Good Monday Morning
Or...takin care of bizniss

Welcome to Monday morning. I hope everyone used their "extra hour" wisely this weekend.

I'm making some changes here at Today the Dragon Wins. First, we're going to stop this Word of the Day program and change to Word of the Week. And because I like alliteration so much, we'll do it on Wednesdays. Nice? But before we make the switch, we have a winner from the October Word of the Day contest that I need to announce (for organizational reasons, we'll be making that announcement tomorrow--I hope). The delay should surprise NO ONE. Criminy, if something in my life was NOT delayed, that would be the surprise.

What else?
OH! Why, of course! I'm the featured author over at Author Island today. I'm not entirely clear on what all that means, but I know I've volunteered to give away a book as a prize and I'm in the Author Spotlight on the Author Island blog. How cool is that? DeNita, the hostess of all of the above, is posting something nice about me at the blog and I'll jog over there with something later. I have the afternoon off from work because my radiation treatments start today (what's that? they were supposed to start last month? yes, but they were delayed) and today's appointment is supposed to be more involved than the rest so...I figured time off from work to deal with that was necessary.

All this to say check back tomorrow for the contest winners (there were two contests last month!) and check back Wednesday for Word of the Week and check back Thursday for another "web appearance" and...wow...just check back. It's always a joy to hear from you!

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: radiation, contests

Authors on Tour
Or...The Dragon supports friends on virtual book tours this month

As I prepared the list of guest bloggers who'll be entertaining you with anecdotes of their pseudonyms this month, I ran into a couple who are touring to support their recent book releases. I'd like to give you more information about that now.

One of those names that you'll recognize is Jamieson Wolf, speculative fiction author and book reviewer for such venues as Linear Reflections and American Chronicle. It's his role as a book reviewer that sparked our friendship, actually.

I'd learned of Jamieson through an online writers group and approached him about reading and reviewing Choices Meant for Gods. He was pleased to do so and a week or so later, my first fantasy novel had a glowing review and I had a new friend who was interested in my work and promotional efforts. I've since been astounded by the marketing and promotional work that Jamieson does. His experiences in publishing can teach valuable lessons to any up-and-coming writer, thus he'll be making a stop during his book tour for Valentine here at Today the Dragon Wins June 26 to give some useful advice to visitors. In the meantime, you can check out his tour schedule at his official blog, and see the fabulous page The Romance Studio has set up for him this month.

Another author who's become a new friend is Kim Richards. She's touring to support her new novel horror novel, Death Mask, and will share the pros and cons of using a pen name June 9. Her other tour stops include:
June 10 Ginger Simpson
June 13 Mike Philbin
June 15 Heidi Martinuzzi
June 16 Lea Shizas
June 18 Billie A. Williams
June 19 Eternal Press Blog
June 20 Lisa Hazelton
June 23 Pamela K. Kinney
June 25 Val Griswold-Ford
June 26 Joyce Anthony
June 28 Glenn Walker
June 29 Sheri McGathy
June 30 Arwen Spencer
Also Diana Castilleja

As you can see, we authors spend a lot of time putting together marketing opportunities. Publishers and agents don't help with that sort of thing in this day and age (unless you got lucky with your agent). In my case, I'm quite lucky in that my publisher will pick up the phone and make a call for me if I need help getting a book signing lined up in another city, etc., but, again, we authors need to create our opportunities. Opportunities don't usually come looking for us. I'd like to commend the authors who took advantage of the opportunity to blog about their pseudonyms here at Today the Dragon Wins during the month of June. We're going to have fun with this!

To all you visitors, the name game continues tomorrow. Stay tuned!
"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: book tour, Jamieson Wolf, Valentine, Kim Richards, Death Mask, Choices Meant for Gods, dragon

ConQuesT39 Roundup

Or...Sandy Lender enjoyed her participation in the Sci-Fi Fantasy Convention last weekend

From panels on blogging to sci-fi and fantasy content, from signing to reading scenes from Choices Meant for Gods, I had an active convention experience at ConQuesT39 over Memorial Day Weekend. The Kansas City Science Fiction & Fantasy Society invited a variety of speakers to educate and entertain attendees, and everyone seemed at least entertained. :)

Watching the security detail detain a man for being "too hot to wear that kilt," I decided security was best avoided at this con. (Much like the police in Collier County, Fla., they didn't need a real excuse to pull you over...) But my friend Sunshine won a free movie pass to a Kansas City area theatre by spinning the Wheel O' Death in the security area. Go figure!

