Nuts!

If you've been enjoying my blogs about Oz books, movies, etc. here at the Royal Blog of Oz, I've got something on my non-Oz blog that may interest you.

It's no secret that Oz is considered the first American fairyland, but of course there were fantasy stories that featured children visiting magical lands that preceded it. Right off, Alice in Wonderland. But there was a little German fantasy story in 1816 that was largely neglected until the late 19th century when it was made into a ballet. I'm speaking, of course, of E.T.A. Hoffman's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.

Frankly, I've loved this story since I was a kid, and this year, prepared 18 blogs about various incarnations of the story throughout the years. They'll appear daily, early in the morning, Central Standard Time. And since they've been written early and will appear automatically, they won't take me away from writing for the Royal Blog of Oz at all.

If you're interested, go on over to my non-Oz blog and check them out, starting December 1st. There'll be a final blog on the 19th.

(Maybe next year I'll tackle another Christmas story that's been retold many ways...)