Color My Dragon
Or...The Dragon discusses the importance of proper dragon coloring

Back when I was in high school, my dad gave me a book called What Color is Your Parachute? It was one of those self-help guides to help you figure out what you want to do with your life/career.

As a fantasy author, I use the concept when coloring dragons. You see, it drives me batty when authors put a couple dozen dragons together in a grouping, and then “color” them according to their jobs or skill set. This is insanity. A dragon should be colored according to its locale and climate so it blends into its environment. Camouflage equals long life, my friends. This is part of world-building.

Take our real-world dragons as examples. The water basilisk hides amid floating leaves and branches. He blends because he’s green and brown.

Bearded dragons have the colors of the sandy environments in which they live. Green iguanas hide their green bodies in green trees. Rock iguanas lounge their gray, brackish bodies among the dark rocks of the Galapagos. There are tons of examples of lizards using camouflage to avoid becoming prey items.

Those big ol’ dragons in our fave fantasy novels need to avoid slayers in much the same way. Green ones in the green trees; brown ones in the rocky mountains; white ones in the snowy regions. These dragons may get different jobs and skill sets, but would they all live together? Not if they come from different regions, right? In Choices Meant for Gods and Choices Meant for Kings, readers’ favorite dragon Malachi is dark in color—purple, deep blue and black scales blend beautifully against the dark night sky. And guess what: He only comes out at night. It works.

So let me hear your opinion. What colors do you tolerate in the dragons you read about?

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”
Tags: fantasy, dragon, world-building, Choices Meant for Gods, Choices Meant for Kings, water basilisk, iguana

Top 5 Phone Messages Sandy Has Left For Friends
Or…The Dragon suggests how to get DNA from members of Duran Duran…

Get to know your fantasy author, Sandy Lender, a little better! It states in my bio that I’ve been obsessed with the rock group Duran Duran since about 1984. This is true. Here are some phone messages I’ve left for friends to illustrate the point.


5. What are you doing… (This is a frequent message followed by a specific date and the instructions to return the call immediately. The receiver of the call usually hyperventilates because it means Sandy is inviting the individual to a Duran Duran-related event on the specific date left in the message.)

4. Guess where I am! (Depending on the level of excitement and the pitch of Sandy’s voice, this usually involves a Duran Duran event.)

3. We are about to meet the band! (This is always enunciated very clearly and usually means Sandy is with Jennine or Christine—or both—and the universe is shuddering in a way that causes an earthquake in the eastern hemisphere while Sandy and her accomplice(s) stand outside a VIP room door where various members of Duran Duran await certain chaos.)

2. John Taylor gave me the flu. (Sandy said this one with entirely too much joy before puking.)

1. I have John Taylor’s DNA inside me! (This is an honest-to-God message that doesn’t imply what you think it does—it merely means Sandy got the rock star’s barely used water bottle after a concert and, of course, drank from it.)

Do you leave strange messages for your friends? Whether it’s stalker-related or not, there are probably funky traditions you all have. Share!

"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Duran Duran, fantasy author, DNA, John Taylor

Did You Know Armadillos Are Considered Pests?
Or...The Dragon has found another cute nuisance animal to adore

I've only seen one armadillo alive in the wild. I typically see them mooshed at the side of the road. This fills me with sadness.

So I wondered, what attracts an armadillo? How could I get one to "hang around" the apartment complex and get free handouts from my door?

Turns out, that might not be so grand. Just because I never see them in the wild doesn't mean other folks don't. They're considered as "unfavorable" to some folks as racoons, opossums, bats and so forth. Now here's the rub: I like bats. I like 'possums. When I lived out in the estates (Golden Gate Estates for those of you not familiar with Southwest Florida--yes, that's part of the Everglades), I had a bit of property that was bordered by weeds and swamp and more weeds. I loved it. So did the wildlife. A friendly 'possum came to visit one evening and I was in Heaven. I set out some leftovers for him and he was in Heaven, too. Guess who came back to visit the next night.

So being a fantasy author with non-traditional pets must lead to diggin' non-traditional wildlife. Sure, I'm a sucker for the usual bunnies and Cardinals, but I don't shy away from snakes or frogs. (Until I learned that the snake I'd set up a hide-away for on my aforementioned property was a freakin' water moccasin. He'd never been aggressive toward me so I had no clue those shiny black scales spelled trouble. I never got bit, but the bunny population decreased mightily.)

