On Wednesday, March 13, 2013, I received some fine compliments on the cover to The Hidden History of Oz, Book One: The Witch Queens. I was a guest on the second hour of Whispers in the Dark (download the podcast, it’s free). Right at the end, several people commented what a great cover the book has. They were talking, I wanted to say thanks, because it is my work, after all, but didn’t get a chance before the live feed ended.
So here is my chance. The cover is good because I put a lot of work into it. Here you’ll get a glimpse inside my thought process as I planned out the cover.
This is the first of many behind-the-scenes posts where I detail my thoughts and process as I built this book from the ground up. Everything, from the front cover image, to the words on the page, to the imprint logo on the spine, was designed by Tarl Telford, me. It was a lot of fun, and I’m proud of the finished product.
Let me pull back the curtain so you can see some of my process…
Do you like behind the scenes commentary, concept art, and witty anecdotes from your favorite stories? I do. My shelves are lined with concept art books from movies – from Star Wars, to Pixar’s The Incredibles, to The Dark Crystal. My favorite part of the movies and the stories is all of the imagination that goes in to making it. When the sketches are rough, the final product can be anything – at that moment, the rough sketch is completely powered by imagination.
It is for this purpose that I am introducing a new category to this blog: The Man Behind the Curtain. Of course you understand the reference. The Wizard was controlling the various disguises from behind the curtain. He was revealed as a humbug in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel.
Humbug is not my aspiration, rather, I want you to see what I see. Ideas come, sketches are scribbled, and drafts are written. Only at the end does it look inevitable. Of course it was meant to be that way.
So when you see the category: The Man Behind the Curtain, just know that it is a behind the scenes glimpse of my creative process.
What are some of your favorite movies or books to glimpse behind the curtain?
Hidden History of Oz author, Tarl Telford, will be a featured guest on the Wednesday, March 13th podcast, Whispers in the Dark, hosted by Viktor Aurelius. The entire show is two hours, running from 9:00pm – 11:00pm Eastern Time (GMT – 5 hours). The second hour is devoted to The Hidden History of Oz.
For all you fans tuning in live, there will be a very special treat. Only for fans tuning in live, and following the chat feed, there will be a limited-time coupon for a FREE download of The Hidden History of Oz, Book One: Witch Queens. For those who can’t tune in live, download the podcast for a limited-time discount coupon to download the book.
To all those who tune in and download the book, I’d like to hear your feedback. And, as always, when you finish the book, write a review, either on Amazon or Smashwords. Your honest review is greatly appreciated.
Munchkins, you know, the short people in the Wizard of Oz movie. Why are they so short? Why do they like blue?
L. Frank Baum wrote four races into The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Munchkin, Winkie, Quadling, and Gillikin. Then there were the folks in the Emerald Lands – the accepted term is Ozian, which Baum used himself in three of his books.
As I was working on Hidden History of Oz, Book 2, I noticed something peculiar. Munchkins and Gillikins have the same suffix – kin. Could they be related? I believe so. Walk with me a while and I’ll tell you.
Dorothy melts the Wicked Witch of the West, by W.W. Denslow
There are four witches in Oz – one in each corner, or rather, one in each Cardinal Direction. L. Frank Baum laid out the powers that ruled the corners of Oz. In his first book, he detailed this witchy phenomenon:
“There were only four witches in all the Land of Oz, and two of them, those who live in the North and the South, are good witches. I know this is true, for I am one of them myself, and cannot be mistaken. Those who dwelt in the East and the West were, indeed, wicked witches; but now that you have killed one of them, there is but one Wicked Witch in all the Land of Oz–the one who lives in the West.”
So, four Witches? Is this a Star Wars dark lord of Sith-type limitation on the number of Witches? Let’s explore this witch-rule across three different versions of Oz – canonical Oz, by L. Frank Baum; Disney Oz, coming to theaters soon; and The Hidden History of Oz, available now.
You may have seen what Disney is doing with their Oz prequel, Oz, the Great and Powerful. If not, here’s a quick peek at one of the TV spots.
Which Witch is which?
