#GuestPost #Guestpostseries by Alan Camrose, author of Lost In Plain Sight (Part II) @AlanCamrose / Books Teacup and Reviews

Hello readers! Today I’m happy to share Part II of guest post series. As I mentioned in first part, I’ll be publishing a 5 parts guest post series by Alan Camrose, author of Lost In Plain Sight this month.

Lost In Plain Sight is a contemporary fantasy-thriller. Author has written series of five short articles concerning aspects of his debut novel which are derived from incidents in or aspects of his life, serving as inspiration for some of the events portrayed in the book. I hope you guys enjoy this series.

Just in case you missed first part here is the link- (The pics in first post somehow didn’t appear so I’ve updated the post, if you haven’t seen them please check it out)- HERE.

Over to author…

Firstly, thanks to Yesha for agreeing to me guest-posting on the site. Much appreciated, and I hope that you all enjoy my Blog posts which are a sideways look at my writing and my book.

The Gallery on my website (www.alancamrose.com), and my Blog generally, is intended to be a place that shows a bit about me as well as stuff about my work.

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Part 2 of 5

Giant Reclining Buddha – a kind of magic, a kind of fantasy

I have just published my first novel, “Lost In Plain Sight”, a fantasy-thriller set in Brighton, full of action, magic, humour, where Sam, Pagoda and Meyra are on the case to track a demonic killer and find more than they bargained for. (Since Pagoda is a cat, she’d like to be in the case.) They encounter among other things a goblin fatale, a werewolf with exquisite dentistry and a sat-nav with personality issues. I’d love you to join me by the seaside for some ice cream and mayhem…

Those magic-filled eyes follow you round the temple like in spooky fantasy books, but this time for real!

The Chaukhtatgyi (much easier to write than pronounce) Temple in Myanmar’s capital, Yangon,contains an absolutely stunning Buddha statue, huge and reclining gracefully, like a stretched out cat in the warmth of the Sun (even though it’s in fact inside and hemmed in by ornate fencing). We had been to Thailand several times, Laos and Cambodia but the scale of this reclining Buddha was something else.

And its feet! Mesmerising in a way that is difficult to comprehend, not least given the cultural issues surrounding pointing of feet at people in parts of South-East Asia; this Buddha stunningly ignored any such considerations and beautifully gloried in its feet, especially the soles. You can see the detail from the picture below. One small part of the statue, one big impression on onlookers standing quietly around it, an amazingly peaceful setting in the vibrant and bustling city.

Here’s hopefully a feeling of the whole thing, pulled together:

Myanmar deeply affected me. Putting to one side the political issues, the country is a place of wonder, from Yangon to Bagan’s pagodas (awe-inspiring) to the supernatural calm of Lake Inle in the North. That’s one of the reasons that we acquired a Burmese cat and named her Pagoda.

Every time I look at her, I’m reminded in a tiny but powerful way where she came from – well, her spiritual birthplace rather than a pedigree cat-breeder in Surrey. It was a short step to incorporating her into my novel, Lost In Plain Sight, as one of the protagonists…

Cheers,

Alan

Alan Camrose

About Book:

This novel is a contemporary fantasy-thriller set in the UK around Brighton. There’s action, suspense and humour. And useful insights on cats. And magic. And magical cats.
Sam Franklin is a wizard from the real Magic Circle. Pagoda – is his cat familiar (or is it the other way round?). Meyra is a stroppy elf with teenage angst issues even after forty years in her teens. They are drawn into tracking a demonic killer on England’s south coast. The demon is not just at the seaside for the greasy doughnuts: its masters prey on the poor and vulnerable in society with the terrifying prospect of ancient dark magic (or rather Ma gic, the dangerous word with six letters, one invisible and silent) running wild once more.
Sam and Pagoda find themselves dragged into the plight of the local homeless community, Meyra into the vast dangers of drug-fuelled excess, all reach the same place with the clock ticking and cultists chanting, waiting for a terrible conspiracy to come of age.
But all this pales into insignificance before such questions as: can the three oddballs work together to save the day and get home in time for a good grooming? And why does Sam keep having a worrying urge to shred sofas, chase rodents and cough up hairballs? Why is Meyra worried about whether her Moncler Calypsos look good on her during a spot of burglary. And last but absolutely not least, why does Pagoda fret about the handball rule while she curls up in tiny places and tries to get some hard-earned (by cat standards) sleep?