W is for Wizards

I Love Sci-Fi/Fantasy Because...

...of Wizards.

Who doesn't love a little wizardry? A flash of light. A whispered enchantment. A thrown voice. An optical illusion. So many possibilities.

Wizards are handy to have around. Questing without one isn't wise. Angering one isn't either. You never know when they might turn you into something...unnatural.

They have a way with dragons. They have a way with weather. They have a way with just about everything.

From Gandalf to Zed, from Merlin to Dumbledore, from Middle Earth to Oz, they cast their spells upon us all.

Their magic ensnares imagination, quickens the pulse and fills us with wonder.

Wizards are wondrous reasons why I love science fiction and fantasy.

I Do Love Me Some Dragons

Perhaps it's about time I let you see another geeky, nerdy side of me.  Yes, it's true, you can tell a lot about a person by their friends.

These are my friends

All were gifts from either my wife or daughter.  Any wife who brings home a dragon for her husband has to love him, right?  (Unless, of course, the dragon is hungry and hubby has a whopper life insurance policy.)

And any daughter who brings home a dragon for Daddy must adore him, right?  (Unless, of course, Daddy has Cerberus guarding the car keys he took from her for missing curfew.)


The uploaded images are larger, so you should be able to click the various images for a better gander.  Just don't get too close.  I haven't fed them yet today.


Wizards on the other hand tend to fare far better when interacting with these noble (or not so noble) beasts.  Is there any wonder my book's prologue opens with a dragon providing warning to a wizard type?


Cultures spanning the globe celebrate, revere or fear the dragon.  Literature is replete with them, from Tolkien to the Bible.  And while every culture's perception of what these fantastic beasts are or represent, they're almost always perceived with awe.



Several of these are globes.  Adding transparent spheres into the mix just enhances the effect somehow, don't you think?  And to have the dragon's head penetrating said sphere is just plain cool.


And there's something about the way they perch on the globes that hints of deadly clever intentions.  Simultaneously sinister and noble, they lure the wise and ensnare the unsuspecting.

Several have lights, triggered on timers or in response to sound.  One roars.  Another flashes lightning amidst cracks of thunder.  What more could a geek want?



I'm rather partial to the cylindar.  It spawns a tornado.  Quite the effect.

The one on the right plays music while it's upper body and wings move, menacing and majestic.

So now you know what I'd like for Christmas, birthdays, Father's Day, and yes, even Valentine's Day! (It is about love, right?)

So gaze into the heavens and glimpse a dragon!