Into the New Year

Hello followers of the DragonHawk!

Happy New Year!

I've been working this past weekend preparing the DragonHawk Saga for 2019. I've combined four manuals of notes into a single manual, where I can sort out what is up to date and what is OBE (Obsolete By Events, a phrase I learned in the Navy).

Dragon Revenge is coming along nicely. I resolved some issues with the storyline, and am plunging forward. I see the path to the end, but it is a First Draft. There's a lot that can happen. Depending on my health issues, I hope to have it completed by June.

In the meantime, I've developed some ideas for the rest of the saga. My original notes are OBE, because of the first books. I've brought myself a lot of work. But that's okay. I don't mind the work. As long as I have plenty of coffee!

Happy New Year! And as always, thanks for reading.

Dave

Holidays, Dragons, and Brains

Hello friends of the DragonHawk Saga!

Thank you for reading. I haven’t updated the blog in a couple of weeks for a variety of reasons. Mostly because I’ve been stymied over what to write. Meanwhile we’ve relocated to the grandkids for Christmas. It’s a bittersweet time for me. While everyone is getting excited about the soeason, I’m preoccupied with the future.

The doctors have decided I would benefit from a brain shunt , so I will have brain surgery at the end of January. I have concerns about post surgery, but there’s nothing I can do other than hope for the best to wait and see. Maybe there is something wrong with my brain that this shunt will fix. Everyone seems to think the shunt will help fix my balance, gait, and lessen ny chance of  another stroke. 
In the meantime, I have my first appointment with another neurologist right after the start of the year.  This doctor specializes in Parkinsodn’s Disease. Perhaps he will send us off on another path of tests and treatments.
Meanwhile back in the Star Trader Galaxy, everyone is preparing for war. Not with each other. Rather with a new enemy who has emerged now that all the Drakkon are dead. At least that’s what they believe. After getting chased out of Conborine, Bane Sollar has decided he must abandon his one man campaign against the galaxy. 

Merry Christmas!

And as always, thanks for reading!

Dave

Corkscrewing Through Life

Was having lunch today at a local favorite restaurant. They've got these little signs on the back of their chairs advertising a local business or perhaps an artisan person. I saw one on the back of one chair for a training company that I used to know. I never worked for them, nor did I ever purchase any training materials from them. I never had that kind of authority for any of the companies I worked for.  (Just a small cog in a big machine!) We attended many of the same meetings and conventions and had endless discussions about how to improve training.
It triggered something in me. Something I struggled with my whole life. Trying to fit into a group where I felt like I really didn't belong. I always took it personal, bur in reality, it was just business. Most of the people I talked to at conventions and meetings were sales people working on a commission. They had little time to waste on someone who didn't have any money to spend. So they gave me a little squeezy ball, or letter opener, or some other sort of trinket and I moved on to the next interesting booth.

Old history. I shouldn't dwell on, right? I should concentrate on writing about dragons.

Making some progress on the main storyline. Had to back up and add some details. The next week looks a little bleak for writing. I'm going into Houston Methodist for a Lumbar Catheder. The docs want to play with my spinal fluid and the pressure of the fluid on my brain, to determine whether or not I need a shunt to protect my brain from a possible stroke. Supposed to last three days, then I have two more days of infusion trying to repair the damage done by the neuropathy in my legs.

After all of that, we're going to see the grandkids for Christmas.

Dragon Revenge is moving along pretty well. The Horath War is about to start, so there's plenty to write about. I'm making some minor tweeks along the way... Hopefully they'll make the story better, and help the Great Dragon conquer the galaxy.

As always, thanks for reading!

Dave 

And So It goes

It seems like the harder I struggle to write, the less I accomplish. I used to crank out fifteen hundred words in a twenty four hour day. Now I struggle to make five hundred. I can see the dialogue or action in my head. I just can’t seem to get it down on the screen.

Maybe it’s not that hard  to understand.  Maybe speed is not as important as it seems. Perhaps I should relax and enjoy the writing process? 

Interesting thoughts. What do you think?

Happy Thanksgiving!

And as always, thanks for reading  

Dave

It’s Just Draft “A”

Hello friends and fans of the DragonHawk Saga!

I’ve made pretty good progress on Dragon Revenge, working through a couple of new chapters last week. I had to remind myself that the Fourth Book of the DragonHawk Saga is only Draft “A” and is in the eaely stages of development. I target each book to around 150,000 words, which, works out to about 325 - 350 pages, Right now , Draft A is about 80,000 words and 164 pages. That’s a little more than halfway in my mind. 

Meanwhile in The DragonHawk Saga, there’s a “Magor Galactic Event” about to happen thst will disrupt everyone’s agenda, changing everyone’s plans to dominate their rivals. It should be fun to write. 

