Today we are honored to be hosting Richard Blunt on his virtual book tour this month with the 1st installment of his 3- day Get to Know My Book series of book excerpts. Get to Know My Book is an ongoing feature between blogs where we post excerpts of an author’s book so that you can get to know the book better, one blog at a time.
About Richard Blunt
Richard Blunt is the author of the fantasy novel, Lucas Trent: Guardian in Magic. He is currently working on his second book in the Lucas Trent series. You can visit his website at www.lucastrent.com.
Visit him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lucas_trent and Facebook at www.facebook.com/people/richard-blunt.
About Lucas Trent: Guardian in Magic
“Guardian in Magic” is a fantasy novel located in a world very similar to the one we live in. It tells the story of 16 year old Lucas Trent, an IT student living in Luton, England. His fascination for the supernatural leads him to take a glimpse at the world from an angle only few others look at. An angle that teaches him the true meaning of friendship, loyalty and trust in ways he had never experienced before.
Journeying through a secret community that is hidden in plain sight, he suddenly finds himself forced into living two lives at once, keeping his true identity even from his close family. In a struggle to handle this situation, he gets pulled deeper and deeper into a swamp of conspiracies and coincidences surrounding a young girl and the very truth about magic in the real world…
Book Excerpt:
From Chapter 1…
It was shortly before 6 p.m. when Lucas entered the TimeStop. The place was divided into five separate rooms, the main one with the bar and four extra rooms for private hire. It didn’t need much more than a single look for Lucas to realize why this place was called TimeStop… All the rooms had the same strange decoration: The walls were filled with clocks of different styles, starting with a modern digital clock like you see on airports or at train stations and ending with some very old clocks that seemed to have been around for decades, perhaps even centuries. And the very strangest thing was that not a single clock was ticking; they were all stopped, each showing a different time. It took Lucas a few seconds to regain his breath and continue into the main room of the bar.
“Welcome to the TimeStop, stranger,” the bartender addressed Lucas in a friendly voice. “What can I get you?”
Lucas stepped up to the bar, ordered an appetizer and started looking around, trying to find out where to go. The bartender seemed to read his mind. “If you are here for the regular meeting of the Pagan group, then just head into the room over there,” he said and pointed towards one of the other rooms.
Lucas nodded, mumbled his thanks and walked towards the room. He started feeling more and more queasy with every step. Was it really a good idea to go there? Would he make a complete fool of himself? Who else would be there? Thoughts were racing through his head as he arrived at the red curtain that blocked the view to the room. He took a deep breath, shook himself a little bit to gain confidence and then entered the room.
The moment he stepped through the curtain his mood began to lighten. The room had eight tables in it, each surrounded by chairs. About 20 to 30 people had already taken their places at some of the tables, chatting and laughing, having a good time. The group was completely mixed, ranging from his age, or even a little bit younger, up to the age of approximately 60 years. He threw a quiet “Hello” into the room, somewhat hoping to remain unheard, as he still did not really feel comfortable around here. His hopes seemed to go unnoticed by the others, as it seemed that everyone had heard his greeting. Many of them just nodded in reply; others answered with a hello themselves. Two of them jumped up and came to him.
One, an approximately 35-year-old man, had a big grin on his face as he said “Cheers mate, welcome to our chat room.” He pounded him on his back and led him to one of the tables.
The other one, a woman in her late twenties, shook her head and said with a laugh, “Jesus, Drow… Don’t chase away our guest before he even arrives…” Then she turned towards Lucas. “Hi there! My name is Angel. I am a regular here, and this guy without manners,” she pointed towards Drow, “is Drow, the initiator of this meeting. Welcome to the Pagan chat room.”
“Thanks,” Lucas replied, still looking around and then as he saw the questioning look on Angel’s face he continued “Oh, sorry… I am Lucas, Lucas Trent.”
“Well, Lucas, Lucas Trent, take a seat and enjoy your stay. If you need anything just ask; no one is going to bite your head off,” Angel answered with a smile on her face pointing toward an empty chair.
Lucas instantly liked her. She was nice, good looking and had something else he just couldn’t explain. He felt sorry that she was at least ten years older than himself, otherwise he perhaps would have tried to talk her into dating him. He took a chair, still looking around as he saw a face he recognized on the table next to him. A very tall, slim guy with glasses was reading a local newspaper. The person was one year older than himself, and somewhat familiar. It took him a minute before he was able to make the connection. “Jesus…” he mumbled as he turned towards him. “Excuse me?” The other one looked up from his newspaper. “Aren’t you Darien Stance?” Lucas continued.
