Bent Lorentzen

"I love this story. The dragons very quickly became real people to me. Smooka grew from a faintly ridiculous blunderer into a wonderful hero. This is one of the most imaginative, delightful books I've read in a long time."

--Dr. Bob Rich, Australia Psychological Society and award winning author, describing, "Krona, the Dragons of Nistala," by Bent Lorentzen (sequel to "Dragon's Moon")

Bent Lorentzen was born in Roskilde, Denmark, ancient seat of the Danish Kingdom. He lived in Montreal for seven years, studied for a BS in biology, four years graduate education in cultural anthropology and neurobiology. He taught science at River School in Florida, was associate editor of the North County News and book reviewer and cultural photojournalist in both Denmark and USA.

Having written for several governments, including the USA, Bent has had his works translated into several languages. His undergraduate ecology thesis, a multimedia planetarium production on an endangered river watershed, won critical acclaim in 1975 and the support of the Moody Blues in Massachusetts. An anthropology/mythology thesis at Goddard College, a multimedia play that toured New England, also won critical acclaim in 1979. That thesis actually became the seed to his book, Dragon's Moon.

Bent has also studied professional photography and journalism, and founded in the Washington DC area, the NGO, Many Leaves One Tree, to empower the art of women surviving ritualized torture in their childhoods. That effort won the NGO a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Foundation social consciousness award in 1994.

Bent has also raced bicycles, including as captain for a team in the USA, and authored a 3-year newspaper column on bicycle culture. He also completed a 2500 kilometer bicycle ride along the mountains of the eastern USA, in the dead of winter, for a book on American culture and on behalf of the mental health advocacy group, M-POWER, and in memory of his sister, who committed suicide in Denmark following a lifelong battle to survive ritualized childhood torture. Bent is also a survivor of this type of abuse. He works privately in Denmark as a mental health counselor, integrating neurobiology, Jungian depth psychology and shamanic healing techniques on behalf of PTSD clients. He was appointed a delegate in 2004 to the Copenhagen Social-psychiatric Development Council to help modernize public mental health care. He has also worked for the municipality of Copenhagen as a mental health counselor and educator.

"This is a lovely fantasy, reminiscent of 'Watership Down,' with a dash of the 'Ugly Duckling' thrown in. Magic, quests, the fight between good and evil, they are all here, with dragons as the protagonists, but with all too human emotions. The young dragon's treatment is heartbreaking, but his quest is also a quest for his identity, who he really is... A great read for any age."

--Annette Gisby, author of Writing the Dream, describing the 2002 1st runner-up Dream Realms Award winner, "Dragon's Moon"