Saturday, September 8, 2007

She's Swamped




My fantasy author is attempting to do too many things at once. What I find frustrating is how few of those things involve finishing my corrections for the sequel to the fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods. You know, if she's going to get this second book in the trilogy out by the end of the year, she needs to get it turned in to her publisher...Anyone want to help me make that happen?

In the meantime, please enjoy these images from Sandy Lender's time at DragonCon last weekend. The first image is Sandy in the room with an archangel in the background taking her picture. The second picture is her and fantasy author M.B. Weston, who has a novel called A Prophecy Forgotten available at Amazon.com and ArcheBooks.com.

All my best,
Nigel

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

She's Back


And still crazy. As you can see, my fantasy author, Sandy Lender, had a great time at DragonCon over Labor Day weekend. She met this thing called the Great Flying Spaghetti Monster (or at least someone dressed as it). She tried explaining it to me, and I was so distracted by the people walking around in their undergarments that I just couldn't grasp all the details of the Spaghetti Monster religion, so I can't really explain it here. But I understand you can search for it in Google and get quite an education...

Anyway, Sandy is back home, as am I, and she's back to work at her day job where they're frantically trying to send five magazines to the printer over the next couple of weeks. It looks insane to me and I've recommended she quit and just work on the new magazine she and some of her colleagues are starting. Seems there's something comforting about having an income and buying food that she'd rather not let go of...And that's the writer's life for today.

I'll put together something lovely to tell you all about DragonCon, because it really was an interesting experience. The parade was surreal. We have pictures that Sandy is sending with her article to www.fantasybookspot.com that you'll be able to see at some point later today. The administrators there will have that live shortly. She doesn't mention much about the book sales because they were fairly slow. When you're stuck in the back corner of the basement of the hotel where none of the celebrities are selling a $25 hardback book that no one's ever heard of, moving half a dozen is something to cheer over. Now everyone who didn't elect to lug it back in their suitcase will have to pay the cover price over at Amazon...at least they won't have to pay shipping.

All my best, everyone.
Nigel

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Thursday, August 30, 2007

She Has Clothes Everywhere

The house looks like a tornado ripped through. You all should see this. I'm not sure if she's packing to go to DragonCon or if she's had some sort of seizure that involved throwing the contents of her closet across all flat surfaces... This is almost as bad as when she's planning to go to a Duran Duran concert somewhere. (I said almost; there was a qualifier...oooh, she's also fussy...)

So my fantasy author, Sandy Lender, is preparing to leave town for DragonCon, and, as her spokesperson, I thought it fitting I should tell the world what promotional and marketing ramifications this has on the sales of her epic fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods.

None. She's wasting her money going to a four-day party. (I've just been assaulted.)

All right. I'll be a bit more charitable. Sandy Lender will be promoting her novel while at this event, but, because she's not speaking on any panels or doing any readings, she feels that the trip is going to be very expensive (financially speaking) for the gain she'll get out of it. No one knows who she is yet, and she's not sure how much that fact will change during the show. What she's excited about is the after-the-show press. You see, she's working with the administrators of www.fantasybookspot.com to cover the event (and when you ask her about that she starts prattling about journalism and news reporting and things I barely grasp, so it's best not to ask too many questions along that thread of thought) and she has a couple of web sites that wish to carry stories about her experience at the convention afterward, so she sees potential for exposure after-the-show. This makes her feel somewhat better about the outlay of cash upfront.

And she really is looking forward to carrying a sword around for four days. (I keep telling you it's not all fun and excitement. Do you even know how to swing...) I would like to suggest that no one stand within four feet of her if she's got it out. And if you'd like to read an interview about her level of sanity, just to reinforce my point here, you can visit http://www.mindunbound.com/blog/2007/08/interview_with_sandy_lender_an.html. That went live Monday.

And if you want to pick up a copy of Choices Meant for Gods prior to the convention, Amazon.com only has three copies in stock at the moment, although we understand they've ordered more. You can get a copy from her publisher's site at http://www.archebooks.com/BookIDX/Indexes/Fantasy/CMG/CMGDesc.htm pretty easily. Or if you'll be at DragonCon this weekend, you can pick up a copy more cheaply and without shipping fees from her dealer table, A98.

Have a lovely holiday weekend.
Nigel

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Monday, August 27, 2007

She's Cured me of Sleeping on Her Couch

I was jarred awake by the ear-splitting screech of the spider scream this morning. Just because I know what the particular pitch of that scream indicates doesn't make it any easier to be ripped from deep sleep with. It was a particularly large wolf spider. And my fantasy author, Sandy Lender, was particularly close to it when she noticed it. Hence the healthy-lung volume...

So now she has a dilemma. See, the carcass is curled up, still wet with bug spray...in her shower. This amuses me because she has this "thing" about leaving the carcasses for at least 24 hours (yes, she's OCD) to be sure it's completely dead before she gathers it up and throws it in the trash. But she can't use the shower until she gets rid of this thing. I've already suggested she use the guest shower, where her former significant other used to bathe, but she wrinkled her nose up at that. And she can't just rinse this thing down the drain. (I'm sure I've mentioned that the wolf spiders out here in the swamp get quite large? Oh, and she's adding in that this thing is enormous.)

