Bios for Jordan Bernal
2-line bio:
Jordan Bernal, author of The Keepers of Éire, The Keepers of Alba, & Reluctant Paladin—dragon fantasies that encourage readers to let their imaginations take flight. Follow http://www.jordanbernal.com.
Short Bio:
Jordan Bernal is the author of The Keepers of Éire, The Keepers of Alba, & Reluctant Paladin—dragon fantasies that encourage readers to let their imaginations take flight. Love of fantasy inspires her to write and publish through, Dragon Wing Publishing, her independent press. She has been a member of California Writers Club Tri-Valley Branch since 2010. Follow Jordan at http://www.jordanbernal.com.
Medium Bio:
Jordan Bernal is the author of The Keepers of Éire, a dragon fantasy that encourages adult readers to let their imaginations take flight. Jordan’s enduring love of dragons and her pursuit of her Celtic heritage inspired her to write and publish her debut novel in her Celtic Dragonrider series through her independent press, Dragon Wing Publishing. The Keepers of Éire is the 2104 Global Ebook Gold Award Winner and the Bella Online Gold Award Winner. In 2017, Jordan released a YA edition of The Keepers of Éire, and published her middle-grade, anti-bullying spin off novel, Reluctant Paladin. The Keepers of Alba, the second novel in her adult Celtic Dragonriders series, was released on September 1, 2020. She has been a member of the California Writers Club Tri-Valley Branch since 2010.
Jordan lives in the Tri-Valley region of Northern California. She enjoys reading, traveling, and photography. For more information on Jordan’s current projects, visit http://www.jordanbernal.com or http://www.1dragonwriter.wordpress.com.
Long Bio:
Jordan Bernal says she may have been born on the wrong planet. She’s referring to the third planet in the Sagittarian Sector, known as Pern. So clear and descriptive was Anne McCaffrey in her Dragonriders of Pern series, Jordan was transported into the body, mind and soul of Anne’s characters. Jordan came awayknowing she was destined to be a dragonrider; to hop from one foot to the other on the hot sands of the hatching ground awaiting a dragon of her own. She fantasized about the air currents lifting the dragon she rode, soaring over cliffs and chasms, embracing the joy and freedom as together, they broke gravity’s harsh leash.And most of all, Jordan knew she was meant to create stories of a new set of dragons and dragonriders.
Dragons first came into Jordan’s life on her seventh birthday when she received a musical porcelain dragon from her mom. Her enthusiasm knew no bounds, and she immersed herself in dragon lore. As the years passed and her collection grew, Jordan sought an outlet to explore her vivid imagination. When the idea for a story bloomed in her mind, Jordan wondered where on earth dragons and magic could thrive. She wanted to share with readers the experience of letting their imaginations take flight.
Jordan’s desire to write coincided with an intense yearning to learn more about her heritage. She discovered roots from both sides of her family tree anchored in two of the Celtic nations—Ireland and Scotland. In 2011, Jordan made her first transatlantic flight to Ireland and visited most of the places where her novel characters would face major obstacles. She thrilled at the opportunity to meet new people, explore the mythical lands, and brave driving on Irish roads. She opted for an automatic, not wanting to find out if her hand/foot/eye coordination was up to handling all the differences. Getting lost was half the fun. Struck by thecontrasts between the Republic and Northern Ireland, between the cities and the rural countryside, between the multitudes of differing coastline, Jordan was moved by the soul-affirming magic infused at the stone dances, both small and majestic. These locations proved a fertile landscape for her imagination.
The Keepers of Éire, the debut novel in her Celtic Dragonrider series took four years to research, write, and publish. With essays, short stories, and poems already published in local newspapers and various anthologies (Mission Works 2, Voices of the Valley: First Press, Voices of the Valley: Encore, All That Remains, Written Across the Genres, Not Your Mother’s Book…on Cats, and Voices of the Valley: Word for Word) Jordan knew it was time to take the next step and started Dragon Wing Publishing. In November of 2013 The Keepers of Éire was released in print, and the eBook followed in February 2014. Her poem “Dreams”, inspired by a writing from W.B. Yeat’s, won Booktrack’s first poetry contest in 2014.
When Jordan revisited the lands of her heritage in the summer of 2014, she realized how her Irish/Scottish soul and her inner dragonrider belong to the mystical, magical places that refuel the flames of the fire that burn deep in her dragon writer’s belly. She published the second book in the Celtic Dragonrider series, The Keepers of Alba, in 2020.
Jordan lives in the Tri-Valley region of Northern California. She enjoys reading, traveling, and photography. She has been a member of California Writers Club Tri-Valley Branch since 2010.
For more information on Jordan’s current projects, visit http://www.jordanbernal.com or her blog http://www.1dragonwriter.wordpress.com.
5 Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About Me:
1. I am ambidextrous. Some things I can only do left-handed, some only right-handed, and some with either hand. One task I can do with either hand is write.
2. I love music. I listen to music while I write. It helps with my word cadence and sentence flow. My father played guitar and sang, my mother played the accordion and sang soprano, my sister has a terrific singing voice, but I can’t sing, not even “Happy Birthday”. I can’t carry a tune in a wheelbarrow. I car sing, but only when I’m alone.
3. I am a voracious reader. So much so that when I was in 4th grade I pretended to have trouble reading just so I would be sent with the other slower readers for extra reading time several days a week. Hmm, a portent of things to come?
4. I love airplanes. I love to fly, except for needing to be at the airport 2-3 hours before my flight. Yet, the first flight I can remember taking alone was to Honolulu, Hawaii to visit my Navy uncle and family for the summer I turned 13. I studied ground school (funny name for all things about flying) at San Jose State University and even logged a few hours in the cockpit of a Cessna 172, a private 4-seater airplane.
5. In high school, I joined the MCJROTC (Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps). Some people think this program is all about getting our young adults to join the military, but that’s not really the case. The MCJROTC program I was involved in for four years taught me leadership, discipline, and confidence while instilling honor and a better sense of civic duty and patriotism. During my last two years I was the company commander, which meant that I was the student in charge of all the other students in the program from all the schools in my school district. I had to learn problem resolution and tact, all while keeping a compassionate outlook for about 100 students and their individual problems. The skills I learned in MCJROTC have served me well throughout my life, especially while I studied and practiced Tae Kwon Do.