I’m out of town for couple of weeks. I’ll be working on background that I’ll work into the story as a conversation between a couple of characters. It’s something I don’t think I do very well. Thus it’s one of the conflicts I have with my writing style and all the expert advice that I read on other blogs and sites. They claim you should get to the point, don’t write about stuff that doesn’t add to the main storyline. Don’t waste your reader’s time with unimportant details!

People have complained about Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series saying the books were too long and too complicated. Thirteen massive books with multiple complicated storylines. I enjoyed the books. I like the extra characters and all the details. I try to write with that style. I can only hope I’m as successful as Robert Jordan. 

The DragonHawk Saga is a story that spans multiple generations of Star Traders. They strive to advance their civilization, only to discover they must embrace their past in order to gain the future.

I hope you will stay with me on this adventure. I’ll work hard to keep you with me, wondering what will happen next. 

As always, thanks for reading!

Dave

A Couple of Good Ideas

This week, I had a couple of good ideas this weeks. I can’t tell you about them, because that will give away the story. But trust me, they’re good ideas!

If you’ve read Deagon Hunter, Deagon Hwaet.and Dragon Betrayal, then Dragon Revenge will make you say: “Hie did whaf?” She did what?” “They did what?”

Wait a minute! You say you haven’t read the books of the DragonHawk Saga? Why not? Best adventure you can have for under five bucks. And soon I’ll be starting my Holiday 99 cent special. A great deal if you are traveling and are looking for a cheap resd. And one of these days they’ll be classics! And you’ll be able to say that you read them fIrst! And if you send me an email I’ll make sure you get an invitation to the movie premiere!

Here’s a couple of spoiler alerts. Bane Sollarhas stopped being such a good guy. Varla Riss finally breaks away from Deemans and Minn. Another war interrupts alll thefinger pointing and bickering. 

If you don’t understand any of these statements, then you need to read the books! And, as always,

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Another Week of Dragons

Hello fans of the DragonHawk Saga!

I hope you had a successful week of fighting your own dragons. Prayers to all of you were in the way of Hurricane Michael. What a devastating storm that thing was! The Panhandle of Florida has been changed forever. I’ve been through a few hurricanes, bit nothing like that!

Last night we've seen massive rain and raging rivers in the Hill Country of Texas. Normally placid rivers have been running wild, flooding many roads and low river crossings and taking out at least one major bridge on highway 2100. There's been a lot of development along the river, so there's a lot nice houses and little towns that have flooding.

It's crazy, but everyone's claiming it's climate change. I believe the climate of the planet is changing, but I don't think man has anything to do with it. The Earth is an eight billion year old machine that has it's own timetable and it's own plan. I believe we should do everything we can to be good conservators, but the solutions offered by supporters of climate change involve the American people giving up their way of life and all their money. In the meantime, we've cleaned up our act and lead the world in environmental science and technology. The supporters have turned this into a global political war against America. You'll have to pardon me if I don't trust them.

Meanwhile, back at the DragonHawk Saga, I have Dragon Revenge pretty much lined out, as far as the story line goes. I've worked out all the kinks and all the turns and twists. Now I have to add flesh to the bones.

I'm going to be away from the computer for a while. Cindy and I are going out of town for a while. We'll be back and forth, actually, until the week of November 12th. Then I'm going into Methodist Hospital in Houston for a temporary shunt install and some testing. The purpose of this 3-4 day trip is to determine if a permanent shunt will be effective. If it works, then I'll probably have a permanent shunt installed. So as much as I'd like to hide in my study and write, that is going to be interrupted from time to time. So keep me in your prayers as I sort through all of this medical stuff. And as always,

Thanks for reading!

Dave

A Week of Thinking and of Writing

This week has been a bust when it comes to writing. The first part of the week was spent agonizing about the structure of Dragon Revenge. I’ve invented a bunch of characters and story lines that don’t apply to the main storyline. So I cut them out. 

At least partly. One of the sub plots I have started, I have to keep, because it’s linked to Dragon Betrayal. And it’s also linked to Bane Sollar and a future plot. And that’s what I realized was wrong. Dragon Revenge needs to be centered around Bane Sollar and his search for revenge.

 

Meanwhile Cindy and I had to go to our son’s house in the Austin area to help with sick grandkids.  I’ll be home next week so hopefully I’ll get to make some progress on Dragon Revenge. Between all the doctor appointments, that is. Going to be a busy week. A bunch of tests to take. 

So, until next week...

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Cats & Dragons - Dragon Revenge

Hi there, fans of the DragonHawk Saga!

Well, work on Dragon Revenge continues. Progress moves slowly. I was working on a chapter, then realized that I was going down a rabbit hole that didn't need to be there. So I deleted it and backed up and restarted. There's another rabbit hole looming, but I'll leave it alone for now, as I concentrate on the main character.

