Behind the Scenes: Pure. Magic.

Written by S.G. Rogers

True artists evoke emotional and sometimes spiritual responses, seemingly with little effort. Have you ever been lifted up and transported elsewhere by Shakespeare, Michelangelo, or Mozart? Do Baryshnikov, Michael Flatley or the Celtic Women send your soul soaring? The genius of Tolkien, J.K. Rowling and Dickens never ceases to amaze me. What these artists perform is pure magic. On the planet of Yden, they probably would have been wizards.

In The Last Great Wizard of Yden, sixteen-year-old Jon Hansen is one such artist. On Earth he’s an artistic prodigy but when he discovers he can work magic on Yden, it comes as a shock. After he’s captured by Warlord Mandral and thrown into the dungeon with Nomad Princess Kira, he learns his talent has a more magical quality than ever before.

Excerpt:

Kira’s head bent low and her shoulders shook from the chill…or perhaps from sorrow. After a few moments, Jon swung his knapsack off his back and searched inside until he found his sketchbook. “How about I draw you something, okay?”

He stood in the shaft of light from the window as he sketched. When he was done, he knelt in the straw next to Kira. “Look. It's a butterfly.”

Kira raised her head as she pretended polite interest.

“My sister likes my drawings,” he said, thrusting the sketchbook into her hands. “I thought it might take your mind off your trouble.”

Suddenly embarrassed, he began to flip the popping fluff balls with the toe of his boot. It was kind of like Hacky Sack with a twist, and he'd always been pretty good with a Hacky Sack.

“You're a wizard,” Kira said in a hushed tone.

Jon bounced a rodent from one foot to the other. “Nah, it's not so hard once you've got the hang of it—”

The rodent hit the ground as a butterfly floated past Jon’s face, circled the dungeon cell, and landed on Kira's outstretched hand.

“Beautiful,” she said.

The delicate creature was gorgeous with its neon electric blue-and-yellow coloring lighting the darkness exactly the way Jon had imagined.

“Did I do that?” he wondered out loud.

Perplexed, he watched the butterfly take off toward the window grate in a bid for freedom. He glanced down at his sketchbook. It lay open on the dungeon floor, blank. “That’s the second time something I've drawn has come to life.”

Kira cleared straw from a section of dungeon floor, exciting a small series of explosions among the rodents. She pointed to the stone slab. “Do it again!”

Perhaps magic—or artistry—is in the eye of the beholder. Whenever I see it, however, I’m amazed.

Do it again.

~ S.G. Rogers

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For his sixteenth birthday, all Jon wanted were the keys to the family car. Instead, he got a lousy magic ring…

Artistic prodigy Jon Hansen yearns to fit in, but when he stumbles onto a supernatural kidnapping, his life changes forever. Unfortunately, his search for answers uncovers a magical secret—one that makes Jon a danger to everyone around him.

The Wolf Clan wizard Efysian has been draining the magic from Yden. On a quest for eternal power, he’s willing to kill to feed his addiction. To harness the ultimate source of energy, he travels to Earth. This time, however, he has a persistent witness to his crime.

Can Jon survive long enough to outwit the most evil wizard the magical world has ever known? Or will Efysian add the young wizard to his gruesome collection of trophies?

The Last Great Wizard of Yden is an iBookBuzz.com book of the month nominee! To vote, please go to http://www.ibookbuzz.com/Vote-for-Next-Book.html before March 14.