Oziana 2014 is coming!

Another year, another Oziana. The International Wizard of Oz Club's next issue of their magazine of original Oz-based fiction, art and poetry will be available in late November from Lulu.com. However, contributors already have early copies and being one of them, editor Marcus Mebes gave me the go-ahead to do an early review to let you know what you can expect in this issue.

The issue features covers by newcomer Oziana artist David Bishop. His front cover offers a very nice, peaceful picture in the Emerald City. The back cover is just about a polar opposite, though it's still in the Emerald City. It illustrates one of the stories, but I won't spoil which!

The issue opens and closes with stories that follow up on Baum's Dot and Tot of Merryland, two years shy of its 115th anniversary. The first, "Lost and Never Found," is by David Tai and myself (though I worked on it so long ago I have absolutely forgotten exactly what my input was). Trot and Betsy Bobbin wind up in the Valley of Lost Things and make a few discoveries as they meet the Queen of Merryland. Illustrated by Dennis Anfuso.

The last story is my new version of "Roselawn." It's 1919, and Evangeline "Dot" Freeland is going home to Roselawn to meet her old friend Matthew "Tot" Thompson, who has come home from serving in World War I. However, Matthew has changed, and while Eva cannot fix him, she might be able to help him heal. Illustrated by David Baker.

So, I've told you about the wrapper and the bread, now what comes between them?

First up is "Labor of Love" by Kim McFarland. The Scarecrow and Scraps decide to take their relationship a little further. And while it might require more from Scraps than anything before, she decides that she is up to any challenge.

"Theresa's Pink Road" is a poem by Theresa McMillan, expressing her own life's road and her appreciation of Oz in it. Illustrated by Arthur Clippe.

"The New Fellow" by J.L. Bell takes the viewpoint of Hank the Mule as Kabumpo comes to stay for awhile in the Emerald City and how he acts with the other animals in Ozma's stables. Illustrated by David Bishop.

Then is the oddball but extremely fun "Rob Zombie in Oz" by Aaron Adelman. In a slightly different version of Oz where elements from the Magic Land series were in the past and elements from the Patchwork Girl of Oz silent film are canon, Jinjur is keeping an eye on Dr. Pipt's daughter Jeseeva when she realizes that the girl has been initiated to become a Yookoohoo! But can Jinjur use this information to her advantage? Illustrated by John Troutman.

This is another issue of excellent artwork and stories for a truly Ozzy treat!

The price of Oziana should be about $10 a copy. You can start planning a Lulu.com order to add it to your collection (do you have Sky Pyrates Over Oz or Outsiders from Oz or previous years' Oziana yet?) and keep an eye here for coupon codes!

Oziana 2012 is out!

After a long wait, Oziana 2012 is finally here!

Normally, Oziana consists of short pieces of work by members of the International Wizard of Oz Club. This year, editor Marcus Mebes decided to do something a little different: do an issue-length Oz story, Round Robin style. Appropriately enough, the person starting the story would be none other than L. Frank Baum himself!

You remember the unfinished Oz story fragment (which might not be by Baum) that features Ozma ice-skating? That was the launching point. And to further help, Robert Baum supplied an introduction and afterword, in which he supplies all the information he knows about the fragment.

Several Oz fans wrote fourteen new chapters including Marcus Mebes, S.P. Maldonado, Jared Davis (yours truly), Kim McFarland, Sam Milazzo, Chris Dulabone, Jeff Rester, Dennis Anfuso, Mycroft Mason, Nathan DeHoff, Paul Ritz, Mike Conway, Paul Dana, and Atticus Gannaway. In addition, S.P. Maldonado, Dennis Anfuso and Kim McFarland all provided artwork to illustrate the story.