My friends Christine and Marly, who drove over from St. Louis for the event, were particularly thrilled with the Dr. Who screenings Saturday evening. My roommate from college and her husband, Kim and Chris, enjoyed the masquerade Saturday night. The gaming room was packed to what looked like capacity every time I passed the open doors with people earnestly hunkered over boards and tables and each other...It looked intense at times. The readings garnered attention from folks seeking new authors (which pleased me) and the autograph sessions gave me an opportunity to meet some new contacts.

If anyone reading the blog was there, please leave a comment about your experience. I can only speak from one point of view, but it was a very positive view. I'm looking forward to next year's con. And if you were there and didn't get your copy of Choices Meant for Gods, you can order it at the publisher's site or at Amazon.

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

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, ConQuesT39, blogging, Dr. Who, dragon

Roundup
Or...life is just busy

I apologize for the inactivity this past week. I'll get it together here eventually. In the meantime, last week's inspirational quote still applies in fabulous ways, so enjoy it again today. (Read below)

And the Author Island chat is actually going on today (Thursday) because stuff just worked out like that. The excerpt from Choices Meant for Gods that you need is below. I'll be posting about the fabulous time we all had at ConQuesT tomorrow so stop back in to hear all about it!

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Author Island

The Two Posts Today
Or…You're either here for the Duran Story or the Author Island contest excerpt

Either way, what you want is right below this post. This is just your explanation so you know you're in the right spot. Because first, we have the inspirational quote of the day. (It's just the way we do things here at The Dragon, in case you're a new visitor. And if you're a new visitor: WELCOME!)

Also, if you're a new visitor, this is Sandy Lender's official main blog where each day (except today) I post a Word of the Day with a clever and sometimes humorous use and give you the opportunity to use it in your own creative and sometimes humorous sentence in the comment field (see past posts for examples). Each day we also have the quote of the day to get you fired up for creativity or coping with whatever you might have happening in your life. And there's sometimes an extra post about writing or marketing or an interview with an author or a book review or a contest announcement or an update on one of my book releases or a scene from the books, etc. You get the idea. Today…we're going to rave about meeting Duran Duran (because that's freakin' inspiring) and I'll post a scene for the contest I'm "doing" during the Author Island all-day chat today.

Visit www.authorisland.com for info on the chat. It's a great chance to meet new authors and hear about new books while discussing recipes and books with other readers.

Visit my publisher's site for info on my fantasy novel, Choices Meant for Gods.

To comment and drive traffic about the ConQuesT39 convention where I'll be speaking this weekend, visit Tina Murray's blog, Jamieson Wolf's blog, Nigel's blog or the Author Island blog. There may be more soon, and I'll let you know as they pop up.

Tuesday's Inspirational Quote of the Day
"Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances which we know to be desperate."
— G.K. Chesterton

Fantasy Author Sandy Lender wishes you a great and hope-filled day!
"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: inspirational quote, quote of the day, fantasy author, Sandy Lender, dragon, hope, G.K. Chesterton, Duran Duran, Author Island, Choices Meant for Gods, ConQuesT39

The Dragon's in a Hurry

Or...The Dragon's in a Hurry

In good news, I'm preparing for the release of Choices Meant for Kings during the minutes when I'm not buried in the day job (read: the job that pays the bills). So the negligence of this happy blog is not for naught. :)

Enjoy the inspirational quotes, though! And don't forget to skim for the answer to the contest question "In the fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods, who is Chariss chosen to protect?" so you can win the fabulous basket that's up for grabs. You e-mail your answer, with your name and snail mail address to authorisland at yahoo dot com before the end of this month.

If you can't find the answer on this blog (I'll be stunned), you can find it at http://www.authorisland.com/, in the book blurb at http://www.amazon.com/, or at my publisher's site at http://www.archebooks.com/BookIDX/Indexes/Fantasy/CMG/CMGDesc.htm. If you need to read the story (and who doesn't!?), you can own the eBook version for only $3.99 by ordering it at my publisher's site at that same link. It takes about three minutes to process and download. (I've done it myself to check it out.)

