Problems On Eldora Prime by Sandy Lender

A Dragon's Moving Day

Far above the shadowed cave, shafts of light stab down from errant cracks in the mountain. The cavern has become unstable here. In her dream state, she has sensed it.

An observer could hear the smooth scratch of shifting scales. The air moves with the changed rhythm in her breathing. What had once been an uneasy mustiness churns with dust and a fetid, rank meat smell from the moist cavern. She has awakened. She stirs, and a ray of light glances off a patch of onyx scale.

With a groaning of bones she labors to raise her head. The graceful black neck glistens through a shaft of light. The dragon has been asleep for years; only instinct forced her tongue to lash out for the morsels that dared to creep by during her slumber. Now the stink of rotted tidbits offends her as she flares her nostrils at the garbage dotting her bower.

As she drags energy into her muscles she moves a wing for support. This disturbs her treasure-bed. Gold and silver and pretty trinkets cascade from her mound, clanking and clunking to the stones below. The sound is satisfying. Even its echo through the halls of her lair pleases her, but the clutter from sleepy feasting does not. She snorts a vicious blow. Dead things scatter with a clatter, and the lighter of her trophies scratch across the floor. Dust and rocks swirl among them, dinging little clinking sounds.

She’s cleared a path. It’s time for the dragon to move.

Fantasy enthusiasts will find her at http://todaythedragonwins.wordpress.com/.

"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: dragon, wordpress, cave, treasure

What Choices We Made Vol. II Available Now
Or...The Dragon announces another book release...Woo-hoo!

This should be a longer post, but I'm swamped right now. Here's the scoop:
If you're waiting for Book III in the Choices series, the item to tide you over is What Choices We Made, Short Stories from the History of Onweald, Volume II. It's available now, as of today, at Amazon! Check it out now and get your Choices fix, complete with a deleted scene from Choices Meant for Gods and the novella The Influential Love Story of Ella and Rohne.

Enjoy!
http://tinyurl.com/WCWMII

"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: What Choices We Made, fantasy, Choices, Amazon, dragons

Practicing With My Bird
Or...The Dragon has picked out Friday night's scenes

I've selected the scenes for the Oct. 1 reading from Choices Meant for Kings at Archon 34. To make sure I don't bore the audience, I practiced reading to Petri. He loves the attention.

Hope to see you there!
"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Choices Meant for Kings, dragon, Archon 34

Rate The Dragon

Or...Fantasy Author Sandy Lender placed a preview on CreateSpace for you

In preparation for the upcoming release of What Choices We Made, Volume II (short stories from the history of Onweald), I placed an excerpt from a story in volume one on the CreateSpace site for readers to check out. You can read the excerpt (for free, of course) and rate it. You don't have to answer the questions I provided, but, if you feel like sharing your reading preferences and thoughts with others, the option for that is there, too.

The link for the What Choices We Made, Vol. I preview gives you a chance to rate the dragon!
Have fun!
"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: What Choices We Made, fantasy, preview, Sandy Lender, dragon

Don't Give Caffeine to Dragons
Or...I wrote another novel over Labor Day weekend

For the 33rd annual International 3-Day Novel Contest, I pounded out 40,745 words of a young adult novel titled Problems Above Pangaea Moon. I don't get to tell you any more than that. Savvy visitors will recognize that it "feels" like a sequel to Problems on Eldora Prime, the first novel in the young adult, science-fiction/fantasy series to be released from Night Wolf Publications at the end of this month...possibly mid-October at the latest. Savvy visitors would be correct. Because I've turned the manuscript in to the admins at the 3-Day Novel Contest offices, I have to pretend my manuscript no longer exists until they announce winners of the contest in January.

I don't hold out a lot of hope for this year's entry. I drank two 2-liter bottles of diet Pepsi and a large ice cafe latte from Dunkin Donuts while typing those 72 hours. That's an awful lot of caffeine for someone who hasn't had caffeine (doctor's orders) for about 15 years. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

It was a long weekend complete with a 20,000-word day Saturday, a power outage Sunday afternoon, and a friend's visit to the emergency room Monday afternoon. I had quite a time of it trying to type amid the interruptions and the crazed dash to the store for stray food and the aforementioned Dunkin Donuts coffee. Somehow, Problems Above Pangaea Moon finished itself Monday afternoon and editing went fairly well into the night hours. I printed it out well before the midnight deadline and mailed it (with a witness statement) during the week.

Now we wait. All several hundred of us writers that put ourselves through the marathon of typing death...wait. :)

"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: 3-Day Novel Contest, science fiction, fantasy, Problems on Eldora Prime, Night Wolf Publications, caffeine, dragon, Labor Day

Word of the Day
Or...The Dragon visits an old practice

Remember when I used to post a Word of the Day each and every day? It was time-consuming and laborious for me. I stopped after...what...a year? Year and a half? I can't remember now how long I tortured myself. Today, while unpacking boxes in the den, I found notes and passwords and hand-written blog topics from eons ago. One of them: a Word of the Day entry.

I kid you not.

So here it is! A blast from the past...

Seethe (verb): to be agitated greatly, to be excited violently, to churn and roil and foam up (from the Old English seothan, with a long mark over the e)

Word in a Sentence: In the epic fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods, Godric Taiman seethes like a petulant child when Master Rothahn taunts and antagonizes him.

Your Turn! This is the interactive part. YOU click on the "comment" link below and type a sentence of your own with the word "seethe" in it. We want something clever and cranky, of course! All the writers visiting the blog should put your best foot forward. All the readers visiting the blog should show us up. Seethe the day! (I couldn't help it. I'm posting this after a very full 17-hour day on 6 hours of sleep. And I'm not allowed to have caffeine. Imagine...)

"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Word of the Day, Old English, fantasy novel, Choices Meant for Gods, seethe

Roger Taylor Band Update, August 2010

A Duran Duran Update
Or...The Dragon shares Duran Duran news because it's always good to do


For the Archon blog, see the next post. :)

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

What Would You Like Fantasy Author Sandy Lender to Read at Archon34?
Or...pick your favorite scene(s) from the Choices Trilogy

Fantasy Author Sandy Lender will do a few things with/for/at Archon34 in St. Louis this Oct. 1-3, 2010. One of those "things" is a reading. Back when I had only one novel out, I had a pretty easy time picking scenes for these readings. Now...not so much.

So weigh in with your faves. What scene(s) from Choices Meant for Gods, Choices Meant for Kings, or What Choices We Made (vol 1) would you like me to read at Archon? Or should I throw caution to the wind and read something from the soon-to-be-released Problems on Eldora Prime? (Glenn Cook will have copies of Problems on Eldora Prime at his booth in the dealer's room.)

"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Archon 34, St. Louis, fantasy, Sandy Lender, Problems on Eldora Prime

Jeff Dunham Achmed's "Jingle Bombs"

Look...It's Christmas in July
Celebrate, laugh, get inspired, write a poem, but be sure you laugh


"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: Christmas in July