Ozma's outing to go ice-skating is interrupted by the appearance of two visitors from Hiland and the Nome Kingdom, who tell her how their respective kings have been acting strangely. Glinda soon discovers that a cruel and powerful witch is at work, making people all over Oz do and believe peculiar things. Can our friends in Oz (including the Wizard, Scraps, Percy, Kabumpo, Jinnicky, the Scarecrow, and of course Dorothy) discover the witch's plot and stop her, or has she sunk her claws into Oz too deeply?

I was one of the early writers who helped the story get rolling by setting up the villain, allowing the remaining writers to work with and deal with her. (My chapter is also the shortest.) While the story didn't reach its fullest possible potential, the story does not disappoint in the least! And also, almost everyone in the blog team contributed to it as well.

One might think the nature of the story's writing might lead to an uneven pace and jarring writing styles, but while some writers can't help but put on their little flourishes, the editors made sure the narrative flowed very well.

This one's an exciting story with some great twists and turns and quite a formidable new foe! Add it to your collection!

Your traditional-style Oziana will resume in 2013.

Oziana 2011

I have only gotten a handful of Oziana issues since I first joined the International Wizard of Oz Club some years ago, but I think the latest issue printed is my most favourite.

Okay maybe contributing to the cover has something to do with it, but even without that I feel like the stories in this issue are the Best!

What I really like about this issue is the subtitle on the first page: "Origins and Explanations . . . maaaaaybe."
Usually some Oz Books suggest that their stories actually happened and should be taken as fact. And while we fans can choose to believe what is canon and what is not of Oz, that term " . . . maaaaaybe" offers us even more fun and a lighter approach to reading these stories, in that they are saying they should be believed only if we choose to accept them - and they are actually good stories coming up.

Something else that is quite interesting is how almost all the stories focus on (aside from POSSIBLE explanations and origins) how these selected characters were one thing then became another.

First up is David Tai's "Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought, Alone". It's almost like a poem, but more like a collection of thoughts, a list of words, of expressions and a lack of clarity. At first it does seem vague, but then it appears to hint on how the Glass Cat known as Bungle got her pink brains restored as well as her sassy vanity (another explanation was approached in the 2004 Oziana story "A Bungled Kidnapping in Oz" written by David Hulan and illustrated by John Mundt, Esq.). Here Kim MacFarland does a nice lined drawing of the protagonist. This story lasts about 2 pages.

Following this is a 5-page story written by Justice C. S. Fischer addressing the possibility of how after being melted, the Wicked Witch of the West became "Blinkie of Oz" and how the Oz characters dealt with this situation when it was brought to their attention. While Dorothy looks more like a six-year old Judy Garland, I did like how Dennis Anfuso illustrated the Tin Woodman.

I've sometimes wondered if it is possible for you to write a new character for a story and then actually say that anybody else could use that person if they so wished . . . well, my curious thought was addressed with Kass Stone's "Jenny Everywhere in Oz" (How, exactly, I will leave for you to discover for yourself). Jenny's encounters also make homages or allusions to things like "Transformers", "Narnia" and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on. When Jenny does get to a certain place, we have another 'human from outside world finally coming to and saving Oz' story, but this one is definitely one to enjoy reading with the little jokes, descriptions and events in this story. Old friends Jack Pumpkinhead and the Saw-Horse join her to meet Glinda and the villain is somehow related to the Wicked Witch of the East, a new character Baum would probably have enjoyed reading about. My most favourite part of this story is the inclusion of different and alternate universe versions of Glinda (though it may not be exactly as you expect). In this 9-11 page story, Alejandro Garcia does only three drawings, but the double-page spread of 'the Legion of Glindas' makes up for that (I must confess, having been so used to seeing how Eric Shanower illustrated Glinda, it took me a while to spot our Glinda in Alejandro's style). I do wish there had been another set of drawings for this story across the double-page spreads of text.

