Exactly one year ago, I published
Wonderland.
I had planned for Wonderland to be a standalone novel but the following November
it seemed logical, even preordained, that I should write a sequel sourced from
the L. Frank Baum’s Oz books. (And if I were doing that, then it would have to be a
trilogy with the third book sourced from J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan the following
November).
Since it is a trilogy, Oz
will make more sense if you read the first book, so go out and purchase Wonderland;
I’ll wait.
You’re back? Good, now where
were we? Oh, yes — Oz. Each book in the trilogy is written in the mood or tone of
its source material. While Wonderland is more whimsical, Oz
is the hero’s journey The characters may bear the names and some of the
attributes of their literary namesakes but they, and the world they inhabit,
are much darker. Alice is a police detective; so is Capt. Jim Hooker, who goes
by the nickname Hook since he has a prosthetic metal hook for his left hand. Hook
has established Neverland Ranch in the valley north of Wonderland as a refuge
for abused boys he calls the Lost Boys. Edmund Tusk (nicknamed the Walrus
because of his physical similarity to the sea creature) is a criminal kingpin
ruling over the futuristic city of tomorrow, Wonderland. Dorothy Gale is a
reporter from Kansas. Peter Pan is a middle-aged pedophile who’s not only
attracted to boys but considers himself one as well. Wendy’s the abducted child
turned nurturing young woman who finds in the older yet childlike Peter someone
to mother. Tinka Belle is a badass drug dealer peddling her recreational drug
Fairy Dust in Tenement Row and the rest of Wonderland’s slum, where we find
Glinda Goodwitch and her house of prostitution (“Just follow the yellow brick
road”); Old Mombi, who specializes in abducting children and young women; Jack
Pumpkinhead, ex-prizefighter turned owner of the seedy Quadling bar; Gen.
Jinjur and her army of punk rock lesbians: Buzz, Skinz, Rainbow, Mo Hawk, and Spike;
and a host of other unsavory characters.
In addition to the Art Deco
skyscrapers illuminated by spotlights and the squalid underbelly of the city of
tomorrow, Wonderland has a scenic wharf in its harbor separating the river from
the inlet to the sea. There you’ll find the avuncular Cap’n Bill — whose left
leg is a wooden stick of hickory from the knee down — smoking his briar pipe, and
Trot, the young woman who’s both his first mate and ward. Most likely, they’ll
be at The Mock Turtle bar drinking with Capt. Griffin, a lobster fishermen and
rummy, along with his parrot Munchkin.
Wonderland wouldn’t be
Wonderland without the wealthy and powerful players that comprise its high
society. Mademoiselle Milliner — a delusional schizophrenic who made her
fortune designing outlandish hats — hosts a daily tea party at her mansion,
aided by her manservant Haigha and her ever-present guest the somnolent Mr.
Dormaus. A more distinctive antebellum mansion belongs to the Duchess, the
ugliest woman in Wonderland, who lives with her daughter Cheshire (the city’s
enigmatic information broker), her son Pepper, her butler Mr. Frogge, her
footman Mr. Fish, and the eponymous Cook. In addition to meals, Cook also
prepares the drug they manufacture named Pepper, which the Duchess’ young son
Pepper and his constant companion Mouse distribute through the city. Cat
Pillar, the second ugliest woman in Wonderland, is frequently a guest at the
Duchess’ mansion where she can be found seated on an ottoman smoking her
hookah.
The Duchess’ ex-husband Nome
King now lives on his own island, the Isle of Ev, which is inhabited only by a
tribe of native Quadlings. Prof. H.M. Wogglebug — the creator of both Pepper and Fairy Dust — also resides on the island and his latest creation is an hallucinogenic gas he calls Scarlet.
Oz available December 1, 2021 in paperback, Kindle, or ebook.
