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John Osborne
I'm a life long resident of central Illinois and a graduate of the University of Illinois (GO ILLINI!), where I also work in the Information Technology department. Not a professor or a techy, I work in the business office and spend my time helping the techys buy the stuff they need. In 2006, a novel that had been kicking around in my head for years resurfaced. A curious set of coincidences told me it was time to get busy and actually write it. Three years later, the novel is complete ... sort of. I'm at the endless revisions stage, still hacking away at it, but getting closer all the time. This is the story of that journey.
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A Summary of An Ordinary Fairy

At four feet nine inches tall and ninety-five pounds, beautiful Willow Brown considers herself an ordinary person. Photographer Noah Phelps doesn’t agree after he sees her fly…with her own wings. My urban fantasy, An Ordinary Fairy, tells the story of feisty little Willow and her “mere human” photographer friend, set in the present day against the backdrop of Willow’s woodland home.

Noah’s fairy is anything but ordinary. Contrary to legends, she’s a sad and troubled woman, a lonely recluse. Gifted with magical powers far beyond Noah’s Wiccan spells, Willow enchants him with her beauty but enrages him with her secrecy, turning aside his questions with silence. Ultimately, Noah’s persistence wins her trust, and she shares the burden of her past.

Thirty years ago, Willow’s parents disappeared. She lives on their property, four hundred acres of forest outside Hoopeston, Illinois. Known as Jones Woods, the land is the root of a long-standing feud between the Brown and Jones families. The current Jones heir, Chester Jones, seeks to regain the woods and the abandoned mansion it surrounds. In the past year, Jones has amplified the feud by harassing Willow and spreading false stories about her. Willow is convinced Chester’s grandfather murdered her parents but lacks any proof.

At Noah’s urging, Willow seeks the answer to the mystery of her parents’ death and tries to uncover why Jones suddenly wants the property back. Fairy magic, Wiccan spells, and the Jones brand of folk magic crisscross the ether. Evil threatens to prevail, as a race ensues to find the clues hidden in the woods and the mansion. Each trial draws Noah closer to Willow, yet she fights her feelings for him. Will the friends outwit Jones before he finds the secret of the woods? Will they become lovers?

You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Some Fairies Are Gay...and I Don't Just Mean Happy

One night at a writer's group where we shared our work by reading aloud, one of the members objected, rather strongly, to the title An Ordinary Fairy. He believed the title would be offensive to gay people, citing the common use of the word "fairy" as a derogatory term for them. I didn't quite laugh in his face; he seemed quite sincere, nearly upset, so I held my tongue to simply expressing surprise at his reaction.

To set the record straight (no pun intended), it never crossed my mind that the title might offend someone. The title was strictly intended to convey the paradox of what Willow Brown is. In her eyes (and words) she's just an ordinary person. But what is ordinary about a person who can fly? The title tries to convey that contradiction. Please, no offense was ever intended.

In my imagining of the fairy race, they're just like us except for their special abilities and powers. And so, there are fairies of every persuasion, personality type, appearance, and yes, sexual orientation. In the second book of this series, currently titled An American Fairy, you'll meet Rowan, Willow's best friend and fellow fairy, who is bisexual and lives with a gay woman.
Posted by John Osborne at 9:02 PM

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