Summer Dragon

I've been distracted from the main task of writing the stories of the DragonHawk Saga lately. Not only by family and work issues, but a side project for a summer writing group. It's called Summer Dragon, and it turned out to be an interesting mixture of fantasy and reality. I doubt if anyone other than myself will ever read any of it... It's much too personal, too much of a personal fantasy of mine...

Okay, reign in your imaginations. Nothing weird... Well, not really weird...

As I started writing, I needed some character names. Being lazy, I decided to use some characters from the Saga. From Dragon Summer, as a matter of fact. Thus the title: Summer Dragon.

In Summer Dragon, Morgan Hawkes, our Saga hero, is an orphan who has been shopped around orphanages and foster homes all over the state. He is a troubled youth, who does not get along well with others. He has all of these strange dreams all of the time, some of which turn into nightmares. When he tries to explain his dreams and nightmares, people come to think that he is just plain crazy. Eventually he is adopted by a foster family that really does not care for him, only the money being offered by the state orphanage to take him off their hands. He is enrolled in the local high school, where he makes a few friends and slowly begins to adapt. The dreams and nightmares continue, but not as bad as before. Following a suggestion from a school counselor, he decides to write them down. Thus is born the DragonHawk Saga.

Where does the story go from there? Well, it goes from our fictional town of Bay Pointe, Texas, to Los Angeles California, where Morgan Hawkes meets a girl and falls in love. It just so happened that her mother is a high powered lawyer who works with literary agents in the industry. She likes what Morgan has written... and thus, the DragonHawk Saga gets published and becomes a big hit!

But the stories are not just dreams and nightmares. Unbeknownst to Morgan, he is being trained by his Dragon Within. Because he is not just Morgan Hawkes, the orphan writer. He is Morgan Hawkes, son of Elias Tycho Hawkes and Annie Tolen Hawkes, the DragonHawk of the Great Dragon Tycho.

Told you it was weird.

Meanwhile, back in the Saga, I have completely rewritten Dragon Hunters. It was full of typographical and grammatical errors. That's what happens when you are the writing department, editorial board, and marketing agent, as is the case here at StarHawke Enterprises, home of the Cats & Dragons Blog.

So Dragon Hunters has been reposted and I am back working on Dragon Heart. Got to get these two Drakkon married so they can start raising their family! Meanwhile, the Dragon Hunters and the Rahhol are still out there, as the Third DragonHawk War looms large.

What happens to Morgan in Summer Dragon?

I don't know. What do you think happens?

Wait, you say. What's his girlfriend's name? What about her father?

Her name is Sarah Alexandra Conner. Alex, for short. And her father? He's a high ranking executive in the Disney organization. You didn't think I'd go all the way to California without going to Disneyland did you?

Thanks for reading,


Dave


 

From Stargate Cove to the DragonHawk Saga...

I found this digging through some old files and notes. Thought I would scan and share. Stargate Cove became Gateway Station became Tycho Station became the DragonHawk Saga. The date is August 25, 1985, but I had been writing for some time before I got this organizer and tried to figure out how to use it.

Stray notes in small pocket-sized notebooks, 3x5 file cards in a shirt pocket, spiral notebooks. A TI 99-4A Computer with cassettes, then 5-1/4 inch floppy disks. 1 chapter per 360k disk. 3-1/2 inch disks when I moved to a MS-Dos machine in 1990, I believe.

The current version of the DragonHawk Saga occupies 794 MB of disk space on my computer...

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Changes to Dragon Hunters

Work on Dragon Heart has slowed, while I go back through Dragon Hunters and make some changes. Most of the changes involve grammar and sentence structure errors. But I won't rule out the possibility that I might tweak the story here and there...

Why the changes now? Amazon is changing the way that series books are listed in their system. I have to change the way the saga name and book name are listed in manuscript. So, I thought I would take the opportunity to fix some of the things I have found that needed fixing.

And, just between you and me. There will be some changes and some new things. I left some things out that I didn't want to leave out, but thought that I needed to. Some of those things are gonna make their way back in...

If you've read Dragon Hunters, and know of some of the errors, of which I speak, send me an e-mail and let me know what they are, and where they are. Chances are, they're on my list.

I'll let you know when the revised version is available, so you can update your copy.

