This one's for you, Rye.

Hello, everyone! I'm here with a very special announcement concerning this blog!

As you probably know if you've been reading this blog for any length of time, when I started Dreams and Dragons with my parents' help, it was a private blog. That meant that the only people who could view it were those my parents and I invited. We did this mostly because we didn't want to take any privacy risks. After all, creepy people aren't just in fantasy books.

Time passed. The novelty of blogging wore off slightly. I joined WI and the UG, two forums I'd been interested in for some time, and which now are a large part of my life. I was stepping past Dreams and Dragons, which remained private, into a bigger world. I still kept blogging, of course. But no one on those sites knew I had a blog.

Then, a week or two ago, we opened Dreams and Dragons up- temporarily, we thought- so some of the posts could be used as examples of my writing for a writing class I hoped to take. While it was opened, one of my friends from the UG found my blog, quite by accident. One friend turned into two. I'd like to say I took it calmly. I didn't. The truth is, I freaked out slightly. Even opened up as it had been, Dreams and Dragons was still supposed to be fairly private. I hastily explained things to those who had found it, and they were quite kind and understanding about the whole situation. I told Daddy about it. He was much calmer about it than I was. I still had plans to return the blog to its invite-only state as soon as possible.

However, the experience had gotten me thinking. I rather liked the idea of having a blog that my friends on the UG could read, and those on the UG who'd discovered Dreams and Dragons seemed to like it. I posed the idea of starting a new blog to Daddy. He suggested that, rather than doing that, I clear Dreams and Dragons of anything that could give away personal information and leave it open to the public. I liked this idea much more than my own, and I started work the very next day. Five days later, he approved the clean-up job as complete.

And now, with that backstory laid out, it's my pleasure to declare Dreams and Dragons officially open to my fellow elves of the UG and for any other friendly passerby who happen upon my humble blog. I hope you enjoy it!

And, Rye, if you read this, this post is for you.

Calo anor na ven!*

- Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

*May the sun shine upon your road!