Monthly Archives: December 2015

New Year’s Hopes 2016

I’d thought I’d take a shot at doing a New Year’s list for 2016…but instead of wishes, this list is about hope.

I hope that 2016 brings all of you perfect moments, when joy is in your heart, a smile is on your face, and all is right with the world.

I hope that when 2016 brings you trouble and turmoil you find the strength and inspiration, and the friends and family and loved ones, to get you through.

I hope that in 2016, you create something, a drawing or a song or a story or whatever form of art, that inspires someone, or that something creative done by someone inspires you.

I hope that 2016 brings you pleasant surprises, happy discoveries, and little miracles, and that some of those come from you taking a chance.

And I hope that 2016 brings a little more peace to the world, a little more understanding to its people, and a little more love to all of you.

Happy New Year.

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The Troll And The Garter: A new short story!

Here’s the New Year’s Eve surprise I promised: A new short story! This one has major spoilers for Redblade, so be warned, and read on after the cut! Continue reading

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Les Dieux du Blog 2016 calendar

Raphie and Djy, a pair of French bloggers, have released a 2016 calendar, Les Dieux du Blog. Calomiel, the artist who drew my new avatar, invited me to take part, so I wrote a caption to accompany a lovely drawing she did for October. You can download the PDF of the calendar here; be advised that the text (except for my caption) is in French, and it is NSFW (nudity, mostly female). Thanks again to Raphie and Djy for letting me take part!

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Willow Wednesdays: Falling

Welcome to Willow Wednesdays! Featuring art by Willow, the cover artist for the Monkey Queen series, with her kind permission! Read on after the cut! Continue reading

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so you better get ready, we may be blogging to your town

It’s our last Sunday catchup before the New Year’s! I wanted to take a moment to thank all of Michiko and Beth’s fans, casual or die-hard, those who are just discovering the Monkey Queen and those who have been with us from the start. Thank you! If you’re not busy New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, check back here; there may be a surprise or two for you!

After the cut: We get timey-wimey and Peanutty, and there’ll be some Monkeeing around. Continue reading

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Hello there!

(Welcome to the Monkey Queen website! Feel free to skip this if you’re a regular visitor.)

Hi, I’m Robert Dahlen. I’m the author of the Monkey Queen series, in which Michiko (teenage hero with a wisecracking streak) and Beth (fangirl college student) team up to “save the world” (they’re starting small). It’s fantasy adventure with heroines, humor and heart, and a friendship that may be leading to something more.

There are five books available so far – Of Introductions And Abductions, The Brigadoon Boondoggle, Under The Stars Of Faerie, A Tiding Of Magpies, and Redblade – and three more planned for 2016. You can see all the books in the series on my Amazon Central page. Also, if you click on the “Previews” button, you can read the opening chapters of the first five books. And the “Short Stories” button leads to five standalone short stories and a story-within-a-story that’s from A Tiding Of Magpies.

Michiko, Beth, and many of the concepts and settings in these books came from a proposal I had written many years ago for a comic book series. I had set it aside due to lack of interest, but I found what I had written in March 2013 and started writing the first Monkey Queen book the next day. I’ve been influenced by everything from Miyazaki to Doctor Who, Pixar to Pratchett, Phil Foglio to Bugs Bunny, and many more.

I live in northern California. I work full-time, but luckily I can still squeeze writing in. I have a really nice hat, a growing Disney Infinity collection, a knack for baking cookies, a joke for many occasions and a fondness for penguins. You can find me on Facebook, DeviantArt, and Twitter as @monkeyqueenbks, but I tend to put more time in on this blog than anywhere else. Feel free to follow me at any of those places, or sign up for the mailing list!

You may notice that I talk about Willow a lot. She’s an artist from France who does the covers for the Monkey Queen books; she also published her first BD / graphic novel, The Journey Of Earth, earlier this year. I discovered her on DeviantArt, and I think her work is amazing…and she’s also very friendly and funny. The best place to see her completed work is on DeviantArt. She’s also on Facebook, where she posts updates and works in progress. And she has a Society6 webstore where you can buy all sorts of goodies, including Monkey Queen merchandise!

(And the avatar you might have seen on my social media is by another talented French artist, Calomiel. Find out more about her at her blog, where you can also read her delightful BDs/comic strips and see her GIFs and process posts!)

If you have any questions or need more info, feel free to leave a comment here or wherever. I’m always glad to hear from visitors and readers. And thanks for dropping by!

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Disney Infinity: The Twelve Parsecs Of Christmas

Season’s Greetings, Merry Christmas and all that! I wanted to remind everyone that there’s still time to read “Best Christmas Ever”, the short story about Michiko and Beth’s first Christmas as roommates, before all the snowman cookies are gone. Pour an iced peppermint mocha and enjoy!

And I realized that we haven’t heard from the little gold milk chocolate bear in a while. Well, remember when Han Solo and Chewbacca made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs? Have you ever wondered what they were smuggling when they did that?

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Now you know.

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Happy Life Day, er, Holidays!

I thought you’d like to meet my new pal…but he’s kind of shy.

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Merry and Happy to everyone!

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Willow Wednesdays: Happy Holidays!

Welcome to Willow Wednesdays! Featuring art by Willow, the cover artist for the Monkey Queen series, with her kind permission! Read on after the cut!

Here’s another drawing of Willow’s original character, Anya, ready to celebrate Christmas!

Art © 2015 by Willow. All rights reserved; used by permission. You can view Willow’s extensive gallery on DeviantArt, see her works in progress by liking her Facebook page, follow her on Twitter, and buy prints and much more at her Society6 webstore, including exclusive Monkey Queen items!

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Redblade: The paperback is here!

The proofs for the paperback edition of Redblade have arrived, and have been approved. They look great!

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The paperback is now up on Amazon. It still needs to be linked to the ebook edition, which should happen in the next day or two; until then, use this link to buy a copy. If you’re interested in buying paperback copies of Redblade or any other Monkey Queen book directly from me, let me know.

And in related news…I am a very very happy writer.

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