The Magical Chair

“What are you going to do with this?” Joe’s neighbor asked, motioning to the old swivel office chair in Joe’s garage. Joe Lee had recently retired from CSX Railroad and moved from Madisonville down to Florida and was still getting settled in and meeting his new neighbors.

Joe said, “Well, that was my Dad’s office chair.” He explained that his dad, Robert Lee, had been a successful insurance salesman in Madisonville. “He was quite a known person. Everyone in the county knew my dad.”

People would come to him for advice while he was sitting around in his office in this chair. “This seemed to happen so many times, people would put trust in him, you know.” This advice always seemed to work out, and several were successful from listening to Bob’s words. As Joe finished the story, his neighbor said, “You ought to write a book about that.”

That’s exactly what Joe and his wife Elaine Farmer did. Joe had never thought of himself as a “man with a lot of words,” so he didn’t think he’d get very far, but then

his wife started encouraging him, and his mother made him promise to finish it. This promise kept him going, and soon he, with Elaine as an editor finished a 459-page book called “The Magical Chair.” Joe and his wife read and edited the book 33 times before finally deciding it was done.

The book follows twelve-year-old Michael Taylor who—after the mysterious deaths of his father and grandfather—inherits 3,500 acres of land in East Tennessee, near a small town near the Smoky Mountains. Here, Michael discovers a magical and ancient Chair hidden in his grandfather’s storm cellar. By sitting in the Chair, Michael becomes smarter, and people begin taking his advice. The Chair sends him and his two best friends on a dangerous journey to find and replace the powerful stones missing from its arms. Featuring a secret cave, a gunwaving thief, and a 105-year-old witch, this was a fun adventure that Joe enjoyed writing.

Joe and Elaine are currently working on a sequel to “The Magical Chair” about a magical schooner. They also published a series of four chapter books called “Chester, the Island Mouse” for younger readers. The mouse is named after Joe’s uncle, who was postmaster in Madisonville, and who Joe considered to be a great person. Find them all on Amazon.

CHESTER AND THE ISLAND MOUSE

A popular Anastasia Island mouse, named Chester, gets himself trapped in a wire cage and taken to a conservation park where he’s set free. He meets a friend who helps him try different ways to get back across the Intracoastal Waterway to his home on the Island. He desperately misses his girlfriend, Evie. This is a story of his dangerous and exciting adventures.

CHESTER RETURNS TO THE PARK

Chester returns to the conservation park to find two lost, island friends. He and his park friends hike to Jake’s hideout to rescue them. On their way, they find two young boys lost in the forest. Next, they meet a lady who has been living in an old boxcar for 30 years. Later, they are captured trying to rescue his friends.

CHESTER’S ADVENTURES IN SAVANNAH

Chester, a popular gray mouse who lives on Anastasia Island, in St. Augustine, Florida discovers that four of his friends have accidentally been taken to Savannah, Georgia. They were in the back of a neighbor’s old car that was being hauled there for repairs. Mr. Dalton and Chester travel to Savannah to find them and bring them home. While there, Mr. Dalton has a truck accident that leads them to meeting friends of Fletcher and Henrietta.

CHESTER AND THE MISSING DOG

Chester, a popular gray mouse who lives on Anastasia Island in St. Augustine, Florida, helps Mr. Dalton search for kidnapped dogs from their neighborhood.