That is an interesting question, and it has a complicated explanation.
I guess the short answer is... out of our heads. That's where most story ideas are born! But I think you have to understand the dynamics behind Companion Dragons Tales to really get a feel for how far we've come.
Roger, Lee, and I met online back in 1999/2000 when I became a moderator for the brand new Prodigy Internet's Books & Writing Bulletin Board. BB's, as we called the message boards of those days, were the kewl places to hang out online. They had the same cachet that social networking sites have today. We all had Prodigy Internet connections by then, and while Roger well predated us from the Prodigy Classic days, Lee and I discovered the BBs about the same way. Being avid readers, we noticed they had this interesting little list of 'communities' on the ISP homepage, and among other enticing groups, was the one we all joined. I came in to the B& W BB in August of 1999 after a stint as a gardening and landscaping moderator for Sierra (the software company). Roger was already there, having made the shift from Prodigy Classic. By October, I was a B&W moderator. Lee joined us around the turn of the year. We made a lot of friends there, and several of us still stay in touch.
I was still fairly new to the internet, having only gotten online for the first time the previous year. Roger had been an internet gypsy for a while, so he had presences on other BBs. It was very common back then for people to post under assumed names with 'avatar' pictures. Sometimes extra characters were added to tiny, insular BB communities to make them look busier than they were, and people had a lot of fun pretending to be someone or something different. One of Roger's most successful avatars was a sassy and precocious little baby dragon named Waxy, who told jokes and was just a regular pain in the rear. She often complained about a human housemate she called 'The Bubblehead' and trashed him terribly. People who met Waxy found her very entertaining, and so that encouraged Roger to write actual stories about her. Even after he revealed he was the genius behind the whole ruse, Waxy still remained popular. She still is with our Prodigy expatriates today.
Roger brought me into the Waxy stories on the early side, as sort of a collaborator behind the scenes. There's only a handful written that I had nothing to do with. That was kind of a natural outgrowth of our private correspondences via email or the occasional phone call, because inevitably story details for Waxy would work their way into any conversation. We found we worked well together when it came to bouncing ideas off each other, and while he had the bare bones of the plots and some of the scenes and dialogue down already, I added the rounding out details that brought her world to life. That lead to my editing and co-writing to fill out stories, and soon we had a regular exchange of manuscripts going on.
Eventually I added an avatar of myself to the Waxy stories, which is the predecessor to Nancy Bittergreen, the 'wordsmith witch' in A Familiar Name. Roger encouraged me to create a little dragon of my own, and thus Lazlo was born, Waxy's 'bestest friend ever'. Roger took on the dual roles in the stories as Roger The Woodworker, and Bubblehead, who is sometimes called Rusty, because not everything he does works out too well. His character went from a simple fall guy to someone a bit mysterious and elusive; when he's not tripping over his own feet! Like his creator, Roger/Rusty/Bubblehead is someone who wears a few different hats.
Now Lee and I had also been working together back in those Prodigy days. I had a forum of my own on the B&W BB system, called WRITING FROM HOME, which replaced that of a group who had left. I was very active all throughout the board, writing with the poets, sharing round robin stories, and critiquing novels with the book groups. I had an ongoing column on my forum about whatever happened to be on my mind at the moment, because journaling is a good writing exercise. I often wrote about the frustrations of trying to get published, and Lee responded regularly in kind. At one point, after a major health issue, Lee had some time on his hands while recuperating, and he offered to edit the book I was having trouble finding a market for. That was the beginning of a far more personal friendship off the BB, where we not only exchanged emails with annotated chapters in them, but grew to be close friends. Eventually Lee moved to Connecticut from Texas, and over time, we had Roger up from Florida for visits. We brought Lee into what is now the COMPANION DRAGONS TALES with both a human presence resembling himself, and dragon avatar named Kiri!
The crowning glory of those days for me came several years ago when I had my two 'bestest' writing pals together for the first time. The energy in that room as the ideas began to fly around was amazing! The idea of publishing the little dragon stories came out of those glorious two weeks together. Everywhere we went, everything we did while Roger was here, we chattered ceaselessly about what Waxy, Lazlo, Kiri, or any number of other little dragon companions might do, see, or react to. So many concepts came out of those days, I can't even begin to log them here. They will be the basis for many a book in this series.
One thing we were all certain of by then was somehow, some way, those little dragons must someday share their stories in print. They had become so much a part of our lives, they deserved that. Of all the things the three of us have written, it was the ongoing dream of a bunch of books about little dragons that brought us together as a team.
