Take-Your-Dragon-to-Work Day Eve: Dragon Tales & Holiday Gifting

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Books, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragon Tales, Dragons, Dragons for Beginners, gifts, J.K. Rowling, Jessica Feinberg, Lady Trent, Marie Brennan, Shawn MacKenzie

As we lean into the last weekend of October, some of you who are familiar with MotD may be saying, “But wait. Did I miss Take-Your-Dragon-to-Work Day?”

No you didn’t! This year, tomorrow, October 27, is TYDtWD. So tonight, give your Dragon a good scrub, burnish her scales, and remind her of proper workplace etiquette, for tomorrow she will be walking the halls of education, commerce, politics, you name it. It’s time for Dragons to represent in the work-a-day world.

But more on that tomorrow.

Today is still about telling Dragon tales. Or, more specifically, talking Dragon books.

The time for gifting is fast approaching and so I offer a few Draco-centric suggestions for the Dragon lover on your Yule/Channukah/Kwanzaa/et al. lists, beginning for a not-so-humblebrag of my own. As the Dragons keep reminding me, being a WAFDE VIP does have its privileges, so here goes.

The Dragon Keeper’s Handbook and Dragons For Beginners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are a hearty welcome to Dragon Country!

With hard science and myth, empirical wisdom, and original line drawings, The Dragon Keeper’s Handbook is the draconic enchiridion for the modern world, providing everything you need to know about these extraordinary beings. From disparate theories of Dragon evolution and the golden geometry of their form to modern conservation efforts and how to release a well-weaned orphan back into the wild, this book answers all your questions, even those you didn’t know to ask. From awe-inspiring Cosmic Creators to wee pisuhänds guarding hearth and home, discover the habits and habitats of Dragons and pseudo-dragons both familiar and rare.

Dragons for Beginners is an essential, comprehensive introduction to Dragons. Whether a casual dracophile or a dedicated Dragon keeper, come explore what Dragons have to teach us about the world and ourselves in science, religion, art, literature, and even occult studies. Discover how, with care and devotion, you can help save them from extinction.

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Additions to the Draconic canon are made with every passing year. The following are among the more recent volumes I whole-heartedly recommend:

Within the Sanctuary of Wings: A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan

The 5th in the Lady Trent series, Within the Sanctuary of Wings is a delight. Those who have followed her draconic adventures since A Natural History of Dragons will not be disappointed. (If you are unfalmiliar with the good Lady, I suggest the other volumes in the series as well: The Tropic of Serpents, Voyage of the Basilisk, and In the Labyrinth of Drakes. All are available at your friendly neighborhood bookstore or – of course – on-line.)

After nearly five decades (and, indeed, the same number of volumes), one might think they were well-acquainted with the Lady Isabella Trent–dragon naturalist, scandalous explorer, and perhaps as infamous for her company and feats of daring as she is famous for her discoveries and additions to the scientific field.  (Amazon)

Jessica Feinberg’s Dragon series including Earth Dragons, Metal Dragons, and Water Dragons, are whimsically illustrated books available on Kindle.

I also want to mention a couple of up-coming publications:

For the Dracophile who has most everything, there is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Illustrated Collector’s Edition (Newt Scamander, J.K.Rowling; Olivia Lomenech Gill, Illustrator). A bit pricey but very elegant. And due out in time for Yuletide.

And, finally, for the younger at heart, a book coming out next year which captured my imagination: The Dragon and the Nibblesome Knight by Elli Woolland and Benji Davies.

These are but a miniscule sampling of the Dragon books out there. Anyone with further suggestions – or books of your own, please let us know. As the saying goes, the more Dragons between covers, the better.

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Dragon-y E-Tale

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Bard, Book Giveaway, Dragons, Dylan Thomas, E-book, Fiction, Free story, NYC, Poet, Shawn MacKenzie, Smashwords, Swansea, Tell-a-Dragon-Tale, Wales

Since my new story for this year’s Tell-a-Dragon-Tale week won’t be ready for this space until tomorrow, I thought I’d offer something else – someting older – today.

For all my e-book savvy friends and fellow WAFDE members – and anyone else for that matter – my story, Because the Pleasure-Dragon Whistles, will be downloadable free from Smashwords through October 24. Simply click on the title above or cover image below, follow the link, and use coupon code WC46J. (It is also available at Amazon, but for some reason they won’t let me give it away. Going to have to talk to the Dragons about that.)

This story follows a young Welsh Dragon and the boy poet he befreinds from the streets of Swansea to the concrete wilds of New York City. It is on the lyrical side, but I hope you all enjoy.

