About the author:
Originally from Alexandria Bay, New York, Author Len Senecal has been writing things down his entire life, although these days he prefers typing them out on the computer. He started out as a newspaper reporter and editor in high school and college before working as a college sports information director, sports reporter and radio play by play announcer. From there he went on to spend time as a comic book editor, copy editor, English teacher and newspaper and yearbook advisor.
In the mid-1990s Len worked for comic book legend Jim Valentino's Image Comics Shadowline Ink. division as the editor of Shadowhawk, where he also wrote several comic book stories. Most notable among them was “The Shadow of the Hawk” in the compilation Images of Shadowhawk, which also featured stories by award-winning comic book writers Alan Moore and Kurt Busiek. He also co-wrote The Pact mini-series with Valentino. In addition Len also served as copy editor on several historical novels about his hometown 1000 Islands area including Paul Malo’s Boldt Castle: In Search Of The Lost Story.
Len and his wife spend their summers on a wonderful island on the St. Lawrence River. The island actually serves as the backdrop for books three through six of Mr. Tout’s Magical Forest, a six-part Middle Grade fantasy series first started during the Covid-19 lockdown in early 2020. The first two books of the series take place in a world he originally created in the early 1980s, Mr. Tout’s Magical Forest. The world was inspired by the elaborate front yard of an elegant home where he once lived.
Along with reading and writing, music and sports are two of Len's major passions, and in the past he has performed with a number of musical groups. Len's wife Barbara, an elementary school librarian, created a monster when she taught him how to snow ski. During non-Covid years they annually visit Colorado to ski in the Rockies. When they're not on the island or skiing Len and Barb live just outside a one stoplight town near Syracuse, New York with their spoiled springer spaniel Luna and her adopted "brother," a rescue cat named Gryffindor. Len's daughter Mariah, the inspiration for and a character in many of his stories, lives close by in the Syracuse area with her husband Chris and their lovable dog Kylo Ren.
Apparently naming pets after favorite characters from literature and movies runs in the family.
All twelve-year-old Mariah wanted was a break from her parents and the miseries of her gardening chores. But when she follows a winged unicorn into the woods and ends up crossing over into Mr. Tout's Magical Forest, she discovers far more than she ever could have imagined.
In this prelude to the fantasy series, Mr. Tout's Magical Forest, six-year-old Mariah learns that all magical beings were not created equally when a pair of mischievous gnomes come barging into her house.
