Has it really been a year?

I was looking at the calender today and observed that it has now been one full year since I began the process of fulfilling Princess Ozma's Royal Command to spread the word and write the story of her new Royal Magician.

I remember well that day last year when I found myself standing before the Great Red Brick Palace of Glinda in the southern Quadling Country. How I got there is still a mystery to me as I was merely exploring an old cemetery in rural Indiana and happened to turn around. Voila! Oz all around me.

Being my first visit, I was both stunned and amazed. The Great Sandy Waste in the far distance was both awe inspiring and HOT! To the north, the faint green glow of Emerald City could be seen at night, shining like a beacon to all of Oz. The flowing red and green vegetation of the countryside was incredibly beautiful. The polished red brick and marble of Glinda's Palace was as stunning and regal as I had read about as a child. In the Grand Courtyard was a wonderful fountain of clear blue water and it was there that I first met Glinda, Ozma, Dorothy and many other wonderous characters of Oz.

For two weeks, I sat in amazement as the stories came in rapid succession. Tales of friendship and love, family and truth, Good and Evil. All these I sat and took in while characters of old came and went.

I found Tik-Tok to be the most fascinating as he shuffled about, ticking and talking, his mechanical works seemingly in perfect working order. By his side was a most unusual pet, whom I'll describe later.
Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse were most unusual with their tree limb appendages and bark for skin.
And then there was Ozma, Princess and Royal Ruler of Oz. A more lovely ruler you'll never find in all of Oz, or on the Outside as well. Although she appears to be no more than a young girl, she has ruled for over a century and her wisdom, innocence and demeanor are that of someone much older. She rules with kindness, compassion and love. Who here on the Outside can claim to be as benevolent a Ruler.

She spoke to me for days on days, relating tales of Oz both fantastic and amazing. Many I recall from my youth, reading the great stories from her Royal Historian, L. Frank Baum, whom she still remembers with great fondness and love. In addition, she spoke of a young magician named Jamie Diggs, who now serves as her new Royal Magician. It seems the old Wizard of Oz, one O.Z. Diggs, who had served as Ozma's Royal Magician for many years had retired, leaving the post open and serving to pave the way for the young magician.

Upon my return to the Outside, by means just as mysterious as my entrance into Oz, I was commanded to tell the story of Jamie Diggs. One year later and I have fulfilled a portion of her Royal Command with the release of MAGICIAN OF OZ, the first of a three volume story about the great grandson of O.Z. Diggs and his grand adventures in Oz, and on the Outside as well.

The year that has followed has been filled with both triumph and frustration as I deal with process of publishing MAGICIAN OF OZ. From narrow-minded agents and publishing firms to journeys across the Outside, I have endured the process and now find myself looking back with pride and honor. The Royal Command is being fulfilled as we speak, or read as the case may be.

The task at hand now is to spread the word and shout to the heavens above... MAGICIAN OF OZ is here at last!!!

Carpe Noctum...

James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison to Princess Ozma
magicianofoz (Twitter id)