Another Inspiring Thought for Writers
Or…Something besides the quotes from yesterday

Other than quotations, just mere settings and images can be inspiring. I bring this topic up for a variety of reasons. One, not everyone has the ability to hop in a car (or on a plane) and travel to some scenic venue like Niagara Falls and watch a fascinating vista until the muse starts scratching his or her nails against the chalkboard of inspiration. Some people have limited mobility, limited income, limited time, etc. So we writers take inspiration where we can. Two, we writers need to support one another in our writing habit. Three, I realize that just reading some nice quotes from famous (or anonymous) people doesn’t trip every writer’s trigger. Four, I find motivation and inspiration to write in almost every subject around me.

I typically have no problem with inspiration because I have Duran Duran’s entire catalog at my fingertips and a host of pictures of John Taylor on my computer. For those of you not obsessed to the point of psychosis with this band (or this fabulous man), you might need something else to get your creative juices stirring.

It will surprise no one who knows me that the So Red the Rose album inspired the Choices Meant for Gods trilogy. I can put that album on repeat in the CD player, light the candles scattered about my writing den, turn on the floor lamp and turn off the overhead lighting, and write for ten or eleven hours into the wee hours of the morning. Of course I listened to many more artists and many more albums during the composition and editing of the first two books, but that was the main one. I think it shows in the moodiness of the text. (And I like that. It works.)

What does it for you? Is it photographs of loved ones? Is it a freshly cleaned, dusted, vacuumed writing space in your apartment/home? Is it a sunny window with a watered and well-tended daisy on the sill? Maybe you’re a music aficionado and you must have Vivaldi streaming in the background while you type. Or maybe you must write the old-fashioned way—with pencil and paper (I have to resort to this practice in the car during rush hour).

So share! Some of your inspiring or motivating practices may help another writer get started in his or her good habit.

“Some days, I just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, writing tips, inspiration, Duran Duran

Promotion Tip
Or…The Dragon’s sister sites get a mention next door

My friend Dorothy Thompson, whose name you’ve seen here at The Dragon before, posted an article at her blog Saturday (so you need to scroll) discussing the use of blogs for the characters in your novels. (And I think she's mentioning it again today, but Saturday's has some great info for you writers to check out.) You can visit http://pumpupyouronlinebookpromotion.blogspot.com/ to see the article. But don’t stop there. Dorothy has some other fabulous ideas at her blog to help you promote your writing online.

By the way, Choices Meant for Gods is being promoted at the sister sites of http://AbigailLovesNigel.blogspot.com and http://SandyLender.blogspot.com. These sites are run by Abigail Farrier and Nigel Taiman, respectively, two characters from the Choices Meant for Gods trilogy. I encourage you to check them out to get information you’re not finding here. This is a site that, yes, promotes the book, but is designed to give information to writers—you’re finding grammar tips, writing tips and promotional tips here. You’ll find some scenes out of Abby’s life on AbigailLovesNigel and information about me, the author, at Nigel Presents Sandy Lender.

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, Dorothy Thompson, online book promotion

Word of the Day
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Smarmy (adjective) – Insincere earnestness, smug or self-righteous behavior, having an exaggerated display

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Godric’s smarmy welcome of the emperor to his estate is enough to turn everyone’s stomach.

Your turn! Use it in a sentence!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Great Quotes
Or…What inspires the writer in You?

Inspiration comes in many forms. Wave a picture of John Taylor in front of me and I can write you a 20,000-word romance story in about three hours. (You think I’m joking, don’t you?) Lots of things motivated me during the initial formation of Choices Meant for Gods, but sometimes we need inspiration to do other than write.

Certain quotations through the years have moved me. There’s one that’s gone ’round the ’net with the name “anonymous” attached to it, although someone told me Erma Brombeck (and, yes, I’m sure I just butchered her name) authored it:

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, rum runner in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, “woo-hoo, what a ride!”

I had to modify it because the fabulous olives in martinis were migraine triggers for me (doggonit) and I prefer rum runners (for Duran-related reasons that a Duranie can explain to you in depth). Anyway, this quote has become my motto for life.

Another quote I’ve discovered recently that I also want to use for a life motto comes from the unlikely source of Mark Twain (I’m not a fan):

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.

I like the concept behind it.

What quotes inspire you to write or paint or create in some other way? What words make you pick up your pen (or hit the keyboard) with renewed zeal? Or, you know, what quotes just help you get through a tough day?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags:Choices Meant for Gods, writing tips, quotations

Word of the Day
Tuesday, February, 27, 2007
Plume (noun) – A feather (usually a large, fancy one for ornamentation) or cluster of feathers for ornamentation or to signify rank or importance; also a structure or form that is featherlike such as a plume of smoke; as a transitive verb the word means to decorate with plumes; or, when speaking about birds, it means to smooth or preen feathers (from Middle English and Old French) (if you want to talk about a small feather, you call it a plumelet)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, when Nigel and Henry go to Bellan, they are practically overrun by ladies bedecked in plumes of various colors and sizes.

Your turn! What decorative sentences do you have in you today?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Writing Conference in Naples
Or…My Sunday

Yesterday I attended the Naples Press Club’s Writer’s Conference specifically to help my publisher move books. (Nigel blogged about this on the blog about me last night at http://sandylender.blogspot.com/.) Choices Meant for Gods is still slated for release in the next couple of months, so we didn’t have copies of it there, but I was still able to help other ArcheBooks authors move some of their books. I also had some fantastic opportunities to share ideas.

An author that I’ve mentioned on this blog before, Linda Bilodeau, who has the novel Stepping Through Seagrass available now, sat with Penny Lauer and me for a while discussing websites and blogs. When Prudy Taylor Board, author of Murder a la Carte, joined us, we came up with a fabulous idea for creating a traveling speaking group called the ArcheBook Divas that will pretty much take over the world by 2009. I will, of course, keep visitors to The Dragon apprised.

I also met a gal named Tina who will be starting her first work of fiction any day now. What’s intriguing about her story is she’s starting by learning the craft; the “rules,” if you will; the marketing and promoting; and what publishers want before she’s written the first word. I was very impressed by that and I hope I get to see her at the conference next year to see how all this technical information affected her writing process.

I also talked about my plans for DragonCon, which you all will hear a lot more about.

The NPC Writer’s Conference is the event where, last year, I met Bob Gelinas of ArcheBooks and gave my pitch for Choices Meant for Gods. That was where I handed him my proposal and synopsis and began the process of begging God to let this man ask for the manuscript. Three days later (oooh, it’s just occurred to me how biblical that was…), Bob requested the manuscript, and about a month later I had the contract to publish my first fantasy novel, which is a story of a young lady who’s been on the run from a madman all her life. When she finally stands to fight, she discovers she’s wrapped in centuries of prophecy that involve her protecting the gods themselves.

Of course I’ll let you all know when the galleys arrive. I will shout it on the mountain.

“Some days, I just want the dragon to win.”

Tags:Choices Meant for Gods, fantasy novel, DragonCon, dragon, Archebooks, Archebooks Divas

Word of the Day
Monday, February 26, 2007
Rambunctious (adjective) – boisterous (from Latin)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Henry Bakerson returns from sailing the Ocean of Meredore and reminds Nigel of their rambunctious and rowdy days as teens in Arcana.

