Virtual Book Tour: The Raven and the Pig by Lou Kemp

 Good morning everyone! Please welcome author Lou Kemp to Full Moon Dreaming. She is here to tell us about her new release, The Raven and the Pig. Lou will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to one randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter during the tour.  A second randomly drawn winner will receive a mug and pen with the book image and a third randomly drawn winner will receive an eBook. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. To find the other stops on her tour, go here. Don't forget to look for the Rafflecopter at the end of this post!

 

The Raven and the Pig

by Lou Kemp

 

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GENRE:   Magical realism

 

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BLURB:

 

As the music dies, the magician Celwyn is mortally wounded.  His darker, immortal brother Pelaez brings him back, barely, with his magic. The party of protagonists travel on the Nautilus to the Cape Verde Islands and the healer of immortals.  During the journey, Professor Kang and Bartholomew can not tell if Pelaez will keep his brother alive.  Captain Nemo is ready to evict Pelaez forcibly, and keeping Celwyn alive is the only thing that restrains him.

 

After Celwyn is saved, the healer requests payment for his services. This sends the adventurers to the catacombs in Capuchin where their experience is one they will not forget. Before it is over, several of the protagonists question why it seems everyone from warlocks and vampires to witches, seem to be congregating in their world. Before it is over, some of them become surprising allies, and a few of their allies turn against them.

 

In part II, work on the new flying machine begins in earnest bringing attention from the Mafioso and a cherub-like warlock called Duncan.  After a final battle with Duncan, the flying machine is destroyed and everyone at their compound is murdered by one of their own. 

 

 

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EXCERPT):

 

 

 

Captain Nemo had joined them, watching the undersea scene as they passed by dozens more buildings.  The glow of the Nautilus’ lamps illuminated the ruins, then dissipated and the inky water enveloped everything.  They slowed in front of a procession of grand marble stairs leading upward and a mirroring set of steps led downward to an abyss below.

 

“The main temple,” Captain Nemo told them as an enormous ivory building materialized out of the dark water.  “I’m not sure what that is.”

 

Kang tried his best to see further into the water, but failed.  “I would love to use your diving apparatus to explore this, Captain.”

 

From beside him, Verne licked his lips and said, “What is all of this?”

 

Nemo hesitated and looked at the author as though deciding if he should tell him. 

 

Pelaez had joined them, without using the door or walking across the room.  He just appeared.  After enjoying Bartholomew’s gasp, he had no reservations in describing the scene.  “It has to be Atlantis.  Nothing else would be this big, or advanced.”  He leaned toward the glass.  “My, my.  Just as I imagined it.”  He examined the landscape another moment.  “Though, I do not see a great deal of destruction, considering.”

 

The Professor stared.  He didn’t see any bones from human corpses, just from animals.  How odd.  Pelaez had referred to the sudden disappearance of Atlantis, one minute a thriving metropolis of culture and wonderment, the next, gone, as if it never existed.  Where were the people? 

 

Thousands of bubbles erupted from under the ship as they passed over another underground steam vent, this one much larger than the others.  As the shadow of the submarine covered the vent, Bartholomew stared into the roiling water and said, “No destruction at all.  Do you know what happened here, Captain?”

 

Nemo’s glance at the author probably included a wish that Celwyn was healthy enough to put a block on what Verne saw and heard.  Pelaez might be able to do something similar, but he couldn’t be trusted.

           

With a shrug, Nemo said, “There are many theories.  Plato wrote a great deal about Atlantis, as did Mikonisis.”

 

“Yet, this looks like neither one,” Bartholomew speculated.  “There are differences in what we see here compared to the long-standing descriptions from Plato and others.”  He pointed to the building in front of them. “Such as the sculptures depicted on the buildings.  I wonder …. that last steam vent was huge.  As wide as this ship.  I … I think we’re passing over an active volcanic cap ….”

 

“Perhaps.  The field of ruins here is enormous.  Doesn’t it seem like this city just sank beneath the waves?”  the Professor asked.  “However, I see no volcanic ash or sludge on the buildings.  Why?  The lava would have hardened when it met the water.”

 

As they talked, the Nautilus had gradually ascended as the seafloor rose, and the reflection from streaks of brighter water painted their faces.  Bartholomew pointed to the buildings.  “Is it simple? That the sea levels rose, and covered everything?”

 

Pelaez had watched the last of the buildings and houses go by with a special kind of light behind his disturbing eyes.  He asked a question intended to make things even more puzzling.

 

“Gentlemen, what if they built the city under water in the first place?”

 

 

 

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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.

Present The full length prequel, The Violins Played before Junstan, to the Celwyn book series is published on Kindle. The companion book, Farm Hall is also published where Pelaez, another immortal magician and Celwyn's brother, makes his first appearance. The remaining books in the series: Music Shall Untune the Sky, The Raven and the Pig, The Pirate Danced and the Automat Died, will be available beginning in August 2021.

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LouKempBooks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Lou-Kemp/100070730154592/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/LouKempAuthor/

 

Book Video: https://youtu.be/L9AP32VkY2E

 

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Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Raven-Pig-Book-Celwyn-ebook/dp/B09KXFWBZC/

 

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You’re marooned on a small island with one person and one item of your choice—who is that person and what item do you have?

A fishing pole and a surf fishing champion.

When you start a new story, do you begin with a character, or a plot?

The beginning is a continuation of the plot and what ever dire straight I’d placed them in, or they fell into at the end of the previous book.  An example is at the end of book 1 when Celwyn is mortally wounded, and the book ends as he is carried into the Nautilus where he stops breathing.  Book 2, starts when his ill-tempered immortal brother Pelaez comes out of the shadows to kneel beside him and save him…for now.

If they were to make the story of your life into a movie, who should play you?

Robin Williams dressed up as Mrs. Doubtfire.  She was no-nonsense, and sit up straight, and lovable, like me.

Who’s your favorite horror villain and why?

Chucky the clown.  Why? because I refuse to see the movies with him so he can remain a caricature, not real. Someone should drop kick him.

Do you have an historical crush and if so, who is it?

Yes, Captain Nemo (he is real as far as I can tell).  His persona is reserved, mysterious, and valiant all at the same time.  With Celwyn and company’s antics, he also displays his patience.

Is there a story that you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?

Hmmm.  Actually, the opposite.  The movies and futuristic portrayals of a doomed world just do not fit, do not have hope.  Saving a fated world is a cliché. At the same time, climate change is playing out on the news in real time, in real floods and droughts as predicted.  I’d hope someone would finish the story for those who think it isn’t their problem.

 

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