It’s because it’s about people who commit unforgivable sins, perhaps the most unforgivable of all…killing a priest. This book goes into some dark places.
The book is divided into four parts, with four different confessions, which have different time settings, as well as locations. The killers are reluctant or unlikely killers in which fate has played them a terrible hand.
The first part is “The Modern Day killer” and is a confession in the first person by Michael Dawkins, an unremarkable man apart from the fact he believes he is a serial priest killer. His story begins by the coast in which he accidentally kills a young Polish prelate. This sets him on the road to killing other priests in different circumstances, in some cases in a horrific manner.
The second confession goes back a few hundred years in time and is set in Italy. This time the priest killer is a woman, Lucrecia Di Benevento, who we discover is in love with a young priest Angelo Amentini, who she first meets in a strict convent, run by nuns. She later meets him as he conducts a wedding. She marries his cousin Cosmo Di Benevento, but somehow the pious Angelo can’t escape her life. While her husband is away, going about his military duties, Lucretia finds herself alone with Angelo in a boat house on an island, as she tries to attend to an injury he has sustained. A remark she says about priests being celibate, sends Angelo into a rage, he loses his self restraint and rapes her. After this terrible act Lucrecia is also full of rage and she murders him, then dispatches his body in the lake.
The third part of the story goes further back in history, to Celtic times, told like the other parts as a confession in the first person. A man who is important to his tribe, a warrior has grown up with a beautiful Druid priestess named Milucrah. During battles and escapades, he doesn’t realize that it is Milucrah, who is shaping his destiny and appearing in different guises, having the ability to transform herself, in different human forms as well animals.
The last part of the book goes into the future in the year 2042, it is a confession of Maz Zing, in her early thirties, a party official, who runs a correctional centre in which there are priests, who have been rounded up and who are brain washed into renouncing their faith. It tells the story about one priest in particular who fights to keep his faith, despite Maz Zing’s efforts to break him.
The fish King and the two wise, ghosts, by Francis H. Powell.
Blurb Two fish tales in one!
The Fish King is lonely and wishes he has a wife to keep him company. So when his chance of happiness is dashed by Princess Chipolata, after she is caught by the two wise ghosts stealing the crown jewels and is sent to prison, the king is still left feeling miserable. The Fish King has many suiters but it is Princess Alice’s sister, Lilly, who finally wins his heart!
However, there’s only one problem…he must introduce her to the two ghosts that reside in his palace and who like to play jokes on people!
A grand wedding takes place at the palace and soon after the king and queen produce a royal heir – Prince Erik. The young prince grows to love the two wise ghosts as much as his father does and, as soon as he is old enough, he leaves the palace to embark on a magical adventure with his ghost friends; until at last it is time to go home and share his many stories with his parents and Aunt Alice.
this is a lovely children’s book about friends and family. The fish game grows up with two ghosts as friends. When he becomes king, they become his trusted advisers and flatmates to his children, especially young Prince Eric. Their friendship is strong and close as Eric grows. They ghost are funny, the Royals relatable and their adventures, bind them into an odd type of family. There is some rhyme which kids will love! The illustrations are quite childlike, which will add to the appeal. A great read as a bedtime story, or just for fun!
My Review:-I decided to read this book, as my granddaughter Emily seen the cover and said it looked fun and it was. We found it a good read for Emily to read on her own without any help as well as reading it together. We’ll start with the pictures. Emily loved all the pictures and found them funny and even a few she said looked cute, I did like the the pictures and agreed with Emily, but I would think some of them might be a bit scary for younger children. Now the story, we decided to read it in two part, part one, then the next night part two. The castle that the king lived in, since he was a baby is crumbing, and he only sees this with the help from Ghost John and Ghost Henry who have been friends since him being young. The two ghosts always looked out for the king, even when he thought they were wrong, when looking for a queen. But when his sister’s friend came to the palace, John and Henry liked her, was she the one to be queen? We meet Prince Eric in part two as he goes on his adventures and meets a few people on his way. We did have a few favourites is the story, Wilma and her terrible tales, Countess Von Dolphin shouting that she thought her partner was a ghost, because of his eyes and in part two we liked Prince Eric and Claw a dragon he met and a two headed llama which never knew which way it should go, as they always wanted to go the opposite way
To read an interview with me on my latest children book, click the above link
Please welcome Francis H Powell to my blog. Hello Frank. Shall we have sit and have a chat?
Please introduce yourself to those reading this blog post.
Hello, I am Francis, I was born in the UK, but I’ve lived in France for quite a long time. I am a writer, but also a painter and musician. I love to create things. I live with my wife, son, and rescue dog, called Bertie.
Has writing always been part of your life and when did you “know” that it was time to start writing your first book?
Writing for me took off when I was living in Paris and saw an advert for short stories, in a magazine. It was a little homemade magazine called Rat Mort (dead rat, for anyone who doesn’t speak much French). Having some stories actually published, was a real lift. I went on from there.