I apologize for so long between blog updates. I'll try to do better. At least keep you posted on what is going on with the Cats and the Dragons, and the DragonHawk Saga!

As always,

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Dragon Hunter Sales

Hey! Guess what?

In the six months that Dragon Hunters has been on sale on both Amazon, Smashwords, Apple, Barnes & Noble, etc., I've sold 10 copies!

Considering all of the start-up problems and On-The-Job training I've gone through, I feel pretty good about that!

Meanwhile, Dragon Heart is coming along. I've been off course a couple of times, but I've calibrated the Navigation Computer and aligned the Primary Drive. I'm back on course with the goal of having Dragon Heart completed for you by my birthday, June 16th!

So, to all of you who have purchased a copy of Dragon Hunters...

Thanks for reading!

And if you haven't got your copy yet, go over to the website and click on the links of your favorite online bookstore!

You can use this link or click on one of the links here on the blog!The DragonHawk Saga Website

Like I said earlier,

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Hurricane Cats

I wrote this during lunch. If you are familiar with Galveston, Texas, before Hurricane Ike, then this story takes place off of 61st street, behind the old Popeye's Chicken near the old HEB. Hope you enjoy.

Don't worry, the Dragons are still flying around in my head! They haven't gone anywhere. In the meantime, enjoy a bit of a story about Big Boy and Baby Girl, titled "Hurricane Cats."

The big, old Tom meowed loudly as he sniffed around the back of the building.  He could usually find something to eat where the humans dumped things. Despite the danger, this was one of their better spots for food. The humans were lazy and sometimes just dropped the bags on the ground, saving them trouble of climbing into the big, metal box.

He glanced back at a pair of big grey eyes, that watched him carefully from the deep grass beyond the edge of the pavement. She wouldn’t come out until he told her it was safe, and he had managed to find something for them to eat. He poked around among the bags, analyzing the many smells. After a few tries, he found one that seemed promising, promptly ripping it open with his front claws. He was immediately rewarded by a large number of chicken parts that tumbled out onto the ground. He turned back to signal his mate, but she had been watching him, and was already half way across the pavement from her hiding spot. He returned his attention to the chicken, sniffing them appraisingly to find a suitable piece as the little female helped herself to a drumstick.

A cool wind, blowing in off the gulf, sent a chill over them as they ate their dinner. They paused again to look around, sniffing the air, knowing that the wind meant a storm was coming. They would need to return to their home soon, before the weather turned worse and it started to rain. They paused from their feast, cautiously glancing around, knowing that the humans could interrupt them at any time. The little female paused, her teeth still hurting from their last run-in with the humans, abandoned the drumstick in search of something softer. She found another piece that suited her tender mouth and dug in.

A strong gust of wind startled them from their meal, sending the trash and debris skittering around them. The sudden, loud screeching of the rusty metal door on the back of the building was all of the warning they had, as two of the humans stepped out of the building. The little cat quickly abandoned her meal, darting back into the tall grass. The big cat quickly followed her, but not before grabbing another large hunk of chicken from the ripped bag. The humans shouted, but the two cats were gone before they could react. He quickly joined her on the far side of the grassy yard, where she had taken shelter under the edge of a woodpile, alongside of a old garage. She watched as he dropped the food in front of her, turning his attention to the two humans, who were still yelling at them. 

Suddenly something thumped against the wall above them. They froze, not sure if the humans had discovered their hiding spot. Much to their surprise, a piece of chicken landed on the ground in front of their hiding place. The big Tom didn’t hesitate, darting quickly out to secure the piece, and drag it back into the safety of their hide. By the time he returned, the female was tentatively licking the piece he had carried over. He meowed approvingly at her, settling down in the deep grass and the safety of their hide to enjoy the piece that had fallen out of the sky. 

The wind continued to blow, as the rain began to fall. They continued to feed, knowing they would eat as long as they could before retreating to their den. They could tell it was going to be a big storm, but they were not worried. Their den was strong, and had protected them from the humans and storms for a long time.

Drakkon Dreams Part One

The Drakkon was tired and he ached mightily from a simple hunt gone horribly wrong. The tattered edges of his wings were slashed and shredded from the fight with the Rahhol, and they fluttered noisily in the wind as he searched for a place to rest. The nest was several hours away, but in his current condition, he would not make it back tonight. Better to find a cave and rest. And ensure that his pursuers were not trying to follow him back to the nest.