Your turn! Today’s word is a fun one to make a sentence out of so let’s see what you come up with to start off the week.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Writers Don’t Like to Waste Time
Or…Get the senior citizens out of my way

I’m breaking the cardinal rule of The Dragon: no ranting. But here it is. I’m a writer. I don’t have time to screw around waiting in long lines at the post office, bank, grocery store, pharmacy (yes, I take migraine maintenance medication that has to be refilled and the mail-in plans have been…ah…interrupted…as of late), oil-change shops, etc., because senior citizens who have all day every day to take care of their business are standing in front of me on a Saturday morning.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I like grandparents. Nice folks (usually). But, People, while I’m at work paying your Social Security check, could you go to the post office or the bank or wherever and take care of your business so that the working people can do this business when we’re off work on the weekends?

I’d also like to suggest that members of the retired community find it in their hearts to not drive during rush hour. I think that if you have all day to get to one of the 972 CVS or Walgreens pharmacies located in the city limits of Naples, Florida, well, gee, could you go there during the day? Then you don’t have to plug up rush hour traffic with your Lincoln Town Cars and yacht-size Cadillacs with the locked-in turn signals while those of us paying your Medicare bill are trying to get home to write.

I promise not to rant again for a long time.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”



Tags: senior citizens, Medicare, rant, writing

Word of the Day
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Extenuate (transitive verb) – A long time ago, this word meant “to lessen the strength of something” or “to make something emaciated,” but those meanings have fallen out of use. Nowadays, this word is most often heard in legal connotations such as “extenuating circumstances.” It means “to lessen the magnitude of something,” so you can see how part of its old meaning has carried forward. If you make something appear less-blameworthy for a crime or less guilty of some act, then you extenuate it.

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Mia’s sympathy for Nigel’s plight extenuates her actions in hiding his highest crime from the authorities.

Your turn! Been watching any Law & Order lately? I bet you can write a great sentence with this word with a little Sam Waterson (isn’t that Jack McCoy’s actor’s name?) inspiration. Yummy.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Word of the Day
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Yammer (verb) – to whine, complain in a sniveling, whimpering sort of way or to talk loudly (from Old English geomrian)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Jake Taiman yammers about how unfair it is that he has an arranged marriage with a young girl from far away, until he sees his lovely bride.

Your turn! Know anyone who does this? Man, I’ve worked with some of these folks…

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Writer’s Guide
Character Sketches Part III

In addition to Word of the Day and Grammar Guide, this site for writers includes items that relate to the artistic side of the craft of writing. So we’re doing a series on Character Sketches. If you missed Parts I and II, you can find them in the archives on Thursday, February 8, and Thursday, February 15.

As I pointed out before, sketching out your characters is as important as sketching out the plot of your story (and we’ll talk about storyboarding in an upcoming Writer’s Guide). You need to be intimately involved with the people or creatures who carry your plot. I’ve given you an exercise to learn some of the top momentous events in your characters’ lives and talked about the importance of giving your main characters a good (but solvable) flaw/faulty life view to make him or her relatable.

Now, did you catch that little parenthetical in there? Solvable. You want the character’s faulty life view to be solvable. The flaw or faulty life view of your main character should get solved during the “character arc”. If you don’t solve this by the end of the book/story, ah, well, ah, perhaps an editor can help you rework your ending…

The character arc is the process the main character goes through specifically to solve (a) his or her problems (faulty life view) and (b) to save the day/solve the mystery/finish the plot/save the damsel in distress/banish Lex Luther. You get the idea. In the case of Choices Meant for Gods, Amanda Chariss Derdriu must overcome the fear of being without her wizard and embrace the responsibilities she was born to take on. Now, this doesn’t mean she has to do everything without her wizard at her side. (Good Heavens, Hrazon wouldn’t leave her alone in this battle even if the gods showed up and ordered him to.) But this heroine has tasks to complete that Hrazon can’t do for her, and she must learn independence. This is something the reader can relate to, and, by the end of Book I of the Choices trilogy, she’s completed the first of the arcs she must go through.

What solvable life view did you find in your main character from last week’s Writer’s Guide? Now think of how you plan to solve it by the end of the character’s arc. Share! Let’s discuss this!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, writing tips, character sketches, character arc

Word of the Day
Friday, February 23, 2007
Rale (adjective) – abnormal breathing sound, could be pathological in nature, an incorrect respiratory sound indicating something is wrong (from Old French)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, the rale gasp of the ryfel before it shrieks sends a shudder down Chariss’s spine.

Your turn! Your sentence doesn’t have to be suspenseful; the word can have medical connotations as well.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

You Might Want to Leave Britney Spears Alone
Or…How to annoy your readers with unwanted character developments

We’ll feature another installment of the Writer’s Guide Character Sketches series tomorrow morning here at The Dragon, but I have to make a side note concerning characters and the arcs they go through to fulfill their purpose in a story. And, considering how very much attention Britney Spears has received since she had her head shaved like some kind of G.I. Jane or Ripley’s-Got-An-Alien-Followin’-Her Wannabe, I just had to forewarn you writers of something.

You CAN annoy your readers if your characters do something stupid.

If your character is supposed to go on a quest for self-righteousness (and I’m not implying Britney Spears has been on such a quest), you can’t let this dear, innocent, everyone’s-falling-in-love-with-him-or-her hero (or heroine) suddenly dive off the deep end and have a sordid romp with some two-bit loser in a back alley (and I’m not implying Britney Spears has ever done such a thing). You want your characters to have their surmountable flaws and their moments of crisis, but, wow, you’ve got to keep it in check.

But there’s another lesson from Britney Spears for writers working on character development. Watch closely.

What you do is gradually take a character from Point A to Point B to Point C and so on until he or she reaches the end of the arc at the end of your story. If you want your angelic Charlotte Church to end up in a tattoo parlor with no panties (that’s a guess on my part) and a shaved head, well, you know, just make sure she first marries some guy no one’s ever heard of and helps him make a fool of himself; make sure she has allegations of child neglect surrounding her in the papers for a few weeks at a time; have her walk into gross public restrooms without shoes or socks on; and then have her call up the aforementioned husband while he’s filming a TV show and humiliate him by dumping/divorcing him by cell phone. That’s a class act right there, my writing friends. But what you see is a believable character that’s developing over time. Your audience will come to expect certain behaviors. By the time you get to the beauty salon, the readers won’t be surprised when the character demands the hairdresser get out the razor and buzz away. Your readers will merely shake their heads in despair as this character heads on over to the tattoo parlor. Now, I’m not saying your readers are going to adore this character, but you’ve got a definite pattern of unwanted character development.

And that’s good fiction.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags:Britney Spears, tattoo parlor, Dragon

Word of the Day
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Sympathy (noun) – Compassion, pity or sorrow for someone’s plight; mutual understanding (from Greek)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Nigel is in sympathy with Jake when their father announces the reason for the emperor’s visit, but he makes no move to stop the plan from moving forward.

Your turn! And you remember the difference between sympathy and empathy from yesterday’s Word of the Day, yes?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Something Else Writers Love to Do
Or…when you’re not writing…

This topic actually came to me because I have to put gas in my car. There is nothing about that task that I can find peace with. Nothing. I wanted to rant about it, but we don’t rant here at The Dragon. We discuss writing, grammar, Choices Meant for Gods, etc.