How difficult was it writing your first book?
Writing is a pleasure, promoting and selling books is another matter.
Have you ever wanted to give up and what stopped you?
Maybe sometimes you think, why do I make so much effort? What are the returns? Is this just a labour of love? I love writing stories, creating characters, imagining stories in my head. Developing stories.
Anything specific you want to tell your readers?
I would like to bring a smile to their faces. We live in a harsh world.
What is your target audience and what aspect of your writing do you feel targets that audience?
With my latest book “The Fish King and the Two Wise Ghosts, my target is children six years old and over. I have created a picture book; I did all the illustrations as well as writing the story.
Did the cover evolve the same way, or did you work with someone to make it come together for you?
The cover and indeed the title of the book came about because my ten-year-old boy, did a drawing a few years back, that looked like a king holding the hand of two ghosts. I began to write a poem based on this drawing. Following this I decided to change the poem into prose, but I kept quite a lot of the poetry.
What are you working on now? Can we get a peek, an excerpt?
Mostly promoting the book as well as some short stories; I also write a lot of poetry. Here is a little sneaky excerpt of the Fish King…
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There once was a Fish King who lived in an old, ruined castle deep in a magical ocean. As well as many servants, there lived two wise ghosts. One day Ghosts John and Henry looked at the king and said, “Sire, your clothes are so out of date, and your palace is now in a terrible state. We ghosts have haunted it, over hundreds of years, but the splendour it had, has long disappeared.”
The Fish King pulled a face and looked at the crumbling walls, as some bricks tumbled to the floor. “You may have a point,” the king mumbled, it could do with some sprucing up. He also summoned the royal tailor to conjure up some dazzling designs. The two ghosts were always friendly and gave good advice. They would only scare people who were not very nice. They spoke to the king almost every day and when he was a boy, they loved to play with him. They would tell him jokes and whizzed round the palace and would play terrible tricks on his young sister Alice. They appeared from nowhere at the foot of her bed, she would shriek and scream, till her face went bright red.
One day the Fish King woke with a most terrible fright. There was something on his mind, something not quite right. A thought came to him, like a flash in his mind. I need to find a queen who is both beautiful and kind. A search through the kingdom was soon underway. A list was drawn up of suitable candidates. Weeks later Princess Chipolata arrived at the palace. Her wicked smile soon had the king under her spell. It seemed that the Fish King had met his chips. He even kissed this fishy princess on the lips. Ghosts Henry and John wondered about the king’s catch. Was this fishy princess such a good match? Though King Fish and Chips seemed to go together. The two wise ghosts thought that they knew better.
When some of the king’s crown jewels suddenly went missing, the two ghost friends immediately knew who was behind this outrage. The princess seemed to 5 be always sneaking about, she was soon their prime suspect, without a doubt. “Sire, sorry to say it’s that Princess Chipolata, who stole those jewels.” “Utter nonsense!” roared the king in a rage. Being a wise king, he knew of course it’s impossible to keep a ghost in a cage. Later, the two ghosts saw the princess taking some gold and thought that the king should be immediately told. The king growled, “why won’t you stop with these terrible lies!” The ghosts said, “we saw it ourselves, with our very own eyes!” The king shouted, “now the castle’s ghosts have turned into spies!” Raising his voice he added, “if you weren’t ghosts, you’d be running for your lives.”
The king was now in a terrible mood. He wouldn’t smile nor eat his food. However, it seemed the fishy princess was nowhere to be seen. It was exactly as the two ghosts had feared. Eventually, she was caught with the crown jewels. The king realized he’d been taken for a fool. “I need to be careful when choosing a queen, not every princess is all that they seem.” The two friendly ghosts were back in his good books. The princess went to prison for her terrible crime. The palace changed back into its normal state and calm was restored.
Any last words before we wrap things up?
Tell your children to keep drawing and let their imaginations go wild. My son draws a lot, even at school, his teacher dumps his drawings in the bin. Everybody should express themselves by drawing.
Having had three books published aimed at an older audience, I am happy to announce my first children’s book will be published
on the 26th of April, by Blossom Spring Publishers. It has been quite a journey. The journey started with a drawing my 10 year old son did a few years back. The drawing looked like a king holding the hands of two ghosts, in the same style as the book cover above. I wrote an extremely long poem, then decided that it should be written in prose, but then chose to keep parts of the poem.
I worked on some illustrations to go with story, using photoshop, discovering some photoshop effects along the way. It was great to have the liberty to be able to put my artwork with the story, I’d written.
It was a bit of a leap from anything I had done before.
Since my son was born, I have read him countless stories and have longed to be able to say “this is a story inspired by you and written for you.” Drawing is extremely important to my son. He often draws at school, when he should be concentrating on other things. He has been reprimanded a few times and has had his drawings thrown away by an irate teacher. For me it is so important for children to draw. They can express things that can’t be put into words.
Francis H Powell author 