EARTH MAGIC

OWFI's Trophy Winner for Best Juvenile Book of 2002

When Jenna enters an abandoned old house at the top of Violet Hill, she is transported to an alternate world called EARTH ONE. There she meets Master Sorcerer Nigel, his young friends, and a telepathic cat named Victor. But a perilous encounter with a sorcerer from yet another alternate world threatens to change Jenna's life forever.

EARTH MAGIC [©2001] by Paula Blais Gorgas | Juvenile Fantasy (Rated G for ages 8-12) 148 pages /40,000 words | Oklahoma Writers' Federation, Inc. (OWFI) Trophy Winner for Best Juvenile Book of 2002 | Available in ebook, hardback, and paperback from the DFP Books label of Dragonfly Publishing

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PAPERBACK [EAN 978-0-9819080-2-1 | ISBN 0-9819080-2-0] 5.5 x 8.5 trade or 6x9 library trim (148 pages) | Average Price: $9.99

HARDBACK [EAN 978-0-9778651-5-4 | ISBN 0-9778651-5-0] [EAN 978-1-941278-56-7 | ISBN 1-941278-56-6] 148 pages] 6x9 library casebound (148 pages) | Average Price: $19.99

EBOOK [EAN 978-09817049-1-3 | ISBN 0-9817049-1-3] Available in standard EPUB and Kindle MOBI (40,000 words) | Average Price: $3.99

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EXCERPT

CHAPTER 1:
A New World

FIRST, you had to get past Brutus the Bouncer.
Black as midnight, one-eyed and bob-tailed, he lay across the top step of the porch like road kill on State Line Road. I knew better, of course. Once dead, any self-respecting corpse stays that way. Not Brutus. He'd wait till you jumped over his body, then twist into the air and sink his teeth into a leg or thigh. This discouraged most intruders, including Cal and Annie, who came with me the first night I sneaked out to Violet Hill.
Cal led the way as we walked up the overgrown path to the old house. My brother's a year older than Annie and me and likes to think he's in charge, but we all knew this adventure was my idea. All my life I'd heard whispers about the old abandoned house that sat on the corner lot at the end of our street. Nobody came right out and said it was haunted, but I knew something strange went on there, and I wanted to see for myself. Was I scared? You bet! That's what made me itch to get inside.
"Hurry up, Cal!" I hissed when he stopped on the bottom step to stare at Brutus. Not that I knew the cat's name. Not then. He was simply a black blob that didn't stir even when Cal shone the flashlight in his face.
"I dunno, Jen. He's huge! And he doesn't look friendly. Maybe we should—"
"Go back? Okay! Come on, Jenna!" Annie piped up.
"You two are wimps! Give me the flashlight. I'll go first."
That did it. Cal crouched, jumped, and then yelled bloody murder as Brutus went into action.
I'm not sure what happened next. Annie took off, but everything else kind of jumbled together for a minute or two. I saw Cal sprawled across the porch under a black shadow that had wrapped itself around him. He was still yelling, so I knew he was okay. And I remember a feeling that urged me toward the front door. Probably I should have stayed and looked out for my brother and cousin, but I wanted to go inside. I had to know what waited behind that door.
The oversized doorknob felt cold and damp as it turned against my palm. That's right. The knob turned, and as it turned, the urge to enter overwhelmed me. Without looking back, I pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Dark, dank gloom hit me like a force field. And cold, a biting cold that went right through my fleece-lined windbreaker. Shivering, I saw that the place was empty. Only the heavy curtains at a couple of windows showed that anyone had ever lived here.
As I walked toward the back of the house, I realized the room was growing brighter. The kitchen door had swung open, letting in a stream of light. That puzzled me since I didn't remember the moon lighting our path when we made our way up the street just minutes ago. I kept walking, but I knew something was wrong.
Halfway across the kitchen, I almost turned around. That light really bothered me, yet I could hardly contain my excitement. If I didn't keep going, I might miss something. Good or bad. I didn't know, but I had to find out.
Taking a deep breath, I ran the last few steps to the open door.
Into daylight...

[Copyright ©2023 Paula Blais Gorgas | No unauthorized reproduction or distribution]

REVIEWS

"EARTH MAGIC is a snappy adventure certain to entertain young adults and the young at heart. Written in an irreverent, delightfully humorous tone, EARTH MAGIC transports the reader from a world of the mundane into a world of magic. Be careful when you start EARTH MAGIC, for it's a page turning adventure that's impossible to put down." ~ reviewed by C. Penn [FIVE STARS]

"EARTH MAGIC is a story that will intrigue and thrill young adults into fantasizing of far off places in realms of magic. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even if it is for children." ~ reviewed by Sheryl for Coffee Time Romance [FIVE STARS]

"EARTH MAGIC is brimming with adventure, action, magic, and talking cats. The reader is drawn into the story with every turn of the page. I highly recommend EARTH MAGIC for young and old alike! Paula Blais Gorgas talent shines through in this tale and she shows us why she is a former winner of the Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart for her previous young adult novel, COURT OF HONOR." ~ reviewed by Carol Durfee [FIVE STARS]

"Written in an irreverent, delightfully humorous tone, EARTH MAGIC transports the reader from a world of the mundane into a world of magic. Be careful when you start EARTH MAGIC, for it's a page turning adventure that's impossible to put down." ~ reviewed by Wordweaving [FIVE STARS]