SO! In that vein, let’s turn this around. What is something I love doing? (Besides writing.) Holy cow, there’s a list. It includes listening to music, playing I’m-Gonna-Get-Your-Toes with my pet bird, and finding ways to drive my soon-to-be-ex-husband slowly insane with clever little dropped hints of homicidal tendencies. (I can be subtle.)

But who cares about my list?

What’s your list? What do you writers who visit The Dragon enjoy doing in your non-writing time? I mean, even writers have lives (believe it or not) outside of the fantasy and non-fantasy worlds we create for our characters. Give me some feedback here so I can figure out if I’m completely insane or just moderately so.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, gas, Dragon, writers, fantasy

Word of the Day
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Empathize (intransitive verb) – To feel empathy (empathy is understanding intimately someone or something’s motives or feelings or thoughts, etc.; not to be confused with sympathy – this should be a Grammar Guide, eh?) (from Greek empatheia, passion)

Word in a Sentence: I empathize with Abigail Farrier from Choices Meant for Gods because I, too, have felt the deep yearning for something I cannot have.

Your turn! Who do you empathize with? Now, remember – empathy is deep and emotional, not mere sympathy. And you can see the blog of Abigail Farrier at http://AbigailLovesNigel.blogspot.com. (It is very pink.)

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

ISBN Changes
Or…The Dragon wants you to know about the new ISBN for Choices Meant for Gods

At the turn of the year, ISBNs (the numbers used to track books) went from ten digits to thirteen. So! If you possess an original bookmark for Choices Meant for Gods with original artwork by Megan Kissinger, it will list the ten-digit ISBN 1-59507-165-2. That has changed.

The new ISBN for Choices Meant for Gods is as follows:

978-1-59507-165-1

Write it down. Take it with you to Barnes & Noble, Borders, Hastings, Mina Hemingway’s Florida Book Store, The Harry Potter Book Spot, The Children of Hurin Shop Here for Books Store, or wherever you like to look for great fantasy books, and see if the manager can find Sandy Lender’s Choices Meant for Gods yet! Or you could save the gas money and call instead…

We’re still looking at the actual release in March or April, but a pre-order is never a bad thing! Surely you want to be the first on your block to read about Nigel and Chariss and the prophecy that throws them into turmoil in Southeast Onweald!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, Harry Potter, Children of Hurin, fantasy, fantasy books

Word of the Day
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Deliquesce (intransitive verb) – To melt away, to disappear as if by melting (from Latin)

Word in a Sentence: (get ready for it – this one’s hyper-romantic) In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Nigel wonders if his heart deliquesces within him the first time he sees Chariss bound into his family’s dining room all smiles and excitement from her encounter in the training arena.

Your turn! Do you have something equally obnoxious you can write with our word of the day? Maybe something a little Wizard of Oz for me?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Word of the Day
Monday, February 19, 2007
Bantling (noun) – I get the impression this is not a very positive word – it means “a young child” but it comes from a German background with a “sordid” history. It starts out meaning “a child begotten on a bench” and that can’t be great, right? It gets around to the German word “bankling” meaning bastard.

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Godric and Kora return to Arcana with the bantling wondering how their lives will progress.

Your turn! Can you use this one in a sentence?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Daylight Time Change Changes This Year
Or…Have you considered your computer settings?

Writers need every hour we can eek out of every day, so when lawmakers change Daylight Time (and Daylight Savings Time) on us, it just makes us think about that obnoxious “loss of an hour” more than we usually would.

Rather than bore you with the usual tripe about why we move our clock hands back and forth every spring and fall (because, really, your news stations and various web sites will use those stories ad nauseam over the next three or four weeks), let me give you the useful info you need concerning this year’s change in Daylight Time’s beginning.

This year, Daylight Time begins March 11 instead of the first Sunday in April. And Daylight Savings Time will begin this autumn November 4 instead of the last Sunday in October. Why?

Legislators passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. no. 109-58, 119 Stat 594) in 2005 to help us conserve more energy. This is a laudable goal, and I’m not complaining about that. I recognize the fact that we don’t actually “lose” an hour in the grand scheme of things by “springing forward” an hour at 2 a.m. March 11 because we “gain” that hour back November 4 when we “fall back” an hour. But, oh man, we writers with day-jobs need all the hours we can get! Can I get an amen?

Besides cutting into your writing time this weekend, Daylight Time will pose a problem for your computer clock. Hmm.

See, my settings have always been such that my PCs automatically spring forward an hour at 2 a.m. the first Sunday in April and fall back the last Sunday in October. I’ve always put smart hamsters in those wheels. But this year the hamsters get a new challenge. Did the folks who built my computer in winter ’06 know about the Energy Policy Act of 2005? Chances are good. Will my “Adjust for Daylight Savings Time” feature kick in March 11 only and not again April 1? It’ll be a good practical joke for those cute little hamsters to play on me, eh?

For those of you with computers built behind that curve, you can buy software (ooh, Capitalism at its finest – the conspiracy theorists should be on top of this) to make your life easier. Or, novel concept comin’ up here, you can reset your computer’s clock when you get up March 11. (And you might want to check it April 1.)

Call me old-fashioned.
It’s the dragon in me.

In good news, there are no time changes in my novel Choices Meant for Gods. Chariss doesn’t have to rail at Master Rothahn for reminding her of the loss of an hour of sleep or training time. No one passes a bill dictating when to light the lanterns in Arcana.

And to all you folks in Indiana, aren’t you glad you opted into this last year? ;)

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Daylight Savings Time, Daylight Time, Energy Policy Act, Choices Meant for Gods, writing

Word of the Day
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Abeyance (noun) – Suspension, having been set aside for a time; in matters of law, the word means being in a condition of undetermined or unassigned ownership (from Norman French)

Word in a Sentence: The abeyance of the Taiman family’s title set Godric in a foul mood twenty-eight years before the beginning of my novel Choices Meant for Gods; he hasn’t recovered yet.

Your turn! Do you have a good sentence for this one?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Grammar Guide
Their vs There vs They’re

The easy one to single out of this bunch is the contraction. It’s the one you can “test” in a sentence very easily. If you can substitute the words “they are” for the “they’re” you’re trying to use in your sentence, then you’re doing fine with the contraction. Here is your example.

Nigel and Chariss are the hero and heroine of Choices Meant for Gods. They’re a formidable couple when they team up to fight Master Rothahn’s enemies.

If the contraction doesn’t work out, you’ve got to choose between a possessive pronoun and a locator. The word “their” is a possessive pronoun (as is “theirs”). The word “there” refers to the location of something or someone. Here are a few examples.

Nigel and Chariss combined their skills to kill the dragon.
Is this prophecy scroll theirs?

Chariss set the scroll over there before the dragon materialized in the training arena.

Nigel and Chariss are in there (location). They’re (they are) using their (possessive pronoun) swords to battle the dragon that materialized in the training arena.

(Sandy Lender has been an editor in the magazine publishing industry for fourteen years.)
“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, grammar, possessive pronoun, their, there, they're

Word of the Day
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Leman (noun) – A mistress or lover (from Middle and Old English) (There’s also a Leman Lake in Geneva…)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Nigel discovers that his younger brother has taken yet another leman that could sully the family’s name and put the estate in jeopardy.

