan/
https://www.facebook.com/people/Lou-Kemp/100070730154592/
https://twitter.com/LouKempBooks
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3452047.Lou_Kemp
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BBLLD7WK/ref=sr_1_5
https://4horsemenpublications.com/product/the-violins-played-before-junstan-the-celwyn-series-book-1/
https://www.bookdepository.com/Violins-Played-Before-Junstan/9781644506264
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/violins-played-before-junstan-lou-kemp/1141757454
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GIVEAWAY
INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Enter to win a $25 Amazon/BN GC - a Rafflecopter giveaway
Lou
Kemp will be awarding $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner
via rafflecopter during the tour.
AUTHOR Q & A:
Hello
and welcome to my blog! Can you tell me a little about yourself, and
how you became an author? Hello!
In my twenties I began selling short stories to various magazines.
The prevailing advice at the time said an author needed credits for a
query letter sent to an agent to promote something that was full
length. Gradually, I built those up, mostly in the horror genre. In
1998, I won the Fantasy/Horror award at the Santa Barbara Writers
Conference. That is a great conference, but I haven’t attended
since they moved the venue.
Fast
forward to the mid-2000’s when my writing moved toward mystery and
some of my stories were accepted into anthologies, including the
Mystery Writers of America’s annual anthology of 2010 where Celwyn
began. My writing also took a turn into magical realism and contained
less horror. One of the stories, The Violins Played before Junstan,
became the first book of the Celwyn series of the same name.
In
2022, I was picked up by 4 Horsemen Publications. The first five of
the Celwyn series are written and will be published between now and
the end of 2024 along with the companion books. In the early 2000s, I
started writing the Sea
of the Vanities,
not knowing that it would become a part of the series.
What
is your book about?
The
story opens in 1856 with the immortal magician Jonas Celwyn in San
Francisco, and pretty much minding his own business. Then he was
propositioned by a priest to board a ship heading to the East, and
deliver a certain Professor Xiau Kang to the priest when they reached
Junstan island. The premise of the anthology this was written for was
called, Odd
Partners.
It
turned out that the priest was not a priest----he was Kang’s
brother, and also an automat. Everything he told Celwyn was a lie. By
the time their ship reaches the Arctic Sea, the magician has joined
forces with Kang and the two odd partners survive.
Once
their ship reaches Singapore, the adventure begins. Mrs. Kang and a
wealthy young woman join their party, along with Bartholomew, a
businessman and widower from the Sudan. Their train ride across the
continent to Prague becomes a test of survival. Along the way, they
rescue two orphans and acquire the attention of the vampire who
killed Celwyn’s fiancé.
Who
is your hero/heroine? Is he/she based on someone in real life?
Jonas
Celwyn is the hero, and at times the victim. He is just a product of
my imagination.
What
are your favorite times for writing? Morning? Evening?
I
write or edit every day beginning about 8 a.m. and ending about 5:30.
Anything after about 8 p.m. would find my brain switches turned off
for the night.
Who
are your favorite authors? Did they influence your writing, and if
so, how?
Favorites,
in no particular order they are; Jonathan Kellerman, Preston and
Child, Laurie R. King, Elizabeth Peters, John Le Carre, Richard Hoyt,
and Carlos Castaneda. Every one of them has influenced my writing
either in grammar or style. My plots do not match any of them, but
I’m reminded of Elizabeth Peters when I have an even slightly comic
scene where Celwyn thinks he is funny.
Did
you have a favorite book as a child? Did it influence your choice to
become an author?
Robinson
Crusoe was my favorite, and it did not influence me then, but did so
later on.
Thank you for answering my questions, it was a pleasure to host your book on my blog!
