Made great progress on Dragon Hunters last night. Deleted about half of the book! Go figure. But it's all good. I saved all the pieces.

Sometimes, less is more...

Sometimes less is more. You struggle to write a scene. You pour your heart into it, you hesitate, not sure you are "saying things right." You work on it for several days, making changes, deleting, rewriting, wondering if you were ever gonna get it right.

Suddenly you stop. You want to continue. To write some more. To add more excitement, more intrigue, more... whatever it is you are trying to accomplish with the scene. But something tells you that you have written enough. That less is more. Any any more detail you put into the scene is just gonna clog things up.

The following exchange has taken me most of a week to sort out. Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

Dave

(From Dragon Hunters, © Dave Transou )

“So, Master Hawkes?” A female voice suddenly asked. “What do you think of our new facility?”

Elias turned to see Annie Tolen standing beside him. He smiled as his Dragon Within rumbled uneasily.

Don’t get mad at me! Elias said to Procyon. You’re the one she snuck up on!

“Elias, please.” He said with a grin. “When you say Master Hawkes, I look around for my father. May I call you Annie?”

“Of course, sir,” She replied. “Allow me to refresh your drink.” She said, taking his empty glass and exchanging it for a fresh one from a passing waiter.

“No ‘sir’ either, please.” Elias replied, smiling as he accepted the fresh drink, eyeing her slim form in the sleek blue dress that seemed to cling to every curve. His gaze came to rest on her face, seeing only her impossibly green eyes. “Just plain Elias is fine.”

“So what do you think, just plain Elias?” She teasingly said, a husky tone to her voice that he did not notice before. Somehow she seemed to be standing even closer to him.

“What do I think of what?” Elias asked, caught off guard by her sudden closeness, but unable to look away from her eyes.

“Of Tolen and Blom’s new repair facility.” She said nodding at the model with her head without breaking her eye contact with him.

“Oh…” Elias fumbled for a minute to regain his composure, taking a sip of the wine. He turned to the display, ending up standing extremely close to her. His nostrils were filled with the scent of her perfume, a sharp, cinnamon fragrance that set his Dragon Within to rumbling.

Quiet Procyon! He ordered as he cleared his mind and focused on the display. “An interesting concept. A different approach from other Trade facilities.”

“You mean because it is located on the planet’s surface instead of in orbit, of course.” She said, without taking her eyes off of him. There was a teasing, tantalizing tone to her voice as she continued to ask him questions. He wondered if she was purposefully trying to create a scene or was she perhaps, interested in him.

“Well, yes. I suppose” He said with a shrug of his shoulders, downplaying her point. “Although the Sundai have been doing something similar with the agricultual colonies in the Sundai System.”

He turned and smiled at her and continued aware that other conversations around the display had paused in favor of their discussion.

“Building a repair facility at the spaceport makes perfect sense. The current facilities have been overwhelmed since the immigration started.” He explained, turning to point to the holographic image of the proposed repair facility anchoring one end of the spaceport. “And politically, it’s a great move by the locals.”

Annie frowned, dropping her teasing tone, a touch of anger coming into her voice.. “Why do you think it is a political move?”

“Because everything happening in the OutWorlds is political right now.” Elias replied, smirking at the anger in her voice. “By seizing the terminal, the local Conbor government has effectively cut off any more immigration from the InWorlds. By handing it over to T&B for the new repair facility the Conbor government is stating that the immigration runs will not restart without new negotiations and new concessions.”

“So you don’t approve?” Annie frowned and crossed her arms.

Ye gods, she is beautiful when she is angry! He thought, as his Dragon Within rumbled.

“I did not say that.” Elias smoothly replied with a smile. “I think it is a good move. The T&B facility is sorely needed on Conborine and it will very successful.”

“The situation in the InWorlds will continue to deteriorate, as predicted by my father. The attack on Trann’s Planet is just the start. Manervia and Worrendell won’t stop until they have captured or isolated all of Core’s allies.”

He paused and sipped his wine, frowning as if he were in deep thought. His Dragon Within rumbled cautiously, but Elias ignored Procyon as he concentrated on his words.

“Right now, the Royal Republics are still sending dispatch shuttles and the occasional warship to Conborine to maintain contact with their colonial offices.” He finally continued.