“Yes,” Darien replied seeming a little bit insecure. “Do I know you?”
“No,” Lucas answered with a laugh, “but I definitely know you… You are the scientific genius in my school. I am Lucas Trent, one grade below you.” Stance’s look changed into a nice smile. “Come to think of it…” Lucas continued, “what is Mr. Science from Luton IT College doing at the Pagan chat room?”
“Keeping an open mind,” Stance responded. “And what brings the most promising IT expert of this decade to this location?”
Lucas turned dark red. “So you know me, too?”
“Yes,” Darien laughed. “Everyone in school knows you, Trent. You are certainly more famous than I am.” And after a moment of silence he continued, “Oh, by the way, it’s really nice to meet you, Mr. Trent.” With these words he extended his hand towards Lucas waiting for him to shake it. Lucas didn’t hesitate a second. The most famous student in school, the one everyone just called “The Professor,” was offering his hand to him. In school he would have never even dreamt of that honor.
“More than nice to meet you, Mr. Stance.” he replied, shaking his hand.
“Please call me Darien, or Professor if you like, but let’s stop the formalities.”
Lucas couldn’t believe it. He was offered a first name basis with the Professor… “Lucas…” he replied a bit shyly.
Darien lifted his glass toward him “Cheers. Lucas, to a new friendship.”
“Cheers,” Lucas replied, taking a deep sip. The drink helped him regain a clear mind. He changed his seat to sit next to his new friend and they started chatting about school and computers while Darien was reading the newspaper and Lucas continued checking out the others in the room. The tables were filling up rapidly and Lucas was really amazed how many people around here responded to an invitation like that. It seemed a bit hard for him to talk with the others, as they seemed to know each other so well, so he decided to stay with Darien and see what would happen next.
It was around 7 p.m. when the first person approached Lucas’ table. It was a girl, seemingly a bit younger than Lucas and really good looking. “Excuse me…” she started in a very shy voice, not really looking at them with her big blue eyes. The two boys hadn’t recognized her, even though it seemed that everyone else in the room only had eyes for her at that point. Lucas and Darien looked up at the same moment. “Is this chair taken?” she pointed to an empty chair right across from Darien.
“No, no,” Darien replied. “We would be happy to have such nice company at our table.”
“Thanks, you are sweet,” she said with a smile as she sat down. “I am Stephanie. This is my first time here.”
“The name’s Darien and that’s Lucas. Join the club of newcomers.” Darien took the liberty of performing the formality.
“So you are into magic as well?” Stephanie asked with curiosity in her voice. “I always thought I was the only one that spent her time with it.”
“Join the club, again.” Lucas laughed. “Everyone around me would have thought I am a complete nut job if they knew.”
“Not everyone,” the Professor entered the conversation with a calm voice, “but you are quite right that it is better not to talk about this too much in public.”
“So what are you guys up to? What are you trying to accomplish with magic?”
Stephanie continued her inquiry.
“Well… “ Darien started folding up his newspaper, “I am not trying to accomplish anything with magic. I just want to understand what’s behind it, as it might help me in seeing a clear picture of science at all levels.”
Stephanie nodded emphatically and looked at Lucas.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I really don’t. I always was fascinated by what I read about it but I still don’t think it is possible. It mostly seems like fiction to me, but who knows… Perhaps someone around here is open to proving me wrong… What about you Stephanie?”
She smiled. “I am into healing. I want nothing more than to cure things that no one else can. That’s why I want to learn magic so much. Well, let’s see how far it goes, because so far I haven’t really had much success.”
“What did you try so far?” Darien asked.
“Well, I read many books, and experimented a little on myself, but like I said, no success so far,” she responded.
“Excuse me,” a voice from behind interrupted the discussion. They looked up at another arrival, around the age of the three, kind of a sporty guy. “Most tables are overcrowded–do you mind?”
“Not at all,” Lucas said pointing at a chair.
“Thank you!” the new guy replied, seeming relieved. “You know, I don’t know anyone around here, and most of the others don’t look very inviting. The name is Marcus Gracer, by the way. Nice to meet you all.”
The others introduced themselves, welcoming Marcus and then continued their discussion.
“What kind of experiments did you do, Stephanie?” Lucas was curious.
“Mostly rituals as they are described in books, but I didn’t get that far with it. I also tried spell magic but that came up even worse.” Stephanie was back in the discussion immediately.
“Wow, you seem to have a lot of experience already,” Marcus said, amazed.
