Ever argued with a mannikin at the mall?

A little piece of Dragon Hunters for your enjoyment!

Alikka sighed as she stared at the window display. The clothes looked nice, but today she was just not interested. Usually shopping Gaanard’s main entertainment district made her happy, but today she was just too distracted. She wasn’t really sure why she had come shopping in the first place, other than it was better than brooding in her apartment.
“Well? Are you just going to stand there all day?” An exasperated voice said.
“Wha what?” Alikka asked, startled out of her thoughts by the loud voice. She quickly looked around to see who was talking to her but she was all alone, the light traffic in the entertainment district at this time of day was not paying any attention to her.

“Over here!” The exasperated voice demanded. “In the window!”
Alikka whirled around to the display window where an angry robotic mannikin stood with her hands on her hips. Alikka groaned to herself. She had forgotten about the robotic mannikins, which were programmed to show off whatever they were wearing and engage the customers as they passed. Most were polite and courteous. Some, apparently this one, were sassy and confrontational.
“What do you want?” Alikka asked the angry mannikin.
“What do I want?” The mannikin replied, it’s electronic voice squawking animatedly. “You’ve been staring at me for over ten minutes! Are you going to buy this dress or what?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Alikka said, not sure why she was bothering to answer the pesky mannikin. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see the store’s clerks watching with amused expressions on her face. The clerks in this particular story were pushy and opinionated, a trait it seems, that carried over to their mannikins. There was an override at their sales console, a safety feature in case a mannikin malfunctioned or endangered a customer, but she could tell from the smirks on their faces that they had no intention of doing so.
“Why not?” The robot insisted. “It’s a nice dress! It would look good on you. I’m sure we have it in larger sizes.”
“Larger sizes?” Alikka furiously replied. “Why you pretentious pile of nuts and bolts! How dare you!”
“Well then, why don’t you buy it?’ The mannikin, its voice taking on a nagging tone.
“Maybe I just don’t want to buy it!” Alikka started to turn away. “Maybe, after arguing with you, I’ve decided not to spend any of my hard earned money in this shop!”
“Well, just be that way then!” The robotic mannikin declared, crossing it’s arms in defiance and turning away.
Alikka started reply, but suddenly the mannikin shut down, returning to its normal position, facing ahead in the pose the shop attendants had originally posed it. She glanced over at the sales console where the store’s manager was angrily scolding the two young sales clerks. With a start, she realized the girls had overridden the mannikin and had been purposefully baiting her. For a moment she wished her girlfriends were with her. Katia and Liesell were much better at trash talking troublesome mannikins and dealing with pushy store clerks than she was. She watched for a minute as the manager continued to berate the clerks.
Serves them right! Alikka declared as she turned away from the store. Next time I come here, I’ll definitely bring the girls with me!

Thanks for reading!

Dave!

4 Days Off!

Four days off through New Years Day!

Let's see how much progress I can make in four days, plus or minus the interference!

Check back with you on New Year's Eve!

Dave

Merry Christmas from The DragonHawk Saga!

The good guys and the bad guys wanted to pause in their battle for supremacy over the Thousand Planets of the Known Universe to wish all of you a Merry Christmas!

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Keep your plans secret...

That's what the fortune in my forture cookie said... So that's what I'm gonna do!

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Reconstruction

Well, it's been a frustrating couple of weeks as I worked to "fix" some of the problems in Dragon Hunters. At the same time, I've been trying to follow what I consider to be good advice, to cut the story down. Unfortunately, that's not working for me.

So I've gone back to the Master Storyline and restored all of the chapter titles and descriptions for the chapters that I have cut and/or moved to other places. Then I went to my collection of chapter parts and added in the bits that I have cut out. At least the ones that I have copies of.

Now this is going to result in a bigger overall story and a bunch more chapters. The current storyboard is 33 chapters long. But it will give me a chance to tell the story the way I want to. When I'm done, then I'll figure out how to cut it up. If I have 150,000 words, then maybe I'll cut it into the three stories of 50,000 each. Shorter stories that become parts 1, 2, and 3 of the Dragon Hunters. They'd still be big enough at 50K each to market individually.

And I get to tell the story of the Drakkon my way!


Thanks for reading!

Dave

A bit from Dragon Hunters

Here's a bit from Dragon Hunters, a hint of the events in the first three books:

Annie Tolen felt herself slipping from reality as her mind drifted aimlessly in a dark void, losing track of time, drifting along in the endless darkness for what seemed forever.

After a time, she looked down on an ancient room filled with armed warriors in battle armor. It is a large room with tall walls hewn from rock. A man is standing on a large rock at the front of the room, addressing the soldiers. Something tells her she should recognize this place, but her mind is confused with everything that is happening to her. She concentrates on the man – the obvious leader of these warriors – but she cannot understand what he is saying. Her dream drifts closer until she recognizes Elias Hawkes. As he turns to look in her direction, the Hawkkur Warriors – for that is who they are – begin chanting a single word over and over: Drakkon!  Drakkon!  Drakkon!  Drakkon!

The massive room quickly fades from her vision and she finds herself back in the black, endless void. She calls out to her Dragon Within, but Capella is nowhere to be found. She begins to panic, wondering what has happened to her Dragon Within as another vision forms in her mind.

