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I'd like to welcome author Kandi Wyatt once again to my blog. We are both contributing authors to the new anthology Fantastic Creatures (free on Kindle).
Today we are celebrating the cover reveal of her newest book, the 5th book of her Dragon Courage series, Dragon's Posterity. Critics say if you are a fan of Eragon (which I am) you will love this series. 
About the book: Is there really a right way to braid leather? Ruskya doesn’t know anymore. Is it worth fighting over? Twenty-one winters ago, he was ready to take on the turquoise dragon rider, but now he fears facing his oldest son. Kyn, Ruskya’s youngling, wonders if he’s going crazy when an image begins haunting his dreams. Soon, he realizes it may be the key to helping not only Ruskya and his son Ardyn, but all younglings and their trainers as they adjust to growing up. Will Kyn be able to help Ruskya, Ardyn, and the other young riders? Follow your favorite characters from the exciting Dragon Courage series as they empower the next generation and give dragons to their posterity.  This is the first book in the series. Free on Kindle. Click here to get your copy.
I am new to the Dragon Courage series, so I asked Kandi to tell me a bit about it. I am a big fan of dragons, and I was curious as to how they are featured in this book. Are they monsters, beasts or characters in the story? Wyatt told me, "The dragons are good and benevolent, but there is a strain that are wild and free. They talk, and many have said that the dragons are as much characters as the rest of the humans."
You can learn about all of the books and how the whole idea began by going to Kandi's Website. 
If you're a high fantasy buff, you should check this series out and enter her giveaway! 
Even as a young girl, Kandi J Wyatt, had a knack for words. She loved to read them, even if it was on a shampoo bottle! By high school Kandi had learned to put words together on paper to create stories for those she loved. Nowadays, she writes for her kids, whether that's her own five or the hundreds of students she's been lucky to teach. When Kandi's not spinning words to create stories, she's using them to teach students about Spanish, life, and leadership.
Feel free to leave a comment for Kandi or me below!
To celebrate the release of the new book Fantastic Creatures: A Fellowship of Fantasy Anthology, several of the contributing authors have created a scavenger hunt with a terrific prize! We're giving away a Kindle Fire loaded up with fantasy novels by many of the authors with stories in this great new book! To participate in the scavenger hunt for your chance to win, all you have to do is visit each blog and collect the clues: numbers that are hidden in each post. At the bottom of this page is more information about how to enter.
Fantastic Creatures features 20 short stories, each one centered around a different creature found in mythology or lore. My story is "Mother's Night Out" and it features werewolves. 
To make this scavenger hunt interesting, we've all traded blogs. You can learn more about my story "Mother's Night Out" at author A. R. Silverberry's blog. Meanwhile, let me introduce you to Kandi J. Wyatt who has written a high fantasy story for Fantastic Creatures titled "Reviving the Sword". She shares her thoughts on how she combined character types to create an intriguing story. 
We’ve all seen the plot line: multiple strangers thrown together with one mission tying them together. One of the most famous and beloved is Star Wars. Luke, Leia, and Han never would have known each other if it hadn’t been for R2D2. Anime is filled with these tropes as well as role playing games. Having watched Sword Art Online, Angel Beats, My Lie in April, and Ano Hana over the course of the last year, I wondered if I could write a story where the characters were thrown together.
As I contemplated that idea, my youngest son came home all excited to lead us to a website to discover our personality type. My husband and I took a look. I discovered there were other people like me! I also found a world of in-depth information on personalities. The vague idea of throwing characters together took on a more solid form. What if I took personality opposites and made them work together? With that in mind, I began to think more about the story. A Sword A sword began to sing to me. I wanted a sword that was large, unwieldy, and yet amazingly smooth. I knew it was possible because when my husband purchased his Irish hand and a half long sword, we looked at the matching dagger. I saw it and thought, No way. That’s too big for me. Then I picked it up. The dagger floated in the air and fit my hand! That was what I wanted in a sword. I also knew if I was to describe fight scenes, I had to have a sword that I knew how to handle. My only experience is with a boken, a martial arts wooden practice sword fashioned off the katana. I needed to research. I spent an hour and a half up in my nineteen-year-old’s room. He has on display my husband’s Irish long sword, my matching dagger, and a myriad of other swords, knives, and daggers. He lovingly cleans them and keeps them presentable and rust free. When I came back downstairs, I sat down and drew Kingdom Defender. 
