Dragonfriend Book Trailer

My kid made this and I think she did a wonderful job! What do you think?

One Year and Counting

I think I shall find this wait most difficult...

The Invention That Changed Europe

Frances Simmons has an interesting and, admittedly, super-geeky opinion piece over at suite101. She posits that the lowly stirrup (the part of a horse saddle where you stick your foot) transformed medieval Europe from a place where life was “nasty, brutish and short,” to a place where wealth circulated and an artisan class flourished.

"A class of warriors and wars required wealth to purchase or breed the proper horse. Also acquiring the acoutrements, like chain mail (an armored warriors under garment), weapons, armor, the warrior class required wealth. The necessary wealth that the monarch had to disperse to sustain wars and a warrior class encouraged the circulation of wealth from the monarch to the warrior class and from there to those whose positions supported the warrior class."

Check out the full article here.

Wanna Win a Free Book?

Hopeful contest winner.

Then check out the Goodreads widget over on the right The contest starts 11/13/11 and ends on 12/13/11 and I'll be giving away five copies. Good luck!

Dragonfriend is in the House!

Okay, the day I thought would never arrive is finally here! I'm pleased to announce the publication of my middle-grade fantasy novel, Dragonfriend. (trumpet fanfare)

It's currently available at Amazon (print and Kindle formats), Amazon UK (Kindle format) and at B&N (Nook format). I'm working on setting up a Smashwords account, too, so check back later if that's how you roll.

I've ordered a big ol' box of paperbacks to distribute to area libraries, beta & proof readers, reviewers, and Kickstarter supporters (I financed the setup of Dragonfriend through that excellent service) and should receive them sometime around Thanksgiving.

UPDATE: Now available on Smashwords, too!

Here's a quick description of the book:

If you think it was all good deeds and fancy ideals back in the days of Camelot, think again. Most people don't know this, but for a time things went seriously bad; Arthur was imprisoned, Merlin had vanished, and a vile demon had taken over the throne.

Young Leonard would have been shocked to learn any of this but right now all that concerned him was where his next meal was coming from. As page to Sir Ronald, a poor but kind knight, events at the castle took a back seat to a rumbling stomach. Oh sure, he held a secret dream that one day Sir Ronald would take a seat at the Round Table, but seriously, that was about as likely as Maid Glennys seeing him as anyone other than the dirty page of a low-ranking nobleman. Not gonna happen.

Everything changes when Leonard meets Mantooth, a seriously depressed dragon who's looking for a knight to end his misery with a swing of a broadsword. Wait a minute. If the dragon will allow Sir Ronald to slay him, his misery would be over, Sir Ronald would surely get a Round Table invite for such a brave deed, and Leonard might even climb a notch or two in the eyes of Glennys! Everybody wins, right?

Wrong. Leonard's plan backfires horribly when, on the day of the battle, Sir Ronald is arrested for "bravery without a license" and he and Mantooth are dragged off to Camelot's dungeons. Now Leonard must do whatever it takes to free his master even if that means doing battle with dangerous monsters, trying to outwit Camelot's dark overlord, or taking a bath!

And here's some early praise for Dragonfriend:

"A wonderfully written side story to the Arthurian legend with never-considered twists, fun details and tremendous heart. Leonard is a marvelous hero-in-the-making and Mantooth is the first dragon in a long time who really deserves a hug."   -- Carolyn Hennesy, Author of the Pandora series

"Dragonfriend starts with a chuckle then quickly develops into a brave quest, climaxing in a truly epic battle between knights, dragons and fiends from Hell. Honestly, what more could you want?" -- Keith Robinson, Author of the Island of Fog Series

"... a smart, sassy tale of knights and dragons that rockets the entire clanky genre into the 21st Century for savvy (and perhaps a little jaded) readers. -- Steve Kaye, Author of Valley of Hate by Clay Burnham

I couldn't be happier about the book finally being "out there." I started writing it back in 2007 and it's taken all of this time to get it to the point where I thought it was ready for primetime. Am I nervous? More than a little! I'm very pleased with how the book turned out and think it's a darned good read, but now it's up to the readers to tell me if they agree.

(note to readers: please agree)

Final Cover!

Well, here it is. The final cover of Dragonfriend. My talented cover designer, Mike Wykowski did an excellent job dealing with all the nits I threw his way and turned out a really cool cover. I absolutely love it. What do you guys think?

Meteorite Sword? I Want One!

Andúril

Upon being knighted by the Queen late in 2010, English fantasy author Sir Terry Prachett decided he would make his own sword! He dug up a bunch of iron ore, smelted it, then had a blacksmith "bash it into shape." During the process, he made sure to include "several pieces of meteorites — thunderbolt iron, you see — highly magical, you’ve got to chuck that stuff in whether you believe in it or not".

As someone who's partial to "magical" swords (and would love to someday own replicas of Aragorn's Andúril
and Gandalf's Glamdring), I think this is brilliant and applaud Sir Terry for following through on a very cool idea. You can find the full article here.