And should you feel inspired to leave a few words  of review on its page, this scribe would be forever grateful.

Now…back to finishing tomorrow’s tale….

Editor’s Corner 101.16

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Art, book, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons for Beginners, Editing, Editor's Corner, Faulkner, Fiction, mackenziesdragonest, Magic, Molly Bloom, Pollock, Shawn MacKenzie, story telling, Stream of consciousness, Structure, Words, work, Writing, writing and tagged books

Stream of Consciousness – Going with a structured flow.

the secret keeper

Dangling Our Toes in the Stream of Consciousness

I love flowers Id love to have the whole place swimming in roses God of heaven theres nothing like nature the wild mountains then the sea and waves rushing then the beautiful country with the fields of oats and wheat and all kinds of things and all the fine cattle going about that would do your heart good to see rivers and lakes and flowers all sorts of shapes and smells and colours…

So, I picked up Ulysses the other day – as one is wont to do – and dove into the roiling river which is Molly Bloom’s beautifully, rudely fecund tale at book’s end. With my mind groping towards a subject for today, I read not only for the jaw-dropping poetry of the words tumbling across the page, but also for their precise, artful construction.

After last week’s discussion of…

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Editor’s Corner 101.15

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Books, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons for Beginners, Editing, Editor's Corner, Escher, Faulkner, Fiction, Lewis Carroll, mackenzie's dragonsnest, mackenziesdragonest, Pinter, Shawn MacKenzie, story telling, Structure, Time, Words, work, Writing, writing and tagged betrayal

Structure and Time: Castles built on shifting sand soon crumble….

the secret keeper

House of Words

“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” …Lewis Carroll.

When I was a kid, aside from wanting to be a writer, part of me wanted to be an architect. To design and build houses – and castles – from the ground up. To focus on the 3-D aesthetic of what goes where and how it all fits together. As I grew up, I realized that you don’t have to build houses to focus on the elements of construction. And so today, I want to talk about literary structure, about how, as writers, we are architects with words.

First, let me clarify: I am not talking about plot. Personally, I tend to be a little lukewarm about plot. But I love structure.

And at heart, structure is largely a matter of knowing – and keeping…

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Editor’s Corner 101.13

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Big Picture, book, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons for Beginners, Editing, Editor's Corner, Fiction, Oscar Wilde, Shawn MacKenzie, Words, work, writer's group, Writing, writing and tagged books

Pounding one’s head against the rocks….Time to let it be.

the secret keeper

Other Eyes and Beatles Wisdom

“The trick to forgetting the big picture is to look at everything close up.” …Chuck Palahniuk

“It is better to take pleasure in a rose than to put its root under a microscope.” …Oscar Wilde.

There comes a time in every editing endeavor when each wall you face is an Everest and each knot Gordian in its complexity. You have taken your work apart, dissected and resected every sentence, paragraph, and chapter. You know your characters inside out and have removed every extraneous pronoun, preposition, and adverb, but still it’s not right.

Typewriter Girl – Zev Hoover

Chances are, while slogging through dense literary underbrush, you have not only lost sight of the forest, but also the trees. This is the boundary beyond which all the rules in the world will do you absolutely no good. In fact, chances are you are in this…

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Dragon books give-a-way winner, with Shawn MacKenzie

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Archimedes' Notebook, Dragons, Dragons for Beginners, Llewellyn, Month of the Dragon, Science, Shawn MacKenzie, Sue Heavenrich, The Dragon Keeper’s Handbook

And we have a winner! Congrats, Sue Heavenrich! Thank you, Karen, for your labors and everyone who dropped by and took a chance for Dragons.

Karen R. Sanderson's Blog

The winner of last week’s Dragon books give-a-way…

Sue Heavenrich

Congratulations, Sue!

Shawn MacKenzie will contact you to arrange delivery of

Dragons for Beginners and The Dragon Keeper’s Handbook.

Sue’s blog

You might like some of Sue’s science posts on her blog Archimedes’ Notebook – “hands-on science exploration for children and their parents.”

From Sue’s blog…

Things to Do in Fall

plant daffodils and lilies

watch maples turn red

collect acorns

pick apples

find glow-in-the-dark mushrooms

plant garlic

follow woolly bear caterpillars

map monarch migration

star gaze

make leaf prints

hunt for insect galls

do bark rubbings

walk like a fox

make a nature wreath

collect flower seeds

make a compost pile

rake leaves into a pile and jump in

collect every color of leaf

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