Tag Archives: magical realism

The Twin Jinn

Feb. 26 Release: The Twin Jinn and the Alchemy Machine 

Ta-da! The Twin Jinn and the Alchemy Machine, second in my Twin Jinn Series will be released Wednesday, Feb. 26 in paperback and Kindle. It’s technically a book for middle grade readers, but I believe those who like magical realism involving a family of jinn or genies, will enjoy it no matter their age. The series features Jute and Fina Jinn, brother and sister who are twins, and their parents Elwin and Mira Jinn.

As I’ve mentioned before, I have been fascinated about the possibility of having magical powers. As a child, I longed to be invisible, fly, walk through walls, shrink, and cast spells. Alas, that wasn’t meant to be although I certainly had fun pretending.

And this obsession inspired writing a book about a family that can do such things.

As Mira once explained to her children, “Humans don’t understand us. Most don’t think we’re real.”

In some stories, jinn are made of fire and smoke or they are evil. But my jinn are good beings, actually better than most humans. They age differently than humans. For instance, Jute and Fina are 11 by jinn years but 111 by human

Unless they’ve been freed, jinn are the servants of humans. In this series, all rich and powerful people have a jinni or more. That includes royalty, U.S. presidents, rich business owners and more.

Some masters are good, many are not. In two instances in my book, the human freed their jinni. Because jinn live much longer than humans, they are typically passed down through families. The twins have had three masters. Their third, Dann, was feeling mighty powerful because he had a family of four jinn in his control. 

But that’s not what Elwin and Mira Jinn wanted for Jute and Fina. So they figure a way to trick Dann and escape. After that, he lost all of his wealth and power so he is desperate to find them. 

So, that propels the Jinn family into finding ways to live among humans. The twins are supposed to keep their powers a secret but being children they sometimes get carried away. They are of age to do jinn training with their parents and their Uncle Jeffer, a freed jinni who is Elwin’s twin. 

In The Twin Jinn at Happy Jack’s Carnival of Mysteries, the first book in the series, the Jinn family hides out at a traveling carnival, where they do a magic act. People believe they are doing tricks, but it’s real magic. But the fun ends when Dann discovers their whereabouts, so the family must flee with the help of human friends. (A few weeks ago, I gave away the book in its Kindle format for free.)

In The Twin Jinn and the Alchemy Machine, the family moves to a small rural town where they live and work in an apple orchard. Jute and Fina attend the local school where their parents hope the twins will learn more about the human world. Ah, but Jute and Fina are mischievous and a bit naïve. They create an alchemy machine that actually produces gold for their science fair project. I will be telling you more as we lead up to the Feb. 26 release.

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The Twin Jinn

Two Days of Magic

THE TWIN JINN AT HAPPY JACK’S CARNIVAL OF MYSTERIES FREE ON KINDLE

Alas, I don’t have magical powers although I truly wish I did. So, instead I created magical characters in a book for middle-grade readers — The Twin Jinn at Happy Jack’s Carnival of Mysteries. And I want to cast a little magic on young readers by making the Kindle version free Feb. 1 and 2. Just click on the link above. No tricks. Just magic.

By the way, the second in the series — The Twin Jinn and the Alchemy Machine — will be out next month. Two more are in the works. I’ll tell you more in the near future.

My own childhood was filled by imaginative play with my sister. One of us would think up a fantasy to play with the start: “Let’s pretend.…” Another outlet was reading — spending hours and hours lost in those words. 

When I became a mother, I enjoyed watching my children do the same. (My son, Ezra, created the illustration for the cover, which I believe captures the playfulness of the characters.

Actually, the words “let’s pretend” is the motivation behind my fiction. I sit in front of my laptop and let my imagination take over whether I am writing for adult or young readers. 

My genies or jinn, as I prefer to call them, don’t live in lamps. In The Twin Jinn at Happy Jack’s Carnival of Mysteries, they perform a magic act in a traveling carnival. People may think they are doing tricks like human magicians, but jinn have many powers such as being invisible, flying, casting spells, oh, the list goes on. 

The twins are Jute and Fina, brother and sister who are 11 by human age but 111 by jinn age. They are sweet but mischievous and like so many siblings, competitive. Their parents, Jeffer and Mira, are protective, but that’s because they tricked their evil master into letting them go. Yes, he’s searching for them.

This series has a lot of what entertained me as a book-reading child: genies, magic, and family. Now I offer it to middle-grade readers, those who read to children, and perhaps adults who want a little magical realism in their lives.

Here’s the link again: The Twin Jinn at Happy Jack’s Carnival of Mysteries.

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The Twin Jinn

Free Magic from The Twin Jinn

I am not a magician and, sadly, I don’t have magical powers although I wish I did. So, instead I created magical characters in a book for middle-grade readers — The Twin Jinn at Happy Jack’s Carnival of Mysteries. And to spread that magic to young readers, I am making the Kindle version free for two days March 2 and 3.

