Some Updates...

Just popping in here for a few minutes to let you all know what's going on with the Companion Dragons Tales series. In spite of my rather sparse blog updates, work still goes on with this very beloved series of books for kids of all ages—even the ones that never grew up.

Today I finished working on the final story of the rough draft for next year's Waxy Dragon anthology. The book has three stories that were original concepts by co-writer Roger Stegman and I just took those ideas and flew with them. Roger has already seen the first two: Waxy In Atlantis and Waxy And The Bad Cookies, and approved them; and co-writer/editor Lee Houston Junior has been over them for me. Once I get Waxy And The Closet Monster in at least a semi-polished state I will pass it on to the guys and get their feedback on that as well. Then we can put the book together. For an anthology title I am leaning toward Mystical Magical Waxy. You're going to love reading about what misadventures everyone's favorite little rainbow striped dragon gets herself in and out of in this collection.

UPDATE: The Waxy anthology is finished and has been sent off to the publisher.

I have not heard yet anything about this year's proposed CDT anthology, Lazlo At Home being near to release, but I have had one other Pro Se Press anthology come out recently (see my other blog, WRITING FROM HOME for details on that) so I am hopeful still that we might see it before the end of the year. That CDT anthology contains four brand new stories of what happens when a witch who lives in a magical old house brings home a small blue dragon companion who just doesn't quite understand what he is supposed to do. Lazlo certainly gets into his share of mischief, but he has a talent for getting out of it too.

UPDATE: The Lazlo anthology has been moved up to early next year.

And remember, the first three Companion Dragons Tales books are still available, so if you haven't read any of them, please do because they are so much fun! These are books that the entire family can enjoy, easy enough for all but the youngest children to understand (and still plenty of fun anyway) and yet sophisticated enough to keep any adult entertained. You can find them on Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com in paperback and E-reader, and Smashwords in many electronic formats.

School is about to begin in most places, and your children, nieces & nephews, or grandchildren will be encouraged to read more, which is becoming a lost practice in this age of gaming on every electronic device or site. Why not give the kids in your life something they can enjoy and maybe even learn something from? Nothing fosters imagination quite like a good book—especially if you can use that electronic savvy to enjoy it. These little dragons will take them to places they never dreamed of, and at the same time they'll get to watch them learn about how to live in their world the same way human children do. I guarantee you won't regret it.

~NANCY
PS: I am now on Twitter, so if you'd like to follow me I'm @Nancy_H_Author
On Facebook I am simply Nancy Hansen but you should recognize the background as covers of some of my books. On Google+ I am also Nancy Hansen. Come on, lets be friendly! 

How About A Little Catchup?

 Ok, bad joke and silly pun, but that's what we're known for here in the CDT, so let's get caught up already!

First off, I hope you all have been enjoying COPPER'S CHOICE. The feedback I've gotten on the story has been very positive. Please if you've read it, A FAMILIAR NAME, or FINDING WAXY, take a moment and tell us what you think. We have room for comments here on the blog, and all three authors (Your's Truly Nancy Hansen, Roger Stegman, and Lee Houston Jr.) have FACEBOOK pages. Or you can always give a short review via the booksellers (like Amazon) or maybe on a reader's site like GOODREADS. Not only does that tell us what you liked and didn't like about the series, but it at least lets us know we're being read. Down here at the author level we don't get a lot of feedback that doesn't come directly from the readers. A few words is all it takes. The more you tell us, the more we know what you like and dislike and the easier other folks will be able to find our books. You are our readers, you're the reason we do what we do. Thank you for buying our books, but please, make your voices heard so that our publishers also know they've invested wisely in choosing our work for their catalog.

Now as far as what comes next...

I'm hoping to see LAZLO AT HOME, an anthology of Lazlo Dragon stories, come out some point this year. I haven't recently spoken with the publisher but that is what is next in the CDT queue. That little blue dragon with the big heart sure can get himself into some interesting situations! The manuscript and all other pertinent information that goes along with this one was turned over to Pro Se a year ago in early January, but I have yet to see a galley draft so I have no idea when it will be out. Trust me, I'll post as soon as I know something.

I've been talking lately with CDT series coauthor Lee Houston Jr. about where he is in the KIRI DRAGON origination tale. Lee's a bit swamped with other deadline projects right now, so Kiri had to take a bit of a back seat. It likely won't get finished let alone edited and turned into Pro Se this year, which it would have to be for a potential 2018 publishing slot. Don't worry, we will get Kiri into the series as soon as can be managed. In the meantime, we have plenty of other material to work with, so I told Lee to go ahead and do what he has to do to clear his writing calendar. We'll find an interesting substitute that will fill his slot. What I've seen of his story for Kiri looks amazing though, so I know that when the time comes, we're going to have something you'll all enjoy.

So I've been thinking about how best to fill that open slot, and since I already have a Lazlo Anthology in the wings, (Yeah that was a pretty good pun!) Waxy is due for one next. Fortunately there is a ton of written material to work with, since Waxy was the first of the Companion Dragons and her creator Roger Stegman wrote a whole bunch of story ideas involving her adventures. Pro Se headman Tommy Hancock has been hinting around for a while that he really wants to see one called 'WAXY AND THE BAD COOKIES' and so that will definitely become a central part of the anthology. I'm going to select a few more stories from Roger's stock of them and we'll work together getting them updated and ready for print. Waxy is such a fun character in that she has that universal sassy little girl attitude, but she really only sees herself as being misunderstood. She has adventures that most of us only dream about. I'm sure we'll come up with a stellar collection.

I hope that you'll all be patient with us here at CDT Headquarters while we keep doing what we love most—creating comical yet thoughtful action/adventure tales for kids of all ages. The best part of these stories is that they can be safely handed around the family. You're never too old for a daring enterprise in some strange location, amazing feats of magic, some goofiness, a little really scary stuff, and all the bad puns you can shake a stick at. Hang in there folks, there's more of that on the way!

 ~NANCY