The scene is a huge wedding, held in a massive chamber filled with hundreds of Star Traders in attendance. As her vision slowly floats towards the bride and groom, she can only see their backs as they stand before the official conducting the ceremony. The bride is dressed in a beautiful white gown with voluminous skirts and a long train, both trimmed in green and gold while the groom is dressed in a formal forest green uniform of the Hawkkur Legion. As the ceremony concludes and the bride and groom turn towards the crowd, she is shocked to see that she is the bride and Elias Hawkes is the groom!

Before she can recover from the shock of seeing her own wedding, she is thrust back into the void. She welcomes the black as she wonders what is happening to her. Is this just a dream? Or is she truly seeing the future?

Without warning, another vision forms. Annie finds herself floating, rather speeding, alongside a powerful starship traveling through Transit Space, a warship bristling with weapons. She moves closer to the warship and suddenly she is inside moving along a wide passage filled with jubilent spacers in the uniforms of the Tycho Star Traders and the Hawkkur Legion. Her vision continues to move through the starship until it comes to a wide door guarded by more Hawkkur warriors. She moves through the door and into the room where a group of people are gathered around a large bed.

No! No! No! She screams as her vision self approaches the huge bed.

Annie Tolen stares at her dream self laying in the bed, holding a tiny infant boy wrapped in a shiny blue blanket that bears the Hawk and Star of the StarHawke Tycho. Two young girls, about eleven and nine are sitting on either side of the bed smiling as  they watch the baby boy. Elias Hawkes, wearing the uniform of the StarHawke Tycho, kneals beside her bed. There are others in the room as well, a mixture of men and women in the livery of the Tycho Star Traders and the Hawkkur Legion, offering their congratulations.

The StarHawke Tycho reaches over to touch the boy, his eyes filled with love for his son. As his hand gently grasps the boy’s there is a surge of Dragon Magic that races out into the room and throughout the starship until it is felt by everyone onboard. As the surge fades, those assembled around the boy hear the unmistakeable growl of his Dragon Within. Awestruck by what they have felt and heard, the assembled officers kneal before the StarHawke Tycho and his family. Throughout the starship, the chant begins and is repeated over and over: Drakkon!  Drakkon!  Drakkon!  Drakkon!

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Major Changes? Hmm...

I've been thinking of ways to salvage all of the work that I've invested in the whole saga, not just the original story. I think I have found a way that makes a lot of sense. And it could be a lot of fun.

Wait a minute... You think I'm going to tell you here? Right now?

Where's the fun in that?

Oh, I'll give you some hints later on, but not now. Gotta work out the details first...

What I can say is that the DragonHawk Saga will continue as planned through the first five books:

• Dragon Hunters
• Dragon Heart
• Dragon Betrayal
• Dragon Revenge
• Dragon Summer

The major change will start at the end of Dragon Summer and the start of book six, Dragon Return.

I know this doesn't make a lot of sense to anyone but me, but...

This is the part where I go against convention and do what I want to do...

Thanks for reading!

Dave

More Thoughs About Dragon Summer

So, if you are writing a series, can the Protagonist change from story to story?

If the DragonHawk Saga is about the Return of the Great Dragon, is the Great Dragon the only Protagonist allowed?

What about the people responsible for the Great Dragon's return?

What about his family and the trials and tribulations they go through to make it possible for the Return of the Great Dragon to occur?

Does all of this "stuff" get relegated to back story?

What if the Protagonist is an idea? A belief in a better future?

Who or what is the ruling authority on this sort of thing? Or is this based on some sort of writing school, writing industry conventional wisdom?

Why can't my readers experience the struggles, dreams, and failures of previous generations as they battle against all sorts of evil in the quest for the Return of the Great Dragon?

Does that mean I will never be published? That I will never be a successful writer because I didn't play by the rules?

I don' know the answer to these questions. I know what the conventional wisdom is. But I don't believe I have to comply with the conventional wisdom.


Thanks for reading!

Dave

Having that Dragon Summer Thing...

Dragon Summer has always been one of my favorite parts of the DragonHawk Saga. It is the original start of the entire saga, the story of an orphan boy determined to find his family. Everything else you have read about here on my blog orignated from that idea.

Dragon Summer grew as Morgan returned to the Star Trader Galaxy to attend the Star Trader School and reclaim his place as the leader of the Tycho Star Traders - the StarHawke Tycho.

Then I met some other writers and had the opportunity to participate in their summer version of the annual National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo. This group celebrated the event in the summer, during the month of July, so that their kids - really talented kids - could participate.

Tycho Station was born that first summer. Dragon Hunters, and Dragon Heart also grew out of those summer events. As I wrote these stories, I began to ask where these stories were leading and how would I bring them to some sort of conclusion.

That's brought us to today, where I have returned to the original story Gateway Station. I started editing and updating the story to comply wth the existing rules and story versions.

The purpose of all of this rewrite? That's complicated...

In the meantime, read an exercept from Gateway Station on the ne Gateway Station page!

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Back up 10 yards and punt!

Whoops!

Thank goodness for track changes.

