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  Keeping Up With Sandy Lender By Sandy Lender Last edited: Saturday, November 13, 2010
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  Five releases in three months, a new publishing company, and chairing a writers' conference makes it tough to keep up with Fantasy Author Sandy Lender.
  "I had [someone] interview
  me and he asked if I wrote
  anything out by hand. I told
  him that I do sometimes
  because my host enjoys
  the tactile sensation.
  He kept right on
  but any Stargate SG-1
  fan listening that day
  was rolling!"
  from the November-December 2010 issue of Ft. Myers Magazine
  THE EARLY FALL of 2010 found fantasy author Sandy Lender in a whirlwind of projects coming to fruition. As she enjoyed her new home — a canal-view condo on Cape Coral from where she can walk to everything she needs — this refugee from Naples added three new titles to the three she already had in print. It's been an exciting time for her, with new challenges built upon solid accomplishments.
  Lender has worked diligently and effectively to build a fan base in the world of fantasy fiction with her Choices novels: Choices Meant for Gods and Choices Meant for Kings. Complex plot lines, striking characters, and the remarkable, legendary domain of Onweald have captivated readers and won the acclaim of critics. Is Sandy Lender an established star in the literary firmament? Not yet. However, the seeds have been sown. With these two titles from ArcheBooks Publishing plus What Choices We Made (BookSurge), a supplement of related short stories, Sandy Lender is recognized and respected among her fantasy writer peers, and her work has a growing list of followers
  Writing, of course, comes first. Lender loves the time she can spend spinning out her world of sorcerers and dragons, her saga of duty, loyalty, and betrayal. Far less attractive is the time she allots to networking and marketing. Yet she is committed to these tasks.
  Thus, the first few days of October found Lender in St. Louis, attending the 34th annual Archon convention. At such a gathering, she interacts with and amplifies her audience: "When I set foot into a convention like DragonCon in Atlanta, ConQuest in Kansas City, ConText in Ohio, or Archon in St. Louis, I'm stepping among a crowd of people who watch the same shows I watch. We read the same books. We use the same corny jokes. If I say 'Kapla,' they all understand me. I had a radio personality interview me not long ago, and he asked if I wrote anything out by hand. I told him that I do sometimes because my host enjoys the tactile sensation. He kept right on asking questions, but any Stargate SG-1 fan listening that day was rolling! At one of these conventions, everyone would get that reference and then, of course, proceed to buy one of my books because I'm just that cool."
  Lender considers the business of marketing her work to the public important: "Signings at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Hastings, etc., are hard to come by because corporate rules dictate which authors are allowed to have stand-alone book signings. If you're not in Amazon's Top 100, you have an uphill battle. Knowing the customer service rep at the local store is vital. You want to be able to show that person what kind of crowd you can bring in to elevate his or her sales on your special signing day. You want to show him or her how great you are at participating in local author events. Flexibility is an awesome trait."
  Sandy Lender on social media: "I use social media with balance. An author friend of mine alienates people with constant updates. That's counterproductive. That's navel-lint marketing. No one cares what time an author went to bed last night. No one cares about the weather in my neck of the woods unless a hurricane has just lifted my roof or an earthquake has just opened a fissure that's eaten your car. That's Tweet-worthy. If I see someone updating their status about rain making them feel like taking a nap, I figure they write boring books. I teach this in the social media workshops I give. Now, audience matters in your marketing efforts, even with social media. I have a lot of followers on Facebook who are into companion parrots, so I'll post updates about crazy things my pet birds have done. The nice thing about that is most people who don't own parrots get a chuckle out of these antics, too."
  Here's what's new with Sandy:
  Problems on Eldora Prime is a young adult sci-fi/fantasy novel that adults can enjoy. When collecting reviews and cover blurbs, Lender sent the manuscript to adult reviewers who are connected to teens in some way. These previewers were encouraging. The premise: "A 17-year-old girl crash lands a spaceship on a foreign and hostile planet. She assumes command for the survivors and ends up learning about leadership as she takes her team through a monster-infested land to what they hope will be a safe haven to call for help. I won't spoil anything, but 'help' doesn't arrive the way it's supposed to, and her dragon allies aren't always the good guys you want them to be."
  This book, which is a slightly revised version of Lender's entry in the 2009 3-Day Novel Contest, will be published by her own company, Night Wolf Publications. Canadian writer Jamieson Wolf is her partner in this venture.
  Why go out on your own? Lender explains, "We figured out that we both had awesome books that our test readers praised, and we wanted to publish them without the hassle of agents or publishers or production schedules that relied on other people. We knew of other writers going through the same process. There are some incredibly talented people out there who have skill and storytelling ability, but the gatekeepers aren't letting them in. So we decided we would help."
  An important Night Wolf project is A Yuletide Wish. "This is an anthology of children's stories, young adult stories, sweet romances, and poems that encompass Thanksgiving, Christmas, winter, and New Year's. The cover art is a gorgeous illustration by local artist Aluska Bissaro, who has exhibited at the Naples Press Club's Authors & Books Festival in the past. She's extraordinary and the winter scene of a Blacktop Chickadee that she provided is lovely. It really sets the tone of a sweet, family book. We wanted something full of positive, happy endings, and the authors really delivered. We plan to have it ready for ordering by early November."
  The second new Lender book is What Choices We Made, Volume II: Short Stories and Legends from the History of Onweald. Writes Lender, "This chapbook includes more meat than the first one and includes a novella called The Influential Love Story of Ella and Rohne. My fans will wonder about that for a moment because I don't write love stories. That's all the warning you get about that. Local artist Megan Kissinger, who's preparing the lovely illustrations at the Edison House these days, helped design the front cover and is responsible for the awesome map of Onweald."
  Sandy Lender's third new book, Desecrated Ring, from Keith Publications, is scheduled for release Halloween as part of a Halloween series. "This is a horror story that takes place in Collier County. Evil faeries and wolf-like beasts terrorize a woman who doesn't realize how much we're held accountable for in our lives."
  A busy author and now a publisher, Sandy Lender is chairing the 2011 edition of the Naples Authors & Books Festival, scheduled for early April.
  Find out more about this nonstop writer at authorsandylender.com. Also check out nightwolfpublications.com. •