Follow The Yellow Brick Road To My Guest Blogger: Mark Hunter

     My guest blogger and friend Mark Hunter loves L.Frank Baum. A creative genius who inspired both of us with his amazing imagination. Mark Hunter wrote a romance about a twister and now a collection of stories based on his first book. My manuscript has a lost young lady who is seeing some beautiful places while yearning for home. I remember reading the "other" Oz books as a child, but I never knew anyone else who read them until meeting Mark in a writer's group online. Besides writing, Mark is also a fireman in Indiana and a newlywed.  

            To coincide with the release of my short story collection, Storm Chaser Shorts, my friend Eve Gaal asked for a piece about the Oz books: A series of children’s novels by L. Frank Baum that led to the famous Judy Garland movie, The Wizard of Oz.

            Not only did my love of reading and writing begin with receiving Baum’s 14 Oz books as a child, but the original Storm Chaser also begins with a twister … and one of the stories in Storm Chaser Shorts actually features an appearance by an Oz character.

            There are several dozen Baum books – official and unofficial – but fourteen were written by Baum himself. In fact, he wrote at least 55 books, and as an early occupant of the little village of Hollywood produced movies based on Oz.

            Baum, who for a time lived in Chicago and vacationed in Indiana (an hour or so from my Indiana home, and near a little burg named Toto) already had some literary success when The Wonderful Wizard of Oz came out in 1900, with a first edition of 10,000 copies.

            You all know the story of that first book: A tornado carries Dorothy (and her little dog, too) to Oz, where she meets icons of Americana: A Scarecrow, a Woodman (who happens to be made of tin), and a Lion. Okay, not all icons of Americana.

            They march from the Munchkin Country to the Emerald City, get dispatched on foot to kill the Wicked Witch who rules the Winkie country, are carried back via flying monkeys to collect their reward, then discover The Wizard is a good man … but a bad wizard.

            Then Dorothy and friends take off again, walking through the Quadling Country, where the Good Witch Glinda reveals Dorothy had the power to go home all along. Yeah, a whole other journey, not covered in the 1939 movie.

            If I was Dorothy, I’d have looked for someone to kick with what must have been well-worn silver (not ruby) slippers. She just took three long trips by foot, and nobody told her she was wearing magic shoes that could take her home in three giant steps! Not to mention almost getting murdered by vicious Kalidahs (trust me, they’re vicious), deadly poppies, 40 wolves, eye pecking crows, killer bees (probably imported from Africa), Hammer-Heads, and my favorite, a giant spider.

            And it all really happened, too. No “it was all a dream” lameness.

The other Oz books include:

            The Marvelous Land of Oz

            Ozma of Oz

            Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

            The Road to Oz

            The Emerald City of Oz

            The Patchwork Girl of Oz

            Tik-Tok of Oz

            The Scarecrow of Oz

            Rinkitink of Oz

            The Lost Princess of Oz

            The Tin Woodman of Oz

            The Magic of Oz

            Glinda of Oz

Mark Hunter's first novel, Storm Chaser, was published in June, 2011 by Whiskey Creek Press. WCP also published his collection of short stories, based on the same characters, in June, 2012. Mark has also appeared in My Funny Valentine, a humor collection by various writers and artists.

In addition to his full time job as a Noble County Sheriff's Department dispatcher, Mark is a newspaper writer whose humor column is carried in three local newspapers; a 30 year veteran volunteer firefighter; and a volunteer writer for a few local non-profits. When asked if there's any stress in his life he laughs hysterically.

Mark can be reached through his website, www.markrhunter.com, and his works can be purchased on Amazon athttp://www.amazon.com/Mark-R-Hunter/e/B0058CL6OO .

Was there a book or author you remember from your childhood that influenced your writing today?

A Puppy's Brave Example

Last night I witnessed something incredible. It’s something small and perhaps inconsequential in the big scope of things, but I wanted to share it anyway because it proves anyone can overcome their fears. If my 3-pound, 5-month-old puppy can do it, so can you. Or I. What you ask? Overcome our fears. About three weeks ago, we purchased a spray water bottle and sprayed it each time Fiona wanted to do something bad--like bite me. (She’s teething.) It got to the point that we didn’t need to spray the bottle, we could just pick it up and she would run. In fact, after a while, I could just look at the spray bottle or touch it and she would dart into another part of the house with her tail between her legs. You see she was very scared of the large spray bottle which towers above her at about 14 inches and has a red nozzle.
Then last night we were holding the bottle in our lap and with cautious trepidation, Fiona came up on the couch and slowly approached the bottle. She didn’t do anything bad so we didn’t spray her. She started licking the red nozzle and we gently sprayed water into her mouth. It was like nursing a tiny fawn. She suckled and enjoyed the cool water and the attention. Even though she has a huge bowl of water in the kitchen, this felt  better and more than anything else, she took control, mastering her fear. Very courageous!