Have fun and I'll try to become "un"overwhelmed soon.

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

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, eBook, author island, dragon

The Dragon Hangs Her Head in Shame
Or...give me a break...it's been a hard week

For legal purposes, I can't tell you everything that's happened. I can say it started with me receiving a ticket for traveling under a yellow light Saturday evening. Yes, one of Collier County's finest figured he wouldn't make quota the rest of the night, so, as the setting sun blinded me (thus had to have been blinding him behind me), I coasted into an intersection with a light that matched the green sign I tried to read. Apparently, while trying to read the sign, I missed the fact that the light changed. The man-who-needed-to-give-a-lecture-about-statutes-to-anyone-he-could-detain considered that a good reason to detain me. And give me a lecture. Now I get to pay $120 to the county. I'm still livid over it. It hardly seems fair that I should have to pay the fine AND listen to this moron ramble at me about steady yellow lights and statutes and what-have-you.

I'm just thankful he didn't notice the old (as in two addresses ago) address on my driver's license or ask me to get out and walk a straight line. (You may conclude from that what you wish. I'm not actually admitting to anything in a public forum.) The good news is he seemed pretty bent on giving his lecture.

Sigh.

The week has proceeded in much the same style since. I've visited more attorneys than a sound person should and given them more money than you can shake a stick at. It hurts when you scrimp and save $3,000 over the course of several months and then, in one day, hand it all to legal counsel.

Sigh.

Why am I rambling about this on the writer's blog? Because I want you all to know that I'm not neglecting you for silly or random reasons. Life really is in a state of turmoil. From taxes (which I think are going to turn uglier than originally reported) to attorneys to tickets to deadlines at work to some sort of cough to the regular ol' busy work in my life, I just feel a bit overwhelmed and ready to take a nap. From the schedule I've got in front of me (and the to-do list next to it), I think I can sleep Sunday afternoon. I'M SO LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!!!!

Now. In the meantime, I'd like to let everyone know that we'll have the blog here at The Dragon back to normal operations next week. (and there was much rejoicing) That means a return to Word of the Day and Inspirational Quote of the Day with scheduled grammar and writing guides, random author interviews (have three cookin' for you), a couple scenes from my fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods, updates on the forthcoming Book II in the Choices trilogy, and another contest through Author Island. And speaking of Author Island, I'll have another coo-el giveaway and a couple copies of the eBook version of Choices Meant for Gods to give away at the Author Island all-day chat Tuesday, April 22nd. I can't participate in the chat all day long because I work, but I can check in from time to time (lunch break, etc.) to see how things are going and to update you on contest progress.

And speaking of contests, we've got a winner of the Spa Package from Arcana's Bathing Room Contest to announce! That's in the post above!

Welcome to The Dragon!
"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Author Island

Cadbury Tomorrow, Barry Today
Or...The Dragon is summarizing the situation

Ugh, it's already Wednesday? People, there is too much to do!

Side note: If you're looking for the meme, it was posted yesterday...just scroll past the four posts today.

First, as promised, I have the Barry Manilow Music and Passion show review below. It's not really so much a review as me waxing melodramatic about how much of a freak I am. :) Well, okay, there's a review thrown in there, too. (It was a great show.)

Next, for those of you who have heard the rumors of the Cadbury Eggsperiment, I'll be posting the results tomorrow. I want to post photographic evidence, you see, and that will involve lining up technology without being thwarted by technology demons. :)

Third, if you're entering the contest for the Spa Kit from Arcana's Bathing Rooms, this is the place to do it! The rules are posted on the contest page at http://www.authorisland.com/, but, since Arcana is the estate in my fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods, I'm the droid you're looking for...

Fourth, if you're looking for a fantasy novel with an empowered heroine who doesn't sleep with every man she encounters, but who kicks the asses of all things evil and bad (let me get a WOO-HOO!!), I've got your fantasy novel right here! (I think Nigel just rolled his eyes...) In all seriousness, I'm pushing the fact that Choices Meant for Gods is still available in hard cover, but is also available as a less-expensive eBook at my publisher's site. You can download it at http://www.archebooks.com/BookIDX/Indexes/Fantasy/CMG/CMGDesc.htm. (There's also a free sample you can read there.)

