This is the last of my posts on how/why I came to write my modern fantasy, The Lords of the Summer Season (check the book out at Amazon link: https://amzn.to/3g5kfuP ). And what better note to end on than a romantic note!
Of course, romance belongs in a fantasy about the Summer of Love, and Bradan has three contrasting women to cuddle and clash with.
Taryn is the modern incarnation of Morgana le Fey, legendary enchantress in Arthur’s Dark Ages court, as well as Merlin’s paramour. Like Bradan, she’s almost immortal, a bit immoral, and unashamedly ambiguous about her intentions toward Bradan.
Gail Halpern, a professor who isn’t supernatural, is unashamedly clear and direct about her goals, essential for a woman forging her way through a thicket of academic politics in the mid-’60s. Her intentions toward Bradan are also a little ambiguous.
And let’s not forget Veronica from fifteenth-century Florence, Bradan’s muse and the model for one of the Renaissance’s great allegorical paintings. She’s based on historical figures during this era. Had she lived longer, who knows where her relationship with Bradan might have gone?
These three characters help the novel consider the nature of romantic attraction.
(Future posts will touch on other aspects of my stories and the fantasy genre generally. By all means follow my postings on this site!!)
(And many thanks to Rondell Melling, Jsoto, and Beto Galvez from Pixabay for the images!)
I write modern fantasy novels that are hopefully both exciting and literate. These novels include an on-going series about a near-immortal magician who grew up in Camelot and grew famous in San Francisco's 'Summer of Love'. He's still having adventures to this day described in The Lords of the Summer Season, The Lords of Powder, and The Lords of Oblivion. The books can be read in any order.
As author S Alessandro Martinez has stated about the series:
"Lords of Oblivion
A 1500-year-old wizard. A pair of savage druids raised from the dead. Modern day San Francisco. A wolf that takes no gruff. Blaisdell creates a fascinating world in this magical realism novel with smart writing, complex characters, and clever use of history and mythology. I was sucked in from the very beginning. I look forward to more of Bradan and Tintagel's mystical adventures.
Lords of Powder
Merlin's former apprentice, Bradan, is back! The 1500-year-old wizard, who is sometimes too smart for his own good, returns for another exciting adventure, this time in 70s Miami as he takes on the criminal world of drug trafficking. Blaisdell's smart, fast-paced writing and use of fascinating history and mythology keeps you on the edge of your seat as Bradan uses his wits, charm, and illusions to navigate the modern era and get himself into plenty of trouble.
Lords of the Summer Season
Being Merlin's former apprentice and living for 1500 years is bound to make you a few enemies. Travel back to the 60s with Bradan the wizard and his otherworldly wolf Tintagel. As Bradan juggles careers as a professor and musician, he must defend himself from his greatest threat yet: a literal god. Blaisdell continues with his clever, skillful, and imaginative writing that will keep readers eagerly turning the next page. My favorite of the Bradan books, Blaisdell dives deeper into the Arthur mythology, and brings the reader even more elements of magic and folklore, all the while weaving an entertaining tale of gods, wizards, ghosts, and 60s acid rock. Thoroughly enjoyable!"
Besides the literary side of my life, my background includes membership on a scientific advisory board for a non-profit professional organization promoting the biomedical and digital health business community in the greater Los Angeles area.
I’ve authored both basic research publications and business management articles focusing on the bio/pharma industry. My Ph.D. is in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota where I also conducted post-doctoral research in microbiology. And my BS is from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) with a double major in chemistry and cell biology.
View all posts by Peter Blaisdell
Blaisdell Literary Enterprises 