Choices Meant for Gods Went to the Printer
Or...you can order your copy soon

I'm excited beyond words to announce that you'll be able to participate in my dream within the next two to three weeks. And then a fresh, hardbound, colorful and incredible, 428-page copy of Choices Meant for Gods will be yours to read and enjoy. Choices is the first book in a fantasy trilogy, and it's a lifelong dream of mine finally come to fruition.

Choices Meant for Gods is the story of a young lady who's been on the run from a madman all her life. When she decides to stand and fight, she discovers she's wrapped in centuries of prophecy that involve her protecting the very gods of her society. It's a fantasy story with dragons (good and downright evil); sorcerers; magic (but I have coined the concept of "geasa" because it's not quite "magic"); a touch of romance; a lot of danger; an element of prophecy; "a fair bit of humor," as Mage Confusion author Ginny McMorrow says; a fabulous old wizard; a new race of people who protect prophecy and chosen prophets; some new monsters and demons that were created during the First War; and a few other plot devices that ought to keep the reader flipping pages until deep into the night...at least it kept M.B. Weston, author of A Prophecy Forgotten flipping pages until deep into the morning hours. She got fussy with me about that, actually...keeping her up all night reading...

But I digress.

Choices Meant for Gods is at the printer, and I couldn't be any happier. I'll certainly let you know when you can order your copy to read. ArcheBooks, the publisher, will have a mechanism for ordering from their site, but you'll be able to get it through all the usual channels as well...Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon, etc.

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

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, fantasy, fantasy story, dragons, sorcerers, magic, wizard, ArcheBooks, Ginny McMorrow, M.B. Weston, Mage Confusion, A Prophecy Forgotten

The Galleys Arrived
Or...Choices Meant for Gods is a step closer to publication

A fabulous thing happened yesterday. My publisher at ArcheBooks sent me the galleys (final proof) for Choices Meant for Gods. Woo-hoo! Never fear, I won't neglect you here at The Dragon. We still have grammar and writing tips to post each day, and I'll keep that up just fine while I edit/proof my galleys. (I'll just be really excited while I'm posting.)

I wonder if I can get Nigel to help me. He's become quite adept at manipulating the blogosphere. But as Chariss will tell you, Nigel Taimain is a quick learner. Who is Chariss, you ask? She's the main character in Choices Meant for Gods. She's the young lady who's been on the run from a madman all her life, and when she decides to stand and fight, she discovers she's wrapped in centuries of prophecy that involve her protecting the very gods themselves. It's a fantasy novel with wizards and sorcerers and dragons and several new elements a high-epic fantasy story should entail woven into a new world where good versus evil is in the background, shadowing what drives the main character, but by no means influencing the cast around her.

I have a review from a fellow who writes for Linear Reflections that I think will sell this book for me. I'll post it as we get closer to the release date. For now, I'm just excited to have my galleys to review.

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, fantasy novel, fantasy story, dragon, wizards, sorcerers, dragons, Linear Reflections, ArcheBooks, writing tips, grammar

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."

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.”

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."

Choices Meant for Gods

Coming Soon...to a Book Store Near You

Now, people who know me will get excited because they'll assume I actually got a release date from my publisher for Choices Meant for Gods. No. This March 2007 is an educated guess based on some rumors. But I'll be talking with my publisher this weekend and I'll see what I can learn. In the meantime, isn't this a snazzy poster?

Notice that the compass rose drawn by Megan Kissinger, an artist here in Southwest Florida, is featured prominently on this masterpiece. Her artwork is what makes the poster, actually. It gives it that moody feeling that the main plot of the book has.

Notice also that I get to mention Amanda Chariss and Nigel Taiman and Hrazon, the wizard from Mon'dore, as the starring characters. I figured I'd leave Master Rothahn out just to piss Him off. It's only fair. And the few of you who've read the book so far can chuckle at that. The rest of you have to wait until March...or whenever. :)

So I'm looking forward to the release of Choices Meant for Gods, and I hope you are, too! Stay tuned to The Dragon because I'll be sure to give you an update after my discussion this weekend!

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

Charlotte Anne's Departure from Arcana
(an unwritten scene from Choices Meant for Gods)

Charlotte Anne shivered, settling her nerves and reflexes as the waves of nausea passed. She had to find a way to bring her bouts of morning sickness under control before she got back to her family’s farm. She wasn’t ready to face her father. She wasn’t ready to tell him why she’d been sent home from the school in Arcana.

