Love Bytes is happy to welcome author Jamie Fessenden to our blog today to talk about his re release with DSPP of “Murderous Requiem”.
Welcome Jaime 🙂

Murderous Requiem is a contemporary occult mystery that takes place in rural New Hampshire, but much of the mystery revolves around one of the key figures in the Italian Renaissance, Marsilio Ficino. Ficino lived from 1433 to 1499 in Florence, Italy. His father was a physician whose patron was Cosimo de Medici, the immensely influential figure about whom Pope Pius II once said, “He it is who decides peace and war. He is king in all but name.”

Having such a powerful patron proved fortuitous, of course. Cosimo de Medici took Ficino into his household as a young man and later placed him at the head of an academy dedicated to the study of platonic philosophy. Ficino was a brilliant man, and he excelled in several fields. He became a physician like his father and had a talent for music. It was Ficino who first translated the complete works of Plato from ancient Greek into Latin, along with several works on alchemy, including the Corpus Hermiticum. Throughout his life, he worked to reconcile his knowledge of neoplatonism and alchemy with his Christian faith.

Unlike the Catholic Church, in which he became a priest, Ficino didn’t see any conflict between belief in these occult philosophies and Christianity. And when he was brought before the Inquisition under Pope Innocent VIII for his writings on astrology—twice—he managed to convince the inquisitors of his piety and save himself from execution. Eventually, he and Pope Innocent became friends.

But one of the things about Ficino that fascinates me the most is the fact that he was gay and surprisingly open about it, considering the time period. He wrote often of the beauty of “platonic love”—the pure love that can be had between two men—and is credited with introducing the concept to the west. (Not that there was no “platonic love” going on in the west before Ficino, but he first wrote about it in a scholarly fashion and associated it with the writings of Plato.) It was only his condemnation of sodomy in his commentaries that prevented that from blowing up on him.

He appears to have had a long-term “platonic” relationship with Giovanni Cavalcanti, an Italian poet who studied at the platonic academy and lived with Ficino at his villa. Ficino dedicated his essay De amore (“On love”) to Cavalcanti and wrote several passionate love letters to the man, whom he referred to in the letters as Giovanni amico mio perfettisimo (“Giovanni my most perfect friend”). These were published while Ficino was still living. After Ficino’s death, it was only his well-known devotion to his faith and, no doubt, his influential friends, that prevented his homosexuality from becoming a scandal.

About the Author:

Jamie Fessenden set out to be a writer in junior high school. He published a couple of short pieces in his high school’s literary magazine, but it wasn’t until he met his partner, Erich, almost twenty years later, that he began writing again in earnest. With Erich alternately inspiring and goading him, Jamie published his first novella in 2010, and has since published over twenty other novels and novellas.

After legally marrying in 2010, buying a house together, and getting a dog, Jamie and Erich have settled down to life in the country, surrounded by wild turkeys, deer, and the occasional coyote. A few years ago, Jamie was able to quit the tech support job that gave him insanely high blood pressure. He now writes full-time… and feels much better.

Visit Jamie at http://jamiefessenden.wordpress.com

Blurb:

Jeremy Spencer never imagined the occult order he and his boyfriend, Bowyn, started as a joke in college would become an international organization with hundreds of followers. Now a professor with expertise in Renaissance music, Jeremy is drawn back into the world of free love and ceremonial magick. The old jealousies and hurt that separated him from Bowyn eight years ago no longer seem significant.  Then Jeremy begins to wonder if the centuries-old score he’s been asked to transcribe hides something sinister. With each stanza, local birds flock to the old mansion, a mysterious fog descends upon the grounds, and bats swarm the temple dome. During a séance, the group receives a cryptic warning from the spirit realm. And as the music’s performance draws nearer, Jeremy realizes it may hold the key to incredible power—power somebody is willing to kill for.  1st Edition published by Dreamspinner Press, 2013.

Buy Links:

DSP Publications

Amazon

Jaime generously offers a copy of a title of his backlist to one Lucky reader

Leave a comment to enter (competition ends april 1)

Good Luck 🙂