The Process, Part 2

Last time, I shared a cold write from a group at my school. Today I’ll show you the true first draft, as I begin to expand and develop the themes. Here it is.

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The Lonely Dragon, by Lucy D. Ford

A very long time ago, there was a dragon who lived near the top of a high mountain. Her silver scales barely shimmered, her lush mane was ragged, and her sharp horns had become blunt. Yes, the dragon was very old. She was also very lonely.

Sometimes people from the valley below would creep into her lair, hoping to steal from her hoard. The dragon didn’t really mind. As she grew older, she had also grown wise. When she heard the sly slip of footsteps, she would set a trap for them.

Once the thieves were caught, they would tremble and cry. They thought the dragon was going to punish them. But all she did was bring them tea and ask about the goings-on in those valleys down below. Sometimes the people told her their problems and she would give them good advice. When the tea pot was empty, the dragon would let them go back to their homes.

After a while, people stopped sneaking up the mountain to steal from the dragon. They just came to talk to her. She told them tales from long ago, and if they told her their problems, she still gave them good advice. Even mighty kings and wizards might come to seek the dragon’s wisdom.

The dragon was still very old, but she was no longer very lonely.

There’s still work to do here, but I like the way it’s coming together.

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Queen Titania’s Court

You heard your name in the singing of the birds, and when you looked up, a robin flitted to you with a single, silver page.

You saw your name in the ripples on the river, and when you looked down, a brilliant green frog hopped up to present you a small lily pad laced with glittering golden letters.

You felt the wind tug you at your hand, and when you looked forward, a sidewinder drew your name upon the shining sands.

You scented aether, and when you looked behind, a darting bat delivered a message of cobwebs sketched upon velvety moss.

The swirling wings of butterflies, the whisper of leaves at dusk. In such ways does Titania, Queen of all Fairies, reach out to her favored kinfolk. Join us, on Midsummer Night, when every elf and sprite, fantastic beast and worker of wonders, is welcomed to Queen Titania’s Court!

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Scheduled Books

June 5th, Lunar Boogie (C. S. Boyack)

June 7th, Fractured Fairy Tales (Alma Alexander)

June 9th, Investigation in Nottingham (Astrid Brandon)

June 12th, Owl Dance (David Lee Summers)

June 14th, A Gap in the Veil (Sam Schenk)

June 16th, War of Nytefall: Savagery (Charles E. Yallowitz)

June 19th, Winterlight (Sanan Kolva)

June 21st, Clan Elves of the Bitterroot (Barbara Mountjoy)

June 23rd, GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves (Alden Loveshade)

June 25th, Chaos Wolf (Sheryl Hayes)

June 27th, Peavley Manor (Robert Dahlen)

June 29th, Overdues and Occultism (Jamie Sands)

June 30th, The Grand Finale (Deby Fredericks)

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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Blast from the Past

All this week, I’ve been hearing from some very excited kids about a new movie coming out. That’s Godzilla vs. King Kong, of course! The kids in question are in third grade. It’s been really fun for me to hear about this, because when I was in third grade I adored Godzilla, too.

My versions were the classic, black and white shows with the monsters played by people in rubber suits and/or puppetry. I guess I was a naive kid, because I never even noticed that the cast were all Japanese and their lip movements didn’t quite match the dialogue. As we all know, more recent adaptations have been created with CGI and similar technology, but to me they are just pale imitations.

Anyhow, in some ways Godzilla can be considered a sea dragon. Back when Wyrmflight was focused entirely on dragons, I did a series of blogs about the history behind this incredible King of the Monsters. If you have a mind to, you can click here to check it out!

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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Coming Attractions

Here is an advance peek at my summer book event, Queen Titania’s Court!

Coming up in June, this humble blog will host Queen Titania’s Court, a celebration of fantasy books. Titania, Queen of all Faeries, summons magical people and beasts from every corner of the fantastic world to join her for a grand ball on Midsummer Night.

This invitation is for any and all fantasy writers, especially independent authors. Each day in the month of June, I’ll feature one author’s book. Pick ONE character from ONE of your books to attend the Midsummer Ball.

This is the second year I’m hosting this event. It was really fun to do, and hopefully helped some fellow authors draw attention to their work. There was room for more guests, so here’s where I appeal for your help!

The organizing process for Queen Titania’s Court begins in early April, but it isn’t too soon to start thinking about it. If you’re a fantasy author, or if you know some fantasy authors — especially independently published — I hope you’ll suggest it to them.