Dragon Revenge is supposed to be dark. It comes in on the tail of a horrific event at the end of Dragon Betrayal. (Opps, Spoiler Alert!). There's some things that happen in future stories that need to have the seed planted here. So I'm working to sort everything out.

It’s been slow going. I’ve had vision issues this weekend that has slowed my progress. But my contacts are behaving today, so I hope tocatch up. Meanwhile, back to the dragons!

Thanks for reading! 

Dave

The Cat in Cats & Dragons

Hi there! 

Welcome to Cats & Dragons, my blog about my writing, my cats, and the DragonHawk saga. I haven’t posted anything for a while, so I thought it was time to bring everyone up to date.
If you go to my websites, www.davetransou.com, you’ll discover that Dragon Betrayal has been finished and is available at the usual e-book sites. If you can’t find it, let me know. My books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and Apple, so you shouldn’t have any problems finding Dragon Hunter, Dragon Heart, and Dragon Betrayal. In the meantime, I am working on Book Four, Dragon Revenge. There’s a lot exciting things going on in the Star Trader Galaxy, so get busy reading! 

If you’ve been reading my blog for some time now, then you know about Big Boy and Baby Girl. You know Big Boy passed in June of 2016. Since then Baby Girl has decided that I would be his surrogate. She will climb up onto my chest and try to groom me. Some time she just makes herself comfortable and takes a nap. I don’t know how old she is, but I think she’s fourteen or fifteen. She’s slowing down these days, hardly doing anything other than sleep. She'll go outside and lay on the front porch or in her favorite spot in the flowerbeds, but she doesn't stay out too long.

Unless I forget to go check on her, which happens some times.

When I'm writing, she likes to curl up close to the mouse, or on top of my hand. She'll adjust her position, moving the mouse and my hand in the process. I usually move the keyboard and mouse a bit to the left, but she'll move over again to get closer. Sometimes, she'll lay down on top of the mouse, with her head on the right edge of the keyboard or the number pad. It's not uncommon to find a line or two of nothing but the "+" key, where she'd been laying down on the number pad. Always a challenge to my writing coherently.

Just another of the many challenges of 2018

I've been looking for a job without success since November of 2017. I had a few in-person interviews, and a bunch of phone interviews, but no success. In June, when I turned 65 and signed up for Medicare, we started looking at going on Social Security. Late June, my Primary Care Doctor suspected I had Parkinson's Disease. In July I visited a Neurologist, who ordered a bunch of tests, which confirmed the Diagnosis. One of the tests was an MRI of my brain, which revealed that I had experienced a stroke some time in the past couple of years. And that some of the plumbing up there in the old pumpkin may need some work. Right now I'm waiting to take another test that is supposed to determine if I need a shunt installed.

And then, out of the blue, I got a job offer!

So, while the Neurologists and Neurosurgeons ponder what to do with my melon, I've had to decline the offer until I find out what's going on. If I can, I want to take the job. Not only the money, but I'd like a chance to find out if I can still write about chemical plants and such.

Nothing to do about it, but to wait and see.

I've made a promise to myself to write a blog post every week. I hope I can keep that promise. In the meantime, I've got Cats & Dragons to write about.

Thanks for reading!

Dave






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The Dragons Roar into 2018...

Well, so far 2018 has become an interesting year. Being unemployed I suddenly find myself with more time to write. Which is fortunate, because I have discovered some problems in my writing.

I finished Dragon Betrayal and have posted it to the appropriate sites. In the meantime, I’ve been performing a detailed edit of Dragon Hunter and Dragon Heart and Dragon Betrayal to fix some troubling problems with the online versions. Reviewing copies I found chunks missing. Not sure if you have a copy that appears to have parts missing, please let me know. I’ll send you a corrected copy. 

I’m still hunting for a job, but I’m not having much luck. I’ll keep searching for now. I’d really like to find some work for a couple of more years in order to make a smoother transition to retirement. The more I read the job descriptions, the more I realize my profession has changed dramatically, while I languished at my last employer developing paper manuals. Everything is going online, which I think is great. Nevertheless, I've been left behind by the technology. And I don't think I can catch up. Nor am I sure that I want to.

What I want to do is write. So that is what I'll do. Not only the stories of the DragonHawk Saga, but other stories as well. I have two young grandchildren now. I'd like to write some stories for them. I really need to finish Hurricane Cats and share that with everyone. If you've been reading this blog for any time, you may have seen some of the excerpts. If you haven't, you can scroll down and read them.

But right now, I need to get back to the DragonHawk Saga and finish editing Dragon Betrayal. I've got a lot of ideas for Dragon Revenge. A lot of battles and a sea change in the Star Trader Galaxy. So back to work.

And as always, thanks for reading!

Dave