My Journey and Excerpt by Dale S. Rogers

So, excited! Today is the first of my new feature for Young Adult or Fantasy Authors and Illustrators. Without further ado, let me introduce my guest post today. She is a Young Adult/Tween writer and an awesome person to to follow and be followed by on Twitter. Don't forget to read the excerpt from her story. I can't wait for more and wish you, Dale, the best of luck on your publishing journey. :o)

Dale S. Rogers

   

     Scratching chalk onto the blackboard of a high school classroom years ago, I might have thought about the knifing which occurred there shortly before I started student teaching.  I also might have wished I'd majored in Journalism or Creative Writing.  I still do.  

Happy Memorial Day!

  Yesterday, the day before Memorial Day, I needed to step away from the norm, you know. I told my hubby, Jake, I was going out and he offered to chauffeur me. ßAww. So sweet of him. Heck, yeah, I took him up on that offer. We sat in the car and buckled up. He roared the engine to life.

  “Okay. Where are we going?” He looked at me.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.”

  He pulled out of the driveway and drove out of our subdivision. When he got to the main road, he asked again, “Where do you want to go?”

  My answer didn’t change from the first time. We pulled up to a red light.

  “Quick, which way do we go. Come on, quick.”

All the Things I Wanted To Say, but never could say them

Before I could write what I wanted to say for this post. I needed my husband's permission. I knew he would say yes, but it was important to me because it's his story too. I have written this post a thousand times. Each time I have erased it entirely. It's not an easy topic. Being a writer, you have to answer what inspired you to write this novel. I always say dragons because of my name. And it's true to an extent.

I grew up as Jessica Dragon. It is such a cool name, but it didn't come without the occasional joke. I remember when I was in elementary school. A boy a year older than me was picking on my brother because he had a speech impediment that he grew out of by the way. I got very defensive and went and lit into this older boy. Well, after that, he called me fire-breathing dragon. That was a name I held dearly. I mean who would mess with someone named that. HA!

Redesign

My website for my book was anything but stellar. I really was a little ashamed to show it. Over the weekend, my hubby rented a video game, Driver. He was absorbed, so I decided to revamp my website.

Finding Fantasy Friday: Superheroes

When I say superhero, what comes to mind? Probably Superman or Batman or Spiderman. Then, you probably think of Christopher Reeve or Dean Cain, George Clooney or Christian Bale, and Tobey Maguire. Yum! Or maybe you think of Margot Kidder or Teri Hatcher, Kim Basinger or Michelle Pfeiffer, and Kirsten Dunst. So purty!

Anyway, according to Merriam Webster, superheroes are defined as people with extraordinary or superhuman powers. But this isn't true. Batman doesn't have superhuman powers. He had unlimited amounts of money to have any kind of technology he wanted and combat skills. So, I think Wikipedia's definition is more accurate,  "A superhero is a type of stock character, dedicated to protecting the public."


Okay. Okay. What does this have to do with Finding Fantasy in our everyday lives? Everything.

Why Portland?

This is a question that I get often. If you've read my novel, Meridienne Drake: Secrets of the Truth, you know that it takes place around Portland, Oregon. If you know me, you know I lived in New Orleans for most of my life and now reside in Houma, LA. Things in common between New Orleans and Portland: well, nothing. They really could not be more opposite cities. New Orleans is by day laid-back, historic, and old-fashioned, and by night it's partying, romantic, and good-eating. Portland is almost futuristic, stylish, and outdoorsy. Gotta love that there is a Starbucks on almost every block.