Last night, as I was whacking away at Dragon Hunters, I suddenly realized that I was screwing up. I was deleting way too much! And I haven't saved a final version before editing.

So, this evening, I used Track Changes in MS Word to reject all of the changes that I have made so far, since I started editing about a month ago.

Means I have to start over, but that's okay. I'll wait until the weekend when I am rested and in a better frame of mind.

Maybe I'll work on Gateway Station for a while.

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Okay, so what about Gateway Station?

So, if you've been following my meandering posts, you know that I have been talking about the ten stories that comprise the DragonHawk Saga. And if you look to the right, you will see the names of those stories. But no where on that list is a story named Gateway Station.

So where did that come from?

Gateway Station is the origin of the DragonHawk Saga. It started as an idea back in the late 70s, morphed into a few other ideas, cruised along in the back of mind for a while, until bits and piece started flowing... well, maybe dribbling... onto the paper. When I decided I was finish, there were 1159 pages and 328,000 or so, words!

Anyone want to read a really long story with lots of action? Along with some quirky twists and turns...

Meanwhile back at the ranch, if I want to try and publish this monster, I need to give it a haircut and put it on a diet... Come up with something in the 80K to 100K range...

Anyway, maybe I'll post some stuff on the blog about Gateway Station.

Oh, by the way. It starts at the end of Dragon Betrayal, jumps to Dragon Summer and runs through Dragon Return, Dragon Trap, and Dragon Rising.. So, its right up there in the middle somewhere.

No wonder its so damn big!

Thanks for Reading!

Dave

Status of the Nav Comp...

Well, it's been a busy weekend. While the RAMS work on the Primary Drive, I've been working on the Navigation Computer...

Well, what I've been doing is working on some of the background information that supports the DragonHawk Saga. I've been writing plots, themes, and story descriptions for all ten of the stories in the DragonHawk Saga. I've made it through the first seven stories so far. You can read the story descriptions via the links to the right to additional pages I have added to the blog.

The last three, actually the last four, 7 through 10, have the least information developed about them, so they make take some time to get posted. While I am working on those, I may work on the Master Timeline, which consists of chapter descriptions of each book. A lot of work to do.

I've decided that I'm not going to give up on Dragon Hunters. I've got some thinking to do about reorganizing. And I want to keep working on the edit and streamline. It's still more than 143,000, which is too big. There's at least two more chapters that I can cut and leave in background. Maybe I'll take them out and see how things look.

Anxious to hear your thoughts and comments! And as always,

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Blog Overhaul

I've been busy tonight, overhauling the blog. Long overdue activity.

To follow up on an earlier post, this is part of my recovery action. Taking time to work out some details and actually describe what the stories are all about.

Anyway, its a start. I really need full blown website, but I'm not sure what that is going to cost.


Thanks for reading!

Dave

From Dragon Hunters

“Good afternoon, Captain!” The StarHawke Tycho called out as he and Elias walked up to the the officer standing in front to greet them. “Your troops are looking sharp today.”

“Thank you, m’lord,” Captain Elias Hawtrey replied, bowing his head while bringing his right arm up in the traditional Hawkkur salute.“The shuttle Tycho Hawk is standing by. We can depart as soon as you are ready.”

“Very well Captain,” Makala began as his Dragon Within suddenly growled a warning. He turned to glance up at the VIP lounge overhead, Elias following his movement as Procyon roared.

With a roar, a section of the VIP lounge wall exploded, sending debris falling to the Diplomatic Dock. The blast wave knocked the StarHawke Tycho and many of the Family Guard to the deck where they were covered in smoke, dust, and debris. Procyon roared a warning as Elias looked up to see a large chunk of plascreet falling directly towards him. He started to move but before he could react, he is knocked to the deck as his Dragon Within roared in anger.

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Navigational Errors?

Uh-oh, my Primary Drive has cut out and the Nav Comp has failed. I've just dropped out of Transit Space and I have no clue where I am...

That's how I feel today. Not sure where I am or what I am doing.

I met earlier this week with a couple of writer friends of mine to talk about Dragon Hunters and where I should go from here. After digesting their thoughts, I'm not sure I am on the write, err... right course.

You see, a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (With full respect and credit to George Lucas) I started writing this story I called Stargate. When the Sci-Fi series of the same name came out, I changed the name to Gateway Station. It was this adventure story about a young orphan boy who struggles against the authorities to find his family. He is in a small, isolated orphanage for "special children" who just don't seem to fit in. Morgan's problem is that he hears voices in his head which cause him to act and do strange things. The voice in Morgan's head is the voice of a Dragon...

So how did our young DragonHawk find himself abandoned on this isolated planet and in an orphanage?

Well, that was the premise that started The DragonHawk Saga. A few years ago, I decided to back up and start the series over, starting with the Republics War, the freedom of the OutWorld Colonies, and the return of the Dragon Hunters as a background to the romance and marriage of Morgan's parents, Elias Hawkes and Annie Tolen. From there, the first three stories would lead up to the events that caused young Morgan to end up in an orphanage on a strange, isolated planet away from the tumultuous Star Trader Galaxy.