Your turn! Use it in a sentence!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Serial Author Didn’t Kill Me!
Or…How The Dragon author stays alive as a soap star

Regular visitors to The Dragon may remember that Jamieson Wolf developed a character for me in his serial novel Hunted at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hunted/. Believe it or not, I haven’t died yet. In fact, and I don’t want to give away the ending for those of you interested in reading the completed story now, I ended up with a fun role!

Hunted is (was) a suspenseful tale that walks the line between glorifying and mocking those soap dramas we love to hate. You remember Whoopie, Sally, and company in Soap Dish? Okay, you’re on the right track now, but toss in a creepy paranormal element, some blood and guts and gore, some twists and turns, and you’ve got a better idea of what Jamieson has created. The story is complete now, so if you were merely waiting until you had a whole story to read, well, wait no longer. Jog over to the yahoo group and read all 55 scenes before Jamieson dives into his next serial novel, Electric Red, which should be any day…

And if you want a vampire serial novel to read, why, you’ve come to the right paranormal venue, haven’t you? We’re only up to scene 13 in Saving a Vampire from the Summer Sunrise, and you can go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sandysvampiresunrise/join to click into that group and get caught up. That fun little romp just goes to show that you can’t let life dictate what path you’re on…even if you’re the undead. Nathan and Katy await your arrival.

In other writing news, I don’t have a release date for Choices Meant for Gods to post on The Dragon yet, but we’re still looking at the month of March. I’ll be sure to plaster the news all over The Dragon as soon as I know something. Thanks for checking in!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: dragon, Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, vampire

Word of the Day
Friday, February 16, 2007
Smolder (intransitive verb) – This word is rife with possibilities. It means to exist in a suppressed state or to manifest repressed hate or repressed anger. Can you feel it? But wait…there’s more. It also means to burn with no flame. So imagine this: burning, smoking, repressed hate or anger just feeding inwardly on itself. That’s smoldering. (from Middle English, of course)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Godric Taiman smoldered for twenty-eight years over the actions he viewed as injustices against his person, waiting for the moment he and his accomplice would strike and prophecy would attain his vengeance for him.

Your turn! With a word as laced with intrigue as this one, you’ve got to have some fabulous sentences churning in your brains!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Writer’s Guide
Character Sketches Part II

In addition to Word of the Day and Grammar Guide, this site for writers includes items that relate to the artistic side of the craft of writing. So we’re doing a series on Character Sketches. If you missed Part I, you can find it in the archives on Thursday, February 8.

As I pointed out last week, sketching out your characters is as important as sketching out the plot of your story (and we’ll talk about storyboarding in an upcoming Writer’s Guide). You need to be intimately involved with the people or creatures who carry your plot. Last week, we went over an exercise to learn some of the top momentous events in your characters’ lives. Today, let’s talk about the things that make your characters real: their flaws.

Woah. Flaws? But, Sandy, my characters are perfect. That’s what makes them heroes!

No. If your character is Little Miss Muffit-Perfect, guess how many readers are going to sympathize with her? Not a lot. She needs a flaw. She needs a problem with her view of life. She needs something that makes her real. She needs something that makes the reader say, “Oh, yeah, man, I’ve done that, I can totally relate!” (Relate is the key word there, by the way.)

In Choices Meant for Gods, Amanda Chariss Derdriu is the lead female character. She’s supposed to save the world (that’s a little tongue-in-cheek, but you get the idea), so she’s got to have a lot of moxie, right? But she can’t be this beautiful, fabulous, sword-wielding Geasa’n with the abilities of goddesses hundreds of years older than her resting at her fingertips all the time. She needs a flaw to make her believable and relatable. Well…she can’t draw worth a darn. She can’t cook worth a darn. She also has this inability to notice a man’s interest when it’s turned completely on her. But here is the flaw that is her faulty life view: She doesn’t believe she can carry the weight of the burdens her birthright places on her without her wizard at her side. Oooh…now THAT’s a good faulty life view. That’s interesting. That’s intriguing. That makes a reader sit up and say, “Woah, I feel that way when I’m alone” or “Yeah, I don’t like it when I have to face such-n-such alone.”

What’s your main character’s flaw? Is it something that the reader can relate to? Does it draw the reader in to make him or her root for your character? Stop and think about it and see how much more depth you can give your main character.

In the next Writer’s Guide, we’ll discuss how to solve that faulty life view.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Word of the Day
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Remorse (noun) – Bitter regret; moral anguish over misdeeds; the feeling of deep repentance for misdeeds (the word originates in Medieval Latin and Latin, and, get this word history: it comes from the construction meaning “to bite again”)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Abigail Farrier feels tremendous remorse over missing Nigel Taiman the morning Henry whisks him away to the continent of Onweald.

Your turn! Anyone want to write a sentence about remorse over the 13 billion pounds of chocolate we Americans purchased for Happy Heart Day?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Update on Choices Meant for Gods
Or…The Dragon welcomes new visitors with information about this blog

Choices Meant for Gods is a fantasy story about Amanda Chariss, a Geasa’n who’s been on the run from a madman all her life—and when she finally decides to stand and fight, she discovers she’s wrapped in centuries of prophecy that involve protecting the gods themselves.

The 170,000-word novel will be released from ArcheBooks Publishing this spring (probably March 2007; it’s in editing right now), and will be available at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Hastings, your local Harry Potter and Children of Hurin supplier, etc. Or you can order it through B&N.com, Amazon.com, or www.archebook.com. Ask for it by title, Choices Meant for Gods, by my name, Sandy Lender, or by ISBN 978-1-59507-165-1.

This site is devoted to not only promoting that book, but to helping writers hone their craft. We feature grammar guides, writing tips, vocabulary words with a twist, and general pop culture information that always has a tie-in to writing or the writing lifestyle (in some misguided way). Basically, this is a blog site that doesn’t rant and rave about the destruction of the universe, but looks at writing and the promotion of writing in a positive light (as often as possible!).

For all you regulars who have been aware of the info above for a while, we’re experiencing some additional traffic these days due to the release of the Valentine’s Day free eBook Love is in the Air, so I wanted to share the cool news about Choices Meant for Gods with those folks. Now, for those new folks, welcome! For my regulars, you can get your free download of Love is in the Air, with a story titled “At Last” by Sandy Lender (please forgive the formatting issues!), “Meeting the Man of my Dreams” by Abigail Farrier, and “To Love a Sea Captain” by Hattie Jenkins, at http://www.thewriterslife.homestead.com/loveisintheair. I recommend it, not just because it’s free, but because it has some clever fiction stories and some soul mate advice articles from syndicated soul mate columnist Dorothy Thompson.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”


Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, free Valentine's Day ebook, Harry Potter, Children of Hurin

Word of the Day
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Misfeasance (noun) – The unlawful execution of an act that is typically all right; performing a lawful act in a manner that is improper – seemed a great word for today

Word in a Sentence: Roberto gave Camilla chocolates and roses with a smile, but she could see through his misfeasance and did not grant him entrance to her chamber.

Your turn! So I downplayed the Law-and-Order nature of the word for the example sentence I gave today…I bet you visitors can do something much better! Bonus points for you if you can work in something about my novel Choices Meant for Gods! He he he.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Free Valentine’s Day Book of Love Stories
Or…Get a free book of love for your soul mate for Valentine’s Day

Anyone who knows me will find this post laughable. Here’s the punch line: I wrote a romantic story for a free Valentine’s Day eBook that an online writers group put together. It’s a fabulous little collection of fiction (hence my involvement) and how-to/advice articles from the syndicated soul mate columnist Dorothy Thompson. You can download Love is in the Air at www.thewriterslife.homestead.com/loveisintheair.html.