I think that's all! Welcome to the site and enjoy the Music and Passion show "review".
"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, eBook, fantasy novel

Catching Up
Or...The Dragon is itching to blog again

Traveling to a major U.S. city shouldn't take you out of communication with the rest of the world. SURPRISE! Staying at a dump like the Cay Club Condominiums in Las Vegas, Nev., apparently, will. I was less than impressed with the facility. It's supposedly changing its name to Desert Tide so watch out for that name, too, when doing your long-term accommodation planning for Vegas. (It's across the street from The Rio and next door to the place that had the Ricin problem a couple weeks ago. No, I'm not kidding.)

The main beef I had was the absence of wireless Internet, which my boss told me the place boasted on its Web site. (I read it after connecting from a travel site, so I can't be sure that I was on the actual "hotel" site, thus I can't claim false advertising here.) Anyway, when I couldn't log on Wednesday morning, I wished to call the front desk. Lo and behold, there wasn't a phone in the living room. Fine, I can get up from the desk and look in the kitchen. I can look in the dinette area. I can look in the bedroom. Uhhhh...there was no phone in the condo because my co-workers had no phones in their rooms either. So I used my cell to call the front desk to learn that they don't have wireless Internet. When the bizarre little cord that I assume served as the wire connection failed, I gave up.

The sad thing is, once we were on the convention floors (yes, plural; the convention was huge with more than 142,000 in attendance on Friday), I didn't have time to use the computers in the press room for blogging. So ya'll didn't get the daily updates. I apologize.

The convention was exhausting, I must say. I hit the ground running Tuesday with appointments to visit and interview a couple folks before the show closed. Same with Wednesday and Thursday. Friday was all about running around; we didn't have any specific/structured appointments. It was just a Chinese firedrill of visiting booths and finding people we needed to see. Same with Saturday morning. We had a booth of our own for the express purpose of distributing magazines. We spent a total of one hour there (if that) during the course of the five days. The cool thing is the posters of a couple of our front covers will arrive here at my house today and I can hang them in my den. How cool will that be?

I got home Sunday just before midnight, spent an hour in the Ft. Lauderdale airport wishing my luggage would arrive, wishing the shuttle would pick me up, wishing I could get to my car, and wishing I could get out of the Park-n-Save lot. Sigh. Then I spent some time flitting about Ft. Lauderdale wishing I could find I-75. I think I violated the Florida Turnpike Toll Authority at one point because there was no one in the little booth (oops). The readout on the register said "closed" in its ominous green digital print...and the gate was up so I could pass...but as I drove through, slowly, looking for a basket to put my 50 cents in, I realized I saw a red light. Do you know the sinking feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you realize you've probably just done something stupid? Yeah. There it was. But I was so tired that I decided I cared not-a-lot. I'll probably care when I get some ridiculous fine in the mail from Broward County. (That is Broward County over there, isn't it?) Anyway, I'll send them 50 cents and a scathing letter about confusing exhausted travelers. (And then I'll end up in jail, I'm sure, while some drug-runner shoots a cop and ends up free and fat in Canada. Sigh.)

Where was I? Oh, yes. So I got home around 3 a.m. (It stuns me how people lose all concept of driving ability when they run into fog.) I woke up around 11 a.m. and thought, I should blog. Instead, I sneezed blood and went back to sleep. Yes, something's wrong with me. I can't leave the state ever again. :) Leaving the state causes me to collapse in something akin to near-death. I think I'm allergic to air that isn't laced with sea-salt. I need humidity to survive. It's quite reptilian. I managed to get out of bed and go to the grocery store late in the day because, you know, there was no food here. Now I've eaten some of that food for breakfast and I'm blogging as if I'm going to return to normal. How's that for a quick recovery? I like it.

So if you're tuning back in after the week of downtime, thanks for returning. We're back in business.

Today, we have an oh-so-appropriate Word of the Day to make me smile. We also have an excerpt (above) from Choices Meant for Gods for those of you participating in Author Island's St. Patty's Day chat. You'll find the answer to the trivia question posted during the chat in the excerpt. Yay!

We also have the ongoing relaxation contest. You can win a spa package from Arcana's bathing rooms (also from Choices Meant for Gods) if you comment here that you're an Author Island fan (and who isn't?). That's going through April 15, a day when we ALL NEED relaxation. You can enter every day, so comment often.

