Merlinsky: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

by Alan C. Baird

FREE EBOOK. Imagine the Lord of the Rings meets Harry Potter and they go back to the future. Based on the Arthurian legend and the ancient folklore myth of the sorcerer's apprentice.

Synopsis: The endless hordes of Hollywood tourists in the late 1940's are easy marks for a con-man magician like Harry Merlinsky. He knows how to sucker the rubes and flash the ol' hamster-outta-the-fedora every now and then, to baffle 'em and dazzle 'em. But he didn't expect a naive fan like Jake, who wants to learn Harry's Old Knowledge - "real" magic. Harry's archenemy obliterates Jake's girlfriend, forcing Jake to become a wizard, just to stay alive. Will Jake use his newfound powers for vengeance? The timeless myth of the Sorcerer's Apprentice unfolds against the backdrop of the Magic Castle and the Hollywoodland sign.

Lineage: 12th-century folklore myths begat The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which begat a tone poem by composer Paul Dukás, which begat Disney's Fantasia, which inspired Merlinsky, a magical action-adventure. [Completed before the Nicolas Cage film was released.]

Quarterfinalist in these competitions: American Zoetrope, Writers Network.

60 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 12, 2015

About the author

Alan is the Harvard Book Prize winner who authored "facebookworm" and coauthored a print/web/wap project entitled "9TimeZones.com," which was included in the Whitney Biennial. His work has appeared in a dozen-odd anthologies and may be found in various periodicals, including Playboy, PC, and Britain's Guardian and Screenwriter. His Screenwright(R) screenplay formatter won a $3,333 cash award from Sun Microsystems, and he's written screenplays that finished in the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals of various international competitions. Alan enjoys referring to himself in the third person, and was inordinately pleased when ABC-TV's "Max Headroom" series purchased his debut student film, widely hailed as "the most uncommercial piece of ____ in Michigan State's history." Born down east, he now lives just a stone's throw from Phoenix... which is fine and dandy, 'til the stones are thrown back.
CV: 9TimeZones.com/b
Film/TV: IMDb.com/name/nm6248253
Bibliography: Amazon.com/author/acb
Quotes: QuoteFancy.com/alan-c-baird-quotes
Draft obit: www.AlanCBaird.blogspot.com
Goodreads books: Goodreads.com/author/list/610652?per_...