Resolutions only make a difference if you know you can keep them. A word for the year is only as good as the person with insight into the new year. And really, will your circumstances change just because the year on our date changes?

I’ve been there and done that, but this year, I’m instead looking to the one who holds time in his hands. The one who filters every heartache, hardship, and happiness through his fingers. And like in 2021, I’m reaching my hand up to Daddy’s and asking him to hold me through this new year.

A song that has been dear to my hear this week is this one. I woke up yesterday morning instead of singing “He will hold me fast” I had the words, “He will hold my hand” going through my mind.

Not sure what I meant by 2021 and holding Daddy’s hand? You can check out my piece “Daddy’s Girl” in Finding God in Anime: vol 2. (Just click the image).

So, here’s an excerpt from the early section of the book.

A frosty morning

When Ruskya and Kyn exited the abode the next morning, a heavy fog hung in the air so that the top of the canyon could not be seen. A thick layer of frost crunched under their feet. Each blade of grass seemed to be enlarged three times or more with tiny hairlike particles; it was as if each flake of ice built on the next to create miniature castles.

The riders went about their normal morning chores and training, but over it all hung an air of anticipation for the time when Ruskya would go to Caravan Canyon to meet with Kyle and the woman who wanted to be a dragon rider. Duskya had a bad feeling about the whole thing and tried to talk her brother out of going, but Ruskya was adamant. She opted to follow him with their mental link. Glendyn had decided that he and Kyn would wait at Meredyth’s abode. Her place was the closest to Caravan Canyon they could get without freezing or drawing unnecessary attention. They arrived just before the midday meal.

Meredyth greeted them with hugs. When she heard that Ruskya couldn’t stay but needed to go to Caravan Canyon to meet up with Kyle, she quickly set about making a snack and fixing tea that she poured into a container wrapped with skins to keep it warm. Ruskya thanked her and headed back out into the cold.

The fog had lifted, but still hung from the sky as low clouds. The frost clung to the sagebrush and grass, but the slightest wind would create a small blizzard. The cold sucked the breath away from the young rider, and he drew his furs tighter. He was glad his ma had fixed him some of her tea. He had tucked it and the snack she had given him away under his cloak where they would stay out of the cold.

Ruskya made it to Caravan Canyon in good time. He looked around for the others, but didn’t see them. He wasn’t sure if he was early or not. He waited a few minutes and then heard some voices coming up the canyon toward him. He walked toward them and found Kyle and the woman just arriving from Woolpren.

“You made it here. Good,” Kyle remarked. “I wasn’t sure if you would when I didn’t see you in Woolpren.”

“You said to meet here at the canyon,” Ruskya replied, “so that is what I did. I haven’t been here long.”

“So, where is this dragon rider of yours?” the woman inquired.

“I don’t know,” Kyle said, pulling the hood of his cloak closer around his face, while looking around as if the rider would materialize out of thin air. “He said to be here. He should be here.”

A Dragon Rider Appears

Ruskya decided to watch his companions for signs of anything amiss. Neither of them seemed to have picked up on the presence further out of the canyon. He figured that if he watched Carryl and took his cues from her, he would appear normal. A few minutes later, he noticed a sparkling frost fall upon the edge of the canyon behind them. Ruskya repositioned himself so that he could watch that side of the canyon without appearing to do so. Carryl noticed the shift and looked around. Her sharp eyes picked out the frost shift, also.

“Is someone coming?” she asked.

“Where?” Kyle asked, looking back the way he had come into the canyon.

“I don’t know,” Ruskya answered truthfully. He didn’t know if there was someone with the dragon.

An uneasy silence hung over the group as they watched around the canyon. Ruskya’s dragon senses saw the person first and flared away immediately; this was someone who would recognize dragon senses being used on him. Ruskya knew it was a man and that he was strong. He seemed different from Glendyn or any other rider Ruskya had met or felt. He immediately moved to guard his thoughts and his dragon senses.

“What was that?” Glendyn asked.

“It’s the rider,” Ruskya carefully called. “Do you think he can hear this?”

“No, Ruskya,” Wyeth answered. “No matter how strong, another rider cannot hear a dragon’s communications with his rider. Talk only to me. Glendyn can still watch through your thoughts.”

“Okay,” Ruskya answered shakily.

“Courage, young one,” Wyeth called. With his dragon’s words, Ruskya felt strength return to him as if he had just received dragon courage breathed on him.

