Happy New Year!  I wanted to have a post published right on January First, but I had such a jam-packed New Year’s weekend that I never had a chance to write!  So I’m very excited to finally show you these new Celestial Zodiac Dragons, starting with my own Gemini – Twin Air Zodiac Dragons (May 21 – June 21) by American professional artist Christina Yen, posting as The-SixthLeafClover.

These are from her latest 2018 Zodiac Dragons Calendar, which I have hanging on my wall right now, and that you can order from her online store directly at this link!  I love the blurb on the back — “The Zodiac Dragons illuminate the night sky!  Planets have aligned summoning the Celestial Edition of the Zodiac Dragons Calendar!  The western zodiac signs, reimagined as dragons, are revealed in thirteen all-new brilliant paintings from fantasy artist SixthleafClover.”

Of course, I have to share my amazing husband’s sign, so next is Libra – The Balanced Air Zodiac Dragon (Sept 23 – Oct 23).  Although I will admit, as much as I love him, right now I also kind of want to smack him!  You might remember that for Christmas he enrolled me in a class called Finish Your Novel at the Minneapolis writer’s enclave, the Loft Literary Center?  Well, that class starts Monday, and I’m freaking out!

I’ve been reviewing a lot of my old notes and materials for Finding Dragons in preparation for this class, and it just seems so overwhelming… what was I thinking, trying to write a novel??  *sigh*  I don’t mean to be “crabby” about it… but then right on time, here is the next piece by Christina called Cancer – The Water Crab Zodiac Dragon (June 21 – July 23).  It’s one of my favorites in the series, it just looks so exotic!

Then up next is Leo – The Fire Lion Zodiac Dragon (July 23 – Aug 23).  Another awesome design, this one’s for my little sister and my father, who are both Leos.  My mother is an Aries, and her dragon is just as fiery as this one!  Anyway, I’m hoping this online course will light a fire under my butt so I can actually get my novel written this year.  I did just re-find my chapter-by-chapter outline of the book as I went through my notes, so that’s good — but focusing more on my novel will mean my other pursuits like blogging and Pokemon Go might suffer, and that’s bad!

Finally, here is Virgo – The Pure Earth Zodiac Dragon (Aug 23 – Sept 23).  This isn’t the first year Christina has published a calendar, and you can still see this 2018 calendar and also past versions in her gallery and even order some of them from her store if you like!  Even though this is more a wyvern than a dragon, I really like it — as one fan commented on this image, Christina “gives [her] Virgo dragons avian qualities … [like the] raptor-like feet/talons and the feathery accents” in this design.  And I agree with their conclusion — “Beautiful!”

It’s a New Year, and I need some new resolutions, so here goes…

• I’d like to get Finding Dragons done, at least the first draft;
• I’d like to continue working on the Neeka Story, perhaps a new segment every month (starting in February);
• I’d like to get a new posting schedule worked out, including original fiction and articles, novel updates, and writing thoughts posts, as well as my artist features; and
• I’d like to purchase more art from the artists I feature, to help support the creative community you come here to see.  Last year I was able to purchase a few pieces, and I’m hoping the exposure I’m lending these artists (totally unsolicited, by the way) is helping to promote their artwork and bring them clicks and sales, but I should also be doing my part.

I’ll be sure to keep you updated, but for now I’m still intending to post once a week, even if it happens to be right at the buzzer like this week!

Thanks as always for reading — this has been an amazing journey, and every time I log on to see that people have actually visited my site and read my posts and checked out these artists, I can’t believe how lucky I am to be able to do this.  Back next week with notes on my novel class, so stay tuned, and stay creative!

Image credits:
All artwork in this post is by Christina Yen, posting as The-SixthLeafClover.
2018 The Twin Air Zodiac Dragons Gemini, 2018 The Zodiac Dragons Calendar Celestial, 2018 The Balanced Air Zodiac Dragon Libra, 2018 The Water Crab Zodiac Dragon Cancer,  2018 The Pure Earth Zodiac Dragon Virgo