What else? I'll do individual posts tomorrow about the fun stuff I did in Vegas. There were a couple concerts, you know...

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Author Island

Gettin' Outta Dodge
Or…The Dragon travels to Las Vegas today

I hope to remain Ricin-free while there.

I'm taking everything with me that I need to keep up with the daily interactive Word of the Day and Inspirational Quote of the Day for Writers. I think I've got a Grammar Guide in here, too. The idea is to keep the blog from falling into desuetude while I'm away. One of the joys of the World Wide Web…it's everywhere. And there's a grammatically incorrect structure for you. Enjoy.

In the meantime, there's a contest running at http://www.authorisland.com/ where you can win a spa package from Arcana's bathing rooms (Arcana, of course, is the estate in my fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods). Just let me know here at The Dragon that you're an island visitor and we'll get you entered in the contest. Deadline: April 15 (ooh, ominous). And you can enter every day, if you like. If you want to do that, I'd suggest making this blog a "favorite" on Technorati so your life is easier. Just click and get flung over here kind of action… The green Technorati widget at the bottom of the blog makes that easy for ya.

Criminy. 3:30 is waaaay too early to be typing HTML code. Have a great week!
"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Las Vegas, Choices Meant for Gods, author island, fantasy novel, technorati, dragon

Roundin' Up The Dragon
Or...here's the scoop on what's happening around here right now

1) We have a contest running in conjunction with Author Island. If you visit the contest page at www.authorisland.com, you'll see that you can win a fabulous spa package from Arcana's bathing rooms (Arcana is the place where a majority of the action takes place in Choices Meant for Gods) by letting us know that you're an island fan here.

2) One of my recent contest winners contacted me by e-mail to let me know she's finished reading CMFG, loved it, and is chastising me for the ending. Yes! The second book is on its way! Never fear...

3) We're pushing the eBook version of Choices Meant for Gods, which is available for $3.99 at http://www.archebooks.com/BookIDX/Indexes/Fantasy/CMG/CMGDesc.htm.

4) We've got an interactive journaling question posted in yesterday's blog spree that's pretty coo-el in addition to the interactive Word of the Day that runs everyday.

5) You can now list Today the Dragon Wins as one of your favorite blogs by clicking on the Technorati widget at the very bottom of the screen. (scroll, scroll, scroll your mouse gently down the page; merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily click to fave this way)

I think that's all for right now...You can read my exciting news about Barry Manilow tickets next! Woo-hoo!
"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, roundup, Technorati, favorite, widget, author island, Barry Manilow

Traveling the Globe
Or...we'll make announcements from yesterday's fabulous Book of the Day feature when everyone gets home

Yes, this is a map of Onweald, the place where most of the fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods occurs, but I thought it captured the idea...I've been traveling. So has DeNita. So we'll make the announcement about yesterday's Book of the Day winner when we can coordinate our computers and e-mails and name-pulling art. :)

In the meantime, please enjoy the posts here at The Dragon and stay tuned for new stuff to entertain and educate writers. I've got our grammar guides, writers' guides and promotional guides, as well as our daily Word of the Day and Inspirational Quotes ready to fling out here. I also have a few author interviews lined up to bring you some good writing and publishing insight, so gather 'round the computer and mark Today the Dragon Wins as a "favorite" over at http://www.technorati.com/ so you don't lose track of this site...

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Today the Dragon Wins, Technorati, Onweald, Choices Meant for Gods, grammar, writers

Valentine's Day Treats a Day Early
Or...The Dragon has cool stuff for you today

First, today is the last day to enter the Valentine's Day Contest I'm holding in conjunction with www.AuthorIsland.com, so find one of Nigel Taiman's posts (there are at least three since the contest began Jan. 14) to enter that contest before midnight! You could win tomorrow's drawing for a first-edition, hard-cover, personalized copy of the epic fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods.

Next, our favorite living author Jamieson Wolf granted us an interview with all kinds of information about his new romance, Valentine (which is available for the low price of $3.99 at Cobblestone Press). He gives all kinds of good info about writing and publishing when he stops in so I recommend the interview, which is the next post!

