Super Fun Vacation

I just got back from a great vacation to the Oregon Coast. The weather was sunny and cool, just perfect for time at the beach, boating on Devil's Lake, fishing, and attending a wonderful contracts and copyrights workshop. Here are some pictures. :)




Devils Lake where my son caught a beautiful (and tasty) rainbow trout.


The Beach Haven House we stayed at for a week.


The Newport Aquarium we visited.


The beach on a beautiful day. Not crowded. We had this whole section pretty much to ourselves. Flew a kite, built a sandcastle, found a bunch of seashells.


A sea otter at the aquarium. They were so very cute.

BYU Writer's Conference

This past week I attended the BYU Writing for Young Readers Conference. It was totally awesome. I got to attend a class taught by Tracy and Laura Hickman. I learned so much from them. We talked about the Campbell Monomyth and Dramatica Structure.

The other students in the class were terrific to work with and wonderful writers. I enjoyed every moment with them.

Here's a picture of me with Tracy and Laura and also a picture of my friend Janice Kidd with them as well.

Super Cool New Dragon Book

I'm super excited!

My friend, Clint Johnson's book is coming out the end of this week!!!!!

I've already gotten my hands on it, and it is an awesome book. For those of you who have read my books, Red Dragon Codex and Brass Dragon Codex, and loved them, you won't be disappointed with Clint's Green Dragon Codex. It has all the adventure, excitement, and lovable characters as other books in the series. I think I'd go so far as to say this is one of the best Dragon Codex books of all.

Here's Clint's announcement about his launch signing and more info about the book:

For those who don't know me, my name is Clint Johnson. My first nationally published children's novel, Green Dragon Codex, is releasing June 9th.

I just wanted to let you all know that my first book signing will be Saturday, June 6th, from 2:00-4:00 pm at the King's English in Salt Lake (1511 South 1500 East). I'll date all books as well as sign them, documenting that the signature comes from my first ever signing. I've included a press release about the book below.

For more information see my web site, http://www.clintjohnsonwrites.com/. If you know someone who might be interested, please forward this on.

Thanks! Clint

Green Dragon Codex
A huge new fantasy adventure with an even bigger question—
are dragons good or evil, and do they have a choice?

“So much fun to read…I love the humor in this book, the adventure, and the many twists and turns. And most of all I love the characters and how real they become. Highly recommended.”
---James Dashner, author of The Thirteenth Reality and The Maze Runner Series


Master scribe R. D. Henham is back, this time with assistant Clint Johnson, revealing another untold story of dragonlore: Green Dragon Codex (Mirrorstone, hardcover, $9.95, 978-0-78695-145-1). A playful romp mixing mystery and adventure in the best-selling Dragonlance realm, Green Dragon Codex makes real every child’s dream of having their own dragon—only this baby dragon comes with secrets, powerful enemies, and one terrible truth: he is destined to be evil.

The book follows Scamp Weaver, a boy too different, curious, and creative not to trip upon adventure some time in life. But when he discovers a dragon’s treasure chest it launches him upon a journey in which he, his brother Mather, and best friend Dannika debate whether an isthmus is where pirates bury their treasure, summon a chicken from other dimensions, and even drop a cow on a dragon—and in the meantime dare to address the basic question of good and evil: is our nature predestined or do we chose who we become, and can even dragons make that same choice?

Study and curriculum guides developed according to Granite District curriculum are available at www.ClintJohnsonWrites.com, along with chapter annotations, information on school visits and other resources for teachers, and much more. (Some material not available prior to release.)

Green Dragon Codex hits store shelves nationwide June 9th, 2009.

###
About the Authors:
R.D. Henham returns in a unique series on dragonkind, The Dragon Codices, a tie in to the New York Times best-selling A Practical Guide to Dragons. The author is a master scribe at the Great Library of Palanthas and (rumor has it) a wizard of terrifying power and unstable temperament who finds having a few ogres at hand useful.

Green Dragon Codex is assistant scribe Clint Johnson’s first published novel. He is a college writing tutor who has conducted over 2,500 individual sessions in his career, mostly with students who were not ogres at all. Mostly.

About the Book:Green Dragon Codex
By R.D. Henham (Clint Johnson)
Published by Mirrorstone
On Sale Date: June 9, 2009
Price: $9.95
Distributor: Random House
Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN: 978-0-78695-145-1

Evil Overlords of CONduit

Evil Overlord #1: Paul Genesse (seen here with me at our book signing)

Paul had his book release party for The Dragon Hunters on Friday night at the convention. In true Paul style he held it up on the 15th floor where he could look down through the clouds into the Void and ponder what winged monsters might come up to attack him. I feasted on Pizza, chocolate, and cookies while I waited in the eternally long line of his rabid fans waiting for a moment to bask in his evil overlordly presence (and get a signed copy of his book).

