DRAGON QUOTES

It's Appreciate a Dragon Day. So let's hear from the dragons!

I pulled some dragon lines from the newest book in my Wilde Island trilogy: IN THE TIME OF DRAGON MOON due out with Kathy Dawson Books March 24/2015

~Knife in hand, I crouched under the willow. Father’s dragon skimmed over the river, her crimson scales blazed blood red across the surface. Her searing cry rang through the valley. Dragons live more than a thousand years, their turning eye sockets allow them to look forward and back, seeing past and future, patterns in time we humans can never see. My eyes were fixed on smaller things.~

~ Ignoring me, he flung the window open and called his dragon to the tower, a silent call, a summoning.~

“You are female, Vazan. You are powerful,” I said.

“Yessss,” she hissed, “but I am dragon. You are girl.”

                    (From graveyard scene with Uma and the red dragon, Vazan.)

~A swirling gust, swift and hot, stirred us both. Lord Kahlil wheeled overhead, coming closer with each spiral, his great wings outstretched like sails, the night clouds deep red above him. Jackrun’s black cloak and my gray one slapped against each other like battle flags.~

                    

~Dragons combine earth, wind, and fire in their bodies. They have a power like the sun. Jackrun had this same life force in him.~

WHY I WROTE THE BOOK

I have never seen visions in the fire, though the writing craft is sometimes like that.

 

I have never been accused of witchcraft, though I might have been if I’d been unlucky enough to be born in medieval times when anyone deemed “different” was suspect. I’ve never been forced to dress as a leper to run from a witch hunter

 

 

or stumbled into a mystical forest like Dragonswood where fey folk and dragons dwell the way Tess does in my novel.

But all stories are in some way about survival, about who we are, where we come from, where we truly belong. And, like Tess, I’ve hungered to find my place, longed for true family, lost more than I’d ever hoped to, and made heart-rending sacrifices to help those I love.

 

Like Tess I’ve tried to find happiness, to craft a good life from what clay I’ve been given. Tess is braver than I am. Journeying with her, I can only hope some of her bravery has rubbed off.

 

Until next time Dreamwalkers, walk well.

DRAGONSWOOD Giveaways Dark Mind Book Tours

If you'd like to win a signed copy of Dragonswood for a summer read

Dark Mind Book Tours is hosting Dragonswood reviews, interviews, excerpts and giveaways for the next two weeks. I had a lot of fun with the author interviews and the character interview with Tess. (I had to climb over the boundary wall and follow Tess into forbidden Dragonswood to get her to talk to me.) 

Here's the Tour Schedule:

June 4th, 2012

Reviews By Molly

(Giveaway, Excerpt)

June 5th, 2012

Mind Reader

(Author Interview, Giveaway)

June 6th, 2012

Kindle And Me

(Giveaway, Excerpt)

June 7th, 2012

Close Encounters With The Night Kind

(Review, Giveaway, Excerpt)

June 8th, 2012

Chapter By Chapter

(Giveaway, Excerpt)

June 11th, 2012

Kindle Fever

(Review, Character Interview, Giveaway)

June 12th, 2012

Novel Nerd

(Author Interview, Excerpt)

June 13th, 2012

All Things About Books

(Review)

June 14th, 2012

Proserpine Craving Books

(Review, Giveaway)

June 15th, 2012

Kindred Dreamheart

(Giveaway, Excerpt)

Until next time Dreamers walk well ~ ~ ~

BEST BOOK BIRTHDAY EVER

Yesterday was the Best Book Birthday ever with many well wishers on twitter and Facebook (thank you!) I woke up wanting to go to lunch to celebrate. I’m not a last minute sort of person so I had little hope of swinging a sudden lunch, but I called friend and fellow author JUSTINA CHEN and, wow! She was free!



We lunched the launch and talked all things writing over delicious Thai food and jasmine tea.



Over lunch Justina asked some interesting questions like, “What do you love most about the book?” I shared my favorite scenes. Then she asked, “What did you learn writing it?” Another good question and one most folks (other than fellow writers) often don’t ask.

My answer: Before this tale my books have highlighted ‘the lone hero’ facing the plot on his or her own.



This reflected how I’ve lived my life, always thinking I’ve had deal with things by myself. In the last few years, life’s surprising challenges have driven me to the point of having to ask for help – what a revelation it’s been. So in Dragonswood



when Tess escapes from the witch hunter and goes on the run, she’s not a lone heroine, she’s running with her friends Meg and Poppy. The three of them share the dangers, the hunger, and the need to find safe sanctuary. Of course they fight along the way and get in lots of trouble, but the key thing is, Tess is not alone.