Enjoy and have a great day.
"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, fantasy novel, Jamieson Wolf, Valentine

Today's Roundup
Or...The Dragon is busy this weekend

Looks like I missed blogging at Today the Dragon Wins yesterday. Rar. Sorry about that. But, you know, writers just get really busy on the weekends. (Nigel complains about it/mocks me at http://sandylender.blogspot.com/. ) For instance, I've already been to Wal-mart this morning in an attempt to get my shopping done before the crowds of crazy people clog the aisles. It's absolutely stunning how many people are in the checkout line at 7 a.m.

Anyway, we're back to blogging today and I welcome you to read on after today's Word of the Day to get to Nigel's post if you're visiting from Author Island and wish to enter the Valentine's Day contest to win your own copy of the epic fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods.

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, fantasy novel, Today the Dragon Wins, http://sandylender.blogspot.com, dragon

Update on Blog and Contests
Or...The Dragon's just checkin' in

It looks like I need to give a shout out to Jeni and Kim and Laura here at Today the Dragon Wins! Jeni, I hope your granddaughter got all the way through Choices Meant for Gods. As the other two ladies in that list will tell you, it's LOOOOOONG. (I like to tell folks that they get their money's worth when they buy it...bwuahahaha.) Hey, it's epic fantasy. I'm glad to hear she was liking it!! Kim liked it so much she left a fabulous review over on the Amazon page (which I discovered yesterday while trolling the internet for information). Thank you, Kim! And, Laura, girlfriend, you're one of the most inspiring people I know right now. I've found a TON of great quotes to keep the "Inspirational Quote of the Day for Writers" going for half the year already...

Thank you to all the folks who visited from Author Island to enter the Choices Meant for Gods contest during the month of December. It looks like at least one of you has difficulty with the numbers-versus-letters concept when it comes to spelling words confusing our children (or adults), but that's okay. I blame the gaming industry (and Merriam-Webster). It's wonderful to have new people stopping in to read the blog and participate in the contests. Another one is coming up starting tomorrow! The rules will be announced on www.authorisland.com, which is a great site for readers to find new authors, new books, and new genres to fall in love with.

Just past today's "Word of the Day," you can check out the announcement of last month's contest winner. WOO-HOO to Loretta Wilson!

Welcome to The Dragon!
"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, fantasy novel, contests

Fast Communique
Or...The Dragon requests your patience with this interruption

For those of you who know me and have been trying to reach me via phone...umm...yeah...the cell phone is dead and I'll be dealing with that issue this week (in my spare time). I'll contact you with the new number (also in my spare time) probably by the weekend.

No, I'm not dead, but I appreciate the calls to the office to ask. Cracks me up, actually. Chris, the e-mail subject line was worth a gold star.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. And I'm back to pushing editorial for five magazines that are on deadline. ;) You can read my book while I'm working. Pick up the epic fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods at Amazon.com today!

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

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods

Overwhelm Me

Or...The Dragon asks the universe for one more challenge

Go ahead. Lay it on me. I can take it.

I DARE YOU.

You can read Nigel's post over at Nigel Presents Sandy Lender (http://sandylender.blogspot.com) to get the full impact here, but, suffice it to say, I'm losing my mind. Before I go completely 'round the bend, I wanted to post a note here to say "HELLO!" to all the lovely folks checking in from Author Island. Don't you all just rock the house? I'll post again shortly. I have to tell you all how coo-el Context 20 was...

And I have to let you know about the upcoming ren art fair in Naples.

And I have to give you my room number in the local looney bin...

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

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Nigel Presents Sandy Lender, Context 20

The Dragon Goes to DragonCon
Or...where else would I be this weekend?

In honor of the largest fantasy convention in the southwest region of our country (and, yes, I recognize that the world wide web reaches everywhere, but, dudes, I've lived in the USA for 36 of the 37 years of my life...I can't help that I'm stuck in the "this is my country" mode of thinking), I'm posting about my trip before I leave.

Not only have I slacked off on the Word of the Day and grammar stuff around here lately, I'm going to totally blow it off for a whole weekend! Bwuahahaha! Deal!

He he. I'll be back Tuesday morning and will make some sort of attempt to return the blog to normalcy for all ya'll writer types who look for writing info and author interviews (see the one with Karina Fabian in the next post below) and all that good stuff. I'm covering DragonCon for FantasyBookSpot.com so I'll have pictures and info that we can cross-post, so there'll be exciting news to share there. I'm also being "shadowed" by a fantastic gal who'll do a story about li'l ol' me for a couple of sites if I've got my facts straight, and I'll have that information to share with you when I get back, so don't lose track of Today the Dragon Wins. (You know that "favorite" feature your computer has? Yeah...that would be a good feature to employ for Tuesday morning...)

