The latest Oz reading

Two more items of Ozzy interest that I just wrapped up today:

• Moment of Desire by Rachel Cosgrove Payes. When I decided to set out on this little project to collect and read as many of Rachel's writings as I could, I knew I'd run into books like this. Wow, what a page turner! It's a sprawling historical romance, and since it was published by Playboy, you know it's going to be spicy! However, since it also came out in 1978, it's pretty tame in comparison to most of today's romance books. It's the early years of the 18th century, and Lady Melusina Hilton is living a privileged life at the court of King George. However, her mother manages to upset the King's mistress, and gets themselves thrown out. Mellie leads a real roller coaster of a life, plunging to the deepest of depths before rising again, only to find herself in a marriage of convenience to the gay son of an earl. This is not going as well as the plot of her favorite French romance novels, as Mellie points out more than once! Of course there's a happy ending, but the road there is definitely via the scenic route. I'll admit, I was sucked in, dying to see what twist Rachel would throw in next and how Mellie would get out of it. More, please! (Oh, right, I have a whole stack of Rachel's books to read in the coming months.)
  
• Oziana #38. New Oziana editor Marcus Mébès appears to be trying to do for the Oz Club's fiction magazine what Scott Cummings has done for the Bugle lately: Get it out on time, and make it good to boot. This would have been the 2008 issue if all had gone well. Publishing it through Lulu is a stroke of genius, as the Club doesn't have to commit to a particular number of issues, or store them. But to the issue itself, this one is a real treat. With stories about the Sea Fairies and a cruise on the Crescent Moon, this would have been great to have on hand at this year's Winkie Convention. And of further interest is the interconnectedness of some of the stories. The events of "Executive Decisions" by David Tai lead to an encounter in "Thy Fearful Symmetry" by Jeffrey Rester. Also, Prince Bobo's faux pas in "Bud and the Red Jinn" by Jared Davis is touched upon in "The Bashful Baker's Honeymoon" by Mébès. This is unusual for Oziana, but it was a nice touch. I've always felt that Oz was ripe for short stories, but other than The Little Wizard Stories of Oz and Eric Shanower's The Salt Sorcerer of Oz, there doesn't seem to be much of a market for them other than Oziana. So it's good to see the magazine in good hands. Besides this issue from Lulu, many other issues are currently available from Marcus (I hope to have ordering details up soon), and I know there will also be a 2011 issue coming soon...