Emerald and the Wand
“Remember …. Help will be given when it is most needed. Have courage, Emerald. You are stronger than you know.” - Felix from Emerald
Emerald MacCallum is a 14 year-old witch in waiting, though she doesn’t know it yet. Life in her quiet English village seems ordinary, and she longs for adventure like those of her fantasy book heroines. She might have been a bit more careful about what she was wishing for because adventure is just around the corner. When her dog brings her a curious stick that turns out to be a powerful wand, and she takes a leap of faith into the world of magic, she soon discovers that adventure is not only real but dangerous.
Drawn into a conflict, begun long before her time, Emerald must face
a ruthless enemy who will stop at nothing to possess the wand’s extraordinary powers. She has help from a wizard mentor Felix and her fiercely loyal cousin Rex, but betrayal lurks close to home, and Emerald must summon a courage she never knew she had.
Behind the Scenes of Writing Emerald
I did not always want to write. I wanted to be a rock star. Who doesn’t! The closest I came was
to watch Led Zeppelin from the wings at the Pontiac Silver Dome. My singing is mostly confined
to two choirs with a mix of sacred and secular music. Once in a while though I have grabbed the
mike to belt out a rock song. The cats usually find a quiet place to hide when I do.
I came to writing later than many authors. Always a reader, I soaked up literature and writing
courses at university and fell into writing almost inevitably. Once I did I was hooked.
Some writers dream up their stories almost in their entirety. I wish I were one of them.
Inspiration for Emerald came from a single idea: one rainy afternoon a young girl takes her dog
for their usual walk in the park. He brings her what seems to be a stick, but it is really a wand,
and not just any wand. It is one of extraordinary power.
Once that first chapter was on paper, the story gradually unfolded, often of its own accord. The
main plot did not change much over time; however, life and resistance (see Pressfield, The War
on Art) got in the way of writing, and I set Emerald aside for several years, only occasionally
tinkering at its edges.
During those years of changed life circumstances, encouragement from my two sons kept
Emerald alive. And another who helped through that quiet time was not a person but a cat, my
old Prue – always there to greet, always curled up on the desk beside me when I was writing,
always waiting patiently while I spent endless hours revising and editing. She left this world
when my sons returned home, her work complete.