More Evil Overlords: Paul Genesse (again. He truly is evil), Howard Taylor, Dan Willis, L.E. Modesitt, Dave Wolverton.

Howard Taylor had his book launch party at CONduit as well. More pizza. More cookies. More chocolate. He even had this fluffy little eclairs that tasted like heaven. Two thumbs up from me. And his newest book. Scholck Mercenary: The Scrapyard of Insufferable Arrogance is terrific. I loved every page of it.

I really enjoyed Dan Willis's panel, On Writing. He had a lot of great material to share, and I can't wait to implement it in my own writing.

Dave Wolverton did the Main Address on Saturday where he talked about stories that appeal to the collective consciousness because of genetic memory. Way good stuff.

Late Saturday night a bunch of us got together, and I got to hang out and listen for scraps of wisdom from L.E. Modesitt. Truly an icon in the field.

On Saturday, I got to be on a fun panel about marketing YA/MG fiction with my editor Stacy Whitman and a bunch of my favorite YA/MG authors: James Dashner, Mette Ivie Harrison, Julie Wright, Dan Willis, and Sandra Tayler. We had a great time.

Sandra has a terrific new picture book out called Hold Onto Your Horses. The best picture book I've read in a while. Check out the website.

I also got to do a reading along with Aleta Clegg whose new book will be coming out soon. And then I got to do a book signing with Paul. A lot of fun there. Of course you never know what's going to happen when Paul is around.

Quite a memorable weekend.

I'm Doing a Reading

Great news. I'm going to be attending ConDuit this year Saturday May 23 at the Radisson Hotel, Downtown Salt Lake City, 215 West South Temple. Here's my schedule.

1:00 pm--Reading (From Red Dragon Codex and Brass Dragon Codex)
2:00 pm--Panel: How to publish and market your YA/MG book.
4:00 pm--signing

I'm pretty excited for this. Lots of my writer friends will be there. I look forward to a great convention.

Utah YA/MG Writers

I've been promising to put this list up for a while. Here it is finally. An incomplete list of Utah YA/MG writers in no particular order. Anyone that I've missed, feel free to speak up.

David Farland-Of Mice and Magic
Jessica Day George-Dragon Slippers
Brandon Mull-Fablehaven
Paul West-coming soon
Sydney Salter-My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters
Kristen Landon-Life in the Pit
Shannon Hale-Goose Girl
James Dashner-The 13th Reality
Tamra Norton-Comfortable in My Own Genes
Kristen Chandler-Wolves Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me
Katie Parker-Just the Way You Are
Jannette Rallison-It's a Mall World After All
Randall Right-coming soon
BJ Rowley-Light Traveler Adventure Series
J. Scott Savage-Far World
Rebecca Talley-Heaven Scent
Julie Wright-My-Not-So-Fairy-Tale-Life
Elise Rasband-coming soon
Anna del C. Dye-Trouble in the Elf City
Wendy Tolliver-Secret Life of a Teenage Siren
Bree Despain-The Dark Divine
Rebecca Shelley-Brass Dragon Codex
Clint Johnson-Green Dragon Codex
Paul Genesse-The Dragon Hunters

I feel very lucky to live in a state with such a great writing community. :)

Dragons Coming Soon!

The Dragon Hunters, Book Two of the Iron Dragon Series by Paul Genesse is set to release this May 15th. Two days and counting. I'm so excited.

In the first book, The Golden Cord, The Drake Bloodstone had to choose between protecting his own people and leaving them to pursue a perilous quest against the dragons. Both ways his life and very soul faced destruction as he tried to fight off the forces of evil.

In the second book Drake and an elite bank of dragon hunters take up the hunt for the evil dragon, Draglune. But danger and betrayal await at every turn. Friends could be enemies, and enemies might be friends.

I got to read a review copy of Dragon Hunters. It is even better than the first book. Paul has done a wonderful job of creating a complex and terrifying world.

For anyone living near Salt Lake, Paul's book release party will be Friday May 22 from 3:00-6:00 Pm at the Radisson Hotel Downtown in Salt Lake City, 215 West South Temple at the "Con Suite" located in the back of the lobby. The ConDuit Science Fiction & Fantasy convention will be going on in the hotel, but anyone can attend this release party as well as go into the art show or dealers room for free.

Hope to see a bunch of you there.