Have a great weekend, everyone! And if you're attending DragonCon, stop by my dealer table - A98 - and say hello! You can pick up a copy of Choices Meant for Gods there. (Or you can grab one of the last three copies at Amazon.com. My publisher's site has oodles...http://www.archebooks.com/BookIDX/Indexes/Fantasy/CMG/CMGDesc.htm. OH! And I guess Barnes and Noble.com has it in stock, but I never remember to push that site...) Buy it wherever you want to. People like it. :)

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

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, DragonCon

Choices Meant for Gods Online Book Tour Nears the End
Or…The Dragon might get some sleep Sunday

I have mixed feelings about this week. It's the last week of the Choices Meant for Gods Online Book Tour. And ohmigosh is it packed. So I'm feeling kinda sad and kinda nervous because this two-month tour of constant activity and constant gratification is coming to a close.

I also feel ecstatic because this has been exhausting and insane. Think about it: I've been on a different site almost every weekday (unless I was physically traveling) for TWO MONTHS. Some days I was on two sites. All in the name of marketing and promotion.

I'm not complaining, by the way. I'm stating this because I want all ya'll visitors to know that this tour has been an amazing success. It's not even over yet and I consider it an amazing success. Of course, I say something like that and no one will show up for the chat tonight…I'll sit there alone with the host listening to the chirp of crickets… Oh! The chat is at 9 p.m. Eastern at http://willifordblog.com. Fabulous fellow. He's back at school while trying to hold down a 9 to 5, if I get the story right. Eegads. Anyway, please join us in the chat room (registering takes all of two seconds, if you can type your name that quickly, and you don't get spammed afterward) to discuss "What makes the perfect villain?" with fantasy author Sandy Lender and to take a stab at winning a copy of my high fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods.

So the tour this week takes us on a whirlwind. Here's what I know so far:
Monday: http://willifordblog.com at 9 p.m. eastern for a live chat
Tuesday: http://friendsofdragons.wordpress.com for a character interview of goddess Kora Taiman
Wednesday: www.authorisland.com at 8 p.m. eastern for a live chat (Theme: What makes the perfect heroine?; another contest to win a copy of CMFG)
Thursday: www.storyation.blogspot.com for an interview of Sandy Lender
Friday: http://janekennedysutton.blogspot.com for an interview of Sandy Lender
Saturday: okay…I'll post Saturday's LIST later in the week because it's not complete yet…and…ummm…it's going to be huge. Saturday is going to be an online superparty of Choices Meant for Gods stuff.

I invite you to participate in any or all of these events to celebrate the final week of the Choices Meant for Gods Online Book Tour/Virtual Tour. It's been a blast!

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

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, fantasy author, fantasy novel, online book tour, virtual tour, dragon

Preparing for More than the Weekend

Or... the Choices Meant for Gods Online Book Tour takes a weekend break after today

In the image above, Fantasy Author Sandy Lender visits with a potential fan of the new epic fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods. (The fan is the one who looks normal.) If you'd like to visit with Sandy, you can catch her on four blogs today. This one, Today the Dragon Wins. Nigel Presents Sandy Lender at http://sandylender.blogspot.com. Spiritual Visitations, where she's giving a very different sort of guest blog that Nigel is actually fuming about. (You see, he likes to debut all information about the writer's life...but he'll get over it.) You can read the post at www.spiritualvisitations.blogspot.com. Then there's a post about the book signing event pictured above, with a different image, at http://paranormalityuniverse.blogspot.com. You can leave comments or questions at any of these four blogs and receive feedback or answers from Sandy today.

And if you haven't picked up your copy of the popular Choices Meant for Gods yet, we all encourage you to stop by the publisher's site to get your 25% discount at http://www.archebooks.com/BookIDX/Indexes/Fantasy/CMG/CMGDesc.htm. You can get free shipping on your order of Choices Meant for Gods from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Choices-Meant-Gods-Sandy-Lender/dp/1595071652/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-3163519-8684042?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181832464&sr=8-1. Enjoy the story!

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

Tags: Sandy Lender, fantasy author