In fact it was almost a win-win situation except she still bites and the water doesn't scare her at all.Now we're wracking our brains to come up with another way to discipline the little minx! 

"Don't be afraid. Just do it."

Paybacks Are Hell and Very Scary

     It was bound to happen, after all paybacks are always looking for a way to drag us into the flaming fires of damnation but last week was a whopper. Not only was the temperature around here hovering on “One more Sin and You’re Toast,” but I also received an invitation and a temporary AARP card. First of all, I am not anywhere near the age of needing those Emergency-response-panic buttons you wear around your neck and most of the time my incontinence is under control. Just don’t hand me a huge glass of juice and then tell me a joke. Tossing the card aside, I confidently responded in a cheeky tone, “Oh they didn’t spell my name right, so it must not be for me.” Right. They got most of it right and it was clearly sent to me. Yup, no doubt about it. Misspellings aside—they had my number. That night I prayed for forgiveness. “Remember that time in 1995 when I made fun of my spouse for receiving mail from AARP? Well God, I’m very, very sorry about that. It was just a mistake, a slip of my glib tongue acting like a popinjay. Forgive me? Please?”

     The next morning, and I’m not making this up for dramatic effect. This seriously happened. The heat washed across the house, dark clouds lingered above and thunder shook the ground in the distance. The phone rang and it was the cemetery where my parents had been laid to rest.

     “Hi, this is Maggie,” she exclaimed, acting like a great salesperson or a member of my family. “I just wanted to tell you we’re having a sale on internment until the middle of August.”

     Is it the ears or the eyes that go first? Did she just say what I thought she said? “Thanks ah…ah, Maggie,” I replied, “I sure hope we survive August.”

     “Well, you never know with this heat wave,” she laughed. A regular comedian this one.

     “True, but--" I paused, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry. This woman was laughing and trying to sell me a plot while sounding like a humor writer or a standup comedian. I almost asked if she worked the comedy club circuit when this came out of her mouth:

     “There is a hotter place, you know.” Again, she started laughing at her joke and I told her to send me the information, because I wanted to get off the phone. Lightening flashed across the sky.

     “Bye Maggie,” I said, trying to sound cheerful. My hand shook like an old coot when I set the phone down. Indubitably, I aged five years during one short conversation.

Minutes later, my husband entered the room and asked why I was digging in the trash.

     “Have you seen that AARP card they sent me?”

International Bloggers Who Rock! It's like the Olympics!

Canada:

Devon Cooper is new on the scene and just released her debut novel titled, Bad Day.

Beth Muscat-Has written several books one of them I just reviewed last week, The Bracelet. She also wrote The Remember The Eyes series, and Wildflower amongst others.

The Water’s Edge is a wonderful blog about delicious things to eat or fun places to go up in Canada. Carla sounds like an amazing cook offering up some tasty recipes.

BCBuddies-Always fun and always eclectic and original. 

Speak of The Devil -- William Kendall is preparing to release his future bestseller, Heaven and Hell very soon. Click here to enjoy William’s wit and wisdom. BTW, he's a great follower and if he likes your blog he'll stay along as a loyal follower.

England:

March House Books is Barbara’s wonderful little online book site that takes you back into your childhood with snippets from various vintage books.

Carole Carr is also in England and is having a promotional giveaway this week for free books. The book First Wolf is free July 6^th-8 and Candle Dark the 12th and 13^th.

Cyprus:

Glynis Smy just released her debut novel, “Ripper, My Love,” which sounds like a fascinating read about Jack the Ripper.

South Africa

Desiree at Driftwood Ramblings is a garden and travel blogger who pulls the reader into South Africa. Her photos will stun you and not only will you want to return to her site, but you’ll be dreaming of visiting in person.

Mexico:

Leigh of Em-Musing writes beautiful posts and poetry. “Is it Now Yet?” her novel, will hopefully be gracing bookstores soon.

Thanks everyone for being a friend and maintaining your interest in The Desert Rocks. You are all Gold Medal Bloggers!!!

Celebrating Our Freedom

I saw this picture and  thought about my writing friends. A genuinely unique group of individuals who write in varied styles that include poetry, children's stories, mysteries, science fiction and romance. Topics we write about might include bears, good movies, cats, book reviews, monsters, hospital visits, fairies, travel, vampires and politicians. Did I mention cats? Thanks to our forefathers, the road to publishing is a  free road, but  one filled with hazardous distractions, barren white pages, evil plagiarizing fools and tons of rejection. Pursuing our craft while forging ahead can feel like an obstacle course veering off into the middle of a barren desert. One of the main reasons I'm so glad we  support each other with encouraging words and a sense of humor! Even though artists and writers usually work in solitude--today-- we stand together to celebrate our freedom!

 Happy Independence Day to all my patriotic friends and followers!

Please use sunscreen while out in the sun having fun!