Some Characters
Having found the key player, I now needed someone to wield him. I went back to the website of the personality types. To my surprise I found one called Defender. The polar opposite of the Defender is Entrepreneur. So, my sword wielder was quiet, methodical, and loyal while the sidekick was one who lives for adventure. I then needed a third person. I chose a Commander. The reasoning for that choosing will have to wait until other stories come out, because my original story morphed and changed to fit a short story format. Suffice it to say, I had three characters with very distinct personalities and I had the research to be able to know how they would react in any given situation. A Hero Since I had a sword, I had to have someone to wield it. That entailed someone with hands. Since the story was in an anthology of fantastical beasts, I had to have a creature from mythology. That left me with a fairy, elf, goblin, orc, faun, minotaur, dwarf, or centaur. I asked fans for help and narrowed it down to a fairy or a centaur. The centaur won the vote and my heart. Next I had to figure out what kind of a centaur. I asked a student who loves horses and some friends for their input. The student without missing a beat said, Appaloosa. My friend said, Arab. So, I did some looking online and found the equivalent of an Arab Paint. I made the centaur red-headed after my student, and a girl to be different. I figured a red-headed, red and white paint Arab wielding a sword with a green jewel would look epic. She received her name from my daughter who found Alastriona on a website. 
Some Companions
The main companion who lives for adventure is a gryphon. Arnhyder, has left home to travel. He and Alastriona have traveled together for a while. He keeps her entertained. The third character is an elf, but not an ordinary elf. She’s more like an anime character, down to the Asian features. She came about due to the back story that developed, but fell out of use in the short story. In time, my readers will be able to hear the rest of the story and truly learn who Sagishi is. With Sagishi’s Asian background, the Elven language is based on Japanese. I thought it fit since I was writing an Anime fantasy. It was interesting figuring out what I wanted to say. I apologize in advance for slaughtering the language. First off, I did what I tell my Spanish students not to do and used Google Translate. I had it say the words. Then I transliterated them into phonetic English. 
I do hope you check out “Reviving the Sword” in Fantastic Creatures: A Fellowship of Fantasy Anthology. While you’re waiting to pick up your own copy, I have some coloring sheets that you can work on. They aren’t centaurs, gryphons, or elves, but my normal fantasy creature—dragons! They are all drawn by me and are free to print and color.
You can find them at http://kandijwyatt.com/downloads/dragon-to-color/ And please follow me at www.facebook.com/kandijwyatt 
Fantastic Creatures:
A Fellowship of Fantasy Anthology Here be dragons ... and selkies and griffins and maybe even a mermaid or two. Twenty fantasy authors band together to bring you a collection of thrilling tales and magical monsters. Do you like to slay dragons? Or befriend them? Do you prefer to meet cephalopods as gigantic kraken or adorable tree octopuses? Each story focuses around a fantastic creature from folklore or mythology, and they range from light and playful tales for the whole family to darker stories that may make you wish to leave the lights on. These stories carry the Fellowship of Fantasy seal of approval. While our monsters may be horrifying, you won't stumble into graphic sex and constant swearing. Perfect for the fantasy lover who can't get enough of mythical beasts. Get your ebook version for free at: Amazon Barnes and Noble Kobo and put it on your to read list at Goodreads
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D. G. DriverAward-winning author of books for teen and tween readers. Learn more about her and her writing at www.dgdriver.com Archives
July 2024
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Author D. G. Driver's
Write and Rewrite Blog
“There are no bad stories, just ones that haven’t found their right words yet.”
A blog mostly about the process of revision with occasional guest posts, book reviews, and posts related to my books.
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