Mercerian Tales: The Call of Magic

Paul J Bennett (b. 1961) emigrated from England to Canada in 1967. His father served in the British Royal Navy, and his mother worked for the BBC in London. He followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1983. He is married to Carol Bennett, and has three daughters who are all creative in their own right.

Paul’s interest in writing started in his teen years when he discovered the roleplaying game ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. What attracted him to this new hobby was the creativity it required; the need to create realms, worlds and adventures that pull the gamers into his stories.

In his 30’s, Paul started to dabble in creating his own roleplaying system, using the Peninsular War in Portugal as his backdrop. His regular gaming group were willing victims, er, participants in helping to playtest the new system. A few years later he took his roleplaying system and added additional settings; including Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, World War II, and the all-important Fantasy Realm.

The beginnings of his first book ‘Servant to the Crown’ originated three years ago when he began a new fantasy campaign. For the world of Merceria, he ran his adventures like a TV show; with seasons that each had twelve episodes, and an overarching plot. After the campaign ended, he was inspired to sit down to write his first novel; he knew all the characters, what they had to accomplish, what needed to happen to move the plot along.

Paul has mapped out an entire series entitled ‘Heir to the Crown’ in the World of Merceria and is looking forward to sharing all the books with his readers over the next few years.