The Magic Belt And Other Fantastical Things

There is a magic belt all around our imaginations. It is the place where fantasies are born and bred. It is the dark recesses of our souls, the golden secrets of our dreams, it is cloaked in mystery, magic and millenniums. It can be stretched like a rubber band and is a Never Ending Story. It is how Alice fell down the rabbit hole, it is how Dorothy visited Oz. Writers have been taking us on these Journeys to the interior of our minds or the extremities of the Universe since Homer. Jules Vern wrote From the Earth To the Moon long before space travel was actualized and Edgar Allen Poe put us up in a Balloon in the early 1840s We never seem to get enough. Theres no limit to the journey and breadth of our imagination. So hop on board and lets take a trip.

Dear Loretto, Thanks for showing this to me. I like the spooky fi gure but Ive learned over the years that a heavier font is more eyecatching. Otherwise its very effective. Good luck with it. Best, Quinn

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I first encountered Mr. Edgar Allan Poe in the Parents Wonder World Encyclopedia my mother had purchased for me on the installment plan way back in 1961, It was the poem Annabel Lee and I was mesmerized. The following short story was the Purloined Letter. Needless to say, it was not on the summer reading list of St. Joseph Monastery School and I’m sure they would have been shocked that my mother encouraged me to read the whole book on English Literature. She had said, “read that volume and you’ll always know a little bit about all the great literature. I wrote Raven Dove when my darling husband drove me all over Loudon Park Cemetery and I found all the tomb stones I used for true life tomb poems. One of my best friends Lynn Barns who lived up the street from me did many Poe paintings and her house looked like the set from some of the scarier Poe Films with Gargoyles and Fantasy everywhere. She allowed me to use her artwork for my documentary on Poe titled the Eureka Man. The screenplay the Bell for the Rune was based on a great screenplay by my client Mary Elizabeth Hauer who also wrote Esmeralda the Witch and the Ebony Soldier. She was a great writer and I’m honored to have known her. Again, sadly she passed away. I am so proud that my daughter, Christine, who is a great artist, also included Edgar Allan Poe in her repertoire. Above Lou and Loretto to the left Poe on his deathbed by Lynne Barnes. Lynn was the main character in the film as a ghostly witch. We had great fun filming it. Sadly, Lynn passed away during the pandemic. We shot some scenes in Chrissy’s house and our Edgar Allan Poe was Chris Dickerson. He played his ghost. He also impersonated him at Admiral Fells Inn for The Top of the Morning Show. Below is Chissy, Christine Chavis with her Poe Impersonator David Keltz who is the main impersonator for Baltimore Maryland. We all love Poe and the Poe House is open for tours. They have many events and they are always looking for new work inspired by Poe. They have a contest every year and we hope to enter this book as a collaborative work between my daughter Christine Chavis and myself. You can reach Christine @

WE ARE FAMILY. br. This is about us. We are a family in all sorts and sizes. We are all in here in some way or another some of us are the writer's, my mother Anne McDonagh, her daughter Loretto (that's me) our daughters Bridgette and Debbie that's three generation of women writer's. The cover is by our grandson Zead who is an artist as is his Aunt Chrissy who is on the back cover with him above. They are the third generation artists in my family. My cousin George painted the Last Supper and the Station of the Cross at St. Mungo's Church in Glasgow Scotland. Some of us are the hero's and heroine's of the stories. I created Baby Billy and Liddle Tina for our son Joe and daughter Debbie when they were two and four years old. Now the same stories are adapted for Debbie's son Donovan and our daughter Angel's daughter Sarah. Bridgette wrote the poem in the Introduction. Our son Kevin is K. P. O'Toolahan. Our grandson Dimitri is Greek and Zead and Bassem are Egyptian I translated most titles to Irish Gaelic for Dimitri's stories. Our grandson Donovan last name is Mc Vicker and on his other grandmother's side he is descendent from Mary Wollstonecraft. But right now it's about the Irish side and I'm descended of a lot of old Irish story tellers. It's all called Blarney and all good Irish writer are full of it. There are tons of Fairy Stories and leprechauns and elves. There are magic wishing wells and fantasy lands. Join us on Cloud Nine or in Seventh Heaven. Take a trip to Egypt with Solomon de Sula. My mother's first story Gay's Adventure is in here. I've tried to translate most of the titles of the stories into Gaelic and in the case of some based on the Great Jules Vern into French. At the end there is a poem about Matilda the Mouse at Christmas Time and Father Christmas. These have been translated roughly into Gaelic, French, Spanish, Dutch, German, Welsh and Swahili. Hope you enjoy the stories and it encourages you to search your own heritage.

"These are my tirades written all over the world; on trains, planes in automobiles; in restaurants in France, Italy, England, Germany and Ireland; on beaches at Bray, Monaco, Nice, Coney Island and LA. These are the observations of an idiosyncratic and I am she . L.G."

This unique fantasy collection includes: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz The Woggle-Bug Book Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Mother Goose in Prose The Magical Monarch of Mo Dot and Tot of Merryland American Fairy Tales The Master Key The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus The Enchanted Island of Yew Queen Zixi of Ix John Dough and the Cherub The Sea Fairies Sky Island The Runaway Shadows A Kidnapped Santa Claus Nelebel's Fairyland The Tiger's Eye The Enchanted Buffalo Twinkle and Chubbins Policeman Bluejay... L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) was an American author chiefly known for his children's books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz which chronicles the adventures of a young farm girl named Dorothy in the magical Land of Oz, after she and her pet dog Toto are swept away from their Kansas home by a cyclone. The novel is one of the best-known stories in American literature and The Library of Congress has declared it "America's greatest and best-loved homegrown fairytale."

This unique collection of the magical Land of Oz Series has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz The Woggle-Bug Book Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz The Wonderful Wizard of Oz chronicles the adventures of a young farm girl named Dorothy in the magical Land of Oz, after she and her pet dog Toto are swept away from their Kansas home by a cyclone. The novel is one of the best-known stories in American literature and has been widely translated. The Library of Congress has declared it "America's greatest and best-loved homegrown fairytale."