by Resa Nelson
Astrid nodded. “Come back in three days, and we shall devise a way for such shoes to be made.”
As Lenore walked outside, she spread her arms in the sunlight as if embracing its warmth. She tossed her golden hair and laughed. She spun in place, dancing a few steps, but only a few. She waved goodbye to Astrid.
As Lenore departed, the feet upon which she walked left no footprints in the dirt path.
Astrid stared at the dirt and Lenore’s feet, which did not sink into the loose dirt. Instead, Lenore seemed to be walking on a thin cushion of air, her feet never quite touching the ground.
It was impossible.
Unless one walked on spirit feet made entirely of belief.
As Lenore encountered a new man on the road, her hair grew more luxurious and her face prettier.
This time, Astrid felt neither shocked nor embarrassed. She smiled fondly at Lenore. “Come back in three days, my friend,” she whispered. As Astrid walked back to her work, she glanced down at her own footprints, comforted by the sight.
She would never take them for granted again.
Books in the Dragonslayer Series (complete)
The Dragonslayer’s Sword (Book 1)
The Iron Maiden (Book 2)
The Stone of Darkness (Book 3)
The Dragon’s Egg (Book 4)
Books in the Dragonfly Series
(complete)
Dragonfly (Book 1)
Dragonfly in the Land of Ice (Book 2)
Dragonfly in the Land of Swamp Dragons (Book 3)
Dragonfly in the Land of Sleeping Giants (Book 4)
Books in the Frayka Series
(in progress) – scheduled for publication in Summer 2017
Look for the final series in 2018
Find out when books in the Dragonslayer World are available at http://resanelson.com/books/
Mystery Thrillers:
Our Lady of the Absolute
All Of Us Were Sophie
Resa Nelson’s Website:
www.resanelson.com
Check website for links to sellers other than Amazon.
Amazon Author Page:
Click here to go to Resa’s author page on Amazon.
If you’re willing to take a few moments and write a review of this ebook, it would mean the world to me. Your thoughts and opinions matter!
What reviewers say about the Dragonslayer series
“The Dragonslayer series is a must read for any fantasy lover.” – Delia, Wolf Majick blog
“I can't stress enough how much I appreciated having such a great main character – the book is worth reading for her alone.” – Kate, Epic Chocolate Factory blog
“This was a captivating story with an imaginative world full of interesting characters and a unique plotline that made it difficult to put this book down.” – Michelle, Beagle Book Space blog
“This medieval fantasy novel knocked my socks off – seriously! Resa Nelson is an amazingly talented author.” – Alexia, Alexia’s Chronicles blog
“The Dragonslayer's Sword is a unique and very thought-provoking novel. Resa Nelson focuses one young woman's journey to empowerment while fully entertaining fantasy fans with dragons and danger.” – Candace, Lovey Dovey Books blog
“Different, original, complex but easy to read, with lots of action and a really great world to spend some days in!” – Yiota, Splash of Our Worlds blog
“It's so unlike any other fantasy novel I've read, it's different and new.” – Ruby, Ruby’s Books blog
“With relatable, flawed characters, enigmatic dragons, a rich tale full of sword and sorcery, Resa Nelson has created a gripping tale that will hook you from the beginning.” – Yaz, Yaz’s Books ‘N Stuff blog
“This book wasn’t just about dragons and shape shifters [but also] about a young woman who rises above her circumstances and becomes her own strong independent woman.” – Tana, Passionate Book Divas blog
“One of the things that I liked best about The Dragonslayer's Sword was the plot … mainly because Nelson incorporates a lot of fantasy that I've never seen before!” – Katie, Katie’s Amazing Book Reviews blog
About the Dragonslayer Stories
My 4-book Dragonslayer series began as a single short story published in the premiere issue of Science Fiction Age magazine. The editor had read my story at a writers’ workshop, and he asked me to submit it for the magazine. Thrilled to know the story had found a good home, I moved on to the next project. As far as I was concerned, I’d written my one and only story about dragons and dragonslayers.
But then something unexpected happened. A couple of years after the story appeared in the magazine, Science Fiction Age ran a Readers Poll. One of the questions was fill-in-the-blank, and it asked readers to name their favorite story in the magazine’s first two years of publication. It never dawned on me that anyone would remember my story – two years had passed! And even if they recalled the story, how could anyone remember the title? So I never gave the Readers Poll a second thought.
The Dragonslayer’s Sword ranked 2nd in the poll, ahead of stories by Ben Bova, Lawrence Watt-Evans, and Tom Disch.
Holy cow, I thought. What just happened?
On top of that, a B. Dalton bookstore manager in Texas had written to my editor in search of help, saying that customers were coming into his bookstore and asking to buy my dragonslayer novel but he couldn’t find out how to buy it.
Novel? I thought. It’s just a short story!
At that point I realized all my readers are smarter than me. They were seeing something in the story that I couldn’t see. It took me about eight years to figure it out. (I know. I’m slow.) I decided I’d write a novel only if I came up with an idea I loved with my whole heart and could get excited about – otherwise, why write at all? Eventually, the idea smacked me in the face. Once I started writing the novel, its world began to unfold and I realized the story was too big for one book. That’s how one little story evolved into a four-novel series. I wrote a second short story in this world, and it was published in Science Fiction Age, too. This e-book reprints these two stories in their original form.
If you read the Dragonslayer novels, you’ll notice a few differences in some of the small details in the original stories, such as the location of Astrid’s village. These changes happened while I was expanding the Dragonslayer world.
And there’s more to come.
Each series in the Dragonslayer world is intended to stand on its own, but you’ll get the most out of them by reading in this order:
Series #1: The Dragonslayer series is a complete 4-book series.
Series #2: The Dragonfly series is a complete 4-book series that takes place 20 years after the Dragonslayer series ends.
Series #3: The complete 4-book Frayka series will be published in Summer 2017.
Series #4: The final series in the Dragonslayer world is tentatively scheduled for publication in 2018.
Thank you for reading my Dragonslayer short stories. I hope you enjoyed them.
Resa Nelson
http://resanelson.com/books/
Follow Resa on Twitter @ResaNelson