In the current timeline, Gateway Station would be books 5, 6, and 7 of the DragonHawk Saga, Dragon Summer, Dragon Return, and Dragon Trap. As well as parts of book 8 Dragon Rising.

Anyway, I digress. The consensu of our lunch discussion was that perhaps, I should publish Gatway Station e.g. Dragon Summer first, and save the prequels for the future. After all that's what Mr. Lucas did with Star Wars. And what Mr. Herbert did with Dune (One of my all time favorites!!).

More recently, one of my favorite authors, Kim Harrison, in her kick butt stories starring Rachel Morgan as the bounty hunting witch in post tomato apolcolypic Cincinatti, followed that format as well. Now ten books into Rachel's story, she's back tracked and done some prequel stuff.

That's depressing. I have the past four years invested in Tycho Station (Dragon Betrayal), Dragon Hunters, and Dragon Heart. Not to mention all of the backstory, timelines, etc.

That's what kicked me out of Transit Space, this idea that I might be on the wrong course. Not sure what will happen in the future, but while the RAMS (Robotic Autonomous Maintenance Systems) repair the Nav Comp and the Pri Drive, I'll concentrate on reading and editing Dragon Hunters. If I do end up leaving it for a while, I'm not going to abandon it. I'll make sure it's ready to go before I move on.


Thanks for reading!

Dave

So...

So, Dragon Hunters is finished.

Hmmm. Maybe some editing and tweaking and a reread...

So, what's next?

I can't stop writing. I have some momentum going. Time to move on to the next story:

Dragon Heart

I'll keep you posted.


Thanks for reading.

Dave

Dragon Hunters Draws to a Close...

Well, it's been a very productive couple of weekends. After a lot of long weekends and nights of writing, Dragon Hunters is finished.

Well, almost. I'm writing the Prologue right now, tying up some loose ends.

Time to talk about getting some serious editing done. And looking towards publishing.

Kinda scary. I'm not very good with marketing. But my wife Cindy is. Gonna have to depend on her to help me make good decisions.

Should have the Prologue finished by Friday. Then we'll see what happens next...


Thanks for reading!

Dave

A Rainy Saturday...

A rainy Saturday, a cup of coffee, some music. Maybe I can get something done today!

Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading,

Dave

Progress... At Last!

I've worked my way through a big battle scene involving 2 privateers, a Reska armed transport, and a squadron of warships from Core, led by a battle cruiser and two heavy destroyers. Two weekends and a lot of late evening writing and editing to sort it all out. Maybe I'll send it to someone to see what they think of it. It's too long to post here, unless I made a PDF of it.

I really need a real website where I can post stuff like that.

Now I am rewriting and editing the attack on the T&B construction site on Conborine and the strange disappearance of Lady Annie Tolen. Boy is Elias and the Tycho Star Traders going to be angry when they find out she's gone missing!
Thanks for reading,

Dave

StarHawke Enterprises

What is StarHawke Enterprises?

Well, that's the name of my writing empire, if and when it ever turns into a writing empire.  Right now all it consists of is a lot of words and ideas.  See the table below for details:

         

Story Name	Word Count	Page Count
00 Dragon Stories	8,730	41
01 Dragon Hunters	139,645	410
02 Dragon Heart	33,926	111
03 Dragon Betrayal	176,802	641
04 Dragon Revenge	18,346	92
05 Dragon Summer	122,078	358
06 Dragon Return	25,188	104
07 Dragon Trap	118,420	434
08 Dragon Rising	88,474	347
09 Dragon War	4,315	64
10 The Great Dragon	169	52
Story Totals	727,363	2,613
Story Average	72,736	261
01 DragonHawk Saga Rules Manual	6,323	42
02 DragonHawk Saga Development Manual	14,358	72
03 DragonHawk Saga History Manual	13,049	140
04 DragonHawk Saga Reference Manual	34,611	13
Current Manuals	68,341	267
Chapter Parts	134,612	491
Old Story Versions	3,403,991	12,615
Old Manual Versions	355,533	1,082
Grand Totals	4,689,840	17,068
Total New Words	410,091
Number of Days	252
Average Writing Rate Per Day (Since Jan 1, 2012)	1,627

How did I figure all that out? Well, its' one of those things I worked out when I was distracted (something that frequently happens), and I started playing with this big spreadsheet file I created. There are multiple tabs with individual spreadsheets to keep track of important information such as character names, starship names, company names, planet and system names, military units, DragonHawks and their Dragons Within.  The spreadsheets feature columns by story name so I can track where a character is, anywhere within the DragonHawk Saga, or if they are dead, or haven't been born yet.

Anyway, I got into working out a way to count all of these different categories, so I set up formulas to count rows if there is any information in that row. Then I set up the tab you see above to summarize all of the data. Later on I added tabs to spreadsheet to track old story versions, chapter parts, and out of date manuals. I don't throw away anything I have written. And I often refer back to older versions of stories or chapters for ideas for the current version of the saga.