Darien started laughing. “Don’t let yourself be misled, Marcus. Looks are often deceiving. What’s your point in the game, anyway?”
Marcus face became thoughtful. “I am into sports and hope that mental training will help me become better.”
“Isn’t that a bit far away from ‘just’ mental training?” Lucas asked.
“Well, yeah, it might be, but I thought if I start it, then I could go the whole way as well. Doesn’t change anything, does it?” Marcus commented. “But again, I am still at the beginning of it all.”
“A table where the topic is actually magic…” Again a voice spoke from behind.
Marcus turned around to face a man and a woman standing right behind him. “Are we allowed to join the circle or is this a private discussion?” the woman asked. She seemed to be near 20, short, a bit pudgy, with long red hair and a nice, friendly grin. The boy beside her was younger, about Lucas’ age, with no smile on his face–actually no feelings at all that one could read from his face.
“If this was a private discussion, the place would be very badly chosen, don’t you think?” Lucas said with a smile as he pointed them toward two chairs, filling the table fully.
The boy nodded his head with a face that might have meant “Thank you” but didn’t say anything. The girl seemed more willing to talk.
“Thanks,” she said, grabbing a chair. “May I introduce myself? Jasmin Kramer, but my friends just call me ‘Psycho’.” She bowed a little bit. “I actually can’t tell you much about my companion, as we just met a minute ago.”
“The name is Mason, Cedric Mason,” the quiet one said in a very calm, almost cold, voice.
“Don’t talk much, do you, Ced?” Jasmin smiled at him while pounding his back.
“No,” was his short reply.
“So let’s get back to the topic, don’t want to spoil the only group that had it…”
Again it was Jasmin talking. “Are any of you any good at magic? Or are you also just beginners as I am?”
The discussion continued for quite a while. Psycho pointed out her interest in manipulating the human mind; Cedric kept a little bit of a low profile by just saying he wanted to learn this stuff for self-defense. They shared their few experiences, talked about books and websites to gain information from and enjoyed their time together. Around 9 p.m. even Cedric eased up a little and started talking a bit more. The atmosphere was good, everyone seemed to get along great with the others and even when the numbers around became lower and lower not one of them thought about leaving. They all enjoyed their time so much that they didn’t think of looking at the clock. Darien was the first to take that look. “Jesus,” he said, “it’s already close to 10 p.m.”
Lucas laughed again. “Now you know why they call the place TimeStop, because you completely forget about time around here.”
“Time is always the problem,” Marcus stated. “I am quite sure that we all could be much further already with our knowledge if we would take more time for studying. But there always seems to be something more important to do…”
“Perhaps you should group up and study together, then,” a friendly female voice said from behind. “It helps the learning and also helps in sorting out priorities.” It was Angel standing behind them with a smile on her face “Mind if I join you?”
Everyone shook his head, so Angel pulled up a chair and sat down with them.
“What do you mean with grouping up, Angel?” Lucas asked.
“I think I know,” Darien responded before Angel could. “I read that magic users even in the real world group up in magic circles–study groups, we would say in academia. I think that is what Angel meant, but Angel, don’t you think that we are all too different to study together? Everyone has completely different approaches, aims and thoughts–how could this ever work?”
“Differences make you stronger, Professor,” Angel replied in a calm, friendly voice. “It is said that if you have two people that do the same, think the same and get the same results, then you have one too many. Every one of you can learn much from all the others because of the differences you have, but you have to keep an open mind all the time; after all, every one of you will bring up a different solution for the same problem and it is imperative that you examine every one of them closely to understand the ways of magic fully.”
“Do you understand the ways of magic fully?” Lucas asked.
“No, Lucas. But I do my best to understand it as much as possible.”
A few seconds of silence followed this statement. Stephanie was the first to break it. “I rather like the idea of the circle. I kind of like all of you and it would really be nice to have you around a bit more often so we can learn together.”
“I agree.” Marcus nodded “But is it worth the while? I still haven’t seen anything that makes me believe much in the things you’ve tried, and I am quite sure that not one of us is in the position to change that any time soon. And quite frankly I do have other things to do as, well.”
Lucas spoke up. “No one can tell you if it’s worth your while, Marcus, because not only don’t we have the answers, we also don’t know what it would take to make it worth your while in the first place. And believe me, buddy, I have other things to do as well, but I would still be willing to try.”
Tomorrow stop off at As the Pages Turn with Get to Know My Book: Lucas Trent: Guardians in Magic by Richard Blunt – Part II!
