Incredible-ish...

Hello, Max, and welcome to what may very well be our most incredible post to date!  I know that may sound preposterous to you beings that we've had so many somewhat incredible-ish things to say so far, but bear with me and you'll soon come to understand not only what all the excitement is for, but also why it's taken me over a week to return here!  (I'm by no means a good blogger, but I do find it rather fun to hang out here once a week.)  

Anyhooo, to say I've been a bit busy lately would be laughable, Max!  Not only have I spent a great deal of time on our Mary Morgan project, but also, I've been carefully constructing a new website using...(you guessed it!)...Adobe Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Illustrator CS5.  As I've said several hundred times before, I'm a huge fan of Adobe software for what I create and usually skip merrily from one program to the next while whistling a happy tune.  (More on that later.  The website, I mean, not the skipping or whistling parts, although you're free to imagine that if you like.)  Above, you'll see a screenshot of my new fancy-schmancy homepage in the works.  I hope to have it up by the Ides of March.  No specific reason for the date except that it's sort of fun to say. 

So, now...on to more important matters, Max:  as always, it's good to be back in our ponderous place and now that we're here, you, me, and all of our wonderful new friends (Hello, new followers!  Glad you could make it!), let's get started.  

As you know, I've been working fiendishly at sorting through all the items I've recently come across that pertain to the Sorceress Mary Morgan.  (What a fascinating Adventurer she was...or is?)  Much of what I've learned comes from good old-fashioned research in the archives of my story notes. Most pertain to the books I've already written [no pressure], but the stack of new notes has grown exponentially in recent months!  The reason for this, of course, is that word has gotten out about our Mary Morgan project.  Not only have I received more encouragement than a writer could dare to hope for when starting a new project, but also, I've received actual material support from the magical world where Mary Morgan is best known.  For example...
 
...here to our left, please study the circus flyer that was tucked away inside a dilapidated box sent to me by a new (and already quite dear) friend who wishes to remain anonymous for the time being.  Although I found the entire piece quite interesting, one thing in particular leaped off the page at me:  the circus belonged to the Baxter brothers!  Of course, if you've not read my book Magpie & Dilly (which is very conservatively priced, by the way, at a modest and humble $0.99...in case you were wondering), you may not be familiar with a character named Bartimaeus Baxter.  As a note of simple interest, this particular Baxter is indeed one of the circus owners.   


Moving on quickly (since I have a great deal to show you today):  after I spent a satisfactory amount of time with the fore-posted poster, I continued sorting through the box my friend sent me.  At first, I had no idea why the circus poster was included in his offerings since it obviously had nothing to do with Mary Morgan.  Interestingly, however, it was mere moments before I discovered the reason.  Mary Morgan knew the people on that flyer!  

Here to our right is a very shabby collection of pages from one of Mary Morgan's very own journals!  (As you well know, I have a number of her journals myself, but after receiving this, I can't help but wonder:  how many more are out there?)  And, of course, this particular page is of interest because it documents her connection with this Jinga ("Master of Pain!") character.  Although I did discover a great deal more about Jinga, I have chosen not to share the details just yet.  Certainly, they will be forthcoming in another post very soon.  For the time being, however, I've decided to show you all a few other items that I feel support my theory that Mary Morgan did indeed know those pictured on the circus poster.

Another page of that journal pictured above depicts the subject of this rare find:  the Mystic Madame Zoetricious Bovari!  Rather than share that page just now, I thought you might rather see this:  a very old coin (actually dated 1682) I found tucked away inside the journal.  Here you can see both sides of the coin, but note that its actual worth is not apparent.  As you can see, it bears the same image of the Mystic Madame Zoey which you see in the poster above.  From what I've been able to determine, it is not uncommon in the magical world for certain prestigious people to have their image minted on a coin (usually of magical metals...see Buggy Crenshaw for more information).  We do the same here, after all, in the form of postage stamps, don't we?  However, what I find rather odd is to see a Mystic minted, as opposed to almost any other calling, beings that they mostly lost the favor of the people during the Dark Ages...But again, for more information on that and the rest of the magical world where Mary Morgan is best known, the Buggy Crenshaw books are excellent references.  


As with Jinga, the Master of Pain, there is now so much more information available to me about Madame Zoey that I will refrain from saying more about her for now.  She is also booked for a later posting which I believe you will find quite exciting!  For the time being, though, please allow me just one more piece of evidence pertaining to that circus poster and Mary Morgan's association with its subjects.  

The remaining image on that flyer is of a creature known only as the Wolfman.  With this recent surge of information about our magical counterparts, perhaps it will serve as a relief to know I have not yet discovered more about this individual.  However, from what little I have managed to come across, the prospect of learning more does not seem favorable.  (Why?)

Well, as you can see in the image to our right, this is a note to "M" whom we must presume is Mary Morgan herself since this was also found inside her journal.  The writer--"T"--is so far unknown, but of greater concern is what (s)he wrote:  A life is in danger! Best to hurry...  Even as urgent as this message is, it is rendered even more so by the fact that what you see there attached to the envelope by that imprinted wax seal is none other than wolf fur!  (Yikes!)

And with that dire knowledge, I will leave you to draw your own conclusions pertaining to the Wolfman, just as I have been left to wonder myself.  Until our next encounter, by all means, do dream BIG!