Next up, Mycroft Mason asks some of Trot's questions as she attempts to know more about "The Solitary Sorceress of Oz", otherwise our wise and often taken for granted friend, Glinda. Yep, our favourite Good Witch/Sorceress of the South's identity is questioned, approached and . . . MAAAAAYBE answered, across 7 pages (with Chapters + Titles). I won't say anything much else about this story either, as you will have to discover out the fun for yourself as well. And wherever Trot is, you can be sure Cap'n Bill will also make an appearance, but no longer than necessary (but I must admit I didn't recognize him at first, though Trot looks interesting and nice, as does Glinda especially!) I will say how refreshing it was to actually got closer and a bit more personal with Glinda and her life, or rather some of it, as we always see her as a powerful figure in red and white with blue eyes and an "all-seeing" Book, without ever really thinking about her needs and maybe wishes, or how her life was like growing up. I do wish this story had been longer, however. Isabelle Melancon does great work here illustrating Trot and Glinda, especially in their touching moment at the end.
What, you don't recognize the name Isabelle Melancon? Well, here's a little hint: Namesake.

Last up we have "Cryptic Conversations in a Cornfield (a prolusio in umbra)" by Jeffrey Rester. To put it simply, the Origins of Scarecrow. Yes, originS. We all know L. Frank Baum's simple yet mysterious and gap-holed recollection from Scarecrow about how he was made. But Scarecrow says himself how with his life being so short he knows nothing whatever:

"I was only made day before yesterday. What happened in the world before that time is all unknown to me."

And we all know, though many reject, Ruth Plumly Thompson's "reincarnation" approach. But here that consideration is mentioned briefly while other approaches take up the story. Scarecrow's Farmer is given the name Pax and his friend Lix. Ruled by the Wicked Witch of the East, the Munchkins are terrorized and teased by pesky crows and ravens, who sometimes appear supernatural, until the two Farmers decide to try and get rid of the birds from their crops. Their first Scarecrow is left alone, face untouched (no paint) and the Witch attempts to use some certain powder on it which doesn't work (you can probably guess why if you read it) so she demolishes it, the birds taking the blame when the Farmers return. Their next attempt is more successful and complete (I loved how Jeffrey took to quoting, with slight adjustments, L. Frank Baum's original writings for this part) and hung up left alone, despite the odd feeling Pax has of a beanpole in the field. After a little encounter with an owl, it is not too long before the Scarecrow is a failure at protecting the corn. But one crow, Solomon, befriends the straw man (I thought this was a Good point, as this not only reforms the black birds and makes them seem a bit better than earlier introduced, but it also teaches Scarecrow speech, which he wouldn't have much practice at or knowledge to do when Dorothy came). A Pair of Ravens recites some form of prophecy to the Scarecrow concerning the lost emperor Chang Wang Woe, which would be forgotten upon their passing. But the Witch of the East makes her second encounter with the Scarecrow and it is here that he learns about his fear of fire and its danger, only to be saved from certain destruction by some windy clouds bringing a storm. The next day, the Scarecrow sees the Silver Shoes making their way towards him again, only now worn by a little girl with her little black dog beside her, bringing him hope . . .

Although a long read of 20 pages, the expanded origin of our favourite straw-stuffed thinker is a highly enjoyable and fun read once you actually get into it, with a few Latin words thrown in (I can't say I know what they mean). And Luciano Vecchio helps us get through the story with his excellent pictures, stylistically lined in shading and lighting and other details, among them the Witch's look: she is portrayed as 'eldritch' (I thought more like a Native American/Indian shaman, with her hair partly tied in a braid with a tiny dreamcatcher, a wooden cane and shawl, her face in close-up is effectively shown in hideous glory), Scarecrow has bells on his hat like all the fellow Munchkins are described and the brief glimpses of Oz scenery are whimsical. Luciano Vecchio also contributes to the back cover art by showing the Dorothy-perspective of Scarecrow, while the story ends with HIS perspective of his coming friend.
The only thing I didn't quite like about the story was the Witch's occasional, slight, obsession with the scarecrow, thinking a big deal out of something so simple. Nor did I like the idea of the Witch of the EAST being afraid of water, but considering it saved scarecrow I can let that go. And though there are two times when we get double-pages of text, I would have liked an extra drawing or few by Lucian. But I suppose "Jenny Everywhere" would actually need that more.

