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:
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/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://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! 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!
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI really like the cover and the excerpt.
ReplyDelete