Disney’s Witches
Official character bio for each witch:
Glinda – Glinda is a good witch who rules over a peaceful kingdom of simple, kind folk. Beautiful Glinda is not only a compassionate and benevolent witch, but also a fierce protector of her people. Though Glinda sees through Oz’s facade early on, she knows genuine goodness lies within and helps Oz achieve his true destiny.
Evanora – A witch to be feared, Evanora is Theodora’s over-protective sister. With her penetrating gaze, she exudes a powerful presence and has positioned herself as the royal advisor and protector of Emerald City.
Theodora – Theodora is a beautiful, naive witch who is protected by her powerful sister Evanora. Theodora only wants peace to come to the Land of Oz and truly believes that a prophesied wizard will arrive someday to restore order.
Then there is a silhouette of a witch in the fire. Who could this be? We’ll have to wait until March 8, 2013, when the film is released, to find out.
Baum’s Witches
North
The Good Witch of the North was not named in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Nor whas she named in any of Baum’s Oz books. However, Baum gave her the name of Locasta in the 1902 musical extravaganza, The Wizard of Oz.
Ruth Plumly Thompson, Baum’s handpicked successor in writing Oz books, revamped the character and gave her the name of Tattypoo.
The Good Witch of the North is often confused with Glinda. Why? Because the 1939 MGM movie, The Wizard of Oz, combined the two good witches into one and called her Glinda. Thanks for that.
The Wicked Witch of the West is not named in Baum’s books. However, in the 1910 silent film, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, this witch is named Momba in the intertitles (or title cards).
South
The Good Witch of the South is Glinda the Good. She is the most powerful of the Witches. According to the Soldier with Green Whiskers, Glinda:
“knows how to keep young in spite of the many years she has lived.”
– The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, chapter 18, “Away to the South”
So she was the most beautiful of the four witches. Later books in Baum’s Oz series refer to Glinda as a Sorceress, rather than a Witch.
Hidden History Witches
This information is taken from The Hidden History of Oz, Book One: The Witch Queens.
Gayelette
Gayelette is the eternal sorceress who rules from the Ruby Palace in the lands of the North. She is a sorceress who exists in a different time than normal people – she does not ever age. She is more than one hundred years old. Her constant research keeps her too busy to pay attention to either matters of state or family.
Gayelette researches the power of dreams, probing into the mystery, “Why does nobody in Oz dream?”
Kalinya
Kalinya rules over the Munchkins in the East as their unquestioned leader. She is cruel and easily irritated. Her magic is telekinetic, and her greatest threat is to throw a person into the sky. She is clever and constantly schemes to gain more power, especially against her chief rival, Gayelette.
It is Kalinya who later becomes known as the Wicked Witch of the East.
Ondri-baba
Ondri-baba is the homely and cruel younger sister of Kalinya. She is short and stocky, and fond of wearing ornate neckpieces. Her magic is invisibility. She has a magic eye that can see long distances; it can see what normal waking eyes cannot see. She controls the majority of the magic hourglasses sold by Smith & Tinker, and so controls the Sandy Armies.
It is Ondri-baba who eventually conquers the Winkies in the West and becomes the Wicked Witch of the West.
Sonadia
Sonadia is only mentioned in the book. She met her untimely death under very mysterious circumstances. Through conversations with Kalinya and Glinda, we learn that Sonadia had powers over weather, and she taught some of these spells to Gayelette.
Mombi
Mombi is a strategist and political opportunist. Though her powers of transformation and disguise are well-known to the leaders of the various lands in Oz, Mombi seeks out the true positions of power – those behind the throne. She is careful in her use of power, though sometimes she gets caught up in Kalinya’s schemes. Note: Mombi is not mentioned in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, though she is the primary antagonist in Baum’s second book, The Marvelous Land of Oz.
Locasta
Locasta is a young Munchkin maiden, taken as an apprentice by Kalinya, Witch of the East. She is quiet and non-confrontational, doing what she is told. She fears her master and the cruel punishments that she earns for her supposed ineptitude. Her most powerful magic is the ownership of an oracular hat.
Though sent to capture Glinda, she learns a valuable lesson from the young sorceress and finds the courage to stand on her own merit. With Glinda building her forces in the South, Locasta becomes what Glinda cannot be – the Witch of the North.
