#AtoZChallenge : Emerald Slippers of Oz !

Every time I sit down to do a blog posting, I never know what I'll write about until I do. Well, since today is Friday, then today's blog posting is brought to you by the letter E!

Late last year, my wife Amanda; creator of the legendary Potato Soup featured in Magician of Oz, came to me with an idea for her own Oz story.

It seems that when I wasn't looking, she had made a sojurn into the Land of Oz and met with Her Majesty, Princess Ozma; Ruler of Oz. Turns out Princess Ozma had confided in Amanda a story about several former witches and magicians who had lost their powers long ago and were looking to regain those very powers.

Thus started our own journey as co-authors as we embarked down the road of yellow brick to tell the story of The Emerald Slippers of Oz.

It is the story of Blinkie the Witch, former ruler of all the witches of Jinxland in the southern region of Quadling Country of Oz; and of 'Ol Mombi, former sorceress from the northern Gillikin Country of Oz; of Dr. Pipt, once known as the Crooked Magican and creator of the Powder of Life; and of Ugu the Shoemaker, who once had kidnapped Princess Ozma and transformed her into a golden peach pit.
All four of these former witches and magicians, whose powers were destroyed by Royal Proclamation of Princess Ozma, now long to return to their ways of magic and Evil.
One day, Dorothy Gale of Kansas decides that she wants to give Princess Ozma a birthday gift of emerald slippers and convinces Ugu, now a grey dove, to return to his old human form and his ways of shoemaking and create a lovely pair of slippers, using emeralds from Emerald City.
Soon, the witches and magicians come together and try their best to corrupt the Emerald Slippers and bid them do their Evil bidding.
Along the way, we meet Pacifico, the barefoot shoemaker's apprentice, who is gifted the Gemini Emeralds by the Queen of the Field Mice and meets many new and interesting folks in the Land of Oz.
Will the witches and magicians of Oz regain the Evil magical powers, or will Pacifico, Dorothy and even the Wizard of Oz defeat them once again? Only time and Serendipidy will tell.

Here is a preview of the new cover, which was done by Gwen Tennille, a very talented artist and good friend.

Now, after months of writing and such, we find ourselves near the end and wondering how our story will be received by Oz fans around the world, especially after such a successful reception of the new Disney film, Oz the Great and Powerful.

Only time will tell the tale!

James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison of Oz

#AtoZChallenge : Dot and Tot in Merryland!

Deciding what to blog about is always difficult when there are so many directions to take.

Since today is Thursday, today's blog posting is brought to you by the letter D.

When L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, it was very well recieved, though Mr. Baum had not yet realized just how popular it would become. As such, he then tried his hand at another set of fairy tales with his next book, Dot and Tot in Merryland, which was published in 1901.

It was illustrated by W.W. Denslow, who had also illustrated The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

The Oz Wiki describes Dot and Tot in Merryland as follows:

"Dot Freeland and Tot Thompson float away in a boat while on a picnic and find themselves entering Merryland. They travel through each of the seven valleys of the fairyland and have many strange experiences before leaving the country and returning home."


I own a 1st edition of this fine book and the illustrations are very nice and very similar to those of Baum's 1st book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Owing to the fragile nature of my copy, I have chosen from images from Google rather than try to scan my own book images. One thing you'll notice is W.W. Denslow's signature, which includes a Seahorse. Very nice!!!

Here, we see Dot and Tot as they make their towards Merryland.

Once there, they run into an fine adventure with some clowns. Again with the clowns!

And before they return to our world, they discover how babies are brought into the world.

Of course, the children of America would not let Mr. Baum off the hook and he soon found himself writing many more Oz books. He did try his hand at some other children's fantasy books, a few of which I may blog about during the month.

James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison of Oz

#AtoZChallenge : Cowardly Lion and His Color Plates!

Contemplating what I might blog about today, I noticed that it was Wednesday, and so today's blog positing is brought to you by the letter C.

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog posting, I had acquired 3 Oz books by Ruth Plumly Thompson, who served as the 2nd Royal Historian of Oz following L. Frank Baum's death in 1919.

It thus seemd appropriate to talk about her 3rd book, The Cowardly Lion of Oz, which she wrote in 1923 and is the 17th book about Oz overall, including Baum's 14 books previously.

In particular, I wanted to show off some of the most incredible color plates drawn by John R. Neill that are found inside this fine Oz book.

The story involves the adventures of a circus clown named Notta Bit More, and 7-year-old Bobby Downs, an orphan from Stumptown, U.S.A., both of whom are compelled by Mustafa, the Ruler of Mudge in a far-off corner of Munchkin Country to capture the last lion in Oz, the Cowardly Lion (of course).

During the course of the story, we encounter the circus clown, Notta Bit More as he finds himself blown out of his big top tent. I'm glad my son Halley hasn't read this story as he has a mortal terror of clowns.

Later, we meet the Featherheads of Un, a strange race of bird people.

At some point during the story, Notta Bit More disguises himself as a fish and we see the young orphan, Bobby Downs with their new friend, the Cowardly Lion. So much for kidnapping the big cat!

Finally, the Wizard of Oz shows up to add in his two cents worth! Hmmm. He doesn't look anything like Oscar Diggs in Oz the Great and Powerful, does he? I wonder if Oscar knows he'll eventually go bald?

Naturally, as part of the story, the Cowardly Lion finds himself turned to stone, kinda like he did in Disney's Return to Oz film of the mid-80's. We even get to see Dorothy, who is quite sad at her dear friend's predicament.