Tags: author tour, authors, blog tour, book campaign, book tour, books, England, fantasy, fantasy author, fantasy book, fantasy novel, friendship, Harry Potter, IT, IT student, loyalty, Lucas Trent Guardian in Magic, Luton, magic, Pump Up Your Book, Richard Blunt, supernatural, supernatural fantasy, trust, virtual book tour
It’s a funny thing, inspiration. Sea Turtle Summer, I know, was a combination of my many early walks walks on Clearwater Beach, all the conversations about the plight of sea turtles and time on my hands that morning, willing my muse to conjure up a worthy story. She hardly ever fails.
Dax Rigby, War Correspondent – Why I Wrote it and How I Published It
Writers Association and has published approximately 350 stories in places such as Weird Tales, Whitley Strieber’s Aliens, Fangoria, Galaxy, The Age of Wonders, and the Hot Blood anthology series. John has published twenty books, including SF action/romantic adventure novels such as Beyond Those Distant Stars and Speaker of the Shakk (Mundania Press), A Senseless Act of Beauty (Crossroad Press), and Alien Dreams (Drollerie Press and Crossroad Press). Shorter books include A Mingling of Souls and Music Man (XoXo Publishing), Here Be Dragons(Eternal Press), The Voice of Many Waters (Blue Leaf Publications), Green in Our Souls(Damnation Books), and Bagonoun’s Wonderful Songbird and Childhood’s Day (Gypsy Shadow Publishing). Recent developments: MuseItUp Publishing published two novels, Dark Wizard and
When I was single and working at a high pressure job in Manhattan, it was all a bit overwhelming. I was dating but not in a steady relationship, and had a great group of girlfriends in the same situation. We would meet for coffee and talk about our dates, and the conversations were often more entertaining than the actual dates we dissected in minute detail. But it wasn’t until I found my way to a writing workshop that I was able to explore the truths underlying those conversations.
The Queen’s Gamble is the fourth book in my “Thornleigh” series of Tudor-era novels which focus on a middle-class family I created – the Thornleighs – as they rise up through three turbulent reigns. The historical record is always my jumping-off point for the novels, and The Queen’s Gamble was sparked by some fascinating research I’d done about the first international crisis the young Queen Elizabeth I faced. It was in 1559. Elizabeth was twenty-five and had been queen for less than a year. My fictional family, the Thornleighs, have at this point risen to considerable wealth, with some power in Elizabeth’s government, and they are deeply loyal to her.
In the fall of 2008, I left my job in the hope of something new, something better, something far less stressful than operating a quick-service restaurant. More than anything, I left in the hope of a professional writing career. I’d finally sold my first article for print – and that to a major publication – and figured that my hard work and long-held dream would finally meet face-to-face, that the doors would finally open.
My Dearest Friend is the last book in the Dukes of Lear trilogy. Although all the books are related, they are stand alone novels and can be read in any order. Without realizing it, the trilogy started life over twenty-five years ago when I began to write Consequence, the first book. The idea for the beginning of My Dearest Friend originated from a dream and just grew. It was a classic case of listening to my characters and going wherever they took me. There was one point where I was taken completely by surprise when Sgt. Patterson marched on to the scene and announced that Stefan had an illegitimate daughter – totally unexpected, but added yet another element to enrich the story.
I always tell aspiring writers that the most important thing they can do for their careers is read – and I have no better example of this than my newest novel, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MRS. TOM THUMB.
Renee Hand writes because it is a passion in her heart. She is a homeschool parent and likes to create books that educate and inspire the children of today. She was born in Michigan and still lives there with her husband and two children. She has a degree in Zoology with a minor in Chemistry. Renee is the author of the amazing mystery series known as the Crypto-Capers Series that encourages children to read by incorporating several topics of interest. The reader participates into the story by solving cryptograms and puzzles to solve the case. She is also the author of the Joe-Joe Nut and Biscuit Bill Series, which focuses on animal detectives. This series is a great way to teach children about animals in a fun and interesting way that captures the reader’s attention and yet fills them with knowledge they will be learning about in school. All books are great to use in a classroom setting to supplement various topics or to just enjoy. Renee is an award-winning author, receiving awards such as a Best Book Award, a National Literary Award and a Preferred Choice award for her children’s series and adult books. She has just recently won a Seal of Excellence award in Storytelling for her Joe-Joe Nut and Biscuit Bill Series. She has been writing for over twenty-five years and has nine books published. When she is not spending time with her family or participating in author events, she is coaching and playing tennis, as well as doing research for her books and many other things that keep her busy. Not quite sure what a cryptogram is and want to learn more? 
Recent Comments