Finally, we have another drawing of Bungle "The Glass LOLCat of Oz" by Kim McFarland, only this time it is a colour painting, printed in black-and-white, with "I Can Has CheezBurger" text.

While I may sound a bit biased, I am happy to say that this is definitely the Best Issue (and maybe slightly longest - it feels thicker than past issues) of Oziana I have ever received and read, with stories that do not have to be taken as complete canon unless you choose to.

I hope to contribute to other issues of Oziana soon, especially in working on stories!

The Royal Podcast of Oz: Continuing the Literary Tradition of Oz

In this podcast, we present two interviews with two people who have contributed to continuing the literary tradition of Oz today. The first interview is with Shawn Maldonado, who has illustrated a number of recent Oz books, and the second features Kim McFarland, author of the recently released A Refugee in Oz. As always, you can listen or download at the podcast site, or use the player below:

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JD: First and foremost, how'd you get into Oz?

SM: Back in 1985, when I saw "Return to Oz," I fell in love with it. I checked the library and found the White Cover editions of the Oz books, and started reading those.

JD: And now you illustrate Oz books.

SM: I've been drawing all my life, so it seemed natural to want to draw Oz. I was lucky. I contacted Chris Dulabone, and he gave me a project called "A Baffling Book About Bunnybury of Oz." And I started out helping illustrate books for him.

JD: You art style, I can tell your character designs are definitely inspired by John R. Neill, but they're a little more cartoon-ish looking, which is pretty nice.

SM: I'm inspired by cartoons in general, Scott Shaw, the guy who drew "Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew" is my biggest influence. When I was young, I'd draw Captain Carrot and characters like that. When I got into Oz, I found Dick Martin's illustrations. I love Dick Martin's illustrations, he was very cartoony himself, he's also a big influence in how I draw, as well as John R. Neill, and Eric Shanower, and Rob Roy MacVeigh. When I got to Oz I found all these incredible artists, and they just inspired me in how I draw my characters.

JD: Which Oz books have you illustrated?

SM: Uh, I started with "A Baffling Book About Bunnybury of Oz," my second book was "Three-Headed Elvis Clone Found In Flying Saucer Over Oz." I just finished "Bucketheads in Oz" for Chris, which was written by a number of contributing writers, Melody Grandy, Phyllis Ann Karr, Jim Vandernoot, and Chris, and some others, and that should be out, I hope, by November. I'm currently working on a couple of projects: a comic book story for John Bell, and Chris gave me another book called "An Umbrellaphant in Oz." I'm illustrating "The Talking City of Oz" by Ron Baxley Jr. and hopefully when you're done with your story I'll be illustrating that one.

JD: Actually, my editor had a couple questions for you, "What goes into your art?" I'm assuming he means develop it, he didn't really elaborate.

SM: Usually I start by reading the story, and whatever catches my attention first, what I think works as an illustration, I'll start sketching those and then flesh them out. And I go from there. Sometimes, I have to read the story over and over again, because if I don't pay attention, I'll miss something the writer describes and I'll have to redraw many illustrations. Some writers can be very descriptive, and I try to draw what they say and illustrate it the way they see it. Some writers give very vague descriptions and I have a little more leeway on how a character should look. Luckily with Oz, most of the character designs are pretty much already there. It also depends on where I think the story needs to be taken. I've been creating the designs since I was a child. Over the years I've developed them more to suit my needs, but I try to keep them familiar enough so longtime fans will automatically recognise them.

JD: What other work do you do outside of Oz?