All this to say, I wish I could attract an armadillo, but I think I'd get in trouble. Here's the question: Should I do it anyway just to get even with the apartment management for making me live with roaches for the past six months? I'll lead the armadillo away to a nice, armadillo-safe place when they solve the roach problem that my cute, fat lizards can't stay on top of. ;)

http://www.aaanimalcontrol.com/blog/armadillobait.html

"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: armadillo, lizard, dragon, fantasy author

Of Libraries and Tropical Islands
Or…Dragons travel with books

I’ve just returned from the east side of Florida and the 11th Annual Author’s Showcase, which is a presentation of the Delray Beach Public Library. From 2 to just past 3 p.m., a standing room only crowd in the library’s main auditorium listened to brief presentations from 12 juried authors—Pam Carey, Africa Fine, Daria Anne DiGiovanni, Phyllis Dinerman, Goddess, Chaya Sharon Heller, Stephanie Kay & Andi Kay, Sandy Lender, Madelyn Lorber, Paul Scheiner, Kiki BelMonte-Schaller, and Lucy Beebe Tobias. Then until 4 p.m., the attendees had an opportunity to mix and mingle with the authors and learn more about their books. Each author had the opportunity to donate a book to the library so others in the Delray community can catch up on their new-book reading, too.

In the photo above, you can see Fantasy Author Sandy Lender at her table before the event got underway. Also, during Sandy’s three- to four-minute presentation, she got to tell the audience how Amanda Chariss compels her to keep on writing.

Please visit the Delray Beach Public Library Web site for more information on the event or on any of the authors listed above. If you attended the event and would like more information about me, keep on reading! I also have a Web site and an author page on my Amazon book pages for Choices Meant for Gods, Choices Meant for Kings, and that short story compilation What Choices We Made. It was a pleasure to meet so many smiling faces and new fans. Thank you to all who braved the bitter chill to come out.

And now…I announce that I’m leaving this bitter chill behind for a week! This Friday, I will board a plane for Hawaii where I’ll be representing my construction magazine (that day job that pays the bills). What’s great about this is the resort where the conference is being held will be selling copies of Choices Meant for Gods and Choices Meant for Kings. There are other great things (like being in Maui for a week, seeing industry friends, covering cool news, etc.), but I figure folks checking into this site are interested in book/publishing information.

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

Tags: Delray Beach, library, fantasy author, Sandy Lender, Florida

See You on the East Coast; Check out the Latest News
Or...housekeeping items that matter to dragons

My web gal is updating the Sandy Lender Web site so you'll have new news and events to check out shortly. In the meantime, the biggies you'll want to be aware of are as follows:

The first novel in the Choices fantasy series, Choices Meant for Gods, is now available in Kindle format. So if you're looking for a fantasy novel to read on your Kindle, you can search through Kindle books at Amazon, or you can click on this easy link for the Kindle version of Choices Meant for Gods. At posting time, all the reviews from the hardcover edition hadn't copied over yet, but you can see some excellent five-star reviews at Choices Meant for Gods or at the Web site.

The second novel in the Choices fantasy trilogy, Choices Meant for Kings, is also available in Kindle format.

Fantasy Author Sandy Lender will be speaking and signing books at the Delray Beach Library event this Saturday, Jan. 10, from 2 to 4 p.m. If you're in that neck of the woods, stop by this free book festival and meet the dragon, check out the cool display, get some free goodies (no exploding ink, I promise), and pick up your hardcover editions of Choices Meant for Gods and Choices Meant for Kings before I sell out of them.

Later in the week, check out the Web site for more goodies and updates!

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

Tags: kindle, kindle books, fantasy, kindle format, fantasy novel, fantasy author, Sandy Lender, fantasy series, five-star reviews, Delray Beach

Kindle Declines as eBook Ease Rises Elsewhere
Or...The Dragon brings you Kindle's degeneration with good news attached

As the technorati among us have discovered, you can read electronic books on a plethora of devices. The Kindle from Amazon has its nifty features; the Kindle II gets the paper (newspaper, that is). But a recent article from Fox News shows you how the simple Blackberry or other pda can pick up those electronic versions of novels and bring you up to speed with your fave characters. (The link is http://tinyurl.com/KindleDeath in case that anchor text didn't work for ya.)