We talked more about Justina's books


Walden Award Finalist. Best Book of the Year (Kirkus Reviews and Barnes + Noble)
*starred* reviews - Publishers Weekly,Kirkus,Booklist

Chatted about her novel Return to Me (A beautiful book I've had the privilege to read due out Jan 2013) and her work-in-progress. Justina was All Dragonswood, but I like to talk about Her work so we took turns :)

After lunch we popped over to Bellevue Barnes & Noble for a look-see.

“I don’t think they’ll have any Dragonswood copies in yet,” I said. Justina just smiled and headed for the information desk where she asked about Dragonswood. They produced a stack for me to sign. Very nice!

It was already a Perfect Book Birthday, but there was more. In the afternoon I headed for my favorite second hand store to find something for the book launch party. I already have my party dress and didn’t know what I was looking for, just something magical. What did I find? Shoes that match the dress – and not just any shoes – fairy slippers.



Then headed to the Asian Market for dinner supplies and found a particular party treat – seaweed.

Tess Meg and Poppy eat seaweed on their journey so the Dragonswood Party goers will have the chance to nibble some. I happen to love it!



Finally, the late afternoon light was golden on the trees as I drove home and the moon was out. It made me want to view the sky from Phantom Lake. My husband and I paddled out in our canoe among the birds.



Canada geese, and cormorants flew overhead. Little buffleheads skimmed across the water and we saw an eagle with its black wings and white tale spread as it soared over Phantom Lake.



Perfect end to a perfect Book Birthday.

To all you fellow authors out there, I highly recommend celebrating your Book Birthdays in some special way that’s just right for you and your book. If you do, or if you plan to for your next book – tell us how you’re going to celebrate.

P.S. One week left on the Teen Book Scene book tour. Full Tour Page

Warmest thanks to Kari for putting this 3 week blog tour together!

DRAGONSWOOD BLOG TOUR WEEK 1



Dragons are flying this week. Here are the stops they are making.

Monday,December 26: Melina at Reading Vacation. (Author Interview with book line answers)

Tuesday, December 27: Christie at The Fiction Enthusiast (Review)
Wednesday, December 28: Stacy M at Urban Fantasy Investigations (Cover Post)

Thursday, December 29: Jenny at Supernatural Snark (Review)

Friday, December 30: Casey at The Bookish Type (Teen Self Letter)

Full Tour Page

Warmest thanks to Kari for putting this 3 week blog tour together!

Watch the book trailer

DRAGONSWOOD Book Trailer



DRAGONSWOOD book two of the Wilde Island chronicles by Janet Lee Carey. http://www.JanetLeeCarey.com

Script & Vocals - Janet Lee Carey
Saz Instrumental - Thomas Carey
Sound Recording - Aaron Carey

In a dark time when girls with powers are called witches, Tess escapes the vengeful Witch Hunter and hides in the forest with a mysterious huntsman. She is safe there until magical voices draw her deeper into Dragonswood where she learns the secret of her birth. Caught between love and loyalty, Tess chooses the hardest path of all -- her own.

Read the Kirkus starred review

Order online

INDIEBOUND

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

DRAGONSWOOD ARCS arrived!

YA Fantasy, companion book to DRAGON'S KEEP, will be out Jan 2012.

~On Wilde Island, one girl must face her destiny or there will be no peace among dragons, fairies, and humans.~


Jacket photo of girl © 2011 Gabrielle Revere

Here's what the back cover says:
Wilde Island is in an uproar after the recent death of its king. The uneasy pact between dragons, fairies, and humans is fraying, and a bloodthirsty witch hunter with a hidden agenda whips villages into frenzies with wild accusations. Tess, a blacksmith’s daughter from a tiny hamlet near the mysterious Dragonswood, finds herself caught in the crosshairs of fate when she is accused of witchery and has to flee for her life along with her two best friends.

Not even Tess’s power to see the future can help the girls as they set off on their desperate journey, but she keeps having visions of a man wielding a sword. And when she finally meets him, Tess has no idea how to handle the magnetic attraction she feels for him, or the elusive call she hears from the heart of the Dragonswood.

In this epic romance, an ancient prophecy comes true in a way neither dragon, fairy, nor human would have predicted.


Discover why School Library Journal has called Carey’s work “Truly original . . . beyond common fantasy fare . . . fantasy at its best.”

**************** ************** ************

Holding the book in my hands for the first time gave me a chill! Warmest thanks to my intrepid editor, Kathy Dawson, who journeyed with me from rough draft to final polished pages,creating Tess's challenging story. The end even surprised me! But I won't give that away. You'll have to read Dragonswood yourself when the books comes out in January.

Stay tuned for the DRAGONSWOOD blog tour.