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.
A Book Premise from a Research Tangent
About ten years ago, I began research for a new book about a small-town mystery in America. I hadn’t a clue where I wanted to locate the plot or anything else, other than it would be a straight mystery. Then, I happened upon the true story of Farm Hall and Hitler’s top atomic scientists.
These are the first two results listed for Farm Hall from a Google search.
The elusive truth of Farm Hall - Physics Today - Scitation
https://physicstoday.scitation.org › full
May 19, 2022 — In 1945 German nuclear physicists were detained in an English mansion, where their conversations were secretly recorded and transcribed.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Operation_Epsilon
They were interned at Farm Hall, a bugged house in Godmanchester, near Cambridge, England, from July 3, 1945, to January 3, 1946. The primary goal of the ...
Transfer to England · Farm Hall transcripts · Dramatisation of Farm Hall · See also
This description is fascinating. “In 1945 German Nuclear Physicists were detained in an English mansion (Farm Hall), where their conversations were secretly recorded and transcribed.” But, as I went through the articles, I couldn’t help imagining more and dropped the idea for a mystery novel faster than you can say Los Alamos. I would use the facts as a premise only, and build a novel around them that was not only pure fiction, but plausible too.
Here are the true basics: M16 had agents in the Farm Hall mansion in the English countryside. They had hidden microphones in the mansion, and they wanted to seduce the scientists to work on a nuclear bomb in Los Alamos. They had also compiled dossiers on the scientists to learn who was still sympathetic to Hitler and who was basically a non-political scientist at hear.
Nice to know, good to use for a plot, but I wanted more. I made up my own dossiers:
The Ten Atomic Scientists of Farm Hall
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Maxwell Kant: Hates vegetables, and authority. Talkative, never married, charismatic. Dresses expensively, beyond his means. No discoverable fears. Vices well hidden, but suspect political associations not approved of by the Nazis.
Dolphe Gruber: Loves the cinema, fancies himself an actor as much as a scientist. Friendly to the Nazis, deceptive toward the Allies. Money is the bottom line for him.
Gerhard Altmann: University of Munich. Jovial and friendly to the Allies. Experiments in fusion were conclusive. Champion ballroom dancer. Seems to be a ladies’ man. Values his wife’s money and is fearful of her displeasure. Non-political.
Otto Bothe: Nobel Prize 1931. Nazi sympathizer but denies it. Seems ashamed of his war contributions. Guilt over the London bombings could be used against him. Very diminutive, usually overlooked by others. Finicky dresser. Loves wine.
Johann Fromm: Never speaks. Only other scientist of the group who
carried a Nazi party card. On the same level as Messinger, Ratzel and Bothe scientifically. Collects butterflies. Disagrees on atomic uses. Altophobia,
fear of heights. Widower.
‘Baba’ Messinger: Nobel Prize 1935. Brilliant theoretical physicist, prime catch for the Allies. Childish, disorganized. Expert liar. Must be coddled. Concert pianist. Married.
Rudolf Hoffman: Never married, seems sympathetic to the Nazis, more info to follow. Celebrated researcher, witchcraft authority. Suspected of blackmail at university.
Felix Ratzel: Genius level intellect. Widower. Adapts to all situations. Chaired at the University. Epicurean and brandy connoisseur. No public opinion of the war.
Werner Van Dorn: Son killed in Berlin by the SS. Did not defect to Allies when he had an opportunity in 1939. Nervous. True researcher, dedicated to discoveries in physics. Has always felt persecuted, probably with cause.
Walther Eichen: Unpleasant personality, button pusher, opposed nuclear science. Claustrophobic. Accomplishments coat tail upon those of other scientists. Report that Messinger shoved him out of a window unconfirmed.
To say I had fun turning this into a novel is an understatement. I had a blast, adding in a romantic angle, a supernatural angle, a suicide, murders, magical realism, and more. Here is the blurb for the finished novel. It will be published in 2023, and is still one of my favorites.
“The novel is initially based upon fact. When the Reich fell in 1945, the Allies rounded up Hitler's top ten atomic scientists and transported them to Farm Hall, a mansion in the English countryside. Their intent was to seduce the scientists into working on the Manhattan Project.
The fictionalization begins with Major Oliver as the M16 officer in charge of the scientists. As the first few days go by, he finds them impish, mysterious, and full of "marinated craziness." Oliver also discovers an unsettling amount of strange occurrences he can't explain, such as the shredded civilians from Hiroshima appearing in the dining room of Farm Hall. When one of the scientists is murdered, the woman smuggled into the mansion that night is suspected. Eventually Oliver becomes very close to her, finding that she pursues Pelaez, the immortal magician, who masquerades as one of the scientists.
Pelaez wants to stop the war, all wars, and intends to sabotage the Manhattan Project. Major Oliver is in the way.”
Lou Kemp
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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/the-violins-played-before-junstan/
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
Lou Kemp will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
A wonderful site, and thank you for hosting. Also a big shout out to Goddess for their expertise.
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