SM: Right now, not much. I'm developing my own comic series called Mega Moose. I've been drawing him since I was young. They stopped doing Captain Carrot and I wanted to do something similar. I came up with lots of characters, superhero funny animals, and I've been working with a friend of mine on coming up with a comic book. At some point, I hope to get that published. My brother has been encouraging me to do political cartoons for him, and I did one last night in about ten minutes. I'm not a political person, but if he has an idea I'll illustrate it for him. I'm inspired by cartoons from the 40s and I would like to get into animation at some point.

JD: Yeah, I remember you had designs for an animated version of "The Wiz" on your blog sometime back.

SM: I, like many Oz fans, was disappointed by the film adaptation of "The Wiz," I say you put Joel Schumacher (the screenwriter) on anything and he'll ruin it. Diana Ross was too old to play Dorothy, the New York theme felt out of place, they cut a lot of songs, especially the Wizard's songs. I enjoyed some of the characters, like Nipsey Russell as the Tin Man, but with all this talk of remakes and animated cartoons, and different visions of Oz on film, I thought "Remake 'The Wiz' as a cartoon, based faithfully on the stage musical." So, I decided to design characters for that.

JD: Somehow you've become one of the more popular contemporary Oz artists, aside from the bigger names. It's like, right after Eric Shanower and maybe Anna-Marie Cool, it really comes down to you.

SM: I'm a fan of the books basically, I read all of the Famous Forty. And I like to draw, and I think artists who are a fan of what they're working on put more into it. I think it shows when I draw how much I love the characters and the series. I've been told by many people—Marcus Mebes, Chris Dulabone, Keven Smith—that if Reilly & Lee let Baum choose his own illustrator, he'd choose me. I think that's very flattering, but I don't think I'm that good of an artist, not that I'm not a good artist! But I still need improvement, and I understand that no matter how good you do, you can always do better. I love that people enjoy my artwork and want to see it, and hopefully I can continue to share my artwork for a long time. You can see my work at ozartist.blogspot.com.

Hopefully next year, I'll be going to the Winkie Convention, and meet some of the people. There's not a lot of Oz fans where I live, at least, none that I know of, and it's terrible not being able to share your enthusiasm with other people. That's why I love the internet, you can find people who have the same interests. Hopefully, I'll be able to go to the Winkie Convention and meet some of these people in person, and share my love of Oz with others.

JD: People can also follow you on Twitter at oz_diggs.

SM: And I'm on Facebook under "Shawn Maldonado."

JD: Well, we're going to start closing out, but I really hope you do get to go to Winkies next year, because I plan on going too, and it'd be great to meet you. And with that, we might as well close, this has been Jared Davis with Shawn Maldonado, see you next time.

SM: Bye!

---

JD: I guess we need to give you our standard interview question: How'd you get into Oz?

KM: Well, I could be a smark aleck and say "by tornado," but actually, when I was a kid, I had about half the books in paperbacks. I'm a very veracious reader. I have a silly amount of bookshelfs in my place. I tend to re-read books over and over, and at one point, I noticed my old Oz books, and I hadn't read them in about ten years, started reading them again and realized "this is really good stuff!" I started getting the other books, and I always loved telling stories myself, I have a website with decades worth of stuff that I've written. And stories just started happening in my head, and when that happens, I just start writing, and before I know it, I have a book!

JD: And that's how you came to write "A Refugee In Oz?"

KM: Yes. Actually, I first wrote a story called "Labour of Love," which was basically an excerise to get familiar with some of the characters. It's up on my website, I don't see it being published anywhere else. But after that, I felt comfortable enough in the world of Oz to try and write an actual novel.

JD: I read your book, thought it was a good one, gave it a nice review on my blog. I noticed you had your own style there. On one hand, you had the typical family-fun adventure in Oz, but on the other hand, you had some slightly more mature themes that you hinted at there.

KM: Me? Would I do that?

JD: Maybe? I don't know. (Both chuckle.)

KM: I'll let you name those things, I'm not incriminating myself.