You’ll also find stories from Abigail Farrier (her blog is at http://AbigailLovesNigel.blogspot.com) and Hattie Jenkins. And if you aren’t familiar with those two, well, just wait until March when Choices Meant for Gods is released and you’ll become familiar with them!

Also, this online group is an excellent place to exchange writing ideas, hone your craft, get answers to writing and promotion questions, post snippits of your writing for feedback and constructive criticism, etc. You can check out the group’s page and apply for free membership at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thewriterslife/. I look forward to meeting you there.

If you go download your free copy of Love is in the Air, please let me know what you think of the story “At Last” by Sandy Lender. I’d also like to hear what you think of “Meeting the Man of my Dreams” and “To Love a Sea Captain” by Abby and Hattie, respectively.

Oh, and have a happy Valentine’s Day!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Valentine’s Day gift, love stories, free Valentine’s Day ebook, Love is in the Air, writing group, Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender

Word of the Day
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Concupiscence (noun) – Lust! Sensuality, strong sexual desire, any abnormally strong desire (from Latin)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, it’s no secret that Nigel’s concupiscence for Chariss rules his actions on her behalf.

Your turn! Now, this close to Valentine’s Day, you should feel quite motivated to come up with a great sentence using this provocative little noun.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Grammy Awards Results on The Dragon
Or…Can I base a character on Justin Timberlake and not get sued?

Whether you watched the Grammys last night or not, you probably recognize that Justin Timberlake is fabulous. Of course his FutureSex LoveSounds, which is on regular rotation in my bedroom suite, should have won Album of the Year because it rocks the house, Baby. Since we’re in the middle of character sketch discussions in the Writer’s Guides that I’m posting for all ya’ll, here’s my question: Can I base a character in a sequel to Choices Meant for Gods on Justin Timberlake without getting sued?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”


Tags: the Grammys, Grammy Awards Results, Justin Timberlake, Album of the Year, Choices Meant for Gods

Greatest Songs of the Seventies
Meme me, baby

No mocking me, now, but I’m a member of the Barry Manilow International Fan Club (hey, I love the man) and his PR machine (which works overtime, let me tell you) sent me a message late last week inviting me to vote for my favorite thirteen songs of the two-hundred he’d narrowed down from the canon of seventies tunes he could include on his upcoming covers album. Fantastic! I got to weigh in!

I carefully considered which ones I would ABSOLUTELY DIE to hear Mr. Manilow sing, which ones I thought he could market in 2007/2008, and which ones I thought he’d sound great singing, and came up with the list I’ll post below.

But here’s the meme I’m sending out! List your top five songs of the seventies. Yes, I said seventies. What five songs moved you then to such heights that you can still listen to them now if they come on on the Old Fuddy Duddy Station when you’re in the car? This might be easier after I stir your memory banks with my top thirteen list (in no particular order) that I want Mr. Manilow to perform…

Cecilia
Hooked on a Feeling
I’m Not in Love
Imagine
Lady (hopefully the one by LRB)
Pina Colada Song
Silly Love Songs
You Light Up My Life
You’ve Got a Friend
Take a Chance on Me
She Believes in Me
Maybe I’m Amazed
Everything I Own

And here are the folks I tag to answer the meme challenge!
Michelle (M.B. Weston, author of A Prophecy Forgotten, www.elysianchronicles.com)
Tina Murray (author of A Chance to Say Yes, http://achancetosayyes.blogspot.com)
The Author Mike (author of Jessie Remembers, www.freewebs.com/justsaywhat)
Dorothy Thompson (co-author of The Search for the Million $$$ Ghost, www.overthehillchick.blogspot.com)
Jamieson Wolf (author of Garden City, http://www.jamiesonwolf.blogspot.com)
Thingfish23 (http://tamingoftheband-aid.blogspot.com)

Now, this isn’t to say you visitors can’t participate, too. If you’re just stoppin’ by and this tickles your fancy, there’s a comment link just beneath my tagline about dragons winning the day. And you don’t have to come up with five if you don’t want to. No rules for you to adhere to! You can just list one that’s your favorite… And yes, anything off the ’73 release of Houses of the Holy is fair game! Rock on!


“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: music, Barry Manilow, meme

Word of the Day
Monday February 12, 2007
Narcissism (noun) – Self-adoration, excessive adoration of oneself (remember the story of Narcissus from Greek mythology?)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, The Master Rothahn could be accused of narcissism with his arrogant concern for his clothes and features.

You turn! Any narcissistic behavior and self-adoration to expose as we near February 14?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar, word

Borders Book Store Space for Choices Meant for Gods
Or…Here’s where you’ll find the new fantasy novel from Sandy Lender

Of course, if you don’t find Choices Meant for Gods on the shelf at Borders, or Barnes & Noble, or Hastings, or Mina Hemingway’s Florida Book Store, or *insert your favorite book store’s name here*, you can ask them to order it (which I highly recommend!) or you can order it online from Amazon.com, B&N.com, or http://www.archebooks.com/ when it gets released this spring (probably in March). But I couldn’t pass up the chance to share this picture after Jim in St. Louis was so creative in staging it for me. I had to laugh when I opened up the e-mail yesterday to find my very own spot reserved at Borders in Clayton.

Thank you, Jim!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods

Word of the Day
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Reunion (noun) – A gathering or grouping of members of a group who have been apart for some time; a reuniting of people or objects that have been separated

Word in a Sentence: I wonder if Stewart Copeland and Gordon Sumner will survive the The Police reunion on the Grammys tonight.

Your turn! So this isn’t a difficult word. You’re probably familiar with it. Give me a unification sort of sentence! :) (And for the record, I've heard a rumor that mah boy Justin is performing tonight, too. Hold me back!)

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Grammar Guide
Using the Right Singularity with Group Nouns

Yeah, it’s a strange title. It’s the Stargate SG-1 fan bursting out of me. Last month, we had a Grammar Guide that discussed noun and verb agreement. We saved the topic of group nouns for a later date because the regular discussion was long enough without adding this skein of yarn to the loom.

First things first. Because I grew up in America and this blog is written, posted, managed, etc., in America, we’ll use American English rules on this one. In Britain, group nouns are treated a bit differently. I’m not sayin’ there’s anything wrong with that. I adore certain English rock stars and find it absolutely adorable to listen to them when they fling about their own grammatical style.

Let’s get it on.

Group nouns are those nouns that look like a plural word because they imply a “group” of something, but they are singular. For instance!

Duran Duran is currently in the studio.

"Duran Duran" is the group noun. It is singular and it takes a singular verb. Now, if we were members of the group (how fabulous would that be), we would be British and we’d say Duran Duran are in the studio, implying the noun is plural. (It actually makes my skin crawl to say that without the fabulous accent to back it up.)

To use a plural verb with a group noun, you have to break out the members of the group.

Two members of Duran Duran are named Taylor, but they are not brothers.
In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, several hunters from the Ungol tribe go to fetch dinner.