Keep in mind, all the eBooks from ArcheBooks Publishing, including my Choices Meant for Gods and next week's release of Choices Meant for Kings can be read on a Blackberry, a Sony eReader, a computer screen, etc. And no Big Brother at Amazon or one of their affiliated publishers will rescind the content after the $3.99 purchase...

Bonus Note: How much does a Kindle cost these days? Nothing if you win it from AuthorIsland. Fantasy Author Sandy Lender is participating in their Kindle giveaway this month. Good luck to you!

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Kindle, eReader, electronic books, eBook, Amazon, ArcheBooks Publishing, Fantasy Author, Sandy Lender, Choices Meant for Gods, Choices Meant for Kings, AuthorIsland, Kindle giveaway, technorati

Calling All Fantasy (and Sci-Fi and Horror) Readers to Context 22
Or...The Dragon invites you to Columbus, Ohio

Fantasy Author Sandy Lender will participate in a variety of panels at this year's Context convention in Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 28-30. Get more information on this inexpensive but jam-packed convention for Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror enthusiasts at www.contextsf.org. Special Guests include the Nebula Award-Winner Catherine Asaro. I bring her name to your attention not only because she rocks, but also because one of the reviewers for the upcoming Choices Meant for Kings compared my work to hers. Nice?

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: fantasy author, Sandy Lender, Context 22, Nebula Award

Fantasy Author Sandy Lender Launches the World’s Coolest Fantasy Web Site EVER
Or…Check out Sandy Lender’s new fantasy Web site

So maybe that headline is a wee bit of an exaggeration, but, dudes, I totally have the coolest Web site I’ve ever seen. The gal who created it for me, Rae Monet, rocks the house. It’s at AuthorSandyLender.com. I encourage you to check it out. I encourage you to bookmark it. Come on back and visit it frequently because I update the News and Worlds pages most often. The Books page is going to get updated here pretty soon, too. Hooray!

If you want to be “nudged” when there’s an update at the new fantasy site, you can become a follower here and I’ll let ya know. Easy breezy on your part.

“Some days, I just want the dragon to win.”
Tags: web site, website, authorsandylender.com, fantasy, fantasy author, Sandy Lender, worlds

Join Fantasy Author Sandy Lender for Interview and Book Signing
Or...The Dragon invites you to Sarasota Borders for in-store event

Join me Monday, July 20th, at 4 p.m. for an interview for the Authors Connection radio show at the Sarasota Borders at Bee Ridge and U.S. 41. Right after the interview, which will be aired at multiple later dates, I'll be selling and signing copies of the fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods and What Choices We Made.

Both are available on Amazon.com in print versions. If you want the eBook (which is oh-so-cheap, you know), you can grab it from the publisher's site. But I hope I can meet some new folks in Sarasota Monday afternoon!

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: fantasy author, Sandy Lender, fantasy novel, radio interview, book signing, Borders, Sarasota

Who is Sandy Lender?
Or…The Dragon welcomes new folks to the insanity of a fantasy author’s blog

From June 1 to July 3 I’m “doing” an online book tour. Regular visitors know I’ve done two of these in the past. Remember that two-month stretch in the summer of 2007? Eegads. When What Choices We Made was released back in November, I did a much more sensible two-week online tour, but spent the second week of the tour in a hospital room that had no Internet access. (To be honest, I was so out of it that my posts would have been pretty pathetic that week anyway.)

This month things are different! I’m totally healthy and champing at the bit to do some extra promotion for Choices Meant for Gods, my fabulous fantasy novel available from ArcheBooks Publishing, at Amazon.com, at Barnes & Noble, or anywhere fine and fabulous fantasy is sold.

Considering I’m promoting the whole month as “Sandy’s guest starring at everyone else’s blogs,” I decided to post my tour stops here at Today the Dragon Wins (above) and leave this blog mostly dormant for the duration. But that leaves visitors a little “wanting,” right? Hence this explanatory post and “unofficial” bio.

I’m Sandy Lender, fantasy author and magazine editor. The magazine editing is the day job that pays the bills. As surprising as this is going to sound, writing isn’t my whole life. I spend Saturday mornings protecting sea turtles. I live in Southwest Florida where I serve in the Turtle Time non-profit group helping track and protect these lovely creatures. Pictures from the section of beach I patrol speckle this blog and Nigel’s.

