Available today!
Dragon of the Stars By Alex J. Cavanaugh
Science Fiction – Space Opera/Adventure/Military
Print ISBN 9781939844064 EBook ISBN 9781939844057
http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/ http://whatarethekargrandes.com/
The ship of legends…
The future is set for Lt. Commander Aden Pendar, poised to secure his own command and marriage to the queen’s daughter. But when the Alliance declares war on their world, Aden finds his plans in disarray and told he won’t make captain. One chance remains – the Dragon. Lost many years prior, the legendary ship’s unique weapon is Hyrath’s only hope. Can Aden find the Dragon, save his people, and prove he’s capable of commanding his own ship?
SCAVENGER HUNT! Comment to win an autographed copy of Dragon of the Stars, tons of bookmarks & postcards, and a $20.00 iTunes gift card – where is Mini-Alex? Visit Alex for a list of the participants. (Open through April 11 – winner announced April 13 at Alex’s blog.)
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Now on to A to Z!
F is for — Princess Fiona from Dreamworks’ Shrek films 
Princess Fiona starts out as the typical fairy tale heroine — the beautiful damsel in distress, trapped in a tower, awaiting a handsome prince to come to her rescue. In a creative twist to the story, Fiona’s “handsome prince” turns out to be an unhandsome, un-princely ogre named Shrek.
Fiona soon proves that she’s not what she seems, either. When surrounded by enemies, she shows off some pretty cool ninja moves, both as a human princess and as an ogress. In Shrek the Third, she organizes the other princesses and fights against Prince Charming and his minions, and in Shrek Forever After, she rescues herself from the tower and leads a band of rebel ogres against the evil Rumplestiltskin. No helpless damsel is she.
I also like how Fiona embraces her ogre side. She realizes that, for her, this is “love’s true form.” So what if she’s not the most beautiful in the land, or if she has to shave her face like Shrek, or if she makes rude noises like he does? She’s beautiful on the inside where it counts, and she’s found someone who loves her the way she is. And, most importantly, she’s happy just being herself. You don’t have to be the “fairest one of all” to have a happy ending.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Photo Credit: http://fairytaleadaptations.wikispot.org/Shrek_Films
Photo Credit: Amazon.com
Photo Credit: Amazon.com
© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.
Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams 
Thanks again, Lori!
Fiona could take all of those other princesses.
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You’re welcome, Alex! Ha, yes, she could.
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Can you dig it… Fiona… Great Post… Mini Alex is on the foot petal on stage maybe!
Jeremy [Retro]
AtoZ Challenge Co-Host [2015]
There’s no earthly way of knowing.
Which direction we are going!
HOLLYWOOD NUTS!
Come Visit: You know you want to know if me or Hollywood… is Nuts?
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Thanks, and thanks for stopping by!
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Love the Shrek movies. Mini Alex is jumping all over the place.
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Me, too! Yes, he’s a busy guy.
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I love Fiona. She’s strong and tough, everything that a princess should be.
Oh goodness, I’m stumped. I have no idea where that is. I’m going to take a giant guess here and say Mini-Alex is hanging out with some kind of gadget in a car maybe? Wow, I am not good at this.
Still though, yay for Dragon of the Stars release day!
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I agree about Fiona!
I don’t know what it is, either. It does sort of look like it might be in a car, but then it also reminded me of a foot pedal, maybe for an instrument or something. ???
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What a gorgeous header, Lori! I once had a huge dad, dressed up in a Shrek costume, show up to march with my class in the Halloween Parade at my school. Every time I see Shrek things, I think of that! As for Mini-Alex ~ Out of the fireplace and into a car? Hiding on the car floor by a pedal from pursuing fans? Could he be on a break pedal to stop the car? Where is he off to next!
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Thank you! That’s so funny. I hope he didn’t scare the kids. 🙂
Hiding from pursuing fans… that’s funny, too.
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Fiona is awesome. Some friends of mine named their baby Fiona. I wonder if this character had anything to do with their choice?
As for mini-Alex, I have no idea. Stereo speakers? Hockey skates? What is that in the background?
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Could be. Fiona is a beautiful name and a great character.
I don’t have a clue.
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Raqi is in after-school rehearsals right now for Shrek with May performsne. It’s such fun to see the primary grades put on these shows. She is a white rabbit, I think!
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That must be so cute! What fun!
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Cool post about Fiona. As for Mini-Alex, uhh…..
A dashboard?
