Tweezerland

Two sisters - Sugar Magnolia and Scarlet Begonia - are accidentally whisked away to the fanciful world of Tweezerland. There they meet Prince Nezz; three ukulele-playing brothers; the Lady Constellation; a buccaneer named Captain Noah Tension; and a very sarcastic elephant that goes by the name of "Mousey". The girls and their friends set upon a quest to rescue Princess Esmeralda from the ogre, Poison Ivan, who lives in the Castle Predicament on the Isle of Conclusions. Can they defeat Poison Ivan and his trolls and return to the mainland with the princess? Will Prince Nezz marry Princess Esmeralda? Can the girls find a way to return home? And what zoo or circus would ever take in a saucy elephant? One of the subtexts of Tweezerland is "women's empowerment". The Lady Constellation is a master strategist. Defying the king, Princess Esmeralda wants to finish her education before deciding if she wants to settle down to being a queen, wife, and mother. Xi Wang - Poison Ivan's chef - is a centered project manager with a Zen-like fearlessness. Grandma is a solid rock for the family - also a secret masked action hero. And the two young sisters, Sugar Magnolia, and Scarlet Begonia, have all the common sense that some of the sillier adults seem to lack. Part fantasy and part satire; this is a mélange of Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, L. Frank Baum, and Dr. Seuss. Mix in homages to the Marx Brothers; Laurel and Hardy; the Three Stooges; W.C. Fields; Monty Python; Krazy Kat; the Beach Boys; and the Grateful Dead. Add more than eighty color illustrations by the author, and you have a novel named, Tweezerland. For children of all ages - and the young at heart. For a sneak preview, go here: https: //youtu.be/MO8Lt7ocE60