In the first sentence, the subject is actually “Two members” and the group noun “Duran Duran” has become the object of the preposition “of”. It is no longer the subject, and no longer has to agree with the verb. The subject “Two members” is plural and takes the plural verb “are”. In the second sentence, the same thing happens. “Several hunters” is the subject and “tribe” is the object of the preposition “from”. So the item that needs to agree with the verb “go” is “several hunters”. In the example, both are plural, so we have agreement. If we were merely saying “The tribe goes to fetch dinner,” then the “tribe” is the subject and it is a singular group. The verb would change to the singular “goes” to agree with it.

To view the first discussion about noun/verb agreement, click on the January archives at left and find the Grammar Guide titled Noun-Verb Agreement from January 8.

(Sandy Lender has been an editor in the magazine publishing industry for fourteen years.)
“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Word of the Day
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Huffish (adjective) – Sulky, irritable (the word used to mean arrogant and insolent)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Godric Taiman’s huffish nature makes him intolerable company for the rest of the household at Arcana; people avoid him.

Your turn! Use it in a sentence!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Anna Nicole Smith, Assisting with Character Development
Is this a Writers Guide topic?

Anna Nicole Smith's passing will be met with the usual sides squaring up to either demonize or victimize her. I'll do neither. Because this is a site dedicated to writing and getting the writing right, let's look instead at how Anna Nicole Smith might influence your characters. I never thought about it until I read the news on Yahoo last night, but there's a little bit of Anna Nicole in one of the goddesses in Choices Meant for Gods. If you listen to the story the lesser goddess Mia tells of Katarina Fair, you'll hear it. (Of course, you have to wait until March when the fantasy novel is released, but it'll be worth the wait!)

But think of what a provocative individual Anne Nicole Smith was. From her days as a model to her intriguing marriage to her sad and tragic loss of her dear son so recently. Now her death leaves an infant daughter motherless. As bizarre as this may sound so soon after a person's death (but let's face it, celebrities are out there where we see them objectified far too easily), how can you place elements of Anna Nicole Smith's life or lifestyle in one of your characters? I guarantee the Anna Nicole treatment will give that character a little sparkle.

"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."

Word of the Day
Friday, February 9, 2007
Muzzy (adjective) – Blurry, confused, not seen or shown clearly, muddled, indistinct (get this! The word’s origin is obscure!)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Tiatha Wold’s muzzy heritage is kept from her potential husbands.

Your turn! The word is pronounced with a short “u” sound, like the “u” in “muzzle”. Can you come up with an unmuzzy sentence for us?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Writer’s Guide
Character Sketches Part I

In addition to Word of the Day and Grammar Guide, this site for writers should include items that relate to the artistic side of the craft of writing. And I apologize to anyone who takes offense at the implication that grammar can’t be artsy; I just don’t see it unless we figure out a way to diagram sentences in Blogger.

Sketching out your characters is as important, if not moreso, than sketching out the plot of your story (and, yes, I’ve got an article on storyboarding already in the works). These people carry your plot, after all. If you don’t know them better than you know your best friends, you may have some not-so-pleasant surprises in store when your book gets cookin’. Whether you’re one of those writers who puts all the plot developments down on nice, neat, 3 by 5 notecards, or you write by the seat of your pants, a character with flaws you didn’t know about or some hidden neurosis you didn’t realize was in his or her past will bring production to a halt in a hurry.

The sketching device we’re going to cover in this article is what I like to call “My Top Ten Stressful Moments”. To gear you up for it, practice it on yourself. (It helps.) Get yourself a piece of paper, a pen, and a clock or stopwatch. Give yourself ten minutes to write down on this piece of paper as many life-altering or just plain momentous events that you can think of that have happened in your life. Let me give you a hint: being born is one of them. Ya kinda hafta start with that one. But from there, who knows what’s affected you throughout your life? Maybe some kid beat you up on the playground in first grade and it taught you how to avoid conflict or it taught you how to stand up for yourself. Either way, the “got beat up in first grade” is a momentous event. Have you traveled overseas? Have you graduated from college? Have you witnessed a death? Just write these things down as fast as your fingers will let the pen scribble them down as fast as they come to your mind.

At the end of your ten minutes, re-set the clock or stopwatch for another ten minutes so you can select the top ten of these items. Which ten of these momentous events were really the cream of the crop? Which ones have shaped, molded, formed you into the person you are with the life views (ooh, that phrase is going to be verrrrry important in the next character sketch article) and opinions and values you have? Use these ten minutes to pull those top ten items out and rank them from most important/most influential to least influential.

It’ll be an interesting exercise.

When you’re done (and your brain hurts), get out another sheet of paper. Write your first main character’s name at the top of the page. Now do this exercise for him or her. Ooh, won’t you get to know this character better now? And if you get stuck or you start daydreaming about one of these events, stop the exercise. Grab another piece of paper or open up a file on the computer and explore that event a little more. You can always come back to the “My Top Ten Stressful Moments” for this character later. Do what you need to do to hammer out the momentous events in this character’s past.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Word of the Day
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Dragoon (transitive verb) – Harass, coerce, convince to do something by violent measures, persecute with troops (the noun form of this word was a 17th or 18th century armed trooper in a European army) (from French “dragon” insinuating “fire-breather,” and Old French)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Julette dragoons mortals into assisting her with threats upon their lives.

Your turn! What sentence can I dragoon you into making today?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Grammar Guide
Punctuation with quotations in formal text

If you’re writing a term paper, letter to the editor, business letter, cover letter, etc., and you want to include a quotation, there are rules to follow so you don’t embarrass yourself. (and so you don’t get docked any points on that thar term paper, eh?)

If the quotation is brief, your life is pretty easy. You’ve got to pay attention to ending punctuation, and we’ll address that, but you can probably separate your phrases with a comma. For example:

Charlotte Bronte gave her heroine Jane Eyre a fiery spirit. When Mr. Rochester would detain the troubled governess, she said, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”

The phrase that precedes the quotation is set off by a comma. The quotation from Jane Eyre ends with a period in the novel, thus it takes the period at the end of the sentence before the quotation mark in the text here. If we elected to chop up the quote, ending it at “being,” the punctuation would move. For example:

When Mr. Rochester would detain the troubled governess, she said, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being”.

The punctuation must denote the end of the correct sentence, and that is the “outer” construction—the construction without the quotation marks.

Let’s say you wanted to really impress your English professor and were quoting something from both Bronte and the new Lender novel Choices Meant for Gods. Your next quote turns out to be long. Now your life is not quite so easy. You have to pay attention to your introductory punctuation and make a judgment call on whether or not to indent the quote, essentially setting it off from the body of your paper (or letter or whatever you’re writing).

First of all, a quote is usually considered lengthy if it is more than three or four lines of poetry or if it is more than one paragraph of text. In these instances, you end your attributive phrase with a colon, allow a single line of space between this phrase and the quote, and then set the quote off by insetting it (setting it off) in the body of your paper with left justification. MLA, Chicago Manual of Style, and various uppity English professors will dictate how far in the inset should be. If the quote isn’t all that long, but you still feel it’s long enough to warrant more than a simple comma to set it off, use a colon, but don’t go to the extreme of setting it off in the body of your paper. Here’s your example:

To demonstrate a flashback scene, I quote from Lender’s Choices Meant for Gods: “Hrazon had swallowed his pride and requested Drake be imprisoned, not exalted. He challenged the court to stand up for morality. The implication that they might ignore morality had offended them. By the time the court adjourned, Godric was forgotten again, and Drake was handed the leadership of Kida and an order never to come within a league of Amanda Chariss Derdriu. The latter was merely a nod or a ‘thank you for trusting the hierarchy’ tossed at Hrazon. The wizard could have turned every one of them into charred piles of bone with the blink of an eye, and Godric would have applauded him.”

