PHILIPPA BALLANTINE

M. H. BONHAM

ERIK BUCHANAN

JEANETTE COTTRELL

TOM DULLEMOND

DEBY FREDERICKS

VALERIE GRISWOLD-FORD

JASON HENDERSON

TEE MORRIS

BOB NAILOR

KATHLEEN H. NELSON

JANA G. OLIVER

KRISTAN PROUDMAN

JENNIFER RAHN

SELINA ROSEN

TONY RUGGIERO

DAVID SAKMYSTER

SCOTT SIGLER

KAREN ANNE WEBB

Kathleen says:

Daughter of Dragons started out as a short story as I had just finished "The Human Thing" and wanted to give myself a little breather betweens 'big' projects.  The original idea was to explore the concept of virgin sacrifice from a dragon's point of view.  But as soon as Lathwi and Taziem hit the paper, they were off and running, and I was hard-pressed to keep up.  They were fierce, larger-than-life but entirely real female characters, and what they had to say made a lot of sense to me.  I also got a kick out of the way they viewed humans and human society.  A year later, I had an 800 page ms on my hands.  The rest, as they say, is history.  2007 will mark the 10th anniversary of DAUGHTER OF DRAGON's publication by Dragon Moon Press, and I am happy to report that the novel is still attracting new readers and making new friends. 

• I'll be a guest at the 2007 BayCon in San Jose, CA  over the Memorial Day Weekend---I'll be dishing out critiques for the writer's workshop and hopefully doing a reading from my new novel in progress.  
  
• My novel, "The Human Thing" is being serialized online by Virtual Tales.

REVIEWS of DAUGHTER OF DRAGONS

In this marvelous novel we follow Lathwi's travels as she learns what it is to be human, yet strives to maintain her dragon identity. Lathwi's attitude towards humans and things that don't concern her is funny and infuriating at the same time!  Kathleen  H Nelson has created a strong and intriguing female character in a primarily male dominated genre.        ~Vikky Bertling ,

5 Star Review, Timeless Tales Editor   

As a long-time reader of science fiction and fantasy, I've become somewhat jaded with potboiler plots and one-dimensional characters. Kathleen H. Nelson has written a layered novel that combines elements of philosophy and psychology with a rip-roaring, humor-rich tale that had me reading until 3 a.m.    ~Joan F. Canty

Val says:

I’ve always been fascinated by the legend of the Horsemen and the End of Days, even though I’m not remotely Catholic or Christian, even. I’m also a big believer of the ultimate balance of the universe, so I wanted to see if I could somehow combine the two ideas together. Horseman let me do that. By using a modern day world and adding magic to it, I could explore the ideas around the End of Days, without having to do a strictly Catholic setting. You’ll see more of this come out in the second book, but I’ve set it up in this one. I also like the idea of the heroine who has to learn on the fly – Nikki is very much an extension of that idea. She’s spunky, but she’s scared at the same time. I mean, after all, she’s just been told that she belongs to a world she’s only seen the very tip of (since magic as a practical science has only been around for about 30 years). Not only that, but she’s being told that if she can’t pull it together and fast, there’s a good chance she’s not going to survive. Talk about a shock!

• I’ve just finished the rough draft for Dark Moon Seasons, which is the second book in the series, and have started working on the final book in the series, Last Rites. 
• I’m also planning on attending RavenCon in Richmond, VA in April (April 20-22, 2007).

FINALIST FOR ForeWord Magazine's
Best Science Fiction of 2005

WHAT'S NOT YOUR FATHER'S HORSEMAN ABOUT?

Earth is a Balanced Land–Shadow Magic and Light Magic interweave to form a world where magic is known, but not well. Most of the population figures that magic is some form of technological trick – a misconception the Council of Nine encourages. Earth is also the meeting place for the other Lands – the Shadow Lands and the Dawn Lands both have enclaves scattered about its surface, keeping all the Lands in Balance. Shadow Lords, Earth Lords and Dawn Lords – all work to keep the Balance steady.

Or that’s the rumor. In actuality, the Shadow Lord Andreas is working to disrupt the Balance, shift it towards him so that all the Lands fall into Shadow, giving him more power than anyone ever imagined.

Yet, there are those who have come to stop him, most notably Nikki Jeffries, a young woman with a shadowed past and an uncertain future. With the rumor running that the Four Horsemen have already been summoned and unleashed on the Earth, will Nikki and her friends have time to stop Andreas, before chaos envelops them all?