“There,” Carryl whispered, “there’s a person coming down the ridge.”

“Where?” Kyle demanded, sounding loud compared to Carryl’s whisper.

Ruskya noticed the look of offense that Carryl sent toward the other man. She almost held him in contempt.

Before she could say anything, Ruskya replied, “She’s right. He blends in with his brown and white outfit, but there is a man coming down.”

The look Carryl sent Ruskya was the exact opposite of what she had thought of Kyle, her green eyes searched him, looking for what he was made of.

“How can you tell it is a male?” she questioned.

Ruskya thought quickly; he had known it from the first contact he had. “I thought I saw his figure as he came around that small bend,” he said truthfully. The glimpse had been enough to confirm what he had known all along. Carryl nodded, satisfied, her hair bouncing like little springs.

They waited in anticipation for the next couple of minutes as the rider made his way down the canyon wall toward them. When he arrived, the rider paused before greeting his perspective riders. Even Kyle had the presence of mind to wait until he was addressed before talking.

Summary

The rider tests them and then when the sun’s all but set they await his decision.

Shocking Ending

The rider waited again. This time no one moved. The fog seemed to creep into their bones. Ruskya felt the touch on his mind again. His mind felt unclean after the rider moved on to the others. He wondered what the rider was searching for.

“I admit, there is only one more test,” the rider said, as the sound of large wings beat in the air.

“You did bring dragons with you,” Carryl said with awe in her voice. No sooner were the words out of her mouth, then an enormous turquoise dragon landed at the rider’s right side.

The dragon’s wings were larger than any Ruskya had ever seen, and the light of the torch made them glow in their iridescence. The dragon folded his wings, and Ruskya noticed the dark veins of blue streaking through the dragon. It reminded him of a large turquoise gemstone set into a cloak clasp or on a belt hook. There was something unnerving about this dragon. The dragon landed and Ruskya had barely taken in all of him, when Ruskya felt Wyeth’s scream of agony.

“Wyeth, are you okay?” he called urgently.

Before Wyeth could respond, Duskya called to him, “Ruskya, is everything okay?”

Ruskya had no time to reply to his twin, for the rider had stepped up to Kyle and with a roar, brought his hand back and slapped Kyle across the face.

“What were you thinking, you imbecile?”

Kyle went down onto his knees at the force and unexpectedness of it.

The rider drew back his hand and smote again. “How dare you bring a rider here!”

Get Dragon’s Future for free

Did you like what you read? You can download your own copy for free or purchase the paperback for a gift for someone who loves dragon books.

But there are other dragons in our lives. One in particular controls our time. If we’re not careful, it’ll commandeer our minutes and hours until we wonder what we did with our day!

This dragon loves to use camouflage. It disguises itself as social media, games, books, and even family. Do you see how this is a tricky dragon? It poses as good things!  

Even while writing this, the dragon attacked, and I discovered lost time in the void of social media.

To slay this dragon–yes, this is one that must die; there’s no saving it–you must be super conscientious about your choices. Don’t go on auto-pilot. Instead, be intentional in all you do. 

It may also help to remember the jar, rocks, and sand illustration from last week. 

May you be successful in fighting the dragon of time.

So… (drum roll)

I have a bookstore!

Seen this way, and when I have all my books at an event, it definitely looks like a bookstore!

What does this mean? Several things.

First, you’ll see a change on book pages–either a normal button that says “Purchase from Author” or a “Purchase Ebook” or “Purchase Paperback”

Those grey buttons are direct purchase buttons. It’ll have a pop-up that will allow you to purchase right there.

The other exciting news is that I’ve created some special edition hardbacks complete with ribbon bookmark and endpages. I have the expanded Dragon Journal, which will be coming soon to my website, and the Myth Coast Adventures special edition hardback en route from England!

Not everything ships from England, and those that do, I’ve taken into consideration shipping costs as I priced the books. These are autographed–just not personalized–and have at least one page in color.

All paperbacks will ship from the US, so you won’t have to worry about that. I’m transitioning all paperbacks to autographed, but they aren’t there yet. I’ll be sure to let you know when the transition is done.

Another change is my merch store. It’s been up on my website, but I’ve not really advertised it. My latest in person events have had the stickers, and my last one had the t-shirts and mugs.

As you can see, there are three styles of hoodies and mugs:

Chay la Jeeah with the dragon
May your dragon fly true with a dragon
Reach Deep with Bigfoot

You have various colors to choose from for your hoodies and t-shirts. I’ve also added another t-shirt design:

Ask me how to live when your world is tilted
Then the Four Stars over Ardatz symbol
and then Chay la Jeeah at the bottom.