Notice that you will use quotation marks to surround the quotation in this instance. For the extremely long quotation that you inset, no quotation marks are needed. The use of indenting the body of the quote in your paper signals to the reader that the section is a quotation.

Also notice that the use of quotation marks within the quote takes the alternate form. In other words, use single quote marks when quoting within a quote, even though the original may have used the proper, double quotation marks.

I hope these two guides on punctuation with quotations, both with dialogue and with more formal quotes, have been useful. If you have additional quotation and punctuation questions, by all means, zip them to me in the comments section and I’ll pull together additional Grammar Guides! That’s one of the reasons this site exists!

(Sandy Lender, author of Choices Meant for Gods, has been an editor in the magazine publishing industry for fourteen-plus years.)
“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Word of the Day
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Outrageous (adjective) – Monstrous, grossly offensive, being an outrage (from Middle English and Old French)

Word in a Sentence: I wonder if Lionel Ritchie will think my novel Choices Meant for Gods is outrageous in its display of a polytheistic society.

Your turn! Okay, so my sentence doesn’t give you a great context for the word, but you pop culture freaks like me are still laughing, aren’t you? What can you guys come up with that gives the word good context? I know you’ve got it in you!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Roundup at The Dragon
Or...Do you remember what all's going on?

I thought I'd take just a moment to give visitors a summary of what all's happenin' around The Dragon and Choices Meant for Gods in case you don't have time to...oh, you know...read all the archives.

First, Choices Meant for Gods is in editing this month at ArcheBooks Publishing, so it looks like we'll have a release date in March! Folks, that's fantastic news!

Second, if you're a member of the Saving a Vampire from the Summer Sunrise group, I'll post Scene 11 for you tonight. If you're not a member of that group, FOR SHAME! This is a fun little romantic/comedic/thriller romp through Naples, Florida in which even vampires learn that you can change the path Fate set in motion for you... You can join up by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sandysvampiresunrise/join. See you on the beach!

Third: The Grammar Guide I promised about quotations and punctuation will be posted tomorrow. Promise promise promise.

Fourth: The online writers group I belong to has prepared a Valentine's Day gift for ya'll called Love is in the Air. Several of us wrote fiction pieces of love and romance, and our resident soul mate guide, Dorothy Thompson, who is a syndicated columnist for matters of the heart, has included some articles as well! I'll be posting information on how to get your hands on this free eBook later this week.

And that might be all the news that's fit to print today. If I come up with more, I'll let you know.
"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."

Word of the Day
Tuesday, February, 6, 2007
Capitulate (intransitive verb) – To acquiesce; give in; give up all resistance; surrender under specific terms or conditions (from Medieval and late Latin)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, Nigel gets Chariss to capitulate regarding her plans to flee Arcana while he is in Bellan.

Your turn! Done any surrendering that you can put in a sentence?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Choices Meant for Gods has a Tentative Release Month
Set your alarms for March 2007!

I spoke with my publisher over the weekend concerning the production of Choices Meant for Gods, and it looks as if he’ll be editing the book this month. The staff at ArcheBooks Publishing plans to release several titles over the next few months, including A Prophecy Forgotten by my friend Michelle Weston, and A Chance to Say Yes by my friend Tina Murray. Choices hits the presses first. I don’t think I can express how thrilled I am to hear this news!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll keep you posted on the book’s progress and give you tips on how to order it wherever you are in the country (or abroad). Nigel and Chariss can’t wait to share their stories with you…

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Word of the Day
Monday, February 5, 2007
Malevolent (adjective) – Malicious; of evil influence; bad; displaying ill will toward something or someone; often used in a supernatural connotation (from Latin)

Word in a Sentence: The presence of a malevolent force in the Taiman estate’s training arena takes some characters by surprise in my novel Choices Meant for Gods.

Your turn! What eerie sentence lurks over your keyboard today?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Scenes of Dragons and Wizards and Sorcery, Oh My!
Or…Assignments from the Florida Writers Association monthly meetings

At yesterday’s Florida Writers Association meeting (for the region I’m in), our homework assignment was to write a romantic scene. For those of you following along at home, you know I’ve already written, and read aloud to the group, a suspense scene and a sad scene. Yesterday’s seem to go over better than the other two, and, of course, I worked up a scene that could have appeared in Choices Meant for Gods if I had only written it a few years ago.

Anyway! I’ll post the romantic scene below and you all can read what might have taken place the morning after Nigel Taiman’s brush with death if Chariss hadn’t been there to heal him. First, let me say that anyone who lives in the state of Florida can benefit from a membership in the Florida Writers Association through not just these sorts of meetings, but also through the association’s annual conference, online workshops, and networking opportunities. The motto is “writers helping writers,” and I’ve found the association helpful. You can get more information at http://www.floridawriters.net/. The membership tab is the third menu item on the bar across the top of the page.

Now! The following post is the romantic scene. Here’s what you need to know: the evening before this scene, Nigel and Chariss were surprised by a creature in the Taiman estate. It nearly killed Nigel, but Chariss was there to heal him with her geasa (magic – it’s explained in the novel). Enjoy!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”
(And if you're looking for "Word of the Day," it's just after the romantic scene post.)

A Romantic Scene from Choices Meant for Gods

From the assignment mentioned above

(remember: Nigel was nearly killed the night before by a wound to the chest and Chariss healed him with "magic" (the geasa); my word limit was 800 to 1,000 words; this was to be read aloud so there are a couple signposts in here I wouldn't include if this was to be included in the novel)

Nigel hadn’t expected to find anyone in the stables this early in the morning. But here she was, grooming the grey mare that Kaylin had named Shadow. His heart stopped before his feet did in the stable doorway, and she glanced over her shoulder with one of those disarming smiles that he wasn’t sure yet how to recover from.

“Good morning,” she called out. “You’re up early. How’s your chest feeling?”

A hundred responses shot through his brain, including something about how much his chest hurt when she arrested his heart with that song in her voice. What came out of his mouth surprised him with its lucidity. “Much better, thank you. Between you and my grandfather, I think you got me healed quite well.”

He even surprised himself by walking upright.

She grinned up at him as he approached, but he could swear the horse gave him a more sanguine glance. He turned his back on the mare’s glare, more content to focus on the fair creature now before him. “Good to hear,” Chariss said. “Kora was distraught, poor thing.”

“Yes, Mother tends to fret when she sees her sons bleeding to death.”

He hadn’t intended to make her laugh, but her light giggle almost sent him to his knees. He actually reached out to grab the mare’s mane to steady himself. This was insane. As if she agreed, Shadow reared her head around and knocked him on the back side, effectively bumping him forward. Chariss put an arm out to catch him, as he put an arm out to catch himself, and he experienced that momentary shock of lightning when he got to touch her, when he got to hold her.

She still had hold of him when she furrowed her brow and bopped the horse on the rump with the brush. “Shadow! Be nice.”

Do I have to let go? he wondered. “Sorry about that,” he said. “Seems someone wants me to move.”

