Birth of a Renaissance Dragon

The phrase Renaissance Dragon has been floating around in the back of my head for decades. I’ve always had the idea that I would use this for something, I’ve just never known what form it would be in. If a ‘Renaissance Man’ is a person who is knowledgeable and skilled in many subjects, imagine just how powerful a Renaissance Dragon must be. In my mind, I’m picturing the Venerable Dragon of Asian mythology; ancient and learned, wise with the experience of the ages.

I am a bookworm. Above and beyond anything else I do is my deep and abiding love of words and books. I have a fond memory of my dad taking me to a bookstore on Edmonton’s High Street where we spent hours browsing the shelves. And when we left, I left with a copy of The Superior Person's Book of Words. I thought this was a magical discovery. There were other people who felt the same way I did. That loved our crazy, often confusing, language as much as me.

Fast forward a lot of years. I’m in a place where I have to buy my own books, but I have to balance my need for words against silly necessities like a roof over my head and food in my tummy. I had discovered digital books by this point, and they were finally more easily available in Canada. That didn’t mean they were easy to come by, though. I started scouring the internet for books I didn’t have to pay for, because my local library didn’t have the selection and simply couldn’t keep up with my voracious appetite.

Through a giveaway, I stumbled onto an independent author who was looking for people to read her books and write reviews about them. This woman was willing to give away copies of her books to the people who would help her with this. I was shocked. Free books? And all I had to do was read them? I was sure I was dreaming. Because this sounded like my idea of heaven. Thanks to the giveaway, I already had the first book in her series in my hands. All I had to do was share my humble opinion with the World Wide Web.

The people closest to me will point to this event and say, “this, this is where the monster was born”. I read that book. I wrote that review. I’m pretty sure I’ve read and reviewed everything she’s made available to her advanced readers – collaborations and pen names too. And I’m impatiently waiting for her to produce even more for me to read.

I found more authors. I joined mailing lists. I reached out to some of my favorite authors and was granted the honor to be part of some of their advance teams. And then, other authors started reaching out to me. They liked what I was doing and wanted me to share my opinion of their work. You could knock me over with a feather. I’m doing something I love and people want me to do more of it. This has become a job I take very seriously. I don't want to let any of "my" authors down.

Since I'm not terribly picky when it comes to the genre I'm reading, you could say I'm a Renaissance reader. I'm a bookworm in this life and I'm sure I was a book wyrm in a previous one. And so, Renaissance Dragon felt like a perfect fit for this new adventure.

Now that you know that bit of background, be prepared to see reviews for everything from mystery to science fiction, fantasy to romance, thriller, humor, and everything in between. My only requirement is that a book hold my attention with quality work. I hope you see some authors here who are familiar to you. And it would be even better if you found some that are brand new that catch your attention.

So, welcome to my world. If you’re ready to accompany me on this journey, subscribe. You don’t want to miss any of the news.