She's Impressed by the Bird

I'm being forced to listen to Rudebox by Robbie Williams.

My fantasy author, Sandy Lender, has this pet bird that she's talked about over on her main blog, Today the Dragon Wins. Today, she gave him some millet as a treat and proceeded to marvel over how easily he uses his beak to pick the tiny little seeds out of their husks, leaving the husks to float like dust in the air. (She now has to dust...)

In her first novel, Choices Meant for Gods, I recall only a short reference to one ofersey'n's possession of hawks. Now that I come to think of it, I believe that may have been edited out. The original work was over 250,000 words, you know. Her publisher still took it on, but, really, there was no doubt editing was required.

Now when Choices Meant for Kings is released, Lord Akelous Foresterson will be brought in again, and, again, he has one of his hawks on his arm. My lovely bride-to-be is taken with birds, and I can't help thinking that Sandy forced this characteristic upon her because of Petri. Oh. Sandy assures me that Chariss loves all animals, and that's why she tolerates a dragon in her bedchamber. Nice. Why, again, do I help this woman with marketing?

Tags: pet bird, dragon, Choices Meant for Gods, Choices Meant for Kings

She's Got Nests and Pellets

My fantasy author, Sandy Lender, is pleased to announce that there are now four sea turtle nests in her "zones" along the Gulf. So when she patters along the shore looking for turtle activity, she gets to inspect the nest areas to make sure all is well with the little lives forming beneath the sand. She's very happy about this.

And in complete contrast to that good-natured story, she's in the kitchen putting all Petri's least-favorite food pellets into one container so she can tease him. Isn't that nice?

Petri, for those of you who aren't already aware, is the pet bird that rules the household. He's very particular about his food and doesn't eat the white pellets in his food mix. So, to make life easier for Petri, Sandy spends valuable time that I'd prefer she spent writing (it's my job to keep her writing, you know) picking out the white pellets so he doesn't have to. Tonight, for some odd reason, she's putting them all in one little cup to present to him as if that's his dinner. She's done this to him before and was so entertained by his expression that I guess we just have to do it again.

I'll get her back to the computer shortly. Never fear. We do have the third book in the Choices trilogy to complete, you know.

In the meantime, the second book is awaiting its release date at the publisher and Book I, Choices Meant for Gods is still available at the publisher's site and Amazon.

All my best,
Nigel
Tags: sea turtle, Choices Meant for Gods, fantasy author, Sandy Lender

She Was Teasing the Pterodactyl

When I walked into the kitchen area this morning, I feared the look of mischief my fantasy author, Sandy Lender, had about her. Nothing good comes of such looks. I proceeded to back back out of the kitchen area, but she stopped me with "check out the bird."

Turns out she had given Petri, her pet bird, this dish of white pellets. Now, anyone who's been paying attention to her blogs knows that Petri hates the white pellets. You know this because I've pointed out how neurotic Sandy is for standing there picking out the white pellets before giving him his food in the mornings (as if you have time for this; just let the bird pick out the pieces he doesn't like on his own...), but she continues to do this so he doesn't have to. So today she handed him a dish full of just white pellets. Apparently, she's been saving them just for this little joke. The bird was completely bemused.

It took him a good three or four minutes of staring at the dish and dancing around it before he started throwing the pellets around the kitchen...

Sandy found it enormously funny. Petri seemed pleased with the joke, too, because he didn't bite her when she replaced it with his real food. (or he could have just been pleased at the extra treats she gave him for tolerating the abuse...not sure which)

And that's your dose of a writer's life for today. If you'd like to get her back to editing and writing instead of tormenting her bird, you could assist in the success of the first book, Choices Meant for Gods, available now at Barnes & Noble, where a new review has gone up today. Yes, the lovely and wonderful Laura Crawford posted a review that has Sandy jumping for joy...

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, fantasy author, fantasy novel, pet bird

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.

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, Kansas City Herpetological Society