Posted in Uncategorized on June 23, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Here’s a very short one, before I head off to an all-day gaming event.
Q: At Dragon University, what do the students say when a lecture goes on for too long?
A: This is really draggin’ on!
Wyrmflight: A Hoard of Dragon Lore — $4.99 e-book or $17.99 trade paperback. Available at Amazon or Draft2Digital.
Posted in Uncategorized on May 13, 2017| Leave a Comment »
It’s been a while since I encountered a dragon in the wild, but today I went to the garden show. There were dragons picnicking.
There were dragons flying.
There were dragons just hanging around.
It was a day of dragony goodness. And, I even picked up some hot peppers for the garden!
———
Just a few of my books:
Aunt Ursula’s Atlas, Lucy D. Ford’s short story collection
Masters of Air & Fire, Lucy D. Ford’s middle-grade novel
The Grimhold Wolf, my Gothic werewolf fantasy, and my epic fantasy, The Seven Exalted Orders.
Posted in Uncategorized on May 8, 2017|
Today I’m visiting with Don Massenzio at his awesome blog, for an author interview answering ten questions. Come on by!
Posted in Dragon Folklore, Uncategorized, tagged Deby Fredericks, dragons, fantasy, fantasy writer, Knights and Chivalry, Lucy D. Ford, Order of the Dragon, YA fantasy on February 9, 2017| 3 Comments »
A reader named Marek clued me into this topic, so thanks, Marek!
The Order of the Dragon was a faux-chivalric order of knighthood active in Eastern Europe during the early 1400s. I say a faux order because the Age of Chivalry was pretty well over by then. Orders of Knighthood had been most active during the Crusades (roughly 1095-1291). Founding a chivalric order in 1408 was akin to modern Americans organizing ourselves according to the legends of the Wild West.
And here I shall refrain from snarky comments about the current political affairs of the United States.
The Order of the Dragon was founded by Sigismund, King of Hungary and Croatia. Like the European political leaders during the Crusades, Sigismund was under threat by the expansion of the Ottoman Turks into Eastern Europe. His reign (1387-1437) was turbulent with both internal and external strife. The Order of the Dragon allowed him to identify a core of supporters who he could count on in his various battles.
Members got the status boost of being in a chivalric order. They earned the rank of baron, if they didn’t already have it. (Many were princes of smaller territories within Hungary and Croatia.) There were twenty-one initial members at its founding. More were admitted in 1418 and again in 1431.
The purpose of the Order, set forth in founding documents, was to “crush the pernicious deeds of the same perfidious Enemy, and of the followers of the ancient Dragon, and of the pagan knights, schismatics, and other nations of the Orthodox faith, and those envious of the Cross of Christ, and of our kingdoms, and of his holy and saving religion of faith…” So, basically, they were out to destroy the Turks, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and anyone else they considered a heretic.
The Order of the Dragon had two main symbols. One was an ouroboros (a dragon eating its own tail) and the other a red equal-armed cross with flames at all four ends. Not surprisingly, St. George was their patron saint. Even after Sigismund’s death, several notable families kept these symbols in their personal arms. Among these were the Dracul family of Wallachia and the Bathory family of Hungary.
It does not appear that the Order of the Dragon took part in any actual battles, either with the Turks or with purely political opponents. Simply having an order stocked with Sigismund’s supporters may have been enough to create a deterrent. However, being so strongly linked to Sigismund, the order faded away once he died. The few relics of the Order of the Dragon are preserved at the University of Budapest.
Posted in Uncategorized on January 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »
News flash! My publisher, Sky Warrior Books, has the pre-order link up on the anthology I edited. Wee Folk and Wise is a collection of fairy tales by twenty authors. I’ll be telling you more about that shortly.
But first… This week my character, Anatar, from Aunt Ursula’s Atlas, visited Entertaining Stories. Here’s her interview on Lisa Burton Radio.
Lucky you, you’ve just landed on Lisa Burton Radio, the only show out there featuring the characters from the stories you love. I’m your host, Lisa the robot girl, and today we have an interesting fairytale princess with us today. “Welcome to the show, Anatar.”
“Thank you, Lisa of Burton. It’s a pleasure to be here.”
“My bio says you and your sister Eletay were orphans. How does an orphan get to be a princess? Were your parents banished or something?”
“No secret heiresses here, I’m afraid. Our family lived in a small village outside Chantain. I was only seven when our parents died, and Ella was nine, so I don’t remember much about what happened. We spent several months wandering and working for food when we could find anyone kind enough to let us stay.
“If we were able to improve our lot, it was because I saw opportunities…
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Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Deby Fredericks, dragons, fantasy, fantasy poetry, funny dragons, funny fantasy, Lucy D. Ford on December 3, 2016| 3 Comments »
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Deby Fredericks, dragon jokes, dragons, funny dragons, Lucy D. Ford, Real-Life Dragons on October 18, 2016| 3 Comments »
A few years ago, my husband went to a sidewalk sale where a sportswear manufacturer was selling excess jerseys and such. He came home with several that had been demonstrator pieces showing the imprinting options. He isn’t into football, but it gave him something to wear when his company proclaimed a Football Friday at the office.
On such an occasion he wore a dark green jersey with yellow lettering that said DRAGONS. A suspicious co-worker asked, “What team is that?”
He said, “It’s a quidditch team!” All the staff who were readers broke out laughing.
Wyrmflight: A Hoard of Dragon Lore