But of course, there's always a happy ending in Oz... as it should be, and we find the Cowardly Lion conversing with some kinsmen of the Tin Woodman.

Now, these are only about half of the color plates included in the book and there are many black and white drawings throughout.

Also, this is a fine story, but it is clear to the reader that this is not L. Frank Baum doing the writing. This brings up a personal picadelo of mine.

Most people consider Ruth Plumly Thompson, John R. Neill (the 3rd Royal Historian), Jack Snow (the 4th Royal Historian), Rachel Cosgrove Payes (the 5th Royal Historian), and Eloise Jarvis & Lauren Lynn McGraw (the 6th Co-Royal Historians) as representing the Founding Forty books that are the canon of Oz while anyone who follows is non-canonical and more often called fan fiction.

I consider this a load of rubbish! If it ain't L. Frank Baum, it's just someone else's vision of Oz and my own vision of Oz is just as good and just as canon as any of the other Royal Historians that followed in L. Frank Baum's penstrokes. Some like to point out the very few minor inconsistencies in my writings... but then again, L. Frank Baum suffered similar inconsistencies in his own work. Go figure?

I look at it this way... If The Baum Bugle, an International Wizard of Oz Club publication reviews my work and calls it "in the true Baum tradition," then I must be doing something right.

I know Princess Ozma is very pleased with my work... and that is all that matters to me!

James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison of Oz

#AtoZChallenge : Books 'Bout Oz But Not By Baum!

Because I have a rather heavy course load this semester and owing to the fact that I stayed very late at another auction just down the road from the college where I teach, I didn't get home until after midnight. Still though, I consider this to still be the second day of the April A to Z Blogging Challenge and so I blunder forth.

As such, today's blog post is brought to you by the letter B, hence the subject matter, Books 'Bout Oz But Not By Baum.

Now, as I mentioned yesterday in my letter A blog posting, auctions are my passion and I was very lucky in finding not only an Oz album, but 3 books about the Land of Oz which were not written by L. Frank Baum.

The first is The Cowardly Lion of Oz; written by Ruth Plumly Thompson in 1923, who took over as the second Royal Historian of Oz following Baum's death in 1919.

Fortunately for Ruth Plumly Thompson, who I'll refer to as RPT, John R. Neill, who served as illustrator for all but Baum's 1st book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1899).

The second book is Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz, also written by RPT in 1929 and illustrated by John R. Neill.

The third book I acquired last night was The Gnome King of Oz; written by RPT in 1927 and illustrated by John R. Neill.

The only issue with any of these books is the cover on The Gnome King of Oz, which is a bit scuffed, but not too bad. Otherwise, the other two books are in pristine condition and are, I believe, 1st editions. Since I only paid $20.00 a piece for them, I feel really good about my newest Oz books not by Baum.

Later this month, I'll blog about some of the interior illustrations by John R. Neill in both Baum's books, as well as Ruth Plumly Thompson.

For now, I'll just enjoy the lovely craftsmanship and artistry of these nearly 100 year old books. They just don't make'em like this anymore!!!

James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison of Oz

#AtoZChallenge : An Auction Album from the Land of Oz!

April is the month when a yearly challenge takes place; to blog every day, starting April 1st with the letter A and continue each day with the next letter of the alphabet (Sundays are a day off from the madness!)

Being April 1st and the letter A, I begin with something which all my followers are well aware of... I hope!

Auctions are my passion, as is the Land of Oz, of which I write children's books about. Years ago, I was summoned by Princess Ozma to visit the Land of Oz and hear tell of Her newest Royal Magician. She commanded me to tell the tale of the Magician of Oz and many other stories, which I am currently engaged in doing.

I mention this because in writing my second Oz book, Shadow Demon of Oz, I chose to write about the Shadow Auction Barn, which I renamed the Umbra Auction Barn (Umbra is Latin for Shadow, go figure?). Anyways, the story begins with the Diggs family participating in a local auction, which is something I do every week here in Terre Haute.

This day, I got very lucky at the local auction house when I came across an album (remember those?) called:

MECO: The Wizard of Oz

Made in 1978, it is a disco version of the story of the MGM 1939 Wizard of Oz movie. To say it is horrible is to be making an incredible understatement!

As you can see, there is the Dorothy & Toto, the Scarecrow, Tinman and Cowardly Lion, all joined by various funky-dressed citizens of Oz... and even the Wizard, who seems to be controlling things in the background.

Now, I'm proud to claim that I survived disco and the '70's in general, though with music like this, I have no clue how! Back then, drugs were cheap and plentiful, the drinking age was 18 and sex didn't kill you! Oh what times those were...

The album itself is in remarkable condition and when I played it, there were very few pops, hisses or clicks. Funny though, my grandkids are facinated with a big black disc that spins around, that you put a diamond needle on it, and music comes out of it. They have no clue how it works.

On the back of the cover is Glinda and her ever-present bubble, two very happy Munchkins and even the Wicked Witch of the West and three of her flying monkeys in the sky, along with more happy citizens of Oz.

In the credits listed on the back are the usual nods to musicians and such, but there is a whole section devoted to: Musicians from the CORMAR GALAXY.

There is also a section naming folks:  From the Planet Serutu. Lots of odd names and strange things... Go figure?

Tomorrow, I take a look at some great Oz books I also acquired at the auction today!

Per Ardua Ad Alta!!!

James C. Wallace II

Royal Liaison of Oz