I’m also obsessed with Duran Duran. You’ll find me at their July 11 show in California with my friends Christine and Jennine. Pictures of me with the hhhhhot John Taylor on different occasions appear on my MySpace page.

Taking care of pets also takes some of my time. I have a beautiful sun conure named Petri (after the baby pterodactyl in The Land Before Time) and a gorgeous new Timneh African Grey named Mouse (because she squeaks). I also have a 21-year-old turtle and a pancake tortoise whose age escapes me right now.

My reading interests include fantasy, of course, but start with Charlotte Bronte. I consider her a genius when it comes to dialogue and suspense. I can’t open one of her books to “check something” without getting pulled in. She captures me because she’s a master of literature. Her sisters are equally talented, but there’s something about Charlotte that appeals to me in a way I can’t explain in a simple “section” of a blog post.

I like to have green plants around me and I’m happiest when I sit among the birds and the plants with some chocolate cookies for me, crackers for the birds, and my laptop for a writing session. Of course, birds like to have attention on themselves, not the laptop…

If you’d like more information about me (although I’m not sure what else is interesting), I’ve got web pages all over the Internet. Brief list below. I encourage you to follow me on Twitter for infrequent but usually insane updates on bizarre stuff that happens to me. All of these links take you away from this page, so you’ll have to hit the “back” button to come back to the list. (Because it’s that fabulous of a list!) Personally, I recommend the Twitter and DragonDiscussions links for joining non-spam stuff. Then, OF COURSE, I recommend the first three links so you can order my books. Bwuahahahahaha.

http://tinyurl.com/CMFGamazon
http://tinyurl.com/WCWMamazon
ArcheBooks Publishing (discount at the publisher’s site)
http://twitter.com/sandylender
FiledBy (where you can see my trailers)
Ning
Dragon Discussions (where you can join the group)
Author Island
Good Reads
Red Room
Shelfari
AuthorsDen
Suspense Magazine
LinkedIn
BookTour
MySpace
http://tinyurl.com/WCWMvideo (please leave a nice comment for the producer!)
http://tinyurl.com/CMFKvideo (please leave a nice comment for the producer!)
http://tinyurl.com/Dragonvideo (please leave a nice comment for the producer!)

I know that’s a lot of crap to fling at you all at once, but, in a nutshell, that’s Fantasy Author Sandy Lender. Thank you for stopping in at Today the Dragon Wins, and thank you for reading all this. There’s more, as you can see by the extensive archive list at left. Enjoy your visit!

“Some days, I just want the dragon to win.”
Tags: fantasy author, Sandy Lender, online book tour, Duran Duran, sea turtle, Charlotte Bronte

Writers’ Meeting Announcement
Or…you can hear Sandy Lender speak at the GCWA meeting May 16

If you’d like to hear about platforming, existing audiences, and the business of publishing from a published author’s perspective, join the Gulf Coast Writer’s Association Saturday, May 16, to hear Fantasy Author Sandy Lender present these topics and more. GCWA Programming Chairperson Barie Fez-Barringten initially asked Sandy to tell the story of how she got published, so be prepared for more than the usual entertainment at this presentation. For GCWA members who’ve seen one of Sandy’s workshops or presentations before, you know to bring pen and paper because she’s known for sharing lots of tips and links during her talk and during the Q&A sessions afterward.

The meeting will be held at the Zion Lutheran Church at 7401 Winkler Rd. in Ft. Myers. Cost of admission is $3 for members, $5 for non-members. (First-time visitors are free.) (Image above is of Sandy at the NPC's 7th Annual Writer's Conference back in April when she participated in the panel discussion on long-lived characters in a series. She's posing with her first novel, Choices Meant for Gods, and the supporting chapbook, What Choices We Made.)

“Some days, I just want the dragon to win.”
Tags: GCWA, platforming, business of publishing, fantasy author, Sandy Lender

WELCOME TO POST 900
Or...The Dragon sees a milestone on the horizon

I missed a lot of blogging days this summer with my infrequent posts during all the crapola going on in the personal life. When the choice comes down to working on the blog or working on one of my works in progress (WIPs) during my spare time, guess which one gets my spare time. That's why I'm a fantasy author...it keeps me from going completely stark raving mad, you know. :) Now that a few things are calmer, I figure we're on the fast train to 1,000 posts. I'll come up with a cool contest to tie to it, okay? Stay tuned.

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: fantasy author, blogging, dragon