The Royal Magician of Oz Trilogy is a 3 volume tale of magic and wonder that recalls the cherished values of friendship, loyalty and courage. These timeless tales of Oz reminds us of the value of overcoming our deepest fears and conquering the challenges that might otherwise defeat us.

Volume One; Magician of Oz, Volume Two; Shadow Demon of Oz and Volume Three; Family of Oz are now available for your reading enjoyment, as well as The Ozian Adventure of Pickleless & Blu.

The Emerald Slippers of Oz
, featuring an Introduction by Roger S. Baum; great grandson of L. Frank Baum, as well as Tails of Oz and Even More Tails of Oz are also
available for your reading enjoyment.

Nomes of Oz is a wonderful adventure for anyone who loves the 1939 MGM film, The Wizard of Oz.

The newest adventure in Oz, entitled: The First Witches of Oz is now available and fast becoming a best-seller in the Land of Oz.

All are available in both paperback and Kindle.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Another Auction Victory for The Wizard of Oz!

Once again, I found myself at our local auction barn purchasing odd stuff and nonsense, and once again, The Wizard of Oz pops up when I least expect it.

For those of you who are too young to remember, there was a time when music was played on albums. Large black (usually) discs of vinyl which were place on a turntable, rotated at 33 1/3rpms and a diamond needle placed on the rotating disc which would vibrate as the needle traveled through small grooves etched in the disc. This is how we listened to music back in the days of old, when I was young... You kids get off of my lawn!!!!

Archaic, ain't it?

And yet, there are some albums which I own that I would not trade for a cd at any cost.
I happen to own every Beatles album my parents ever bought and although the sound quality is nowhere near as good as a compact disc recording, they still have a feel to them that no cd could ever capture. The pops, scratches are hisses are all part of the listening experience and I still listen to them on a weekly basis.

Anyway, while sitting at our local auction barn, I happened across a box of albums, including some by Queen, KISS and others. After a couple of bids, I found myself the proud owner of this box of history and carried it out to the car for the trip home. Browsing through it briefly before returning to the sale, I found Princess Ozma's odd sense of humor at work once again.



The album is "Eldorado" and it was produced by ELO; a.k.a., Electric Light Orchestra. It contains some incredible songs and wonderful memories. One particular song, which received little radio play but which I happened to like a lot was Laredo Tornado.

I had the pleasure of seeing this band in 1977 and was blown away by the music and stage show. It was the first time I ever saw lasers in a concert. They played this song and it was amazing. Oddly enough though, this is the only reference to The Wizard of Oz whatsoever. I never have figured out why they chose the cover image shown above. Magician of Oz is perplexed!

Nonetheless, Princess Ozma has had her laugh and surprised me with a wonderful gift from the past of my youth.

James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison to Princess Ozma

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Magician of Oz and the Cybil Awards!

Recently, I received notice from the Cybil Awards that my new children's book, Magician of Oz was nominated for a Cybil Award in the category of Fantasy/Science Fiction for Middle School Children.

http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/2009-nominations-fantasyscience-fiction.html

For those who are unaware or unknowing, the Cybil Awards are devoted to authors who write exclusively for children and young adults. There are 9 categories ranging from picture-books to young adult fiction and everything in between. This is a very prestigious award, especially given that nearly all the books nominated were done so by the very children reading them.

To say I am excited would be a major understatement. It never even occurred to me that Magician of Oz would be nominated for a literary award. I was happy just to get it out there for children to enjoy.

It seems they enjoy it very much, despite what some nitpicky Oz folks (and that is only a very select few... say 2-3) have to say.

Par Ardua Ad Alta!

James C. Wallace II
http://magicianofoz.blogspot.com/

Saturday, November 7, 2009

LCROSS and Magician of Oz... A Lunatic Prize!

For those who do not know me, I am many things. A father, husband, grandfather, scientist, educator, magician, author and Royal Liaison to Princess Ozma of Oz!

In addition, I am an astronomer. I have been for over 40 years. Mind you, not the backyard, once-a-year, only when its warm and only early in the evening type.

No....

I've paid my dues with over 2700 hours of eyepiece time, numerous published articles and observations, as well as a dedicated and proven track record in public astronomy and astrophotography.

I've ran observatories, planetariums, day-camps, single-day events, conferences and the like. Over the years, I've garnered a number of awards, honors, recognitions and other such trivia.

Now comes a unique honor that please me greatly.

The Lunar and Planetary Institute is an educational institution sponsored by NASA that promotes space education through outreach.
Their latest venture is a website dedicated to lunar stuff and such and is called MyMoon. It is a very impressive site.

The most recent project MyMoon decided to promote NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) program, which was intended to impact the Moon with both a significant mass object and a follow-up sensing satellite that would also impact the Moon, creating twin impacts sites on the Moon’s surface at the south pole. This was done in an attempt to detect traces of water vapor liberated from the impact.

Despite media disappointment at no visible plume from impacts, which came as no surprise to anyone who understands vector physics and lunar soil composition, much data was obtained and now undergoes detailed analysis.

Now my part comes into view...

MyMoon sponsored a contest to name the last words of LCROSS and my submission was voted number one (The Winner!) by public poll.

... and the winning phrase was: "I went to the Moon and all I got was this lousy crater!"

... and the crowd goes wild!!!!!

I was awarded a Moon Mini-globe for my efforts, which always pleases the lunatic in me.

Carpe Luna!!!!

James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison to Princess Ozma

Sunday, November 1, 2009

What is Ozzy? Is it the Banana Man?

My son did something very nice for me today. He downloaded onto my cel phone the theme music for the Captain Kangaroo show, which now plays every time I get a call. This makes me extremely happy as anyone who has read my interview in the Wizards Wireless forum of The Daily Ozmapolitan will know.

This got me to thinkin' (always a scary thought) about how I came to accept Oz as a real place.
Of course, my parents were a crucial part of this as they read to me often during my childhood and Oz was a central them in our readings. Captain Kangaroo was another influence... but, it was the Banana Man ( a character on the Captain Kangaroo show) that did the trick for me. How? Check out this video from Youtube and ponder...



Now, it's nearly 8 minutes long and as you watch it, no doubt you'll be asking yourself how can this nonsense be Ozzy when there is no mention of Oz. I submit to you that it is indeed Ozzy for the following reason.

It legitimizes the absurd... and Oz is, above all else, absurd!

Heresy! you say... and yet, the world of Oz is replete with absurdities upon absurdities. In fact, it is based entirely upon the premise of absurdity. After all, where in the Great Outside will you find living scarecrows, talking hens, a mechanical army of Oz, and so forth?

Watching the Banana Man and many other odd characters on this one show gave me the courage to accept the absurd as both real and attainable. Many years have I spent seeking out the absurd, only to find it standing tall before me at the Gates of the Emerald City.

And so I ask each of you the following question...

What absurdity in your life, not involving Oz, had the most impact on your choice to embrace the world of Oz?

And the one question I ask myself is... How did he get those watermelons in there?

James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison to Princess Ozma