“When the Royal Families run out of funds and the war intensifies, there are going to be a number of starships stuck on Conborine. They may stuck because they won’t have a port in the InWorlds to return to. Or the funds to get there. Or maybe their crews will just desert and go rogue. Lots of places in the OutWorlds to go, and there is always a shortage of starships. T&B is going to be in perfect postion to help the Conbor government deal with all those stranded starships and stranded crews.”

“In the long run, T&B will also be in position to assist the Conbor government with civil engineering projects, spaceport expansions, maybe eventually an orbital spaceport.”

“You seem pretty positive about the future...”Annie said, her voice openly challenging.

Elias smiled at her implication. His father’s stance on the war, his statements about disengagement by the Trade were frequent topics of conversation in the offices of the Trade Senate, as well the restaurants and bars of Gaanard and every other trade station. Fuelled by their own misguided image of the Tycho Star Traders and the Hawkkur Legion, many thought the StarHawke Tycho sought a war against the InWorlds.

“The Tycho Star Traders are all about the future.” Elias said, his voice filled with sincerity, aware that others were listening as well. “That’s why my father is so concerned with the Trade’s attitude towards the InWorlds. Too many Families see only the profits of today, with a blind eye to the consequences of tomorrow.”

Annie started to speak, but stopped as her Dragon Within rumbled a warning. There was truth to what Elias Hawkes was saying, despite his lame attempt to be flippant about it. She glanced around the display area, seeing for the first time the people watching them, suddenly realizing that Elias was performing for the onlookers, a warning to those who crossed the path of the Tycho Star Traders.

There is more to Elias Hawkes than I thought! Annie thought as her Dragon Within rumbled uneasily.

Yes there is, Little One! Capella excitedly warned. More than you know! Elias Hawkes is a DragonHawk!

I know, I sensed their magic. Annie replied, trying to calm her, turning to retrieve two glasses of wine from a passing waiter to cover her surprise. All three of them are DragonHawks!

It is more than that! Capella declared. They are Drakkon DragonHawks! Of the Tycho bloodline!

Procyon rumbled as Elias felt a stir in the dragon magic. She’s talking to her Dragon Within!

I know. Elias replied. He turned to Annie, the dragon magic roiling between them as her Dragon Within growled excitedly. Get ready. I’m going to touch her. Do what you can for her dragon.

Procyon growled in readiness as Elias turned to Annie Tolen and extended his hand.

“Annie.” Elias quietly said, calmly wrapping the two of them in a protective bubble of dragon magic as he reached out and touched her arm. “Tell you Dragon Within to remain calm. You are safe. You have the protection of the Drakkon Tycho.”

Startled, Annie looked up as Elias Hawkes spoke to her. Time seemed to stop around them as she felt the welcoming cocoon of dragon magic engulf them. Capella began to growl, but was suddenly cut off as Procyon’s low rumble washed over them.

“Annie,” Elias whispered again. “Don’t run away. You are safe. I am here and my parents are close by.”

“Elias…” She began. “When we met I sensed…”

“Shh!” He said. “Let’s don’t talk about it right now.” He nodded his head and she looked around, realizing that a number of people were still watching them.

“Oh, of course.” Annie said, understanding his reluctance to talk about… talk about the dragon magic. Closing her eyes, she cleared her mind.

Its okay Capella, She soothed her anxious Dragon Within. We are among friends!

Time flies when you are trying to write!

It's been a while since I posted to my blog, for that I offer my apologizes to anyone who bothered to travel this way in search of something new and witty...
I try to write a couple of hours every night, if I can stay awake long enough.
Enough whining... You didn't come here for that...

I'm working on Dragon Hunters, the first story. Backed up a bit and started to re-write, streamlining, making things flow better, faster, more interesting. The story is coming along, but I am struggling to write witty dialog between Elias Hawkes and Annie Tolen. Of course, I could never come up with witty things to say to girls when I was growing up, so there you are. Maybe I'll sneak some of my wife's romance novels and see if I can get some ideas.

In the meantime, take a look at my website at www.starhawke.com. Its nothing fancy. I've been trying to make some changes along the way.

I need a logo, something like a dragon or a hawk in the background, with a five pointed star in the front. Maybe dragon or hawk rising out of the star. If you think you can draw it - take a shot at it and send it to me. If I like it, I'll use. Maybe make you famous when my book sells!

Thanks for reading!

Dave