I got to thinking about all of this when I realized that I have written over 500 new words in the past few days (Thursday night and Friday night through about 1:30 AM this morning. I'm actually editing Dragon Hunters, fixing story discrepancies and poor writing techniques, making the story tighter and flow faster. This story is about about the emergence of the Dragon Hunters after some ten thousand seasons (The end of the first DragonHawk War) and the threat they pose to the current day Drakkon, led by the StarHawke Tycho, Makala Hawkes. The resurgence of the Dragon Hunters is one of signs of a prophecy that calls for the return of the Great Dragon. And that's what this saga is all about, the return of the Great Dragon who will unite the Star Traders and all of the people and worlds of the Thousand Universes.

So that's a good thing. Maybe life will settle down for a while and allow me to get caught up on my writing. Our second grandchild and first granddaughter is due October 17, so I know things won't stay quiet for too long!

But that's okay. I'll just lug the laptop along when we go to Austin and write while Caitlyn and her momma are taking a nap!


Thanks for reading!

Dave
     

Just Chuggin' Along

That's what I'm doing. Just chuggin along. Not worrying about time. Doing what I can when I can.

Working my way through Dragon Hunters, deleting more than I am adding for the most part. Incomplete sentences, incomplete thoughts. Still over 138,000 words and not finished yet! I have a number of disparate characters that come into play at various times. I could just background them when I need them, which is what I did when Tycho Station (Now DS03 Dragon Betrayal) was the first story. But I thought I would use their background stories to help show how bad things are in the InWorlds as the Republics War rages on.

At the same time I have to give the Star Traders some reasons to pull out of the InWorlds. Such as more attacks on their starships and their people. Can you imagine what the Reska Elder and his son will do when one of their starships is captured by Privateers? Or if a secret underground group on Core intercepted one of their weapons shipments to the Royal Guards?

And what does an attack on T&B's facility on Conborine have to do with the war in the InWorlds?

Then, there's all that conflict building between the DragonHawks and the resurgent Dragon Hunters.

That's a lot of conflict and drama to fit into one story, but that's why this is a saga. The conflict and drama may start in Dragon Hunters, but the battles will spread to subsequent stories. And it doesn't end until book 10, The Great Dragon. But that's about fifty seasons (years) from now.

Thanks for reading!

Dave

A Rainy Saturday!

A perfect day to get caught up on Dragon Hunters! The goal today is to streamline and remove the superflurrious garbage! Also I have a space battle in chapter 14 to finish!

DragonHawk Saga Status Report

Hello! Thanks for visiting!

The graphic at the top of the page below the blog title is a screen capture I made of all ten of the DragonHawk Saga manuscripts. They are MS Word documents open with the Document Map displayed. The blue highlight marks my current work site in each story. If there is no chapter title, just a number, then that chapter is probably empty.

The stories go from left to right, from Dragon Hunters to The Great Dragon. Currently I'm working on the left side, in the first three stories, DS01 Dragon Hunters, DS02 Dragon's Heart, and DS03 Dragon Betrayal.

Lot of work to do. But a lot of work already done.

Enough stalling! Back to work!


Thanks for reading!

Dave

Rivendell Writing Challenge Party

Some writer friends of mine and I got together last night to celebrate our July version of NANOWRIMO. We do it in the summer because some of our writers are kids who don't have time to "play" in November.

The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in the 31 days of July. Don't worry about the plot, just write.

It was a small crowd last night, a number of our "seasoned" novelists were busy with life - moving into dorms for college. Some have gotten married and have families of ther own to look after.

Sort of sad in a way, but that's life. Relentlessly moving forward no matter how bad we'd like to hit the brakes and slow things down a bit.

But that's not gonna happen. So, on with the writing!


Thanks for reading!

Dave

I should be home writing. But we're going shopping. I guess I should have more of a life than just sitting at the computer. Oh well. It is what it is...

Back! To the Future... or is it Back to the Past!

Well, I am stalled out again, in my quest to document the DragonHawk Saga. With the hope of stirring the creative juices, I decided to explore my collection of chapter parts, old manual versions, and old versions of stories.

All told I have:

• 679,819 words and 2,613 pages of current version stories
• 68,199 words and 267 pages of current version manuals
• 134,612 words and 491 pages of chapter parts
• 3,403,991 words and 12,615 pages of old story versions
• 355,533 words and 1.082 pages of old manul versions

That's a total of 4,642,154 words and 17,068 pages of stuff!

While I was digging through this history of my writing, I came across the original version of Gateway Station, the original story that started my on my quest. I thought I would read through it and see how far I have strayed from my original idea.

At the same time, I updated the template and will make any grammar or composition errors I find. I tend to use the word "that" too much. In the original 1180 pages of the story (327,987 words), I have used the word "that" 3537 times!

So, I'm going back through Gateway Station, going back to the future to see if I get things back on track. Maybe I'll convert it to an E-book and see what happens.

Now, where did that flux capacitor go? Anyone know where I can get some plutonium?


Thanks for reading!

Dave

Flowers in Space?

Writing about flowers today. Flowers on the counter of a small tea shop in the Entertainment District of Gaanard:

They decided to visit the Bottomless Kupp a frilly, girly tea and coffee shop that was a favorite of their’s to talk about the events of the day. The “Kupp” was located on one of the quiet side passages of the Entertainment District, away from the noisy Main Corridor. The décor was decidedly feminine, pastel colors and lots of flowers when they could get them from the Sundai Market. Today there were a few flowers here and there, except for a large display of strange, exotic flowers from Trann’s Planet. The shop owners and them predominantly displayed on the counter with a black ribbon around the bowl.