“I’m not ready to tell him about you,” she told her stomach.

As if drawn to her voice, every shadow in the Rochest Forest now turned its attention on the girl. She winced as if they’d touched her.

But she was sensible. Even if dark spaces glowered at her here, angered at the way she’d defiled this place of seclusion, she knew that the morning suns shone back in the clearing where she’d left her traveling companions. Surely daylight lit the sky beyond the canopy above, and creatures like demons or trolls only came out at night. “We have nothing to fear from the forest in the day,” she whispered, stroking her stomach slowly, lovingly, as if she’d already figured out how to be a mother.

She thought she had nothing to fear from the wispy shadows that wavered like faeries’ wings across the rustling leaf litter and rocks. Nothing to fear from the breeze that brushed across her like fingers lifting her hair, like a goddess hissing a warning in her ear. And it did feel like a warning.

She froze in place, kneeling on the dirt like a condemned man awaiting...awaiting…awaiting the sound of a snap as a twig broke beneath a boot. The ring of metal as a sword left its scabbard.

She jumped to her feet. And when she spun to face whatever beast had come up on her, the heel of her slipper met the puddle of her sickness. She felt her balance falter. She would have screamed out if not for the shock in her throat. She hit the ground with a thud that jarred her teeth, and she imagined the baby within her started to cry.

“No noise,” the man hissed. He was suddenly around her, strong arms confining and bulging muscles binding. The sword blade felt both hot and cold against her neck, but it didn’t bite into the flesh as she expected. Yet his hand gripping and ripping her hair to hold back her head hurt like lightning bolts.

“Your death is supposed to look like an accident,” he said. “But I’ll make it as painless as I can.”

She gulped. “My baby…”

“Sorry, Little Girl.”

She felt him push her, felt the ground rushing toward her, felt her temple make immediate and violent contact with the rocks.

And that was all.

The man arranged Charlotte Anne and Greer’s bodies next to the mangled buggy. One of the horses was sacrificed in the farce as well. When he finished his work he climbed out of the ravine to collect his payment from Mister Kessel, and then rode his own mount back toward Candlewood to join the Dreorfahn Army marching that way.

(This scene is merely alluded to in the forthcoming novel Choices Meant for Gods, which should be released from ArcheBooks Publishing sometime in March 2007. It will be available by ordering it through your local bookstore or through Amazon.com, B&N.com, etc.)
"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."

Choices Meant for Gods
began as an outlet for the characters I found creeping about in my brain as an adolescent. Then one day I realized I had to get the tome I'd created published. Imagine my dismay when a friend said, "ah, now you need an agent!"

An agent? But I'm not a rock star.

Enter the 2004 edition of the Writer's Market, a thick (very thick) book of lists of names of people who had no interest in a magazine editor and journalist who had a fantasy novel to sell. I got sick of rejections to my cleverly crafted three- to four-paragraph query letters in a hurry. Time to try something else.

Enter the 2006 Naples Press Club Writers Conference, a meeting of the literary minds where a certain book publisher set up pitch sessions with a handful of hopeful writers, myself included. One twenty-minute, nerve-wracking conversation and ten-page proposal later, I had a publisher reading the 250,000-word manuscript for Choices Meant for Gods. The proverbial "they" said it couldn't be done. No publisher would accept such a lengthy work. I was insane to try.

My contract came a few weeks later. Was I surprised? You better believe it! Was I thankful? More than you'll ever know!

Choices Meant for Gods can be ordered at Amazon.com, www.archebooks.com, or over the counter at your local Barnes & Noble, Borders, Hastings, etc. in March 2007. I encourage you to pick up this fantastic tale where...

"Not even the gods noticed when Chariss was born with the mark of The Protector. Now she and her wizard guardian seek shelter from a mad sorcerer in a household not just full of secrets and false hope, but watched by the god who will unwittingly reveal her role in an impending war. When an orphan sets aside a lifetime of running and fear to accept the responsibilities of guarding an arrogant deity, can she face the trials in the prophecies she uncovers? And will Nigel Taiman of her latest refuge dare to use his dragon heritage to bind her to his estate or to help her in her duty?"

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