The Owl Wrangler (The Seldith Chronicles)

The Owl Wrangler (The Seldith Chronicles)

When the Seldith clan’s Owl Wrangler mysteriously disappears, his son Hisbil, a teenage forest elf no taller than a mushroom, must take on this perilous duty or face exile from the clan. Desperately trying to clear his father’s name, Hisbil gets help from his pesky little sister, who’s almost learned to heal with a touch; a pretty and clairvoyant classmate, who knows what's on Hisbil's mind before he does; and a mysterious exiled clansman, whose motives are far from pure. Armed with little more than a wand and a spell he’s never used, Hisbil and his Seldith cohorts endure a harrowing odyssey of danger, deception, and battle until Hisbil finally discovers the real truth about his calling, his father and the Seldith clan. The Owl Wrangler is the first book in the trilogy followed by Guardians of the Sacred Seven and Quest for The Truth . It’s a delightful story loved by young and old that weaves a compelling story about our times and a society that worships The Truth. Nominated by students and teachers, and approved by the Lake Washington School District for their Summer Reading List. I have been writing since the '70s, but it wasn't until 2008 or so before I began work on  The Owl Wrangler,  the first novel in  The Seldith Chronicles  series. Over the next several years, I wrote and published  Guardians of the Sacred Seven  and  Quest for the Truth . They have all been warmly received. I have two lovely (and rascally) granddaughters who inspired me to write about girls and boys and how they (should) get along and help each other when things don't go as planned.  It's also about parents and how the forces of politics, economics and greed can overwhelm them and overflow into their children's lives. It's also about magic. Don't we all wish that we could just close one's eyes and wish that there was a job for our spouse or the payments could be put off another month? While the spells I describe here aren't used for monetary gain, they do bring a family back together and quash the plans of some pretty greedy and foolish politicians. I really hope you enjoy reading  The Seldith Chronicles  as much as I enjoyed writing it. Bill This book is ideal for Middle-Grade readers and parents who want to get their children more interested in reading more challenging books. The vocabulary used in the entire series is drawn from the Amsco Vocabulary Program (Favor and Stern). I'm often complimented on the Seldith Chronicles covers. While I used some pretty basic covers for the first editions, I invested in learning how to create my own. The results are three new covers that better illustrate what to expect inside. One of my other passions is photography, especially pictures of scenery, wildlife and nature. In my travels from the Artic Circle to Patagonia, I've tried to capture images of disappearing nature--so we'll have a way to remember once the glaciers have melted and the animals have all but disappeared. For The Owl Wrangle r and Quest for the Truth , I incorporated pictures from the White Pass Railroad overlooking Skagway, Alaska. Guardians of the Sacred Seven uses a scene shot in the San Juan Islands. The only image that I didn't take myself is the Snowy Owl which is a photograph licensed from David Hemming, a well-known nature photographer. My noisy cat Ink let me photograph her eyes which appear on all three covers (you have to look for them). The crow, which appears on Quest for The Truth , is a fella who hangs around complaining about the quality of suet we put out for him. The books are illustrated by Sarah Livingston--at least for the most part. She's a talented artist residing in the UK. I tried something new for Quest for the Truth --I solicited pictures from a local middle school. Their drawings made up about a third of the illustrations. William Vaughn has been a storyteller from a very early age--perhaps from the time he had to explain why he was presenting his mom with a bunch of her own prized tulips. More recently, his furtive imagination has spawned  The Seldith Chronicles , a series of young adult books that follow the lives, exploits, and challenges of a clan of forest elves no taller than a mushroom. William is also an avid nature photographer and graphics artist. In 1986, he settled in Redmond, Washington at the edge of a forest teeming with story ideas. He's available for book group meetings either in person or via Skype. He's been known to help out English teachers encourage new readers, authors, and illustrators.