His anger grew as he replayed the ambush in his mind. He should have never allowed himself to be caught unawares like that; but he had given as good as he got. At least one of the four renegades was on the ground, not moving, while another had limped back into the tangled woods with a broken wing. The others had finally broken off, responding to the calls for help from their wounded brethren, enabling him to escape. A low growl rumbled from his belly – they only broke off the fight because they thought he was done for! They would be able to easily follow the trail of blood streaming from his wounds, if they were determined to finish him off.

The Drakkon focused his mind and drew upon his dangerously low magical reserves. His breathing was labored, the dull pain in his side becoming sharper the further he flew. Perhaps some broken or cracked ribs! Hopefully nothing too bad… A red haze clouded his vision and he blinked to clear the blood from his eyes. The clouds broke and the moonlight bathed the side of the mountain in dark relief. His sharp eyes picked out a shadow on the side of the mountain, his instincts telling him it was a cave. He banked and circled, clearing his mind and focusing all his senses on the sky around him, as he spiraled down. He braced himself as he banked his wings, scooping them to slow his descent, his battered wings vibrating wildly as he slowed, pain shooting through the wing joints to every bone in his body. He extended his large claws and braced himself as he crashed into the side of the mountain. He folded his wings against his side as he stumbled and fell into the dark opening. The cave entrance was smaller than he had judged, the spikes along the top of his huge head scraping against the roof of the cavern as he collapsed in a leathery heap on the cave floor. His body filled with pain, every nerve screaming, as he skidded to a stop on the rocky floor of the cave. He raised his head to look around and the passed out, the blackness finally taking him.

*****

 
The sky was clear and there were few clouds to hide the bright moon. His wings were stiff and his body was sore, but he felt better than he had since the ambush. A few days of rest, some water and a couple of deer that had wandered close to the cave fortified him for tonight’s flight. He was still a long way from the safety of the nest and his nest mates; and there remained the danger of further attack, but he was not afraid. The air currents along the mountains were strong tonight, enabling him to ride another thermal up in a great spiral to a higher altitude, looking along his back trail while checking the sky around him. So far there was no sign of his pursuers; perhaps they had found other prey, or had been unable or unwilling to follow his trail. He thought about his nest mates, fearing what they would say when he returned. He sighed, knowing it would be a long time before they let him forget this trip. The nest did not approve of his far-ranging absences and never missed an opportunity to chide him for his “unnatural” behavior. His four brothers and three sisters hunted close to the nest in pairs, to better provide protection against this kind of attack from the renegades that once threatened all the nests. But the renegade Rahhol had been quiet for a long time and he was convinced that they had moved away from the area where the Drakkon had nested for many generations.
 
He felt his body slowing as pressure from the thermal peaked and began to fall off. Holding his wings rigid, he crested the top of the pressure wave and coasted along, tilting left and right for another look around. The sky was clear; there was no sign of his pursuers or any other life. Tonight he seemed to have the sky to himself. There was a scattering of clouds at this height, with enough moisture to chill his massive body. Nevertheless, he decided to stay at this altitude for as long as he could. If there were others out hunting this evening, they would be far below him.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Drakkon of the DragonHawk Saga!

Thanks for Reading!

Dave

A snippet from Dragon Hunters!

Here's a little snippet from Dragon Hunters for you:

"Reaching between a stand holding several bracelets and a small round box, she picked up a strange-looking ring laying on the worn metal shelf by itself. She held the ring up to the light and caught her breath as the intricate carving and details became apparent, her Dragon growling uneasily. The ring was formed by a pair of dragons, one gold and one silver, their bodies entwined in battle. The dragons’ heads faced each other, jaws open, terrible fangs bared. Their claws grasped at the body of the other and their barbed tails were wrapped around each other. Their eyes were glittering jewels, a sparkling red ruby for the gold dragon and endless obsidian for the silver. The ring was surprisingly light; its bulk and size led her to think of it as a man’s ring. It was both breathtakingly beautiful and frightening."

Christmas time is coming! Are you buying a Kindle or a Nook for someone in your family? You can download a copy of Dragon Hunters from Amazon for the Kindle or from Barnes & Noble for the Nook!

Thanks for reading! And shopping!

Dave