All stories deal with the concepts of good and evil and in this respect, this story is no different. The characters in the book experience hopes and fears, exhibit kindness and ferocity, wage war and long for peace.

By a twist of fate the world of humans and magic beings meet and an uneasy alliance is formed, though with misgivings on both sides. Experience has shown the magic community, that mankind can act ruthlessly, when it suits them, as was made so painfully obvious during the notorious witch- and dragon hunts. Innocent people were victimized and intelligent, harmless creatures killed. Obviously, not all dragons were kind or all witches mild-mannered and well-meaning; there were ferocious dragons as well as vile witches, too.

Suspicious of creatures so different from themselves, some humans mistrusted and disliked magic beings. Others again enjoyed the financial benefit gained from seizing treasure accumulated by dragons. And thus humans began to try to eliminate all magic beings.

The magic community replied to this onslaught by retreating from any danger and almost completely severing ties with humankind. Only a handful of them maintained tentative contact.

In view of this, it is not surprising that a human child of the 21st century reacts with fear and disbelief when encountering talking dragons, healing faeries and other creatures from the world of make-believe.

This then is the background to the story, where fierce determination to destroy meets strong resolve to preserve and uplift.

I’ve taken the plunge and have published and now I would like my brainchild to go forth and conquer. This website explains a little about the plot, it describes some of the characters and introduces the reader to a world full of mystery and magic.

If you like the sound of the story – please buy it. Go to amazon.com, go to Kindle books. Or buy it on your Kindle:

The stolen strings, by Gabrielle van Houten.

It’s fun, I promise you. And once you've read it, please let me know what you think.