She's on Suspense Magazine's Site

My fantasy author, Sandy Lender, is pleased to announce that Suspense Magazine's online presence now includes a page devoted to her and an early review of the upcoming fantasy novel Choices Meant for Kings. You can check out the direct link to the page here. At the site, you can see Megan Kissinger's map of Onweald in full color, a blurb about the book, and an interview of Sandy Lender (complete with inane ramblings about snails).

If you're still in need of the first book in the Choices trilogy, the easiest way to get your copy is through Amazon or the publisher's site. You can also walk into Barnes & Noble or Borders, etc., to order it if you don't see it still sitting on the shelf, but online ordering is faster, and, if what folks are telling Sandy still holds true, less expensive. It appears the book store's fees are more exhorbitant than the online shipping fees, and both Amazon and her publisher have discounts at the moment.

All my best.

Tags: fantasy author, Sandy Lender, Suspense Magazine, Choices Meant for Gods, Choices Meant for Kings

She Hasn't Repressed This One, Careless Memory #12

A Glimpse into a Writer's Life
When my fantasy author, Sandy Lender, was about 7 years old, she lived in an apartment complex across the breezeway from a child named Debbie. One day, Debbie and another girl, who Sandy can't even picture, much less name at this point, wanted to ride their bikes up to the convenience store a few blocks away.

Because Sandy's mother wouldn't let her go with them, Debbie and the other girl began to mock her, telling her she was "a baby" and "too little" to go with the "big girls" to the store. (That's mean. These were your friends?) Ah, back to the story. It gets strange, she tells me.

When Debbie and the other girl returned from the store, they taunted Sandy with the candy they'd bought (by the gods, you surely didn't remain friends with such people…oh, she tells me children are just cruel beasts in this society…great). As I was saying, the girls taunted her with the candy until they decided they wanted to go to the store again. This time, they told her that she was too little to go to the store, but she could watch their candy for them, if she promised not to eat any of it.

For pity's sake. I think we can all see where this is going.

As soon as the girls were out of sight, Sandy unwrapped all the pieces of gum and smeared them around in the dirt. (You've got to be kidding.) She licked some first to make the dirt really stick, she says. (Hey, she was 7; this was 7-year-old logic.)

Once all the pink gum pieces were lying there in their random disarray of dirty inedibility, she went inside to play with her dolls or something pleasing like that. (Your mind frightens me.) When Debbie and her friend returned a second time, they were incensed, of course, and came to Sandy's door to find out what had happened. Sandy quickly came up with (What? Thought up a lie and thought it up quick? What does that mean?) Sandy quickly came up with a story about some older boys riding by on their bicycles and stopping to smear the gum in the dirt, which the girls believed, and smugly went back to playing with her own toys.

I think I'll do everything she tells me to for the marketing and promotion of Choices Meant for Gods. It's available at a discount at the publisher's site, you know. And I think Amazon still has it on sale as well. Choices Meant for Kings is due out this fall.

Tags: writer's life, careless memory, fantasy author, Sandy Lender, Choices Meant for Gods

She Doesn't Like the Fire Alarm

My fantasy author, Sandy Lender, had just settled into sleep when something loud and obnoxious began screeching in her "new" apartment. No, the bird was not to blame. In fact, the bird remained remarkably calm...

Now that she lives in an apartment community again, there comes with that joyous community living all the mature activities the neighbors find fun, such as pulling fire alarms when there's no fire. The resulting noise is supposed to empty the building of half-dressed, groggy apartment dwellers waiting for the fire department to come turn off the alarm.

It took them over ten minutes.

Sandy figures she needs a better back-up system for the Choices Meant for Gods trilogy so she can grab that (and the bird) on her way out should there ever be a real fire because this place obviously isn't high on the priority list of places to rush in and save.

Tags: fantasy author, Sandy Lender, fire alarm, Choices Meant for Gods