Monday, October 28, 2013

One of a Kind

This Friday, my newest epic fantasy, First Dragon, will be released from Crescent Moon Press. I'm beyond excited. I wrote this book almost two years ago, polished and found a home for it last year. At the time, I wasn't aware of many dragon books on the market. Now that my book is about to hit the bookstores, I see dragon books everywhere.

I'm hoping readers will appreciate my unique take on dragons, dragon magic and dragon relationships with humans. At the same time, I wanted to keep some commonly accepted characteristics of dragons as part of my protagonist. Dragons are arrogant creatures, proud and certain of their superiority to men. Dragons are cruel and clever, able to trick humans. Dragons know of war and take advantage of man's greed to further their own agendas.

So how do I make my dragon protagonist different? Kerik didn't know he was a dragon as a child. He grew up among loving friends until his heritage was discovered. Kerik battles his greedy, arrogant nature but it's always there. He's secretive and dangerous. Kerik is constantly torn between what his nature drives him to do and what he should do to help his embattled human friends. He truly is a dark hero.

Can you think of a fantasy character that an author added a unique twist to? Do you have a favorite dragon character in a movie or book? Have you visited the IWSG blog today to sample some sage words?

16 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

Sometimes I wonder if agents and publishers huddle together and decide what next 'big' thing should come next. I'm sure it's not as simple as all that. The market feeds and retreats organically, moving like a wave. It knows what it wants. You might've fallen into a current demand--releasing right when the market craves it.

The last dragon books I read were the Pern books.

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

I don't really know or read much about dragons so I found your perspective intriguing.

Good luck with the new book! :)

Stephen Tremp said...

Good luck with the release! I'll give a shout out for you.

Unknown said...

Congratulations on your new book!!! I love Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon. Great perspective on Kerik's nature.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I love dragon books. I've read McCaffrey's Pern series dozens of times. Ruth was always my favorite.

Anne Gallagher said...

Congratulations! I've always loved dragons. They're so wise.

Dana said...

Congrats on your book release!

Christine Rains said...

Good luck! I'm a fan of dragons. One of my favorite authors for putting twists on things is Jim C. Hines. He has a trilogy where a lowly goblin is the hero, and another where the princesses are the ones rescuing their princes.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

The storyline sounds very cool!
I'm still working on dark twists for my characters...

Anonymous said...

CONGRATS on your upcoming release!

Robin said...

You got in on the dragon market when dragons were trending. Lucky you. So often we miss the trend entirely. Too soon. Too late. Not at all. And so it goes... I love the characteristics of your dragon character. Sounds like a wonderful read.

BTW, I dedicated something to you in the Thursday post. I don't think you commented/saw it. Hope you like it:)

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I hope you're right Maria.
Thanks, Madeline.
I really appreciate a shout out, Stephen.
Thanks, Jenn and Anne.
L. Diane, I hope lots of people love dragons.
Thanks, Dana, Christine and Susanne.
I hope others find it cool too, Alex.
Robin, you're so wonderful. Didn't think I missed any of your posts. I'll have to go check it out.

PK HREZO said...

Congrats on your book, Susan! I love the sound of it, altho I haven't read many dragon stories. (I'm always partial to Smaug. ;) )

LD Masterson said...

I'm excited for you.

I love dragon stories. My favorite is the movie (sorry) Dragonheart. I loved the linked hearts and the last of his kind elements of the story. Okay, the fact that the dragon sounded like Sean Connery didn't hurt either.

mshatch said...

Although not solely about dragons, they did feature in Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy which I quite enjoyed. And of course The Earthsea Trilogy. Those were my favorite dragons.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Exciting! Good luck with your release on Friday. Dragons are a fascinating creature, especially as so many different countries have dragons as part of their lore.

Shannon at The Warrior Muse