“Oh look!” Liesell exclaimed, pointing out the display which featured fragrent tulip shaped flowers in bright primary colors arranged around the edges of the bowl. The center was filled with greenery that featured strangely shaped bright green and black leaves, and a couple of large, round yellow blooms on long stems that faced straight up. Some thin, light purple vines with tiny, dark purple flowers wrapped around the entire display. As they watched, they realized the two large yellow blooms were swaying back and forth on their long stalks, while the light purple vineds slithered slowly around perimeter of the bowl.
“Oh, wow!” Katia murmured. “It’s a live display!” The girls watched the display with fascination while their order was prepared. The bowl of flowers seemed to come alive at the sound of Katia’s voice. The two large yellow flowers slowly danced back and forth, swaying and wrapping around each other, while the vines sped up and began to chase each other dodging among the brightly colored tulip-like flowers, their stems vibrating excitedly.
“They like to show off,” The owner said with a chuckle as she placed their order on the counter.
"Can they hear me?” Katia asked, wide eyed with amazement as she reached out to touch one of the vines. Abruptly the end of the vine popped up out of the greenery, twisting back and forth as if it was moving around. Then suddenly it dove back into the greenery and resumed the chase with the others.\
“I don’t know if they can hear, or if they just sense the vibrations of someone close by.”
“How long with they live in the bowl?” Liesell asked, reaching over to touch one of the brightly colored flowers near the edge. At her touch it froze in place for a few seconds and then began shivering excitedly.
“Oh, I’ll have them for a few more day shifts,” The owner explained. “Then the Sundai will come and return them to the greenhouse where they will be returned to be with the rest of the Trann foliage. I don’t know how long they actually live.”

A good day today. I've almost written an entire replacement chapter for Dragon Hunters. Hope you enjoyed the excerpt!

Thanks for reading!

Dave

More About Rabbit Holes

I fell down a rabbit hole the other day. Just now climbing out of it after two days of writing some stuff that has nothing to do with the DragonHawk Saga.

I won't tell you what I wrote about because my rabbit holes are private.

There's a training rabbit hole close by that I discovered about 4:30 PM this afternoon at work. Fortunately I was able to avoid it until 5 pm when I left for the weekend. Don't know if I will be able to avoid it all weekend. With a little effort, this hole could be pretty deep.

What are rabbit holes?

Oh, you know, those random thoughts that sometimes fall in your path. Sometimes they blow by like a leaf. Other times they dart past like a squirrel jumping from one limb to another.

Some times they fall in your path - like a rabbit hole! Move over Alice! Here I come!

What about the training rabbit hole I dodged?

I'm an Instructional System Designer. I try to design instructional systems that will enable my clients to train their workers. I don't do Organizational Development, Coaching or Manager Training. The most important people in the organization are the people that get the work done. Their training is often ignored unless the government is mandating it.

I digress.

Well, today I fell in a rabbit hole and found this really great design for a training system that will help my client. I just hope I can stay out of that rabbit hole until Monday. Otherwise Elias and Annie will never take that walk after dinner on the Tycho Pride and start to fall in love with each other.

And if they don't fall in love, they won't get married.

And if they don't fall in love, they can't have three kids, Kian, Lian, and Morgan.

And if Morgan is not born... Well, then the Great Dragon may never return!


Thanks for reading!

Dave

Rabbit Holes. Wow! This rabbit hole is deep! 23 pages in two days!

I Like This Line

I like this line:

The natural power of the most powerful of the DragonHawk Bloodlines had almost overwhelmed her as the old legends and stories of her childhood came crashing down as she realized the most powerful of the DragonHawks, the Tycho Drakkon, ruled the Tycho Star Traders and their legendary warriors, the Hawkkur Legion.

What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

A Romance Author? I don't think so...

I've spent most of the week rewriting a chapter of Dragon Hunters. The chapter is about a reception that the Tolen and Blom Spaceyards is holding at the Gaanard Trade Station to introduce their plans for a new starship repair facility at the Conborine Space Port, on the planet of Conbor in the OutWorlds.
Well, the reception is organized by Tolen Elder Manchor Tolen's niece Annie Tolen, who works in his office as his assistant.

If you have been reading my blog and my chapters from the other stories then you might recognize Annie Tolen, aka Annie Tolen Hawkes, the wife of Elias Hawkes. Well this book and the next one, Dragon's Heart will be the story of how Elias and Annie met and fell in love. The reception is the story of how they met and realized that each was a DragonHawk.

I don't write romance very well, so I am struggling with this chapter and others in this story. Then in the next story, Dragon's Heart, I have to write about their romance, courtship, and eventual massive spectacle of a wedding. In the meantime, the war continues to rage in the InWorlds and the Dragon Hunters are growing stronger and bolder...

Maybe I'll have to start reading romance stories to get a feel for how to go about this...

Moving On Down the Road

Hooray! I finished editing Chapter 2! I'm going to skip Chapter 3, I have already rewritten it twice! Let it go the way it is. I'll read through and try to catch any spelling, punctuation, or grammar errors.