Glinda
Glinda is the daughter of the Ruby Sorceress, Gayelette, and Quelala, rulers of the North. She was born a princess, but she imagines for herself adventure and romance, just like in her large collection of books. She has fiery red hair, and a temper to match.
When her parents disappear, Glinda finds herself thrown into adventure, with the Wicked Witches chasing after her. With a name and a fame belonging to her mother, Glinda fights back against the witches to earn for herself the title of Glinda the Good, and secure a new home for herself in the South.
History of the Witches in Oz
Baum’s version
According to Baum’s later Oz books, the witches had been ruling for decades, and the three witches – East, West, and Mombi in the North – conspired to conquer the entire Land of Oz and divide it up among themselves.
Hidden History version
According to stories in Book One, there have been two Witch Wars. Both of these wars tore the Land of Oz apart as the Witches combined their powers and created vast armies to fight against the kings and queens of the land.
In the Second Witch War, the Witches obtained an alliance and power from the Queen of Dreams, a mysterious ruler from across the sea. The Witches unwisely used this power and poisoned and destroyed the sea. The sea became a toxic desert that surrounds the Land of Oz.
Book One details the beginning of the Third Witch War, as the Wicked Witches again combine their power to overthrow the rulers of the land. While this book begins the Third Witch Wars, they do not end until Book Four, and the arrival of a young sorceress to the Land of Oz.
How will it end?
The Witch Wars end when all the Witches are dead. We know that Dorothy interacts with all of the main witches in the original story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. She destroys two of them, and receives magical protection and favors from the other two. However, the journey from four cardinal witches to two witches is a fascinating one explored in the Hidden History of Oz novels.
If you haven’t picked up your copy yet, you can find it on Amazon (in paperback and Kindle versions) or on Smashwords.
Fear is the anti-mortar on the brick road of my life. It is the unbinding factor that consistently threatens to undo all of the hard work that put into life.
For twenty-five years I have wanted to be a writer. I decided at about eleven years of age that I wanted to write novels. I started almost immediately. Today I have boxes full of notebooks full of stories – most of them half-finished. These were all building blocks for what was to come, and what is, now. Every so often, I go back and discover great ideas that I once had, but I had since forgotten in the flowing tides of imagination. You know, things get buried under the sands as the imagination flows and ebbs. The Hidden History of Oz, Book One: The Witch Queens (Emerald Engine Studios, 2012) is my first published novel. Why did it take so long to write my first book? The answer is simple in its profundity – fear. Read the rest of this page »
Courage is a thing that when it is inside you, the world seems different. So it was for the Cowardly Lion in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. So it is for us. Sometimes we just need a little reminder that what we need is already growing inside of us – it just needs a little more light to grow properly.
Today is the first day of 2013. This new year is going to be an exciting one for the Hidden History series. Book Two is more than half complete. The master plan is to publish in spring.
The entire series is plotted. That’s seven books’ worth of story that I am anxious to share this with you, my readers. When I say I have plotted out the series, I mean that I have set the landmarks and the the conflict. But any trip is not defined simply by its landmarks. The journey is
The wizard, by W.W. Denslow, original illustrator for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Free promo time on Amazon is over, and I want to say THANK YOU to all of the hundreds of readers who downloaded The Hidden History of Oz, Book One: The Witch Queens. If a link in the book brought you here, welcome. If you are looking for information about L. Frank Baum‘s Oz, you’ll find some useful pieces of canonical knowledge, as it relates to the Hidden History of Oz.
This handy infographic displays the interrelationship of Oz stories.
There are a lot of Oz stories out there, and we’re about to discover even more. Find out where The Hidden History of Oz series, written by Tarl Telford, fits into everything.
“I do not think that word means what you think it means.” I quote here Inigo Montoya here, talking to Vizzini about “inconceivable”. (see The Princess Bride for details)
Humbug isn’t a word we use anymore. It became forever immortalized on the lips of one Ebeneezer Scrooge in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. It’s too bad – humbug is a good word that describes very well a practice that many of us buy in to. It may even describe some of the people we may know. Read the rest of this page »
