"So, you want to know who I am," she said.  "It seems a simple question, 'who are you?'  And we always give it such simple answers...         "Of course, these answers aren't true.  They are simple, quick and easy, while the truth is none of those things.  Even a mouse has a story as grand as the sky.         "You want to know why I'm not a wizard.  The simple answer is that I do not wish to be.  But you want the truth: you want to hear my tale."            When seventeen-year-old Toren returns home, her little sister Noa is full of questions.  She demands to know why the strange young woman awakes only at night; what causes her almost constant pain; and, above all, why, after completing her apprenticeship, she has decided not to become a wizard.  To answer, Toren begins to weave a tale about a journey that leads her to discover the greatest source of magic in her world -- herself.  It is a revelation that comes to her at a high price.  Through her darkest years, she finds solace and strength in the stories she tells.  But her greatest tale is not yet finished.  Together with Noa, she sets out on a new adventure.  In the end Toren must choose to continue clinging to her dream of a normal life or accepting her own power and letting the magic inside her shine.          Toren the Teller and the Tale is more than an inspirational fantasy.  It is a philosophical tale about the enchantment of literature, because in Toren's parallel  world there is no greater power than the magic of storytelling.    Toren the Teller and the Tale is intended to be the first book in the Toren the Teller series.