REVIEWS of NOT YOUR FATHER'S HORSEMAN

Learning that she is adopted is only one of the first of many shocks that Nikki Jefferies will encounter in the days ahead. Her dreams have taken on a strange realness that is profoundly disturbing, though that experience does pan in with her current writing project, a book on haunted houses. ~Eternal Night

 Nikki Jeffries is embarking on a new phase of her life. She is leaving her parents’ home and moving to New Hampshire to write a book about ghosts and hauntings. She has no luck, until the innkeeper’s cousin Rick takes her to a particularly haunted cemetery - the same graveyard that has been in her dreams for years.
                                        ~Coffee Time Romance

Jana Oliver, author of SOJOURN, was interviewed as one of the time travel authors for Paranormal Romance's  "It's About Time" Spotlight.  Check it out!

Jana is shown at right at a book signing in Raleigh, North Carolina. She and her husband Harold turned out in Late Victorian garb for the occasion

Godzilla Cuts the Rug!

On November 27th, fantasy writer Deby Fredericks, author of THE MAGISTER'S MASK made a classroom visit to Longfellow Elementary in Spokane, Washington. Fredericks spoke to Mrs. Cooper-Dixon's fourth grade about how writers work. She also read from her juvenile short stories and answered questions. Fredericks and the students worked together to create a new story. The kids gave Fredericks a character, setting and problem: Godzilla... the forest... wants to dance. Together, they blocked out various events that could occur when a large radioactive reptile tries to dance in the woods. Each student then wrote his or her own version of the tale, most of which were highly comical. A roaring good time was had by all -- especially Godzilla!

Deby Fredericks will be at the February RadCon this year, in Pasco, WA, along with other Dragon Moon Press authors. Deby Fredericks' next fantasy novel, TOO MANY PRINCES, is upcoming from Dragon Moon in fall of 2007.

Jana Oliver, author of SOJOURN, recently interviewed mystery author J.A.(Joe) Konrath for her podcast  The Curious Mind. Joe's Rusty Nail 500 book tour was one for the record books during which he visited 608 bookstores in only a couple of months. Not known to blow smoke, Joe gives direct and useful advice to authors seeking to build name recognition, increase book sales and meet their fanbase. The podcast is available for free download at the Leisure Talk Radio Network website.

ARTICLES

Read the odd history of "The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy… the series" in Notes From the Publisher's Desk, by Gwen Gades.

SOJOURN by Jana Oliver:  "Sojourn is a rare, well-researched and entertaining tale of time travel set against the backdrop of Victorian England and the Whitechapel Murders."   
                          ~Casebook: Jack the Ripper

The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy is a great book for anyone who is interested in writing fantasy. It is an excellent book in the sense that it covers the basics giving the reader fundamentally all the information that they would need to know to construct their own fantasy world from scratch and how to do so with confidence.  ~Theresa "Terry" Bane, author of The Bloodthirsty Weasels: On the Loose and Buck Wild

ALIEN DECEPTION by Tony Ruggiero “If you believe or even just like to read about vampires, this book may make you think about all the what ifs.” ~Carol Castellanos, SimeGen Book Reviews                     

EARTHCORE by Scott Sigler "EarthCore is in-your-face, steel-tipped boot on your throat, speed-metal fiction.  Nail-biting suspense and non-stop action breathe life into his debut novel."  ~Tee Morris, Co-author of “Podcasting for Dummies” and creator of the podiobook “Morevi.”

Read About Dragon Moon's Other Awards and Accolades

Dragon Moon Press Announces its Winner! We are delighted to announce the winner of its "Title Our Book Contest". We received many intriguing suggestions, and thank all of you who submitted titles for consideration. Our panel finally narrowed the suggestions down to our favorite. In fact, we liked it so much that we've decided to retool all three volumes, using Karen Jenkins' suggestion "Alchemy with Words" for our very first volume. The new titles for our Writing Fantasy series are:

• The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy, Volume One: Alchemy with Words

• The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy, Volume Two: The Opus Magus

• The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy, Volume Three: The Author’s Grimoire (upcoming)

Read the odd history of "The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy… the series" in Notes From the Publisher's Desk, by Gwen Gades.

KAREN JENKINS comes to us from Gwent, Wales. She will receive the "first book touched by the publisher's hands" when the newly renamed volume 1 is released.
Congratulations, KAREN!

NOTE: We did receive other suggestions which bore a similarity to Karen's, but they were not identical. Karen's was the first we received with the word Alchemy, and her word choice seemed perfect to us.

Dragon Moon Press January Winner! Our January drawing for a Dragon Moon T-shirt, and a free ebook download turned up a winner. Thomas Gofton, of Ontario, Canada, has chosen CHASING THE BARD, by Philippa Valentine, as his ebook prize. Congratulations, Thomas!

  Jeanette Cottrell offers a drawing for an Amazon $15 gift certificate. All subscribers to her newsletter are eligible. For details, go to the Contest page on her website. Drawing on January 15, 2007.