As promised, this week I’ll be talking a little bit about the Land of Oz’s ruler, Queen Ozma, and her role in my story. Fair warning, this post is about to get very nerdy. You’ve been warned!
The Land of Oz is a governed by a Monarchy, and despite the fact there are different regions of Oz with their own rulers (or dictators), the Land of Oz is meant to be ruled by one person. That person is Ozma.
Queen Ozma (more commonly referred to as Princess Ozma), is a young girl who inherited her rule over Oz. Before her, her Father, Pastoria, was the ruler. The story of how he lost his thrown and how Ozma came to rule changes from book to book, but the general idea is that Pastoria was overthrown by the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard, not wanting Ozma to inherit her rule, sent her to the witch Mombi to be transformed into a boy and hidden away. Long story short, Ozma is discovered and given her rightful claim to the throne to rule Oz forever.
This is all important information to know because Ozma will be playing a VERY important role in my story. I don’t want to tell you too much at this point, but as you know, my story takes place 100 years after Dorothy defeated the Wicked Witch of the West. During that time, Ozma has been ruling Oz with the power of the ruby slippers that she acquired. However the burden of the slippers has taken a tole on her, leading her to vindictive, irrational, and frankly schizophrenic behavior.
..and that’s all I’m going to say for now. :) Next week I’ll write a little bit about my inspiration for this project.