Something Dragonish This Way Comes!

Oh yeah, we have news...

Today I was asked to please provide a written scene description for cover art , as well as a back cover blurb, for the second Companion Dragons Tale, FINDING WAXY. Now this is a very special request, because Waxy dragon is the original Companion Dragon, a character created by writing partner and cherished pal, Mr. Roger Stegman. Waxy was originally scheduled to be the first release, but with Roger's serious auto accident back in 2012 and the massive amount of recuperation time involved, we got behind, and I had to bump Lazlo's story, A FAMILIAR NAME, up to the #1 release spot. So I'm really excited to see this story finally making its way toward publication.

              

I emailed Roger this morning for his input, and since he was heading to work, he said, go ahead and write it all up. You gotta love when people trust you that much with their stuff. I've been involved in helping to create Waxy's world and flesh out her stories since about the fifth one that got posted online, so our writing partnership goes back quite a way on this series. 

The original concept that became FINDING WAXY was no more than a few paragraphs of outline back in 2003. Here we are over 10 years later, and it's going to be a children's book that even adults will enjoy. It just goes to show you how persistence and believing in what you do can help open doors for dreams to come true. 

When I came on board with the Waxy Dragon stories, which now are just one part of the entire realm of COMPANION DRAGONS TALES, I knew we had something very special going on. People just seemed to love these little characters. Online, Waxy and Lazlo had not only a following, but folks would answer their posts and have entire conversations with them. Along the way we convinced fellow writer, Mr. Lee Houston Jr. to get involved, if for no other reason than he was missing out on all the fun. But always in the back of my head was a longing to bring Waxy and her little friends to a far wider audience. Now we're going to see that dream come true.

I will let you all know as soon as I get the go ahead that it's headed to the printer. But rest assured, Waxy is on her way. Knowing her like I do, she wouldn't have it any other way—except with some Bulgosian Dark Chocolate I suppose!

Stay tuned...

~Nancy

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

There's nothing I love better than having something brand new to tell you about...















Last fall I was asked by my publisher at Pro Se Press to submit a script for a cartoon short based on something in A FAMILIAR NAME, featuring Lazlo Dragon. What I decided to do, after researching how cartoons are written, was write a brand new little adventure for Lazlo. It was submitted as soon as I'd finished it, and I went on to other things. That's what writers do. This was so top secret at the time, I didn't even tell my co-writers, Lee Houston Jr. and Roger Stegman, about it.

Some weeks later, I saw a couple preliminary sketches and while that was exciting, I didn't put a whole lot of faith in the project ever seeing the light of day. There's plenty of ambitious projects in small press publishing that don't, because of budget issues or other things that just don't work out. While I kept it in the back of my mind, I continued with my other work, which included editing some Waxy Dragon short stories for a future anthology, and rewriting and expanding Copper's Choice into a full scale novella. Both of those should be submitted sometime later this year, with Copper getting the next CDT slot.

So you can imagine my excitement the other day when I received the below press release...

In the past year, Pro Se has reached out to other professionals, trying to take our characters into new directions, different media. Although a lot of those attempts don't proceed much beyond the discussion stage, some actually make progress. One in particular is a cartoon short that animator Eric Striler is putting together for us based on one of our Pro Se concepts. We are actually at the stage now that Eric has storyboarded the entire cartoon featuring Lazlo and Nancy Bittergreen from Nancy A. Hansen's, Roger Stegman's, and Lee Houston, Jr.'s COMPANION DRAGONS TALES and now we are seeking voices and putting the music together to move ahead. Enjoy a few of Eric's storyboards below and if You know someone who might want to participate in this project, email MorganMinorProSe@yahoo.com. This is an experience only project, no money attached to any of the participants at this point.

http://prose-press.com/

Wowza! That made my day! Exciting stuff, having a cartoon made of one your own creations. Based on the sketches below, I can't wait to see the final product.

So keep your eyes on this blog folks, and I'll let you know as soon as I have more news of this.

BTW, I hear FINDING WAXY may be out sometime in May. Good news for all of us, as Roger's little dragon and her faithful companion Rusty... er Roger... um, Bubblehead were the catalyst that started it all. 

Stay tuned!
~Nancy