Anyway, she's figuring out what to do with the body and I'm figuring out where I'll sleep from now on that won't be within scream-range. My nerves are shot for the day.

And speaking of the day, I'll be spending it coming up with marketing ideas for her DragonCon expedition at the end of the week. Those of you attending can meet her at the Dealer Room just about any time of day. She'll be pretty much chained to a table there pushing the fantasy novel, Choices Meant for Gods. If you're not attending, you can pick up the book at Amazon, where they're running low of copies at the moment, or at her publisher's site at http://www.archebooks.com/BookIDX/Indexes/Fantasy/CMG/CMGDesc.htm.

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Thursday, August 23, 2007

She Picked a Great Color

I don’t know much about color therapy, but it’s a buzzword I’ve heard come out of Sandy’s mouth more than once. If I grasp the concept correctly, it’s the use of color to ease mood or set tone in one’s life. Some people go so far as to purport color schemes can correct dysfunctions in body makeup to relieve pain or set irrational behaviors to right. (Wait a minute, I think she’s going to censor something here…for pity’s sake. I was educated at a school for Geasa’n, you know. I’m not going to write like an idiot. There’s nothing wrong with what I have here. You underestimate the audience.)

As I was going to say before she interrupted me, she selected a great color for Amanda Chariss. See, Amanda is a Protector (What? I’m not going to give anything from the plot away.) in the fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods, and lavender is, according to one of the texts I’ve read, a color for protection. It’s also a color for spiritual intention or involvement, and, let me tell you, I’d like to get Mandy involved with me spiritually, if you know what I mean. (Oh, come on, don’t tell me this audience isn’t on board with that. Amanda will never read this. She doesn’t like this computer business or I’d have you nipping Abigail’s blog in the bud right now.)

Back to color therapy. Purple and violet, the colors that remind me of Amanda’s eyes and the gem she’s carried on her cheek since birth are power colors. Sandy is going to talk about this on her blog at http://www.todaythedragonwins.blogspot.com/ with writer Pamala Oslie, author of Love Colors, today. Pamala writes in her book that people with lavender auras are fragile, sensitive, spiritual, gentle and creative. Some of the other attributes of people with lavender auras don’t really apply to Amanda because I’d never consider her disorganized and I’ve never seen her unable to work or be responsible. The woman is (What? Oh, come on, the people reading this expect me to extol her merits; I’m in love with her.)… Fine.

Sandy, on the other hand, is a strong violet and a strong green. She took this little test in the Oslie book and it was stunning how strong those two auras turned out to be. But when we read the characteristics of people with violet and green auras…well…it was obvious.

Violets, according to Oslie, are charismatic (check), are often the center of attention (check), are passionate about art, causes, saving the planet (check), love music or are involved in music (check), are performers, writers or artists (check), are self-employed or in positions of leadership (check), communicate in ways that inspire and motivate others (check), have a sense of urgency as if they’re running out of time to complete goals (check), have strong desires to travel (check), multi-task (check), care about animals (check), have strong emotions (check), become bored with meaningless chatter (check), can intimidate others (check), are easily bored in relationships (extreme check), etc.

Greens, according to Oslie, seem to always be in a hurry (check), talk quickly (check), finish other people’s sentences for them (check) (yes you do), are highly intelligent (usually), are highly competitive (check), drive expensive cars (well, she wants a BMW Alana or a Corvette, which I understand are both expensive, but she’s more interested in the hood…what does that mean?), own at least one expensive home (check, but does it count if the bank is foreclosing on it? OW!), frequently ask how? (check), want to know the point or end of the story and don’t seem interested in the details (check), speak their minds, no matter whom it may offend (check), need to be in control (extreme check), has more than one degree (I’m not clear on this one), are stubborn and strong-willed (extreme check).

So, as you can see, Sandy Lender fits the violet and green auras perfectly. She also had strong blue, yellow and red auras, but she said if I list off any of the red characteristics in a public forum like this, she’d do something violent in the text she’s working on in Book III so…I bow to her wishes. (But you all are welcome to e-mail me privately. She’s not here all the time, you know.)

I think I’ve lost the point of this entire article. Oh, yes, she selected good color auras for characters in Choices Meant for Gods. There’s actually quite a lot of symbolism in that fantasy novel if people pay attention and watch for it. She says it’s the English major coming out in her. Whatever that means…

So pop over to The Dragon and check out the interview with Pam Oslie today at http://www.todaythedragonwins.blogspot.com/ for more information and to ask Pam some questions.

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Monday, August 20, 2007

She Got to Help Another Lizard

This time she didn't actually see the lizard, but some guy at the pet store was buying crickets to feed his new pet (a tegu, she says) and the fellow had not been educated on what to do. So now you get to hear/read another bizarre story about the fantasy writer's life.