Some othre part of a car?
An old video game system?
Is there a bonus for the person who guesses this one right? Cause they deserve it.
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Thanks! I can’t wait to see what this actually is.
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She is one of the reasons I love Shrek so. 🙂 Her, and the dragon-donkey babies.
Anna from Elements of Writing
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Those dragon-donkey babies are adorable.
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Fiona rocks!
And this one is really tough. I have no idea where Mini Alex is here…looks like some kind of pedal.
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I agree!
That’s what I thought, too.
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Love Princess Fiona’s inner strength! She’s a great character.
And Mini-Alex? I’m guessing he’s on the move, maybe in a car, but reading while driving is dangerous!
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Yes, she is!
Hopefully, he’s not reading at the same time.
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HI Lori – it’s great to see Alex and his book all over the place … and mini Alex I’d say was on a car dashboard … and as to Shrek .. I’m not that enamoured, but I don’t have kids .. so perhaps that explains a lot!! Cheers Hilary
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Somewhere in a car seems to be the most popular choice for Mini-Alex.
Shrek is quite popular with my kids. Cheers to you, too!
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Congrats to Alex!!! I forgot it was his release day until I saw the tweet I sent out about it. His Thunderclap campaign was pure brilliance.
Fiona’s the best!
Stephanie
http://stephie5741.blogspot.com
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Yay for the Thunderclap! Fiona is fun to watch!
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Fiona rules them all. Disney’s got nothing on her! 🙂 I especially love her in that fourth movie – she’s such a strong character.
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She’s my kind of princess. 🙂
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Looks like some sort of console when you turn the wheel it lights up…when he wails on that guitar it lights up to the tones..
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That’s an interesting guess!
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Boy, thee are getting hard! I’m guessing he’s stashed in the trunk of someone’s car.
Princess Fiona kicked serious butt, loved her!
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That’s a good place to hide!
Yes, she did!
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erm…mini Alex has entered a spaceship…
and Princess Fiona is a great character!
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Ha, ha, yes, he’s tired of getting stuck in all these different places and is getting the heck out of here.
So true!
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Wow, I think Mini-Alex is taking a drive. Maybe I guessed that before for another pic though! Shrek movies were great.
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Off to his latest concert, maybe?
I really enjoyed those movies, too.
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I love Fiona for all the reasons you list. She’s a great character. 🙂
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Yes, she’s one of the good ones!
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I do love princess that kick ass, and Fiona is most definitely in that camp. I also love the shrek movies because the dragon turns out to be a girl, and at the time that was a great little twist 🙂
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I was surprised about the dragon, too, and I thought it was cute that she liked the donkey.
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It’s time for Mini Alex to ensure he stays in adequate ninja shape – time for some elliptical work!
Fiona is pretty bad ass isn’t she! I don’t think I’ve seen Shrek the Third, but now I think I definitely should. I enjoy films where Prince Charming is a chump!
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A ninja definitely needs to stay in shape!
Of all the Shrek movies, I think the Third is the weakest, but it has its moments.
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Fiona teaches us a lot about being the fairest one of all for sure. And Mini Alex looks like he’s logging time in one of the simulation modules to learn how to fly a new ship.
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He’s got to keep on top of things!
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Mini Alex is about to go golfing by the look of it. Hope he has a good handicap. Love Fiona too.
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It’s a good thing he lives farther south if he wants to golf. It snowed here again last night.
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We got freezing rain yesterday. I’d rather have snow.
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Ick. I agree.
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Mini-Alex looks like he’s about to work out.
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He’ll need to exercise to keep up those cool ninja moves.
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Mini-Alex is exercising his freedom of rock and roll speech.
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That’s a good thing for him to do.
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I like the Shrek movies, especially Donkey. It looks like poor Mini-Alex is about to get on an exercise machine of some sort. Don’t hurt yourself! He’s just like the Ninja Captain, always trying to multi-task. How can he possibly read and work that little body without hurting himself? Phfft. Thanks for helping the Ninja out. Have a great night. Eva
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Donkey is funny. I don’t know how Mini-Alex will manage that. Hopefully, he’ll be careful. Have a great weekend!
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I love Fiona! And Mini Alex! I’m thinking he’s either leaning against a game player or in a vehicle… hard to tell! Lisa, co-host AtoZ 2015, @ http://www.lisabuiecollard.com
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I had a hard time figuring out where Mini-Alex was here, too. 🙂
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Thanks forr this blog post
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