Some movies I never get tired of watching. Holiday Inn, Singing in the Rain, The Thin Man, Gosford Park, and of course, The Wizard of Oz. They’re all wonderful movies, but for none of them do I feel a more deeply rooted affection than for The Wizard of Oz.
This weekend I watched the movie (again) and also a documentary about all the difficulties the filmmakers fought through to get it finished. There was such a tussle between the studio executives and the producers, they had to start production over more than once. In the end, five different directors worked on the film at different times—five. Victor Fleming got screen credit for it, but he wasn’t even the last director on the film. That was King Vidor who directed all of the Kansas scenes, including Judy Garland’s classic rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, a scene the studio wanted to cut. It took a lot of persistence to get the movie not only finished, but finished right.
One of the reasons for the lasting strength of my affection is that those characters were my friends. I only got to see them once a year during the annual television broadcasts of the movie. (One year my mother forbade me to watch because it gave me such bad nightmares; that tornado, the witch and her hourglass—time running out! Those flying monkeys! Eeek!) Despite the nightmares for a year or two, I looked forward to that broadcast with joyful anticipation even though I knew the story; I knew Toto would get away and the Wicked Witch would melt, (O what a world!) and the Wizard was a phony but a sweetie nonetheless. I looked forward to it because I loved them all. And still do.
And I kind of miss the fact that we had to wait. Nowadays it seems like everything is accessible, anytime, anywhere. But back in the day, we had to carry Dorothy and her friends and their story in our memories and hearts and dreams (nightmares sometimes). We had to keep them alive from one year to the next. Of course, L. Frank Baum wrote a series of Oz books, almost one a year after The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in 1900, until 1920.
But what are fans to do if there is a loooong delay?
Well, fans can get very excited and eager. Let me see, who do we know whose fans have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting, for a new novel? Chomping at the bit, shall we say?
WMG’s very own Kristine Grayson. Let’s let the fans speak for themselves.
“I am addicted to Kristine Grayson’s tales…”
“Dear Author, thanks for the story! I sincerely hope there is more to come…”
“I enjoyed this book so much that I started in on the next one right away. I like the new twists she gives to the fairy tales. I will certainly check all her books.”
“This book is part of a series that will highlight familiar characters and tell their tale. It’s the sort of good writing you keep coming back to again and again.”
“Can’t wait to read the next one from this author.”
Now, the waiting is (almost) over. Hidden Charm, the first new Grayson novel in five years comes out later this month, and is available for preorder now. Here’s the description:
When a Charming Prince named Sonny rescues Rapunzel from her tower prison, she rides off with him and gets on with her life—her real life in the Greater World. They set up a home in Los Angeles, and she begins to discover the strength of her magic.
But when Sonny disappears, Rapunzel needs help finding him.
Enter Henry, the Frog Prince, who works the front desk of the Archetype Place. Only Henry can help Rapunzel find her husband because of the vast power it took to conquer Sonny. But Henry wants nothing to do with Rapunzel or her problem. He fights enough of his own.
A typically fun Grayson romp through the world of magic and love.
Sometimes it takes a bit longer to not only finish a project, but to finish it right. And it is worth the wait. We trust fans have kept Grayson’s fairy tale characters and their stories alive in their hearts. And now fans new and old can get caught up in the world of Hidden Charm.
Available at your favorite bookstore June 18, 2019.