The stickers are in various sizes, so several of them I put two on one sheet. That means you get two for one price.

One design that’s not a dragon is the purple and pink kitty face. I designed that one Sunday afternoon, and it looks really cool as both a sticker and a mug.

Last but not least is the magnet with Braidyn and Turqueso from Dragon’s Heir. The saying is “The best times I spend are with a dragon by my side.” It’s available in a 3×3, 4×4, and 6×6 magnet.

You can access both stores via the menu bar at the top of every page. You can go to the “Purchase Directly” page or hover and allow the dropdown menu to show up and click on whichever store you want to go to.

I’m open to ideas to add to the stores, so if you have suggestions, send me a comment.

Our middle son loved water. Every time he saw it, he’d say “pu-ddle”, separating the word so that it sounded like two, and then he’d run toward the puddle! We’d have to drag him away.

Little Miss is no different. She loves puddles as well. In fact, in her daily walks with Papa Eck’ick, she knows where the puddles are and, if she has her boots on, she’s allowed to splash through them.

When summer came around, she disappointedly looked up at Papa and said, “Puddle gone.”

During Realm Makers this year, Allen Arnold taught on the seven-headed story beast. Seven creatures that will distract us in our walk. One of those was the siren. The siren looks beautiful and tries to woo us away from our walk, but what caught my attention was that sometimes what the siren uses can be good.

With his class, he gave us stickers and tattoos to remind us of the creature. The photo above is about two weeks after Realm Makers. I’d put the siren on my wrist to remind me to keep God first even above the shiny ‘pu-ddles’, but now as it’s even more degraded, it’s a reminder that something that can be good–see what it was like when I first received it? (the dragon is the example, and we’ll discuss him in another post)–can turn toxic if it’s placed above God. 

What are your ‘pu-ddles’ that distract you from your walk?

One of the things that happened, especially early on, was they’d barely get out the door, and she’d say, “Up!”

Papa Eck’ick would shake his head and reply, “It’s a walk–not a carry.”

As I think of life as a walk, there are times where I’m like Little Miss. I don’t think I can keep going. I ask ‘Up!’ and am told, “It’s a walk–not a carry.”

This week, as you walk through life, remember, sometimes you’re stronger than you think you are. Keep trudging along. Soon you’ll arrive at the coffee shop where you can get a hot chocolate, or at the market where friends will give you hugs.

History of Dragon Courage

What inspired dragon courage? I’m not sure if I even know. Dragon’s Future really almost wrote itself, at least at first; later it became work as we edited it. The one thing I did want was to have a substance that would encourage the rider or person imbued with courage.

As I thought of Ruskya and Duskya’s father and a smell that would be comforting, I thought of rosemary and pine. Rosemary grows around our area almost like a weed. Depending on the variety, it can become bush-like and grow as tall as six feet or more. Yes, you heard me right, six feet! I love running my hands along the needle-like leaves and smelling the fragrance. Pine trees stand tall and majestic in Oregon. I remember returning from college in the midwest and looking up to the top of the trees that stretched taller than the skyscrapers I’d seen and thinking, “I’m at home.”

The two together, pine and rosemary, became the signature of dragon courage. With a deep breath, the rider would know she’d been sprayed with dragon courage. Glendyn continued from the quote up above to say:

“The courage is only temporary. It may last from as little as few moments up to a full glass. In rare cases, it has been known to linger on for as much as half a day. People operating under dragon courage have won battles, proposed marriage, and done necessary everyday deeds that they previously lacked the courage for.” ~Glendyn in Dragon’s Future

Science of Dragon Courage

Since Thanksgiving, I’ve been learning more and more about essential oils and their ability to help people. It was with some shock that I learned there was more reality than fantasy to dragon courage.

Pine

As I researched, I discovered there’s a reason our cleaning products smell of pine and  why you feel so wonderful when you go camping in the great outdoors. My daughter even tried to make Pine syrup, a delicacy she’d had when she lived in Finland.

According to Dr. Axe, pine kills odors and purifies the air while cleaning out some of our worst germs. The fragrance “relieves anxiety and revitalizes mind, body, and spirit. It also has an empowering. . . fragrance.” (Essential Oils Pocket Reference 7th edition from Life Science). When I read the line about relieving anxiety and revitalizing the mind, I was struck with the similarities to dragon courage.

