Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with Peter W. Blaisdell
Book Title: The Lords of the Summer Season
Released: 11/08/20
Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Interview by Heather L. Barksdale
What inspired you to write “The Lords of the Summer Season”?
Blaisdell: I wanted to write a story with magical elements set during San Francisco’s ‘Summer of Love’ in 1967. This was a time of real-life fantasy with great music, cool people, and high ideals. However, it also had a darker side. So, “The Lords of the Summer Season” is a fantasy with a dash of psychedelia that explores creativity, vengeance, and romantic attraction.
How did you come up with the names of your main characters?
Blaisdell: My main character is a magician called ‘Bradan’. This is a Celtic name and it seemed to fit his personality – creative, learned, and a bit out of control. He has a pet wolf named ‘Tintagel’. Tintagel is a castle where supposedly King Arthur was born. I’ve actually visited these ruins on a cold, grey November evening. It’s completely wild and uncivilized just like the wolf. And there are two strong woman characters: Morgana, short for Morgan le Fay, a 6th century witch, and Gail who’s a 20th century political science professor.
Is there anything that you want readers to know about you, your writing process or your book?
Blaisdell: “The Lords of the Summer Season” was totally fun for me to write. I hope some of that fun communicates itself to readers. It’s a little ‘over the top’ because the times I was writing about were pretty crazy and I wanted to capture that, so if you’re looking for a cozy fantasy, this isn’t it! However, I think it’s entertaining and fast-paced.
As far as my writing process, I’m sort of half-way between a ‘planner’ and a ‘pantser’ meaning that I definitely start out with themes, characters, conflicts, and an outline of the action. However, I’m totally open to taking a hard left turn in the middle of writing if the characters or the story want to go in a direction that I hadn’t originally planned.
If "The Lords of the Summer Season ” were adapted into a movie, who would you like to see cast to play your lead characters?
Blaisdell: For Bradan: Adam Driver For Tintagel: himself For Morgana: Eva Green For Gail: Emma Watson
Are there any tips that you would like to share with other aspiring authors?
Blaisdell: Wow – I could write pages on this! But, OK, let’s pick out a couple of random tips:
1) try to write clean sentences without too many adjectives and adverbs; it’s amazing how powerful simple subject-verb-object sentences can be to move the action along
2) think about book marketing A LOT; you can write incredible stuff, but you’ll labor in obscurity unless you also focus on the business side of writing; just getting an agent or even a publisher isn’t enough; you personally are going to have to decide why a busy reader with a million choices should look at your stuff (and, no, just getting some friends or your writing group to read it isn’t enough).
3) Edit your work. Someone said that you really create a book during the editing process. I think it’s true. Also, consider paying someone to copy edit your work. It’s impossible to truly edit your own work – I’ve tried! Also, your friends won’t/can’t do this either. Most agents and publishers will ignore badly edited books.
When you encounter writer’s block, what do you do to break yourself out of it?
Blaisdell: Walk away from whatever you’re working on and come back to it later. A couple of glasses of wine also helps.
What is your favorite genre, book, and/or author?
Blaisdell: I read really widely, but my favorite genre is what I write: literary fantasy.
What are you working on next?
Blaisdell: My next book is about a jinn (or genie), a librarian, and a demon. As with “The Lords of the Summer Season”, I try to throw in a ton of action, some history, and a bit of romance (without letting the romance take over the story).
Learn More About the Author and The Lords of Summer Season here:
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