JD: I don't mean "mature" as in "adult," I noticed you gave a couple of the characters a psychoanalysis.

KM: Yes, that was one of the central themes in the book when I was first coming up with ideas. For me, a book begins with a number of ideas, some of them make it into the final narrative, some I have to trash in order to create something that makes sense. And one thing that was obvious to me was that the Scarecrow didn't really need the brains the Wizard gave him, and the Tin Woodman was just fine without an artificial heart, but they don't know that. Some of their friends figured it out, but they haven't figured it out themselves. So, what would happen if they were forced to face life without those elements? What would happen? When I write, I tend to get inside characters' heads, I tend to get all psychological on them, and so I just get my story from exploring that.

JD: I also thought you had a nice, fun, adventure story in the book as well, and I thought it was pulled off beautifully.

KM: Thank you, your check is in the mail.

JD: Oooh! (Chuckle.) I mentioned I would be interviewing you on Twitter, and someone had this question: "I'm curious to know her opinion on the future of Oz fandom, and how she thinks it might be impacted by all the upcoming projects." I assume he means announced book and film products. I think you've seen a few on the International Wizard of Oz Club's Message Board.

KM: I'm a relative "newbie" to Oz fandom. I've been in online fandoms for a good long time, but I'm fairly new to contacting other Oz fans, so I don't really know much about the history of online Oz fandom, so I don't know what the future would be with all these different projects I've heard about. My only guess would be that when stuff starts hitting the theaters that there'll be a flux of new people going "Oh, I love this movie! It's the most wonderful thing ever!" And then a few weeks later, they'll have moved onto something else. Kind of like the "Avatar" fandom, but not quite turned up to 12. But I think all the old, hardcore fans, the ones who are really deep into Oz, who know the books, who can talk trivia about it and really enjoy Oz for itself rather than for the movie that they just saw. I think that they'll still be around, and we'll probably gain a few new who realize that there's more to this than these few movies they've just seen. And they'll get into it the way I did. Get into it up to your elbows!

JD: Have you had a chance to meet other Oz fans in person?

KM: No, I haven't. I'm hoping that maybe one or two will pop up at Dragon Con, I'm going this upcoming weekend. And as a matter of fact, my poor arthritic hands are still aching from sewing a Patchwork Girl costume. I sewed it out of broadcloth and everything as opposed to a patchwork pattern, so you can just imagine how much work that was. I'm going to be in the Dragon Con parade as the Patchwork Girl, I'll probably be walking around in costume, and usually when I do that, I get people popping up and saying "Oh my god, I love this!" Like "I love Rocky Horror!" or "I love ReBoot!" or whatever I'm dressed as. So, maybe I'll contact some Oz fans. Maybe sell a few books, too, ha-ha! Because I'm a capitalist swine! Oink! (In a high-pitched imitation of Miss Piggy.) "There's nothing wrong with being a pig!"

JD: (Laughs.) Okay, I think this is the most fun we've had on one of these interviews!

KM: Thank you! Get me started talking on Muppets, and we'll have a whole lot of fun, except the only Muppet-Oz thing has been a rather regrettable movie, so never mind! That movie would have been so much better if they'd taken Pepe out and had Rolf the Dog as Toto, then the movie might have made sense, as opposed to being a series of wisecracks.

JD: Do you have any especial favorite Oz characters?

KM: (Chuckles.) The Patchwork Girl! I've always loved the "crazy lady" types. My favorite character of that type is probably the ReBoot character Hexadecimal. They're a challenge to write, but it's so much fun getting into their heads because they're so unusual, so different, they think in their own pattern. And the Patchwork Girl is very smart. I don't like it when people tend to write her as a dopey, silly character. That frustrates the heck out of me, because she's smart, she just thinks so far out of the box that sometimes she can't see the box from where she is.

JD: I haven't heard it phrased like that before, but it really makes sense!