Lee was recuperating from a serious surgery back in 2007, so he started doing more writing. He was casting around for writing and editing gigs online over the next couple of years, and so in 2010 he was the first one of us to audition for and be picked up as a staff writer for Pro Se Press. Lee brought me in. Once I was established as someone who could at least tell a salable tale, I pitched the dragon stories to EIC and part owner, Tommy Hancock. He was very enthusiastic from the start, but being a small publishing company that rapidly burgeoned into something quite a bit larger over the intervening three and a half years, there were many projects and authors on the docket. We had to find just the right way to present a children's series to a growing readership that was comprised mostly of adults coveting fast paced action adventure tales. The dream stayed alive, but it had to wait for just the right time...
This is the time.
Roger's serious auto accident last year (2012) set Waxy's revamping for Pro Se back severely, as he was so seriously hurt I could not even communicate with him for many months. I spent some of my 'spare' time going over the stories, and rewriting a couple. The market for the books was evolving, and optimal lengths kept changing as well. Once Roger was at least able to read and speak to me occasionally on the phone, I sent him paper copies and we did our best to go over what needed to be done, but it was a choppy, inconsistent process with the health and communication issues. Story series have to start somewhere, and deadlines for publication have to be met, so it was decided Lazlo would lead off with the first book. I rewrote A FAMILIAR NAME one more time to make it work. But rest assured, you will be seeing Waxy, and all her other little friends eventually.
When you think about all this, it's truly amazing that a chance meeting 14 years ago by three strangers spread so far apart resulted in a brand new series of books for children and the adults who love them. That, my friends, is the beauty of the internet for bringing like-minded people together over the miles. Without this electronic way of reaching out to each other, I doubt we would ever have met. Nor would any of us have published these stories we work so hard at.
When you think about the enormity of all that; does a world where magic exists on a daily basis, chocolate and coffee fuel economies, creatures and beings of myth and legend caper together in places unknown, and good faces off with evil and actually wins every time, seem so far fetched? Maybe... just maybe... little dragons can talk and do very big heroic things that make human lives far more interesting and ultimately safer. I sure believe in them—don't you?
Now you know a whole lot more about were Lazlo and his friends came from. Don't let that spoil the magic for you. Once you get inside the covers of a COMPANION DRAGONS TALE, you don't ever have to leave their world again. You keep reading them, and we'll keep writing them for you.
~Nancy
I guess the short answer is... out of our heads. That's where most story ideas are born! But I think you have to understand the dynamics behind Companion Dragons Tales to really get a feel for how far we've come.
Roger, Lee, and I met online back in 1999/2000 when I became a moderator for the brand new Prodigy Internet's Books & Writing Bulletin Board. BB's, as we called the message boards of those days, were the kewl places to hang out online. They had the same cachet that social networking sites have today. We all had Prodigy Internet connections by then, and while Roger well predated us from the Prodigy Classic days, Lee and I discovered the BBs about the same way. Being avid readers, we noticed they had this interesting little list of 'communities' on the ISP homepage, and among other enticing groups, was the one we all joined. I came in to the B& W BB in August of 1999 after a stint as a gardening and landscaping moderator for Sierra (the software company). Roger was already there, having made the shift from Prodigy Classic. By October, I was a B&W moderator. Lee joined us around the turn of the year. We made a lot of friends there, and several of us still stay in touch.
I was still fairly new to the internet, having only gotten online for the first time the previous year. Roger had been an internet gypsy for a while, so he had presences on other BBs. It was very common back then for people to post under assumed names with 'avatar' pictures. Sometimes extra characters were added to tiny, insular BB communities to make them look busier than they were, and people had a lot of fun pretending to be someone or something different. One of Roger's most successful avatars was a sassy and precocious little baby dragon named Waxy, who told jokes and was just a regular pain in the rear. She often complained about a human housemate she called 'The Bubblehead' and trashed him terribly. People who met Waxy found her very entertaining, and so that encouraged Roger to write actual stories about her. Even after he revealed he was the genius behind the whole ruse, Waxy still remained popular. She still is with our Prodigy expatriates today.
Roger brought me into the Waxy stories on the early side, as sort of a collaborator behind the scenes. There's only a handful written that I had nothing to do with. That was kind of a natural outgrowth of our private correspondences via email or the occasional phone call, because inevitably story details for Waxy would work their way into any conversation. We found we worked well together when it came to bouncing ideas off each other, and while he had the bare bones of the plots and some of the scenes and dialogue down already, I added the rounding out details that brought her world to life. That lead to my editing and co-writing to fill out stories, and soon we had a regular exchange of manuscripts going on.