It's a little after 11 PM. I think I can work through Chapter 3 before midnight. Both of my editors (Big Boy and Baby Girl) are asleep right now, so they're not sitting on the keyboard. I'm wide awake, so I might as well work on my retirement plan!

Enough frivolity! Back to Dragon Hunters!

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Just saw the Avengers movie. My writing is just not aggressive enough. Argh!

The Good News and the Bad News

Last night's meeting of the Bay Area Writer's League, BAWL, was one of the best meetings I have attended. Our guest speaker was Denise Little, an accomplished, writer, editor, publisher, and agent, with big time New York credentials. She talked for about commercial fiction, a subject she is very familiar with. The authors she has worked with, Tom Clancey and JanetYavonovich just to mention a few...
Anyway, she talked about writing fiction. I'm not going to try and repeat everything she said. You can search her name of the Internet and see  for yourself. (I hate the phrase: "Google it!" by the way!). I had a sort of a breakthrough last night while I was listening to her. I realized what I have been doing is wrong. Too long, too much background, not enough pop...

So that's the good news: I've been doing things wrong...

And the bad news? Well the bad news is that I've been doing things wrong...

I've got some serious editing to do. I use MS Word, so I think I will turn on Track Changes and see how that works...

Lots of work to do...


Thanks for reading!

Dave

Break Through!

Yesterday I had a headache when I got home and could not see to write. So I sat at my desk and watched (listened?)to the TV. in the process os sitting there thinking about Dragon Hunters and what I needed to do to fix the story, I had a bit of inspiration that I hope to turn into some serious writing this weekend. With a bit of luck, I will be able to tie up some loose ends and add a bit of action to the story. I'm probably going to make some people angry at me. But I think this is the break through I have been waiting (and working for)! Thanks for reading, Dave

Ahead Slow

Answering Ahead Slow...

Moving slowly forward now after a few day's break. Tried to write some on Saturday while we were away, but my heart was not in it. I just vegged out on the couch in the guest house and watched TV. Good to get away? Yeah, I guess. We'll see how this all works out.

Right now, its a matter of DragonHawks as Annie Hawkes is invited to tea with Lady Mani Hawkes, onboard the Tycho Star Trader's Family Ship, the Tycho Pride. What will our young DragonHawk do when she meets one of the most powerful DragonHawks alive - and the mother of the man that she thinks she is falling in love with?

You'll have to read Dragon Hunters to find out!

Thanks for reading!

Dave

All Stop

That's what has happened to my writing right now.  Just kinda ground to a stop. Going out of town this weekend. Maybe that will help.

As always, thanks for reading!

Dave

Slowly in the Fast Direction...

Well, I'm still working on Dragon Hunters. Got lots of ideas about how to finish it up and get it reviewed. What I don't seem to have is the time.

I had hoped to finish this weekend, but most of Saturday will be spent putting my study back together after the phone lines are repaired. I have a bunch of wires running everywhere. Now that its all tore apart, I don't have any excuses for not putting it back the right way.

Maybe I'll take some photos and share the chaos...

Maybe I can write on Sunday...

Why am I moving slowly in the fast direction? The ideas are coming fast, but the words are coming slowly.

BTW, 10 bonus points if you know what the phrase "Slowly in the fast direction" means.

Thanks for reading,

Dave

Feeling better about things today. Maybe a weekend away will be good...

Thanks for reading

Dave

More Stray Thoughts

The Dragon Dream is in Dragon Summer, another page on this blog.

Cheers!

Dave

Stray thoughts...

I'm thinking about taking a couple of days off. (Not this weekend). Hiding somewhere to see if I can finish off this story.

Maybe my garage. No one would think to look for me there. Not even the cats. And I have a radio out there. An old stereo with really big speakers in the corners...

In my early days in the Navy, in the 70s, I always thought about buying a van. Fix up the inside. (Those of you who remember some or all of the 70s know what I'm talking about). Then I'd have a place to hide.

I'd park my van in my garage and hide in it. Try to relax and finish this story up. Its in my head, I can feel it. Its just lurking around in the shadows and corners of my mind like an uncooperative Dragon Within. Kinda like a Dragon Dream. There's a bit on my blog somewhere about the Dragon Dream if you don't understand.

Oh well, maybe a road trip to Fredericksburg and some time with family will shake something loose. Taking the laptop, but not sure I'll take it out of the case.

Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should just stay away from the computer, the virtual, and technology this weekend.

Hmmm,

Thanks for Reading!

Dave

So much for planning...

Well, I hoped to be reporting on a finished story by now, but it just hasn't worked out.

I have tentatively rewritten the prologue. Its closer to what I wanted, but I'll have to tweak it a bit during the first full edit.

I added a chapter at the end, to create a confrontation between the Tycho Star Traders and the rest of the Trade when a relief mission from Gaanard arrives at Conborine. At the start of the story I talk a bit about the differences of opinions between Makala Hawkes and the other Elders, but I need to revamp some of that when I edit.