KM: Thank you. In "Glinda of Oz," everyone's talking about how to raise a city to the surface of a lake, and she's the one saying "Drain the lake, sillies!" You gotta respect someone like that. And I think she and the Scarecrow make a wonderful pair, in terms of their personalities bouncing off of each other. And also they are a really great brain trust (sic) because the Scarecrow has a methodical, logical point of view, he's going to think about things A to B to C; the Patchwork Girl is gonna pinball around and come up with all sorts of ideas, between the two of them you got a pretty good think tank!

JD: You've said you read a lot of the Oz books, I doubt you've read them ALL because of all the Oz stories that have been published...

KM: No, I haven't, not even close!

JD: Have you read the entire Famous Forty?

KM: No, I haven't. The biggest reason being that I'm a single woman with a hungry mortage to feed. And it's not exactly like you can find these books all over. I'm sure you can download them, but I have a very hard time reading off a screen, you don't want to know how thick my glasses prescription is! I certainly read all of Baum's books multiple times, I read some of Ruth Plumly Thompson's books, and here and there a few others, I don't think "The Wonder City of Oz" is one of the Famous Forty, is it?

JD: It is one of them.

KM: I have that and I have to admit I'm rather fond of it, even though it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But there was one image in there that I thought was funny enough to include a homage to it in my upcoming book "Imposters in Oz." That was the Patchwork Girl turning into a boxer. However, I don't have her running around almost naked. No. She keeps her clothes on.

JD: Considering how she's built, it might be hard for her not to keep her clothes on...

KM: Well, in that book, apparently somebody forgot that she was made completely from a patchwork blanket and drew her as a rag doll with a patchwork dress on top of it, and her head wasn't even patchwork when she lost her regular patchwork outfit. Yeah, you can attribute that to the magic turn stile, but to me, it looks kind of shaky, changing the composition of all of her, but, eh, never mind.

JD: We also mentioned Oz films, do you have any particular favorites among them?

KM: Well, first and foremost, I gotta say the 1939 movie. I love that. I have happy memories of it, and when I see it now, sure, some parts of it are cheesy, but you know, it's still good. I really like it. I find myself wishing they left in the Woodman's origin, but for the sensibilities of 1939, maybe axe-murdering was a little bit out there. Let's see, that's so far ahead of all the others, I can't really say I have much of a second favorite among them. I'm looking at my collection of DVDs and video tapes, and I have a little semi-shelf for Oz stuff. I will admit I have a soft spot for "The Oz Kids." Kind of like "Muppet Babies" with Oz. Okay, it was silly, it was goofy, but I enjoyed it.

JD: I think that's what really matters when it comes to these things: if you really enjoy it.

KM: Mmm-hmm. Although, again the Patchwork Girl was really mis-characterized there. She was turned into June Cleaver and that kind of hurt. The rest of it was fun, though. Wasn't enough of Jack Jr., though, I liked him, but I guess every cast has to have a bench warmer.

JD: And back to your books, "A Refugee in Oz" and the upcoming "Imposters in Oz." I believe you're trying to get someone to illustrate "Impostors," right?

KM: Well, unless something interesting happens, I plan to illustrate it myself. But before that, I have another project that I promised somebody else. So, I'm going to let my book sit for a little while, and I got somebody looking at it right now. I think that the draft is absolutely perfect, it can't be improved, which means that it's time for somebody else to look at it and tell me that I'm wrong. And I'll be working on that other project, so I'll come back to "Imposters in Oz" with fresh eyes hopefully get some new ideas for it.

JD: When do you think it might be finished?

KM: I can't really say. Hopefully early next year. I'm not promising anything, though. Sometimes the illustration process can take quite a long time. With "A Refugee In Oz," I only planned to do about a dozen illustrations of the high points of the book. Before I got done, I had somewhere in between forty and fifty.

JD: Well, they were all done very well...

KM: Thank you!

JD: Where can people get your book?