Check out this page if you want to know more! To see some of last year’s gala, start here.

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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Reviews Wanted

My latest book, Minstrels of Skaythe, was released two weeks ago. So this is where I reach out to remind you that we writers always need reviews for our books. I’d love to have a few new ones that I can tout on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

If you’ve ordered the paperback, or have purchased the three individual e-books, please do take a moment to set out your thoughts for potential readers.

It really does help.

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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Woman at Work, Part 8

What’s Happening? As we come into October, I find myself as distracted as I expected to be. Figuring out the tech and my students’ personalities requires intense concentration, and then you add in the many irritations of the political situation. There’s not a lot of space in my head for writing just now.

What I’m Working On. This is where I confess that I’m not working on much of anything. At least as far a putting new words on the electronic page. I am moving slowly forward with formatting of the printed Minstrels of Skaythe volume, and getting feedback on Prisoners of the Wailing Tower ahead of the third draft revisions.

What’s Next? As mentioned in my last post, Bad Moon Rising is in October. And that’s about it. Maybe next month, after the election, I’ll start thinking about the next Minstrels of Skaythe novella.

Fun and Games. Animal Crossing and Fallout 4. In AC, my village is in the Southern Hemisphere, so this month I have cherry blossoms at the same time as Jack-o-Lanterns. Fun! I’m also enjoying Fallout. In some ways, it’s almost as leisurely as AC. Although there is a plot to follow, you can skip that and focus as much as you want on helping isolated villages and trying to rebuild civilization.

For some reason, the rebuilding idea is really appealing to me right now!

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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At the Lake

Today is our day to go to the lake, so I wish you all a great weekend!

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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SpoCon Weekend

I have my programming hat on for SpoCon. See it? So I’ll be back next week. Catch you then!

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Guest Post: A Game of Books (The Tower in the Mist by Deby Fredericks)

Hello, everyone! Today I’m visiting Charles E. Yallowitz on his blog, Legends of Windemere. I’m talking about how the Tower in the Mist has its roots in a video game. I hope you’ll come by and check it out.

Legends of Windemere

The Tower in the Mist

Mages vs. Amazons vs. Giant Badger vs. Tyranny

Zathi’s job is to capture renegade mages, but Keilos isn’t like any other mage she’s dealt with. Her drive to bring him in only leads them deeper into a cursed forest. Together, warrior and mage will face deadly beasts and grapple with decisions that compromise every principle. Until they stumble upon a place of ancient, forgotten magic. Zathi must choose — allow Keilos to claim it, or kill him once and for all.

Pre-Order it on Amazon!

Charles often tells us how his Legends of Windemere series got its start as a role-playing game while he was in college. I am here to confess that I, too, wrote my book because of a game.

In my case, it was the video game Dragon Age. I have all three of the series, and I played them back-to-back-to-back-to…

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Dragons Past and Future

Dragons Just Hangin’

Guess what I got for Christmas! Actually, I got several dragons. There’s a lovely vintage print of a lady reading with her pet dragon, and a dragon wine holder, too. My friends know me well.

These dragons are my favorites, though. They are hand made from wool felt. They were most likely purchased at a local fair-trade shop, so the crafters would have created them as part of a jobs program.

Technically, they are a holiday decoration, but they’re so darned cute! I think they’ll just be hanging around my office window for the foreseeable future.

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In other news, it’s the new year and I’m re-assessing certain parts of my writing career. (Not because of any crisis — you should take stock of things from time to time.) Like many writers, I tend to focus most on my current work in progress. I don’t pay as much attention as I should to actually selling copies of my books in print.

As part of this, I’m considering how Wyrmflight supports my other goals. After all, part of the reason for blogging is to draw readers and make sales.

The other piece of this is that I may have gone as far as I can with the blog’s theme of dragons. It’s been seven years, you know? I’ve kept my topic broad to include everything from books and movies to real things that are named after dragons, but what I really love is to share folk stories from around the world. Lately those are getting harder to find.

Will I cease blogging here? I don’t know. It’s brought me many friendships and helped collect enough material for a book. (See my ad, below.) Perhaps I’ll switch to another topic, such as Witches or Fairies. Perhaps I’ll find a way to re-use older posts in a new format. (I hear Instagram is hot these days.)

So this is where I thank all of you for coming along on my Wyrmflight journey. I hope you’ll stick with me, wherever my dragons may come to roost.

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Wyrmflight: A Hoard of Dragon Lore — $4.99 e-book or $17.99 trade paperback. Available at Amazon or Draft2Digital.

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