The last chapter is the arrival of the task force at the Tycho Trade Station. The triumphant return of Elias and Annie and the rest of their team. Annie who has endeared herself with the Family Guard and the whole Hawkkur Combat Team.

So a bit of work to do. When will it be done? I don't know. Just have to keep slogging it out.


Thanks for reading!

Dave

A Quick Update

Okay, I have some ideas about how to rewrite the prologue, so I will work on that. The word count is about 89,000, so I have some room to work.

This weekend is my target to get this story completed, so keep your fingers crossed!

Thanks for reading!

Dave

The First Cut is the Deepest...

No, I have not given up writing and taken up song writing.

I can't carry a tune in a 5 gallon Homer Bucket... (Pauses for laughter)

So yesterday, I finished the next to the last chapter of The Dragon Hunters with the end of the Battle of Conborine. All that is left is to wrap it all up and send my hero and heroine back home.

But before I do that, I thought I would run through from start to almost finish and see if it all makes any sense. This story has changed so many times... I'm not sure if it makes any sense. So many cuts, so many adds, so many changes of directions.

So, I started reading from the Prologue. And then I stopped.

It sucks.

I should delete it...

But I want to rewrite it...

Instead of dark musing by one of the bad guys, maybe I'll have him kill somebody. Slowly. Or quickly. Hmm....

What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

Dave

The Battle of Conborine Wraps Up!

Tonight I finished the battle of Conborine. Took two large chapters that might get broken down into three when I do the edit.

The last chapter, the return of Elias Hawkes and Annie Tolen to the Tycho Trade Station and the resumption of construction on Elder Tolen's Conborine repair facility.

Maybe wrap it all up this weekend. Between now and then looks pretty busy. But we will see.

Thanks for reading!

Dave

The Dragon Hunters and The Dragon's Heart

I made a decision over the weekend to split the current Dragon Hunters manuscript into two parts. The reason being I am about halfway through the originally planned story and it is already over 100,000 words and 350+ pages.

So Dragon Hunters will end shortly after the Battle of Conborine. The next story, which I have dubbed The Dragon's Heart will track the romance of Elias and Annie, along with some more adventure and fighting with the Dragon Hunters.

I hope to finish up Dragon Hunters soon, edit and clean it up, and then e-book it to the web. Then we'll see what happens next. Would be nice to generate some income from all this effort.

Thanks for reading!

Dave

The battle rages on! Two more chapters and Dragon Hunters will be finished!

A Rainy Saturday - A good day for a battle!

It's a rainy Saturday here in the Houston area. The rain is welcomed after the drought we've been in, we've got almost an inch and half in the past 24 hours. Its a steady rain, a bit hard at times, but mostly steady, so it soaks in really well.

So I/m at the desk, writing the big battle scene that should bring the Dragon Hunters closer to a conclusion. I've written 15,600 + new words since the start of the year, although I am not sure what the number actually means. Some of it is new words and in progressing the story, while some of it is rewrite. When I write in bits and pieces, a little bit every night, sometimes I have to back up a few pages to get into the pace and mood of the story. Often times I find parts that no longer make any sense to me, so I end up rewriting them.

But today I am caught up to the point of new story being written. At least until I stopped to make this blog entry.

Okay, that's out of my system. Back to the work on the battle between Elias Hawkes and his Hawkkurs and the Black Dragon and his forces on Conborine.

Thanks for reading!

Dave

2163!!

Good night tonight! I wrote 2163 words! More importantly, I have set up events for the finale of what will be a shorter version of Dragon Hunter thanthe original plan. The Battle of Conborine, where Elias Hawkes and his Hawkkurs go after the Black Dragon and his minions responsible for the attacks on the terminal and the kidnapping of Annie Tolen!

That will be the end of book 1. Or book 1A if you will.

Book 1B will be something of a romance novel as Annie and Elias grow closer and become engaged. But there will be plenty of excitement as the Trade and the OutWorlds recoil and react to the Battle of Conborine!

Stay tuned!

And thanks for reading!

Dave

A brief summary of the Dragon Hunters:

It is a time of turmoil in the Star Trader Galaxy. The StarHawke Tycho struggles to use his considerable influence to convince the Star Trader Council to stop the war in the InWorlds. But the Star Trader Council rejects the Tycho Elder’s words out of hand, believing he and his Hawkkur Legion to be a bigger threat to the Star Traders than the Planetary Republics. Meanwhile, Elias Hawkes struggles to live up to Makala’ expectations as he prepares to take on the mantle of the StarHawke Tycho. He meets and falls in love with Annie Tolen who is destined to become his bride. If the visions of his mother, Mani Hawkes, are to believed. Annie has visions herself, but unlike Mani Hawkes, she cannot control her visions or her fate, as she sees them being fulfilled one by one. But there is hidden danger at the heart of the problem as Rahhol DragonHawks, long believed to be extinct rise up to challenge the Drakkon DragonHawks of the Tycho Star Traders for control of the Star Trader Galaxy and all of its inhabitants. Will the Drakkon of Tycho recognize the danger in time, or will the Rahhol DragonHawks gain control of the Star Trader Galaxy, as they did to the Star Empire ten thousand seasons ago.

What do you think? Leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

Thanks for reading!

Dave Transou