KM: Well, you can e-mail me and I will sell you an autographed copy. No extra charge for the graffitti. You can buy them on Lulu.com or Amazon.com, and from Amazon, they're eligible for super saver shipping. I make more from Lulu than Amazon, but whatever's convenient for the buyer. And they're also available as downloadable PDFs from Lulu, if people want to save a few bucks or prefer those magical book-things. Actually, the week before I published "A Refugee in Oz," I saw somebody on the train, reading something via an iBook. And I asked him if he could show me how the illustrations were done, explaining the situation, and he opened up a copy of, I think, "Winnie-the-Pooh," and the illustrations looked pretty good there, even though they're kind of detail-y and cross-patchy. Since mine are a little like that, I felt a little better about it, like "Okay, if they were put on this device, they wouldn't turn to hash."

JD: Anything you'd like to say to Oz fans and potential readers?

KM: Well, if you like my book, then good, and if you really liked it, you're welcome to review it on Amazon. Yes, I have no pride. And if you didn't like it, well, sorry! And as for Oz fans, keep the faith, keep enjoying Oz, don't let anyone tell you it's for kids. Because one of mottos is "It's never too late to have a happy childhood." I've been having mine for forty years! Forty-two, actually, but you didn't hear that from me!

JD: You're only as old as you think you are, so stop thinking.

KM: (In a high-pitched, baby-ish voice) "I don't understand what you're saying, mister..."

JD: Well, Kim, it's been a real pleasure interviewing you.

KM: Thank you, it's been a real pleasure being interviewed.

A Refugee In Oz

With print-on-demand publishing, hundreds or thousands of books become available each year. As this is an economical way to get their work out there, many Oz fans now choose it to share their Oz tales. However, as with all print-on-demand titles, it's a mixed blessing. Amazing writers may finally share their talent in stories that large publishers would not find so marketable, but on the other hand, there are some stories that come out that would have been best left unpublished. Anyone can write enough text to fill a fair amount of pages and feel that earns them the title of "author," a title some feel should not be given so lightly.

And so we come to A Refugee In Oz by Kim McFarland. Although she illustrated the book, the cover is by Lar DeSouza, and shows comical characterizations of Dorothy, the Tin Woodman, and the Scarecrow being flown over what appears to be the Deadly Desert, lifted by a strange blue fellow in a white robe. I don't normally note the cover or illustrations, but I felt this was a great, appealing cover!

The story begins innocently enough in the Emerald City, with Dorothy and the Scarecrow going to visit the Tin Woodman on his "sort of" birthday, the anniversary of when he became completely tin.

Then, we shift to a hidden city in the Deadly Desert, protected by a glass globe. The people who live here are the Madou, a race of short, blue-skinned people. When their village is invaded from below by the Nomes, a young Madou named Kokoro flees across the Deadly Desert for help!

Well, we can guess who he runs into, and of course, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman lend their aid, as well as sending for more help from the Emerald City.

And now, sadly, I can't say any more, because the story really starts to get even better! While the plight of the Madou could have been expanded into a whole book (and they are such an interesting race that I would not mind reading more about them), the author wraps their story long before the end with a shocking twist that no other Oz book I've read has dared to do. (Not even Gregory Maguire!) This twist leads the characters and us, as readers, to truly re-examine the characters and natures of two of the most beloved Oz characters. While some readers have realized this, it is even more powerful when they come to realize it themselves.

And now I'm speaking so vaguely that I'll lose you if I don't stop...

The author's illustrations, inspired by John R. Neill's classic depictions of Oz, are excellent! Kim uses fine lines and details to depict her Oz in a beautiful fashion, making it cheerful, scary, or sad. Well done!

As you can see, I've already called Kim McFarland an "author," so it's clear where I think her talents are. A well written, thought-provoking, and readable story with excellent illustrations, under an attractive cover to boot? What are you waiting for? Go get this book!