My own childhood was steeped in imaginative play. This was out of necessity as I lived a rather sheltered life. My parents, the children of immigrants, didn’t get the concept that we could play at a friend’s house. That’s what family is for. And so that’s what happened.

My chief playmate was my sister, Christine. One of us would think up a fantasy to play with the invitation: “Let’s pretend …” I don’t remember all of the scenarios we or our dolls acted, but that doesn’t matter. What I do remember is that during those hours we spent together, we were delightfully in another world.

Another outlet was reading. I spent hours and hours — in the summer staying up late — lost in those words.

And when I became a mother, I enjoyed watching my children do the same.

Now the words “let’s pretend” is the motivation behind my writing fiction. I sit in front of my laptop and let my imagination take over whether it’s written for adult or young readers. For this book, I circled back to those times in the backyard when my sister and I played, or upstairs in my bedroom reading a book I couldn’t put down.

First, I’ve always been fascinated by genies. Yes, there’s that Aladdin story. But my genies or jinn, as I prefer to call them, don’t live in lamps. In the first book — The Twin Jinn at Happy Jack’s Carnival of Mysteries — they live and have a magic act in a traveling carnival. Of course, their magic is just one of their many powers such as being invisible, flying, casting spells, oh, the list goes on. 

The twins are Jute and Fina, brother and sister who are 11 by human age. They are sweet but mischievous and like so many siblings, competitive. Their parents, Jeffer and Mira, are protective, but that’s because they tricked their evil master into letting them go. Yes, he’s trying to find them.

Pretending with The Jinn family is so much fun that I completed two more books, and a third is halfway done. I plan to continue publishing them, because I want to inspire young readers and anyone else who loves magical realism.

Currently, I am recording The Twin Jinn at Happy Jack’s Carnival of Mysteries for an audiobook at my son, Nate’s Mudroom Sound Studio. By the way, my son, Ezra, created the illustration for the cover, which I believe captures the playfulness of the characters. Look for The Twin Jinn and the Alchemy Machine, second in the series, soon.

Curious? Here’s the link: The Twin Jinn at Happy Jack’s Carnival of Mysteries

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The Twin Jinn

Let’s pretend

I had a childhood steeped in imaginative play. This was out of necessity as I lived a rather sheltered life. My parents, the children of immigrants, didn’t get the concept that we could play at a friend’s house. That’s what family is for. And so that’s what happened.

My chief playmate was my sister, Christine, who is three years younger. One of us would think up a fantasy to play with the invitation: “Let’s pretend …” I don’t remember all of the scenarios we or our TwinJinn_book_3b copydolls acted, but it doesn’t matter. What I do remember is that during those hours we spent together, we were delightfully in another world.

Another outlet was reading. Our mother would take us to the town library once or twice a week to stock up on books. In the summer, the bookmobile came to the church parking lot at the bottom of the street. I spent hours and hours — in the summer staying up late — lost in those words.

And when I became my mother, I enjoyed watching my children do the same.

Now the words “let’s pretend” is the motivation behind my writing fiction. I sit in front of my laptop and let my imagination take over. For my Isabel Long Mystery Series, it’s let’s pretend a former newspaper editor decides to solve cold cases in the hilltowns. Isabel’s elderly mother is her “Watson.” Her first case involves the disappearance of a woman 28 years earlier in her town.

The same is true for the fiction I’ve written for adult and young readers.

My most recent release is the first in The Twin Jinn Series. For this book, I circled back to those times in the backyard when my sister and I played, or upstairs in my bedroom reading a book I couldn’t put down.

First, I’ve always been fascinated by genies. Yes, there’s that Aladdin story. But my genies or jinn, as I prefer to call them, don’t live in lamps. In the first book — The Twin Jinn at Happy Jack’s Carnival of Mysteries — they live and have a magic act in a traveling carnival. Of course, their magic is just one of their many powers such as being invisible, flying, casting spells, oh, the list goes on. The twins are Jute and Fina, brother and sister who are 11 by human age. They are sweet but mischievous and like so many siblings, competitive. Their parents, Jeffer and Mira, are protective, but that’s because they tricked their evil master into letting them go. Yes, he’s trying to find them.

Pretending with The Jinn family is so much fun that I completed two more books, and a third is halfway done. I plan to continue publishing them, because I want to inspire young readers and anyone else who loves magical realism.

So how can you get a copy? The paperback is available. Note the great illustration by Ezra Livingston, one of my sons. If you like Kindle, that will launch March 6. Here’s the link to Amazon: https://mybook.to/TwinJinnAtHappyJacks

And thank you for joining me.

 

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