The Blade of Safavid began as a business book where writer Kent Merrell sought to teach the principles of influence, persuasion and motivation. Culling from a forty-year career in advertising and marketing, Kent was confident his sage understanding of the art of persuasion could be a best-seller. It might have been. The problem came when his creative story telling intersected with the principles of persuasion. Soon the manuscript included more adventure than instruction. Over time, plot took priority, persuasion lost preeminence, and The Blade of Safavid stood alone as an epic historical fiction interlaced with characters both real and fictional. Kent turned his forty year career telling stories to sell products for clients such as Disney, Comcast, Wells Fargo, HBO, VISA, Sam’s Club, Discover Card and countless local and regional clients into a passion to create stories proving to be worthy of reading, remembering and sharing.