Eventually I added an avatar of myself to the Waxy stories, which is the predecessor to Nancy Bittergreen, the 'wordsmith witch' in A Familiar Name. Roger encouraged me to create a little dragon of my own, and thus Lazlo was born, Waxy's 'bestest friend ever'. Roger took on the dual roles in the stories as Roger The Woodworker, and Bubblehead, who is sometimes called Rusty, because not everything he does works out too well. His character went from a simple fall guy to someone a bit mysterious and elusive; when he's not tripping over his own feet! Like his creator, Roger/Rusty/Bubblehead is someone who wears a few different hats.
Now Lee and I had also been working together back in those Prodigy days. I had a forum of my own on the B&W BB system, called WRITING FROM HOME, which replaced that of a group who had left. I was very active all throughout the board, writing with the poets, sharing round robin stories, and critiquing novels with the book groups. I had an ongoing column on my forum about whatever happened to be on my mind at the moment, because journaling is a good writing exercise. I often wrote about the frustrations of trying to get published, and Lee responded regularly in kind. At one point, after a major health issue, Lee had some time on his hands while recuperating, and he offered to edit the book I was having trouble finding a market for. That was the beginning of a far more personal friendship off the BB, where we not only exchanged emails with annotated chapters in them, but grew to be close friends. Eventually Lee moved to Connecticut from Texas, and over time, we had Roger up from Florida for visits. We brought Lee into what is now the COMPANION DRAGONS TALES with both a human presence resembling himself, and dragon avatar named Kiri!
The crowning glory of those days for me came several years ago when I had my two 'bestest' writing pals together for the first time. The energy in that room as the ideas began to fly around was amazing! The idea of publishing the little dragon stories came out of those glorious two weeks together. Everywhere we went, everything we did while Roger was here, we chattered ceaselessly about what Waxy, Lazlo, Kiri, or any number of other little dragon companions might do, see, or react to. So many concepts came out of those days, I can't even begin to log them here. They will be the basis for many a book in this series.
One thing we were all certain of by then was somehow, some way, those little dragons must someday share their stories in print. They had become so much a part of our lives, they deserved that. Of all the things the three of us have written, it was the ongoing dream of a bunch of books about little dragons that brought us together as a team.
Lee was recuperating from a serious surgery back in 2007, so he started doing more writing. He was casting around for writing and editing gigs online over the next couple of years, and so in 2010 he was the first one of us to audition for and be picked up as a staff writer for Pro Se Press. Lee brought me in. Once I was established as someone who could at least tell a salable tale, I pitched the dragon stories to EIC and part owner, Tommy Hancock. He was very enthusiastic from the start, but being a small publishing company that rapidly burgeoned into something quite a bit larger over the intervening three and a half years, there were many projects and authors on the docket. We had to find just the right way to present a children's series to a growing readership that was comprised mostly of adults coveting fast paced action adventure tales. The dream stayed alive, but it had to wait for just the right time...
This is the time.
Roger's serious auto accident last year (2012) set Waxy's revamping for Pro Se back severely, as he was so seriously hurt I could not even communicate with him for many months. I spent some of my 'spare' time going over the stories, and rewriting a couple. The market for the books was evolving, and optimal lengths kept changing as well. Once Roger was at least able to read and speak to me occasionally on the phone, I sent him paper copies and we did our best to go over what needed to be done, but it was a choppy, inconsistent process with the health and communication issues. Story series have to start somewhere, and deadlines for publication have to be met, so it was decided Lazlo would lead off with the first book. I rewrote A FAMILIAR NAME one more time to make it work. But rest assured, you will be seeing Waxy, and all her other little friends eventually.
When you think about all this, it's truly amazing that a chance meeting 14 years ago by three strangers spread so far apart resulted in a brand new series of books for children and the adults who love them. That, my friends, is the beauty of the internet for bringing like-minded people together over the miles. Without this electronic way of reaching out to each other, I doubt we would ever have met. Nor would any of us have published these stories we work so hard at.
When you think about the enormity of all that; does a world where magic exists on a daily basis, chocolate and coffee fuel economies, creatures and beings of myth and legend caper together in places unknown, and good faces off with evil and actually wins every time, seem so far fetched? Maybe... just maybe... little dragons can talk and do very big heroic things that make human lives far more interesting and ultimately safer. I sure believe in them—don't you?
Now you know a whole lot more about were Lazlo and his friends came from. Don't let that spoil the magic for you. Once you get inside the covers of a COMPANION DRAGONS TALE, you don't ever have to leave their world again. You keep reading them, and we'll keep writing them for you.
~Nancy
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