Meredyth dug into a pouch at her side and pulled out a small
leather bag. Gingerly, she opened it, placed two fingers in, and pulled
out a pinch of icy blue sparkling dust. She sprinkled it over Kyn then
carefully, almost reverently, closed the pouch. Carryl saw the change
immediately in both Kyn and Meredyth. Meredyth’s change was
more subtle, but it was there nonetheless. Kyn’s was radical. His
head lifted, his back straightened and his dark eyes sparkled.

“Courage, young one,” Wyeth called. With his dragon’s words,
Ruskya felt strength return to him as if he had just received dragon
courage breathed on him.

These passages show how dragon courage relieves anxiety and revitalizes the mind.

Rosemary

I’ve loved rosemary from the first afternoon I learned about it. We visited a friend who made rosemary cheese biscuits. I soon began adding it to my recipes. Then when I grew courageous enough to try growing plants outside, rosemary was one of the first ones I planted. I was so impressed to watch It grow and flurish outside my kitchen window. I loved running outside to clip a few sprigs for chicken or to throw in a tea.

Not until I read from Essential Oils Pocket Reference by Life Science did I even think of the significance of rosemary as dragon courage. The reference guide said that rosemary “helps overcome mental fatigue and improves mental clarity and focus.”

I stopped and reread that line and thought of Kyn’s father in Dragon’s Future. He had been attacked and yet kept Braidyn safe and secure and told him stories of an icy-blue dragon that would protect and help them. At the end of the book, Ruskya wonders about where the stamina and mental clarity came from.

Meredyth spoke up. “I am wondering if Wyeth himself
whispered those stories in the merchant’s ear. The night he left, I saw
that he would need courage. I used a pinch of Wyeth’s dragon courage
on him. I wondered if it is what protected him from the fire not burning
as deeply as it could have.” The riders looked at her with amazement.
“Dragon courage?” Glendyn replied. “There is much we do not
know about it. That very well could be.”

The refrence manual continued. “University of Miami scientists found that inhaling rosemary boosted alertness, eased anxiety, and amplified analytic and mental ability.” That pretty much sums up what dragon courage does.

Who would have thought that a fantasy element in a dragon story could actually have a root in reality? I’m always amazed when fantasy and reality meet. If you haven’t read Dragon’s Future, be sure to check it out. It’s free as an ebook on all outlets. If you’re interested in making your own dragon courage from pine and rosemary oils, I’d suggest Young Living’s oils because they’re held to very strict guidelines for purity from the seed to the seal.

Want to receive your own cheatsheet for dragon courage? Find it in this download.

Real-life Examples

So, what would a real-life example of flying true look like? The answer to this will vary from person to person, but I have a couple of examples to start with.

Invitation to a group

My youngest son is an outgoing, fun-loving guy who can talk to just about anyone but also has strong opinions about people. You can find out more about him and what it’s like to spend time with a seventh grader in this post from a couple of years ago.

Since David’s now in high school, he was allowed to join the youth group at church. Now, he’s one of the youngest members of the group and doesn’t go to school or live in the same town as most of the other kids. Yet, last week, the youth pastor commented to my husband that there’s all these new kids that keep showing up to youth group. When the youth pastor asks them how they heard about our church or the group, more often than not the reply is ‘David’. Our youth pastor began to scratch his head and then turn to the junior and seniors who are strong leaders to ask them why they aren’t inviting kids.

Conviction to wait

This past summer, my husband was the photographer for an incredible wedding. In a world of hook-ups, one night stands, and kids who date one person for a couple of weeks and then move on, this couple stood out. We had a fun photo shoot before he even asked her to marry him. As they posed for a couple shot, my husband asked them to kiss. Both of them looked him in the eye and said, no. At our shocked expression, they explained they were waiting until they said “I do”! We watched several months later as the two of them stood in a grove of myrtlewood trees with family and friends around them and said their vows, then experienced their very first kiss. It was a magical moment that few will forget.

Courage Embodied

Courage comes in many forms. For some it may be to stand up for their religious beliefs, while for others it may be taking a stand against bullying or human trafficking. I’m looking for stories of young people who display everyday courage and take a stand for what they believe is right. I’ll be sharing these stories with the hashtag flytrue. If you know of a young person who has this kind of courage, please share this link with him or her or tell his or her story. I can’t wait to here these stories. I hope these tales will inspire more courage. Until next time, may your dragon fly true.