By the gods, she smelled like lilac and lavender and all the flowers of Mother’s garden wrapped into one. And there was that smile again.

“Someone needs her breakfast, I think,” Chariss was saying. “She’s turned fussy. What? You’re looking at me strangely.”

“You’ve got…straw…”

Now, I’ve known her for the better part of a week, he thought. I should be able to get away with this. He lifted his hand from her arm to pluck a piece of straw from the auburn locks that shone like silk before him. He would have given his inheritance in the estate behind them to run his hands through her hair, but, pretending to merely brush it as he took this offending item away was enough for now. Surely he could do that without alarming her.

She laughed again—that light, cascading sound that threatened to do him in. “I guess now I have to admit that Shadow’s been acting up since before you arrived?”

He tossed the straw away and decided this was ideal. “So I should look for more before I let you go out into public?”

“You think I’m going to embarrass myself?” she teased.

“We can’t have one of the Taimans’ guests running around with straw sticking out of her head, now can we?” he asked, and he hoped it sounded innocent and not rife with intent. “Hold still.”

He put both hands to her hair to either side of her face, literally running his fingers down the soft waves. “Okay, turn.”

“Turn?” she laughed. “Are you serious?”

“No disobedience. Turn.”

She rolled her eyes, those beautiful seductive lavender eyes, but turned around so he could put his hands to her hair again. “Now, see, it’s good that I did this,” he said, lying unabashedly. He stroked his fingers down her tresses, all the way through to the ends where the curves and waves ended in little rolls that mimicked the wavecaps rushing to Arcana’s shore. By the gods he wanted to feel those ends tickling along his chest, like last night, when she’d leaned over him to heal the wound that should have killed him. He moved one hand back up to the top of her head, fully aware that she’d just shivered at this unfamiliar touch. Oh, that’s got to be a good sign, he thought.

And then someone interrupted his reverie.

“Child, are you coming in to breakfast or standing out here all morning?”

Nigel glanced over at her guardian in the doorway and wondered briefly if he was about to get a wizard’s sword pressed up against his neck. But, to his amazement, the old man seemed to dismiss the scene. Now isn’t that odd? Nigel thought.

“Good morning, Hrazon!” Chariss said, and, just like that, she was gone. She was no longer standing before him. The auburn locks were no longer there. She rushed over to her wizard’s embrace, and Nigel had to witness a much different reception than the one he’d received—a reception he would have preferred—as she wrapped her arms around her guardian’s neck and placed a kiss on his cheek.

“Mister Taiman and I have had enough of Shadow’s naughty antics for one morning, I believe.”

“Is she acting up?” Hrazon asked as he led her away.

Nigel watched them go, realizing, with remorse, that she didn’t even cast a glance back his way. He turned to the mare and folded his arms up on the beast’s back, resting his forehead in the pillow they formed. “Oh, Shadow, what am I to do?” he groaned.

The mare merely swished her tail at him.

"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."

Word of the Day
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Gigolo (noun) – It’s not just part of a song title! A gigolo is a man (usually young, because, hey, come on) that a woman keeps as her lover (from – surprise! – Old French and Old High German)

Word in a Sentence: In my novel Choices Meant for Gods, the lesser goddess Katarina is rumored to have kept a gigolo who wandered into her chamber while she was sleeping.

Your turn! Any intriguing sentences come to mind?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Grammar Guide
Punctuation with quotes and attributive phrases in dialogue

Before we delve into today’s Grammar Guide, let’s define an “attribute phrase”. This is the part of the sentence that shows who or what you’re attributing the rest of the sentence to. If I want to write a short story about a couple characters from my impending novel Choices Meant for Gods, I would likely attribute some obnoxious statement to Henry Bakerson. Here’s the example.

Nigel had been waiting for Amanda Chariss to return from the training arena for nearly an hour.
“Why do you look edgy?” Henry asked as he approached his friend.
“I’m waiting for Mandy,” Nigel replied.
“Ah,” he said. “So, then, why is there still grass where you’ve been pacing?”

(A) I don’t write such stilted dialogue. This is for example purposes.
(B) The attributive phrases in the example above are “Henry asked,” “Nigel replied,” and “he said”.

Punctuation belongs at the end of the completed sentence. This means you must keep track of your quotation marks, your commas, and your attributive phrases to make sure you don’t have stray capitalization and stray periods in the middle of your declarative statements. Here’s an example.

“We hope Chariss saves the world,” he said.

This declarative statement includes the quote, within quotation marks, a comma to set it off from its attributive phrase, the attributive phrase with a lowercase beginning, and a period to end it all. When using dialogue, the declarative, interrogative (question), and exclamatory statements all take punctuation within the quotation marks if the quotation is ending the sentence. For instance, Henry asks Nigel, “So, then, why is there still grass where you’ve been pacing?”, and the interrogative statement ends the construction, thus it takes the question mark inside the quotation mark.

If your character’s statement is a question, and you’re following it with the attributive phrase, then you don’t use the comma to set it off. You go ahead and use a question mark (or an exclamation point if you’re giving them an exclamatory statement to say) inside the quotation mark, and then follow it with the attributive phrase and a period to end the sentence. If you use a pronoun instead of the character’s name, lowercase the pronoun because you’re still in the middle of the sentence. Your example:

“Chariss is the only one who can save us!” he yelled.

Keep in mind that if your character will be waxing poetic for an undue length of time, the opening sentence of each paragraph gets an opening quotation mark, but the closing quotation mark doesn’t come until the end, or until you slap an attributive phrase in there. For instance, Abigail Farrier, also from Choices Meant for Gods and whose blog you can access at http://AbigailLovesNigel.com, would go on and on forever something like this:

“When I awoke today, I thought instantly of Nigel Taiman and his lovely brown eyes,” Abigail said. “He is the handsomest man in the whole world, and I can’t imagine I’ll survive another day without him.
“Given the state of things here in Bellan, I really must make a plan to get back to Arcana City. This isn’t just to see Nigel again, but to make a change in my life.
“Father would be so disappointed to see me go, and would, no doubt, try to stop me. But I am a grown woman now, and able to make decisions on my own. It’s high time I returned to the land where I grew up.”

Also keep in mind that some of your characters’ statements can be made as part of the larger sentence without the interruption of setting off the attributive phrase. You don’t always have to signpost the fact that such-n-such character is about to state something by setting a phrase off with a comma if the phrase and the character’s comment flow together as a continuous whole. For example:

Chariss gave them a quizzical look as she approached. “You two look like you’re up to no good.”
Nigel explained that “Henry’s never let a chance for harm pass him by.”

In this case, Nigel’s statement exists as part of the overall sentence so fluidly that there’s no need to set it apart; it is grammatically part of the sentence. It is attributed to him (even though, in the greater context, it would be obvious who’s speaking and your editor wouldn’t let you keep the attributive info at all) without interrupting the flow with a comma.

This guide only covers the use of punctuation with quotes when working with dialogue. We’ll have to address punctuation when quoting material for other forms of writing, such as term papers, in another Grammar Guide (how does Wednesday sound?). For now, feel free to review this guide to be sure you put the punctuation within the quotation marks where it should be, and make sure you don’t capitalize stray words in your attributive phrases within your sentence.

(Sandy Lender, author of Choices Meant for Gods, has been an editor in the magazine publishing industry for fourteen-plus years.)
“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”