"I enjoyed this story and was entertained from start to finish. Ava was a fun character. I loved her bravery, courage and determination. She goes on quite the journey and I am happy to have taken it with her." Amy, Goodreads
Published: March 2nd, 2020
“Move the Stars” offers a sometimes-humorous, but always magical, story of 16-year-old Ava Stonebreaker finding and using her voice for the good of her world.
With Eddag Fen afire behind her, she journeys to her father’s home, at first fearing she returns to him with failure as her legacy. Bringing with her a half-blood fae, a star reader’s apprentice and news of storm stars closing in, she also carries hope. Fanciful creatures have encouraged her to seek out the giant dragons beyond Modric’s Pass. With spunky shoulder dragons and the endangered arabesque to whom she sings accompanying her, Ava devises and undertakes a daring plan to re-shake the world…and move the stars.
EXCERPT
The two friends lay quietly in the dark, both of them close enough to feel the almost silent hum of the two arabesque next to Ava and Strike.
“Now Celia doesn’t have to be the last of her race,” Ava whispered. “They have each other.”
Jayndor couldn’t reply. She quietly cried into her cloak.
“What’s that sound?” Goira asked.
“Nothing,” Ava said, wanting Jayndor to have her privacy.
Strike began to growl.
“Why’s the dragon growling?” Goira asked, hysteria building in her voice.
Devon already stood next to the shelf where he’d been resting. “Jayndor, help me.”
Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, Jayndor sniffled back her recent emotion. “I have Goira’s walking stick.”
“We need light, Strike,” Ava said.
With a sound like “gah,” Strike hopped to the edge of his shelf with Ava and spewed flame into the darkness. A pair of yellow eyes at the opening of the cavern glowed back at them.
Goira screamed.
“That’s not helpful,” Devon shouted over her noise, fumbling with a rock to use as a weapon.
Jayndor waved the walking stick at the eyes.
“More light!” Ava barked, reaching for the knife in her boot.
Strike flapped to sit atop a stalagmite-like tower of rock and spat a steady stream of flame toward the opening of the cavern where three wolves paced around one another. When Ava saw what they were up against, she gasped, nearly choking on the dust and air hitting the back of her throat.
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About the author:
Sandy Lender is a magazine editor by day and author of girl-power fantasy novels by night. You can check out her author page on Amazon or follow her facebook page at Fantasy Author Sandy Lender. She lives in Florida where she volunteers in sea turtle conservation and parrot rescue. Sandy Lender Ink Inc., headquartered in Central Florida, is her umbrella company for the copywriting, editing, and marketing services she offers. With a four-year degree in English and 28-year career in publishing, Sandy brings a deep understanding of public relations and journalism to a variety of projects. Her successes include traditionally and self-published novels, hundreds of magazine articles, multiple short stories in competitive anthologies, a couple APEX technical writing awards, a 2019 Imadjinn Best Literary Fiction Novel Award for her #MeToo novel She’s Not Broken, and a 2020 Pushcart Prize nomination for her short story Woman off the Grid. In December, she finally updated her website at www.SandyLenderInk.com and released her first non-fiction book “How to Train Your Human: a guide for parrots,” which she wrote from a parrot’s point of view. With a new publisher taking over her “Choices” series this summer, she’s launching the “Gentle Dragons” series on her own, starting with Ava’s story in Move the Stars.
Author's Giveaway
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I've loved dragons ever since I was a baby, watching Disney.. I am SO looking forward to this!!
ReplyDeleteGood Monday Morning! May the Fourth be with you all...
ReplyDeleteThank you, Amy, for sharing your kind words about "Move the Stars"! I'll be at work today, but I'll definitely try to check in again during a lunch break or EOD.
Mya Murphy, I wanted to "reply" to your comment, but I don't see this form letting me do that directly. I hope you see this. I've been in love with dragons forever, too! Allllll the many kinds. It was such a pleasure for me when my editor called me and wanted to talk about the shoulder dragons in Move the Stars. He loved them so we had this fun, positive talk about their movements and interactions. It was as if I could have them in front of me while I was on the phone...just surreal and fun.
ReplyDeleteWho is your favorite author? Congrats on the release.
ReplyDeleteI like this cover with the dragon up high (almost missed it). I love dragon stories and look forward to this read.
ReplyDeleteSounds relly great.
ReplyDeleteSounds good!
ReplyDeletethanks this sounds like an intersting book
ReplyDeleteI like the cover, it's intriguing.
ReplyDeleteHi there, Bernie Wallace. Thanks for chiming in today. My favorite author of all time is Charlotte Bronte--I even like her poetry. :) And then a couple hundred authors are tied for second favorite...
ReplyDeleteJulie Waldron, I'm glad you like the cover. It took some manipulating to get the silhouette of Ava not too skinny and not too sexy. So many pieces of art out there are lovely and "moody," but just have an edge that didn't fit Ava. This one fits her pretty well!
ReplyDeleteThank you all, again, for a lovely presentation here at Mythical Books. And thank you all for the kind and friendly comments! Everyone have a great week and stay safe & sane out there!
ReplyDelete"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Sandy Lender
This sounds like an interesting book.
ReplyDeleteWhich character was your favorite character to write for?
ReplyDeleteWould you ever like to see your book turned into a book or tv show?
ReplyDeleteWho are some of your favorite authors still currently writing?
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book. I like the cover.
ReplyDeleteThe cover is nice and the story sounds like a very good read. Best wishes to the author on the book.
ReplyDeleteSounds great! Thanks for sharing!
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