Guest Post by 16 Year Old Author, Elisabeth Wheatley: What Does Magic Mean to You?

Today's guest is sixteen year old young adult fantasy author Elisabeth Wheatley!

About Elisabeth

Elisabeth Wheatley started writing very short (and rather silly) stories when she was around six. She became a voracious reader and after being practically forced by her cousins to watch Disney's version of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," she developed a chronic passion for fantasy.

Elisabeth eventually went to work on what would become "The Key of Amatahns" when she was eleven. "The Key of Amatahns" is the first in the seven-book series, "Argetallam Saga."

When she isn't spellbound by reading fantasy books and writing her own, Elisabeth trains and shows her Jack Russell Terrier, Schnay, makes goat cheese, and studies mythology. 

Stalk: Book Website  

What does magic mean to you?

Hmm. What does magic mean to me? I think magic to mean anything that has that “something” about it that makes it amazing and wonderful.

To me, humming birds are magical. I mean, think about it. They’re so tiny, so fragile, so complicated. We all know that they exist, but really, how could they? Or the waves on the beach. We all know the moon causes that. But water that churns and splashes up against the land without anything touching it? Tell me that’s not magic!

I was first introduced to the idea of magic through fairytales and who doesn’t like fairytales? I found the idea of a force that could turn impossible tasks into effortless trifles to be so captivating, so enchanting, I’ve had a fascination for the paranormal for years.

I’ve said it before, there are things in this world we don’t understand. Who knows, maybe enchantment, the kind we read about in fairytales, is real. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t mind a magic wand...

Unfortunately, for now my magic is limited to the world of the imagination. But the imagination itself has its own magic, doesn’t it? The envisioning of images, ideas, experiences...all inside our heads. That isn’t always a good thing—as anyone who’s watched too many zombie-flicks before bedtime (myself included) will tell you—but it’s still amazing. In our imagination, we can ride dragons, slay the evil emperor, vanquish an army of undead, avert a prophecy, send the bad guys running, and be home for dinner.

The written word has its own magic too. Squiggly lines on a page that have meaning, that communicate ideas, preserve words for centuries or even millennia. We all know about it, but do we really think about it and realize how magical it is?

Magic means something that is special, beautiful, wonderful, or just plain gob-smacking. It means hope, promise, the light at the end of the tunnel. It doesn’t mean easy (even in fairytales, when is anything easy?), but it means that “happily ever after” is a possibility. To me magic is the spark that gives life joy. Okay, so that might be a bit sappy but in a world full of cynicism, skepticism, wars, and hate, I’ll take all the magic I can get.

About The Secret of The Vanmars

The Secrets of the Vanmars (Argetallam Saga #2)

by Elisabeth Wheatley 

After her adventures with the Key of Amatahns, sixteen-year-old Janir Caersynn Argetallam returns home to find Brevia on the brink of war with a neighboring country, Stlaven. Her foster-father and even Saoven—a brave young elf warrior—think it will be safe at the castle where Janir grew up. However, while trying to unravel a looming mystery, Karile—self-taught wizard and Janir’s self-appointed best friend—becomes certain that there is danger in the mountains surrounding Janir’s childhood home and that it has something to do with Stlaven’s most powerful family, the Vanmars…