Sandy Lender was standing in line to buy treats for the incredibly spoiled bird that lives in this house with her, and the fellow must have felt like an idiot for buying a bag of crickets and a bag of goldfish because he felt the need to explain himself. She empathized. She's been there before...buying crickets for a lizard back home...it's probably where the dragon fixation comes from. Anyway, the fish were NOT for a water turtle, which she thought was a logical followup question to ask. Now, tell me, how many normal people out there assume people at the pet store are buying goldfish to feed to a water turtle?

The way she figures she helped the lizard is by her next question about "dusting" the crickets. She actually asked him, "do you dust them before you feed them to the tegu?" Complete look of confusion on the guy's face. So she explained the importance of calcium powder without phosphorus and suggested he could put the crickets in a container with half an orange overnight so the little insects could fill up on all those nutrients before being fed to the lizard. This stuff is insane. Think about it for a minute. Now, the guy took her word for it without her having to explain that she used to serve on the board of the Kansas City Herpetological Society. And he stepped out of line to go get a container of calcium powder. So she feels she did her civic duty for some little reptile out there this evening.

I think she should do her civic duty for my bride's story and get the second book off to the publisher here. We're nearly done with the edits I have in mind. If you all haven't already picked up the first book, Choices Meant for Gods, I recommend you grab it at your local book store or from Amazon soon so you have time to digest it (like a calcium-dusted cricket, she says) before the second book arrives. It's available at http://www.amazon.com/Choices-Meant-Gods-Sandy-Lender/dp/1595071652/ref=cm_cd_t_h_dp_i/104-9089752-5140754.

And now I have to stop typing because she has something else she wants me to post and she's not going to stop pestering me until I take care of it.

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She Says This is My Song

And I have to agree that it has a certain romance to it that fits Amanda and me quite well. That actually puzzles me because my fantasy author, Sandy Lender, is constantly telling me to downplay the romantic angle of the book Choices Meant for Gods on this blog. It's an epic fantasy novel, not a romance novel. (But I beg to differ. And I'm the muse, so I'm calling the shots around here during editing of Book II, thank you very much.)

So here's "my song," sappy as it is.


I Was Brought to My Senses
by Sting (And what kind of name is that for a recording artist? Isn't that a verb?)

Alone with my thoughts this evening
I walked on the banks of Tyne
I wondered how I could win you
Or if I could make you mine
Or if I could make you mine
The wind it was so insistent
With tales of a stormy south
But when I spied two birds in a sycamore tree
There came a dryness in my mouth
Came a dryness in my mouth
For then without rhyme or reason
The two birds did rise up to fly
And where the two birds were flying
I swear I saw you and I
I swear I saw you and I

I walked out this morning
It was like a veil had been removed from before my eyes
For the first time I saw the work of heaven
In the line where the hills had been married to the sky
And all around me
Every blade of singing grass
Was calling out your name
And that our love would always last
And inside every turning leaf
Is the pattern of an older tree
The shape of our future
The shape of all our history
And out of the confusion
Where the river meets the sea
Came things I'd never seen
Things I'd never seen

I was brought to my senses
I was blind but now that I can see
Every signpost in nature
Said you belong to me
I know it's true
It's written in a sky as blue
As blue as your eyes
As blue as your eyes
If nature's red in tooth and claw
Like winter's freeze and summer's thaw
The wounds she gave me
Were the wounds that would heal me
And we'd be like the moon and sun
And when our courtly dance had run
Its course across the sky
Then together we would lie
And out of the confusion
Where the river meets the sea
Something new would arrive
Something better would arrive
I was brought to my senses
I was blind but now that I can see
Every signpost in nature
Said you belong to me
I was brought to my senses
I was blind but now that I can see
Every signpost in nature
Said you belong to me...

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Sunday, August 19, 2007

She Took a Seven-Hour Nap

I don't know how common this issue of migraines is in your society, but my fantasy author deals with it from time to time, and today she had to deal with it. She has what she calls "heart-stopping medication" that usually solves the migraine issue, so her quality of life has improved immeasurably since beginning this medication. Sounds ridiculous, if you ask me. But her absence from the computer gave me time to prepare some information for all of you.

First, I've registered the blog with The Truth Laid Bear site. This means stray people looking for a site about writers will see this one registered there and might come stumbling over to read about Fantasy Author Sandy Lender. And won't that be nice as a marketing tool? There are a couple other sites similar to that that I've registered with as well, but I'm awaiting confirmation and approval, etc.

Anything we can do to spread the word about the fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods is a good thing. And one of the things we've done is announce several contest winners over at Today the Dragon Wins. You can access that at www.todaythedragonwins.blogspot.com. She's got another contest she's putting together so if you didn't get in on these, don't fret. There'll be other opportunities to win strange things related to Choices Meant for Gods.

And now I'm off to feed her crackers. It's the only thing she can keep in her stomach today.

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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

She Let Henry Get in Over His Head

As usual.
And I'm laughing about it. I had no part in the interview over at Friends of Dragons today. But Henry just about got himself in trouble with a woman twice his "level," if you know what I mean. Visit http://friendsofdragons.wordpress.com to read the interview with Morgan from Charlene Leatherman's Prophecy of Vithan.

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