Chickpea Del and the Fabled Tree of Destiny

Some wizards have staffs, wands, or mediums. Chickpea Del has a tree...

The Kingdom of Embarcadero is under siege. King Elvis wants to steal its secrets, mysterious outsiders want to expel its citizens, an ancient and sinister Force threatens to devour their souls. Salvation rests on the slender shoulders of a young wizard named Chickpea Del and his unlikely allies ? a red-haired Chinese girl, a ghostly tribe of Mission Indians and a small fir tree named Doug.

Chickpea Del's story was first published as a novella in Amazing Stories magazine. My agent so loved the world and the characters, that he asked if I could write an entire novel about them. Well, duh.

I first met Chickpea in a dream, saw him sitting in a window embrasure in quiet company with the Fabled Tree (aka, Doug). Just a boy and his fir sapling.

***

I first heard his very distinctive voice as I was driving home from work one day down a winding mountain road and he began telling me his story. "Hello, I'm Chickpea Del," he said, "and this is my story: You see, Lord E Lordy wanted the Wiz. That's where the Last Little War got started."

I kept Del talking until I got home and was able to write down everything he had to tell me.

No, I am not kidding. And I am not alone in this. The late and much loved Ursula LeGuin would tell you that this sort of thing happens to writers all the time.

In a very real sense, I did not write this novel alone. My collaborator's byline is in the title.

? Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff