BIG changes to the Denicalis Dragon Chronicles

Greetings Denicalis fans! The end of summer 2010 is almost upon us and my, my, MY what a flash before my eyes it has been! I hope you all had some time off whatever it is you do the most - be it school, work, writing, etc! My vacation is coming up soon - I'll be taking some time off to be a part of the Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts! The Big E will be open for 17 days straight, from September 17th thru October 3rd. If you happen to be there during that time, make sure you stop by the Connecticut building on the Avenue of the States and look for the CAPA bookstore! I may not be there but be sure to check out the dozens of books on the bookshelves - ALL written by our talented Connecticut authors!

Now, I'd like to apologize for not updating this here blog more often. I'm incredibly busy doing LOTS of things! The most important of these is I've FINALLY finished book 4 in the Denicalis Dragon Chronicles! Dragon's Breath went live on June 20th and I'm seeing some wonderful feedback already! It's by far the most important book in the series - I've killed off a few characters ("Oh, no!") and introduced some others. It's double the size of The Prisoner, and weighs in at a meaty 540 pages! What a relief to finally have it done! Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), it is NOT the final book in the series. I'm about to start working on book 5 (as yet unnamed) and hope to have it out Fall 2011.

Other news!

I've created a few more websites, although some of them don't have a whole lot of info on them. I've got big plans and desires for them though - now if I could just find the time to organize what I want! Someday...

Check them out if you have a minute or five:

www.grizlegirlproductions.com - this site has "All things MJ Allaire" - books, ebooks (coming soon!), dragon towels and trinket cases, Denicals Dragon Chronicles t-shirts and more!
www.getkidstoread.org - I want this to be a site for both authors and teachers - where they come together and arrange school visits, etc to keep kids READING!
www.booksbyteenauthors.com - this site will feature books and short stories written by teen authors. Hopefully we can give a boost to those young authors who are out there!
www.bookateerpublishing.com - this site is MY new company site - and it's the site that will host my lastest publications...

Drum roll please??.....

Coming in September (but of course available for pre-sale NOW) - the first three books in my fantasy series - Dragon's Blood, The Prisoner and Dragon's Tear - are being printed NOW and will be republished under my own name, Bookateer Publishing! I'm hoping in the very near future to be able to offer publishing services to the many, many authors out there who are finding out just how hard it is to get published traditionally. We will offer cover design, galley design and editing. This should be up and running by the end of 2010! If you know someone who says "I've always wanted to write a book but don't know how to get published," please send them my way! Make sure they tell me they heard about Bookateer Publishing from THIS blog and I'll give them 20% off the publishing services (NOT to include book purchases)!!

If you'd like to see pictures of the new covers, go to my facebook page and check out my photo albums. 2010 has been a great year for me but I really can't wait to see what 2011 brings!

Enjoy the rest of your summer and make sure you keep reading!

Summerly hugs, MJ

Big E Book Sales!!

I recently had the honor and opportunity to spend three wonderful days in Springfield Massachusetts at the Big E the weekend of 9/19-9/21/08 and all I can say is what an absolute, totally WHIRLWIND weekend it was!! I'm still flying from it and am sure I will be for a while. I talked to so many people (readers, parents, teachers, etc), sold SO many books (although I did come home with some of each, which is a good thing because I've got some events coming up in the next few weeks that I'll need books for ... but the whole Big E event was just a wonderful experience!

My son was there with me part of that weekend, helping to move books etc as I needed to (THANK YOU, MIC!!!), and as we were heading out to the car at the end of my third day there, I looked at him and said, "I feel like I'm leaving my kids behind". He looked at me kind of funny and I explained that after selling as many books as I did, talking to teachers and librarians and parents about promoting reading, visiting schools, etc etc etc, and spending nearly 12 hours every day for THREE days straight just trying to make a difference..... I felt like I was leaving something really important behind (and if you think about it, I really was). Honestly I feel like my total experience at the Big E was one of THE most rewarding and accomplished things I've done since I started writing!!! And what's even cooler than that is even after three 12-hour days of go go go, talk talk talk, sell sell sell, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to go right back in there and just keep doing it!!! It's exhausting and very overwhelming at times, but damn, I just didn't want to leave!!!!

Debbie and Mike Kilday were two of our staple contributors & organizers of this year's event, and I want to just send a MUCH deserved shout-out to them both!!!! Debbie has been there every day since the beginning of the Big E and WILL be there every day until it's done, and her husband Mike has been there almost every day. After dealing with arranging books, logging the sales, etc during the day, they then go home and tally up all the sales from the day. Debbie is our full time cashier, which was ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!! I told her (and Mike) over and over again that the booth is BEAUTIFUL this year and having HER for the full-time cashier really makes it easier for the featured authors to talk to the public, make the sale, and move on to the next reader without having to worry about dealing with the $$.

At the halfway point for the Big E (around day 8), the book sales in our booth had surpassed how much we made last year total!!! Our readers ROCK!!!! I worked with Doreen Tango Hampton and Elaine Alexander on Saturday and we stayed very busy nearly all day. I worked again with Doreen on Sunday and we had an absolutely WONDERFUL time working together sharing many laughs, ideas, and just having a great time together.... thank you ladies!!!

We had a near record-breaking number of people who came to the Big E on Saturday, 9/20 - the weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, it wasn't too hot .. it was just a GREAT day!!!

As it turns out, I had a record-breaking weekend for my OWN sales as well! According to what I was able to keep track of (and I'm sure it was actually more but I'm not sure how much), I believe I sold 250 books between this weekend and the sales from books last week that were in the booth before I got there!!!

WOW!!!

I had new readers who bought the set of three books in my series as well as readers who were looking just for book three, Dragon's Tear. I had anywhere from 8-year olds to retired grandparents buying books ... and all I can say is thank you to my readers, the parents, teachers, librarians, etc that I talked to this weekend!!! You guys ALL made my weekend one of the most memorable experiences of my life!!!

As I look back, all I can think of is what an experience it was!! I'm still flying after talking to a woman who said that the books are very hot in her school right now - (she was actually very surprised when she realized I was the author lol.) I asked her where her school was and she said ALBANY, NEW YORK!!!! I told her that I've never been there and she said, "Well, your books are there and the kids LOVE them.".....

WoooooooooooooooooooooHooooooooooooooooooo!!!! And to quote my good friend C.L. Freire.....

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!

A funny thing from this weekend .. I spoke to a woman and her husband yesterday who said their daughter was really disappointed that she couldn't be there to meet me, but she wanted to buy my books for her. I asked her how her daughter knew me or heard of me and she said she works at BORDERS IN SIMSBURY, CT (which I've been to about 4-5 times doing book signings LOL) and she's been wanting to meet me but always has to work or something else gets in the way ... so they bought her a set and I signed them for her ...

OMG OMG OMG!!!

At 6 pm on 9/21 it was the end of mine and Doreen's shifts and two new authors came in to be the featured authors. I decided to sign more books to leave since they'd been such a hit, and I was standing in the back of the booth. As I looked around every so often, I would notice someone looking at my books on the shelf and of course the marketing/selling side of me MADE me go talk to them (LOL) to let them know I was the author and which was book 1, book 2, etc. I was thrilled when I actually sold a copy of book 1 (Dragon's Blood) to one lady when she saw her 10-year old wanted it and then she said she would get the other two from me but had to wait for him to wander off to the lego place before she could. I told her if she didn't get the chance, here is my business card with my info on it and she can always call/email me and I'd be happy to sign them and mail them directly to her. Now that I think about it, I did that a LOT while I was up there ... :)

If you look in my pictures here on MySpace (http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=287280218&albumId=934345), I created a Big E 2008 photo album where I've put some pictures from yesterday when it finally slowed down for five minutes. My books were on the top of the brown bookshelf as soon as you walk into the booth. Indiana Jones was COMPLETELY made out of legos .. and I just had to get a picture of him. He was really amazing!!! I can't imagine how much time and legos it took to make him!!!! Kudos go out to the lego builders, too!!!

Well, the weekend is gone and today I have to go back to work. I just wanted to share my Big E experiences with you and tell you that if you're an author out there struggling to get your books out there, you CAN make a difference and it CAN be done!!!! Do everything you can to get your name out there!! If you'd like info about our CAPA group, visit the CAPA website at www.aboutcapa.com or email me at mjallaire@sbcglobal.net and I'll be happy to share anything I know. My next blog will have some info in it about what I do to get my books "out there"... so stay tuned for that!!

I actually got to go back to the Big E one more day .. 9/27/08 .. and managed to sell another 93+ books!!! So that brings my total to close to 400 books sold over a 17 day period (I was only there 4 of those days) and I believe I'm going to end up being THE TOP SELLER for the duration of the Big E!! If I didn't make the top seller, I will be very surprised ... and am sure I made the top three. What a wonderful feeling it is, to finally see the books that I've put my heart, soul and years of my life into finally getting "out there"!!! Mega thank you's go to those of you who took the time to stop and talk to me, and of course to those of you who actually bought one or more of the books!!! THANK YOU!!!

Also, infinite kudos to Debbie & Mike Kilday, the ENTIRE Capa BIG E Committee, and all those wonderful Connecticut Authors who are participating in the EXCELLENT and HUGELY SUCCESSFUL event this year!!!

Today is the first day of fall, so get out there and enjoy the cooler weather, make sure you ALWAYS have a book with you, and as always,
HAPPY READING!!!

Hugs from me to all of you,
MJ

Discounted Price on YA Fantasy Books!

I'm a YA fantasy author and am currently in the middle of writing a series of books for young adults. My target audience is 8-15 year olds, but I've also had adults (anyone with an imagination, really) read and enjoy the books as well. If you'd like to see more info about me or my books, google MJ Allaire or visit the following websites, http://www.mjallaire.com/ or www.myspace.com/mjallaire.

Do you have any teen readers in your household? Do they devour books almost as fast as you can buy them? Well, even though it's the middle of July, it won't be long before the holidays are here, and this year more than ever, the economy will force many of us to count pennies more than we ever have before. Doesn't it make sense to start thinking about that holiday shopping for those young readers as early as you can? Maybe by starting earlier, it won't be quite so painful when those pennies are stretched!

As a single mother of three, I'm already thinking about my holiday shopping. Because of this, and because I'm striving to make a difference to the young readers in the world, I've decided to offer my books at a discounted rate for a limited time!!

In celebration of the recent release of my latest book, "Dragon's Tear: Denicalis Dragon Chronicles - Book Three", I'm now offering all three books at a price that is SLASHED from retail price! The books currently retail as follows:

Dragon's Blood: Denicalis Dragon Chronicles - Book One ... $15.99
The Prisoner: Denicalis Dragon Chronicles - Book Two ......... $16.59
Dragon's Tear: Denicalis Dragon Chronicles - Book Three .... $16.99

That's a total of $49.57, not including shipping!

For the rest of July, you can get your very own set of the first three books in my YA fantasy series for the low, affordable price of $35.00 (plus shipping)!!

That's NEARLY $15 OFF the retail price!! That's almost like buying two books at retail price and getting the third one free!

Shipping will be an additional $5.00, media mail. I will accept paypal (my paypal id is grizlegirl@sbcglobal.net) or a check, but your check must clear before I'll ship the books. I'll be happy to sign the books for you if you let me know who to sign them for.

If you'd like to see some of the comments left by readers, visit the books on Amazon and read for yourself! The Denicalis Dragon Chronicles will take you into an adventure filled with magic, dragons, and a quest to save an unfamiliar world from an evil sorcerer!

If you'd like to take advantage of this special offer, please contact me at grizlegirl@sbcglobal.net! This special is only good for the month of July, so don't hesitate to contact me!

I look forward to hearing from you!

Happy reading and happy summer!

MJ Allaire

First Sale of Dragon's Tear!!!

Hi all,

Well, 4 days after "Dragon's Tear: Denicalis Dragon Chronicles - Book Three" went live on amazon, I had my first sale!

http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Tear-Denicalis-Dragon-Chronicles/dp/1434364313/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209427922&sr=8-4

I'm so thrilled it was purchased so fast .. I really think this book is going to be a great seller!!!
Woooooooooohoooooooooooo!!!!! Two copies of "Dragon's Blood: Denicalis Dragon Chronicles - Book One" also sold over the weekend on Amazon, but it just wasn't as exciting as THE FIRST SALE of a newly released book!!

I'll keep you posted on things, just wanted to share!!

Hugs and happy reading!!!
MJ Allaire, YA Fantasy Author

MY Self-Publishing Challenges

Well I'm sitting here looking at what I believe to be the final product of the cover for my third book and decided to put down some of my thoughts...

I'm finding that although the writing process is quite a journey, the PRODUCTION process is an event to be remembered as well!

I publish through AuthorHouse. Once they receive my manuscript, they set an appt to have a design meeting, where I talk to someone about what I want in the galley (the guts of the book, like what type of picture I want behind the chapter headings, the font type, etc). Then we talk about the cover. They ask what I want on it ... I tell them key points of the story, and then they give it to their graphic artists to hopefully come up with what's in my imagination.

Well...

I told them for "Dragon's Tear", I want a dark body of water, like a lake, at night with a full moon rising in the sky and reflecting on the water. I want a large, white, ghostly dragon as the main picture, and a SAPPHIRE BLUE tear-shaped gem in place of the "o" in the title word "Dragon's". I think they did a good job with the water and the moon, but their first dragon was NOT white and was just plain UGLY!! (A picture of their first attempt is currently in my myspace account .. www.myspace.com/mjallaire .. go into the "pics" link, then "author pics" to see all the covers of my books). Their gem is also kinda purpley, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE the color purple, but it's supposed to be stinking BLUE!! I guess the way it is now it's mostly blue and the purple highlights the cuts in the stone ....

The deal with AuthorHouse is they'll design a cover for you... if you don't like it, they'll take one more stab at it for free. BUT!!! If you DON'T like their second attempt, they will charge you for each future attempt. When I rejected the first cover, I knew that this next one had to count...

And I got lucky, because personally I LOVE it! I think out of all 3 covers (again, all pics are currently on myspace if you follow the path above), this one is definitely the BEST!!
So now, I'm waiting to sign off on the cover, and I also have to see (someday ... whistling impatiently here) the galley (guts) of the book. Once I see it, I’m really hoping the galley will be fine and I will sign off on that, too. From that point, I'll have to set the price for the book, and THEN... and THEN... in about 10 days, the book should go LIVE on the AuthorHouse website!!!

In the contract I have with them for this book, I will receive 30 free copies of the book from them. Once I approve the cover and galley, I'm going to go through a company called iconix.biz to get about 300 copies printed, so I'll have them onhand to sell at schools etc. Can the clock move ANY slower????

For me, the writing is a challenge at times (I suffer from writer's speedbumps just like every other writer I know), and the marketing is definitely challenging and never-ending, but one of the hardest yet most satisfying parts of the production process is the time in between approving the cover & galley and finally getting that VERY FIRST book in my hands. It seems to take decades but in actuality is really only a matter of weeks. And it's not like I don't have a bazillion other things on my plate to keep me busy, but it is what it is. I know I have fans out there who are just as anxious to get a copy of the book as I am, although their reason is slightly different from mine... and I'm learning that one of the most satisfying feelings is being able to give them what they want...

Can someone move the hands on the clock forward about 300 rotations, please?

Anxiously awaiting the next step,
MJ
YA Fantasy Author

LIVE interview for YA Fantasy Author MJ Allaire!

Hi all!!

Friday night, 3/14/08, I had the opportunity to be interviewed LIVE by a group of wonderful people who put on a local cable show every two weeks called Planet Access. I worked a full day at my "day job", then drove just over an hour to get to this place (for the record, I didn’t get home till midnight!!!).

From the moment I got there I was VERY comfortable talking to Catherine, one of the hosts of the show, and then Matt, the other host, showed up and I was just as comfortable talking to him as well. I had a GREAT time while I was there and really enjoyed talking to them. As soon as they edit the interview and post it on YouTube, I’ll post the link on here for any of you who want to take a gander.

The BAD news about Friday night is that, while I was there, I lost my wallet. I’m pretty sure I lost it in the studio and by the time I realized it and got back there to see if anyone was there, they had closed up shop for the night. I’m hoping that someone tucked it away for safe keeping and I’ll find out maybe on Monday or Tuesday that they have it. I called the studio and left a voice mail on Friday eve about my predicament and one of the guys called me back Saturday morning and said that he couldn’t see it. But because it was the weekend I’m hoping that someone has it and they are just unreachable until tomorrow. What a pain in the butt! It had all my credit cards in it (for 4 separate accounts, which is another story), my license (of course), my medical card, gift cards to home depot AND walmart (OH, DISCORDIA!!) and about $100 in cash, among other things that I’m sure I’ll remember over the next few days ..... Ayeeeeeee!!!
Anyway, below is what Matt posted on their blog this morning (http://sagejester.typepad.com/planet_access/2008/03/mj-allaire-auth.html) and below that is what I posted as a comment... Enjoy!


MJ Allaire, author of the Denicalis Dragon Chronicles, visits our show!

Yes, on Friday March 15th (Einstein’s Birthday!), we had writer MJ Allaire as a guest on our show. She is the writer of Dragon’s Blood and The Prisoner, the first two books in her Denicalis Dragon Chronicles. We talked about the book series which is a fantasy series directed at 8-15 year olds. Of course, there are no age limits to the books as we had much fun reading them. :)
We also discussed self publishing. MJ had some great insight into the process. She talked about her situation and the freedom self publishing gave her. It is hard work promoting a book on your own, but MJ has come a far way in getting her series out there.

Although I stumbled quite a bit, and we had our usual technical difficulties (LOL) we all had a good time. The Record Journal even stopped by and got photos for an article they did on us! Clips of the show will be up as soon as we get them edited.

Thank you again MJ for stopping by and making for a great evening. If any of our viewers are interested in learning more about MJ and her books (including how to purchase them), please check out: www.mjallaire.com

Your Host,Matt

Comments
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Hi Matt! I just wanted to thank you, Catherine, and the entire crew for bringing me on your show Friday night and giving me the opportunity to talk about my writing, my experiences, and most of all, my books. My books began as a single book, and since I began writing in 2005, it’s been QUITE a journey! In my heart I believe my books CAN make a difference for young adults and their joy of reading, because I’m providing them with believable characters, mystery, adventure... and if you like magic and dragons, that too!

Currently I have 2 books physically out in the series, "Dragon’s Blood" and "The Prisoner". Book 3 in the series, "Dragon’s Tear" is due out in April. I’m hoping to have book 4, "Dragon’s Breath" out by Thanksgiving/Christmas this year and book 5 (still unnamed) out by next summer. Right now plans are to have 5 books total in the series, but since I write a paragraph at a time, there are no guarantees as to how side-tracked I might get between here and there!
I had a BLAST while I was there... you guys were a bundle of fun and I would not hesitate to come back if I happened to be invited ;)

If anyone has any questions about my books, my writing, or would like to get a personally signed copy of one of my books, please don’t hesitate to contact me at mjallaire@sbcglobal.net! I’d LOVE to come visit schools to talk to kids, or go to libraries to talk to anyone interested in reading or the writing process!

Thank you again, and I’ll let you know when "Dragon’s Tear" is available!
Happy reading!MJ Allairewww.mjallaire.comwww.myspace.com/mjallaire

As a side note, I went last week and had a mammogram and ultrasound and they found absolutely NOTHING wrong, so that's a biiiiiiiig weight off my shoulders!!!! Now if I could just find my wallet ......

:)

Disturbing News

Hi all,
Well, I went to the doctor for my yearly girly exam, not expecting very much because I've done them faithfully like a good girl, but it turns out I received some disturbing news... the doctor felt a lump in one of my breasts. So now on top of everything else I have going on in my life (raising teenagers on my own, working a fulltime job, promoting the 3 books I have published in my series and trying to start the 4th), I now have to make some room on my ever-shrinking plate for this and everything it entails...

The first thing I thought of is my kids and that I don't want them to have to finish growing up without a mother (they're 18 1/2, almost 17 and 14 1/2), especially since they've been with me almost their entire lives (their father is in the Navy and was never really around much because of his job, and now that we're divorced, it's much less).

I know the discovery of a lump doesn't mean that I have breast cancer, but of course when you find out something like this, the first thing most people do is think the worst, and I'm no exception. When the news really sank in, my thoughts began to spin wildly and probably irrationally.. I'm afraid of what this whole thing might mean, and that i might have to leave my kids before I'm ready (but then again, are we ever ready?). I've only been writing for a few years, and I love knowing that children are really enjoying my series and are waiting anxiously for the next book to come out. I have dreams that I want to live still, but I'm afraid that now they will just slip away...

I want to take my kids on a trip to Hawaii (which probably won't be until they're adults, but that's ok because they'll remember it better).. to show them where they were born, and the island (Oahu) that we lived on for 10 years before we moved to Connecticut...
I've never been on a cruise, and desperately want to go on that cruise to Alaska I've been talking about going on to see the beautiful scenery and finally get up close and almost personal with grizzly bears (my favorite animal)...

And I want to finish my series, to finish what I've started, and if this goes as well as I'm thinking it will, I have more books that I want to write! I want more than anything to continue making a difference in kid's lives...

And I'm terrified of not knowing what to expect and what this could mean ...
First I have to go get a mammogram and an ultrasound, which will tell us if there needs to be surgery and other steps to the process that I don't even want to think about yet ... but for now my mind and my heart are overwhelmed with it all...

I don't have breast cancer in my family and I DO NOT want to be the one to start the trend ...

An important thing I learned today is this... All it takes is a simple second of your life to help you to realize how truly mortal you are...

Enjoy every day, don't take anything for granted, and make sure you tell those special people in your lives how very much you love and cherish them EVERY day!

I'll update you as I find out more information about where this fork in my path of life is taking me...

Scared but willing to fight hugs, MJ

Happy New Year!! Ready to Read??

Well, I've got good news! I've finally finished with the first draft of Dragon’s Tear and now am in the process of reading through it a final time in an attempt to make it error free!!! I'm hoping to submit it to my publisher this coming Monday. Hopefully, things will move smoothly with the production process and it will be live by the end of March!

I love how Dragon’s Tear has turned out … I definitely think my writing is improving the further I get into the series!

This book is set up a lot like book two, The Prisoner, where there are chapters within sections. I’m planning on starting book four soon, probably by the end of January, in hopes of having it out for Thanksgiving this year!

The series is heating up as the children move farther east… will they succeed in finding the final amulet? They’ve found two but there’s still one missing. And if they find it, will they return it to the dragons? Before they get to that point, however, they must first face one of the two evils that lurk in the world of Euqinom!

On that note, enjoy your week and make sure you take the time to tell those close to you how much you love them… and of course, read read read!!

Happy reading and Happy New Year!

MJ

Another Happy Reader's Thoughts...

I received this from a reader named George, who lives in Meriden CT and found my books after an article was published in The Record Journal over the summer (2007)...

Hi,

I have completed book one and am starting book two, The Prisoner. I am quite interested in the release date of book 3. When I finish each book I send it to a granddaughter in California.

Very entertaining and fun to read. Well done. I actually felt myself straining when the girls lost the ring and was quite relieved when they recovered it. I am definitely "in the story."

I hope your success with this series is beyond your dreams.

Sincerely,

George B [Meriden, CT]

(I emailed George back and let him know that book 3 in the Denicalis Dragon Chronicles series ("Dragon's Tear")is expected to be released in the Spring (March/April) of 2008. Updates on this will be posted here and on my personal website, www.mjallaire.com!)

Thank you, George, for your input on the series! I appreciate any and all feedback that I get, whether it's good or bad.

Keep on reading, because reading IS the doorway to the future!!

Regards, MJ

Comments from a Happy Young Reader!

I have this posted on my website ..

My name is Natalie B. and I am 10 years old. A week or two ago my neighbor Don L. told me that his friend published 2 books. He also said that I might like them. He had bought the first one already and let me borrow it. I loved it. Soon I got my own copies of both the books. I just finished The Prisoner this morning. (By the way I loved what you wrote at the beginning of the books!) Is Little Draco the dragon that Zacharus talked about in his story? Is the human prisoner Tonia, Micah, and Nicho's Dad? What about the beargon that "destroyed" Uncava? Is Muscala going to hurt the children?!?! I just hope that a few more of the questions are answered. I can't wait for the next book!

My response to Natalie:

Natalie, you are one of the reasons why I love writing .. I love making a difference to young people, especially in today's tough and fast paced world...

I'll get Book 3 in the Denicalis Dragon Chronicle series out there as soon as I can, but until then, make sure you keep on reading!!!

MJ

Greetings!!

Greetings, fellow readers, writers and fans of literature! My name is MJ Allaire and I am a young adult fantasy author. I currently live in Southeastern Connecticut with two of my three children (my oldest son, Nick, has recently left the nest!), Mic & Toni. For the record, we also have 2 cats (Ragu and Fluffy [who we lovingly refer to as "the fluffinator" because she's just a sweet, rolly polly Maine Coon Cat]) and one dog (Rascal, but you don't want to know what we lovingly refer to him as, besides "Knucklehead"!)

I've lived in Connecticut now for 10+ years and love it! I'm originally from West Palm Beach, Florida and joined the Navy in 1985. I was stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where I met and married a submariner. We ended up staying on the island of Oahu for 10 1/2 years before we finally got stationed in Washington, DC for 5 months, then we transferred to Groton, CT. I'm now happily divorced and trying to raise my children as best as I can, striving to provide them with a safe environment and the important tools they will need when they (finally) fly from the nest.

I've always loved books and reading but never really considered myself a writer. I grew up reading Nancy Drew, Stephen King, and one little book called "Frosty - A Racoon to Remember", which was my absolute favorite as a young girl.

I decided to write my first book, "Dragon's Blood: Denicalis Dragon Chronicles - Book One" for my oldest son, Nick. I'll admit that when I first began writing, I had absolutely NO idea what I was getting myself into, but as I look back now, I can see that I've come a long way and learned a heck of alot! Being a writer is definitely a challenge, and there have been many, many days that I considered quitting, but I've never really considered myself a quitter. I also firmly believe in raising my children by example and I'm bound and determined to keep plugging away, no matter how discouraging it may seem!

I wrote and published "Dragon's Blood" and its sequel, "The Prisoner" in 10 months (each), but I've found that between raising three teenagers, marketing two books via book signings or appearances, playing volleyball when I can, working a full-time job (graveshift, no less, for almost a year, but thankfully I've been on days and back with the living for the past four months) and trying my best to maintain some form of sanity in our household, I don't have much time (or energy) to write. I've just finished working on Book 3 in the series, which is titled "Dragon's Tear: Denicalis Dragon Chronicles - Book Three", and I'm expecting it to be live and available around the end of March, early April 2008!

If you want to find out more about me or my books, please visit my website at www.mjallaire.com or my MySpace site at www.myspace.com/mjallaire. If you're a middle school teacher or someone who knows of a group of young adults who might enjoy having me come talk to them in New England, please contact me! I have found it's very fulfilling to talk to young adults and watch their faces light up as they tell me about the books they've wanted to write, are trying to write, or have read! Reading is so very important to everyone, but especially to our future generations.

Happy New Year to all, and read, read, READ!!!

Regards, MJ Allaire
www.mjallaire.com
mjallaire@sbcglobal.net