I have a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from Regis University and I studied both creative and creative non-fiction. My final Capstone was on A Pirate’s Curse, my paranormal historical manuscript, and I’ve decided to self-publish it in the fall of 2013. Creative non-fiction is actually subjective journalism and this helped me learn how to write columns, basically blogging.
I live in Colorful Colorado and enjoy the Rocky Mountains. Many of my other stories, such as Dark Promise, which will be coming out in March 2014, are based in the mountains, specifically Frisco, Colorado where my family owns a cabin.
My home backs up to open space and I enjoy taking my cocker spaniel, Sadie, on trails behind my house.
For you, are dragons sexy, kind, devious or evil? I think it depends on the dragon’s mood. They can act sexy, be
kind or turn around and become devious or evil. Just don’t get on their bad sad
or you’ll become a crispy critter.
What do you envision their greatest characteristic, ability or
power to be? Their worst? William’s greatest characteristic is the ability to turn
invisible and change anyone he wishes to be invisible. A dragon, Drakon,
possesses William. Drakon can talk to William and William has learned to
transform into a dragon at will.
Would you consider your “monster” to be good or bad? What is
their greatest enemy? Do they have any allies? Drakon is not bad or good. He desires freedom, but unless he
hands over William’s brother and his bride to an evil demon, he’ll remain a
spirit. But Drakon’s most hated enemy is not the demon, it’s Maketabori, God of
Coaybay. Maketabori killed Drakon and has kept his spirit imprisoned in
Coaybay. Until now.
Where would we find your monster living? Drakon resides inside of William, a pirate. They live on board
the Soaring Phoenix in the Caribbean.
Name any two creatures that you would love to see go toe to toe
in a battle? You will be judged for creativity. ;-) Feel free to describe the
battle. The first creature, I’d like Drakon to fight would be a chimera—a
three headed creature. A winged chimera has the head of a lion, a head of a
goat and a head of a dragon and a tale that ends with the head of a snake.
Maketabori, God of the Underworld, ordered his new pet, a
chimera, to fight Drakon.
The chimera struck first. It exhaled fire.
Drakon hissed as dragon fire singed his scales. He returned the
favor. And blew fire onto the lion head, burning it's mane. The lion-head roared, it's eyes blazing with hate.
Drakon and the chimera circled each other, seizing each other,
waiting for the attack. Lips pulled back into a snarl, talons unleashed. The
two immortal enemies launched into each other biting and hissing.
The lion bit into Drakon's neck. The snake-tail wrapped around
Drakon's legs, squeezing tight. The dragon-head exhaled fire.
Pain swept through Drakon. He couldn't break free of the
chimera.
Forget the pain.
A jagged mountain cliff caught Drakon's attention. Drawing on
his strength, Drakon flapped his wings, hoping to impale the chimera onto sharp
rocks. If only he could make it…
The other creature would be the giant spiders in A Pirate's
Revenge. At the end of A Pirate's Revenge, the battle does unfold… (Remember Drakon's spirit possesses William,
turning him into a dragon. This is a little sample of the battle.)
The spider
squirted strands of sticky web, and it whipped around the nearest man, dragging
him toward its jaws. He was part of the Fiery
Damsel. This thing didn’t care who it captured. All of them were in danger.
It sank its fangs
into the screaming man, and drops of crimson spewed into the air. The man
struggled, but soon grew limp.
Men yelled and
dispersed into the jungle.
Zuto lifted the sword and bowed at the spider.
“I’ll leave you to your feast.”
He headed into
the jungle as the spider took a step toward Kane and Ronan.
“Retreat, you
bastards!” Palmer, not waiting to see if his men obeyed, rushed into the
jungle, leaving them to their fate. Chaos broke out on the battlefield as men
scrambled away from the spider.
“Ronan, Capitaine,” Mariah cried and held out
her wand, hoping she had the time to stop the spider before it killed one of
them.
A shriek captured
her attention.
“William,” Mariah
said.
He swooped down
at the creature and exhaled fire, hitting one of its eyes. The spider recoiled,
hissing. It rushed toward William, who dove through the trees. The monster spat
out more of its deadly web and sliced off the tops of palm trees, leaving
stumps. The beast pursued William into the jungle.
Choose three of the following and tell us what your creature
would do with them, make out of them, use them for or what reaction they would
have to them: an apple, an gemstone, a silver chain, a fish, a rat, a deer, a
toad, a piece of pizza heavily dosed with garlic, a flower, treasure belonging
to someone else, fire, a spider, a worm, a ball of string, a microphone and
speakers, a wooden club, a mirror, a book, a cemetery, a boat, a moonlight
bonfire, a sunny afternoon, a walk through the forest on an overcast day, a
wooden stick, a Popsicle, a broom, a tree, a lost person, a baby, a body of
water, a cross, a cage, wolfs bane, a rock, a rubber band, a chicken, a rabbit,
a cave, rope, or a piece of candy. Drakon would sleep in the cave. With spiders, especially the
giant ones in A Pirate’s Revenge, he’d burn them alive. He hates spiders.
Drakon is always hungry and he’d eat the deer. He likes meat—lots of it.
Which type of monster do you think would make the best love
interest for your monster and why? The worst? Drakon’s best love interest is a witch. She is the one who
teaches William how to wield his dragon spirit. The worst would be a demon,
bent on turning them evil.
What scares you? Spiders.
What is your monster most afraid of? What makes it happy? Drakon fears Maketabori. What makes Drakon happy is flying. He
loves to feel the wind rush over him.
What type of candy would you be apt to grab? Give out for
Halloween? No doubt peanut butter M&M’s. They are my guilty temptation.
I can’t resist them.There’s something about mixing peanut butter and
chocolate. Oh, I will give them to the trick/treaters. Or maybe I’ll hand out
something else…but keep the M&M’s .Ha, ha you sound like me! :-)
What is your monster’s favorite meal? Meat. If he isn’t full, he can’t control his power. He becomes
dangerous. William has to eat enough for ten men before he changes into a
dragon. Or else, as a dragon, he might gobble down the crew of the Soaring Phoenix.
What do you think is the most mis-construed idea about dragons? I think the most mis-construed idea about dragons is that they
are greedy like Smaug in the Hobbit. Drakon is not tempted by riches. His
greatest desire is to be free again, to become whole. Mariah is trying to find
a way to break the spell that binds William and Drakon.
What is a least known trait about them? I discovered that dragons can change their shape, become small
or large. I thought this was interesting. I almost had William change his size
when he and Mariah are trapped in Coaybay, but I had him use his camouflage
ability. He was able to have both he and Mariah blend into the background and
throw off Maketabori’s beasts.
What is your favorite type of monster to write about? Read
about? I love dragons, but I’m obsessed with vampires. Vampires are
sexy and deadly. I can’t resist writing about vampires or reading a good book.
I like the vampire stories that are different and do not follow the traditional
you’re bit and turn into one. Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunters or Christine
Feehan’s Carpathians always intrigued me.
Thank you for representing the fire breathers! :D
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a dragon with invisible ability that's a advantage yes ( or the changing size could be too)..; a dragon spirit i'm intrigued as how it give William teh ability to transform as well... we could have thought a spirit would not have such power.. then perhaps williams is part dragon too....
ReplyDeletea dragon pirate ^^ really the more i read this interview the more curious i became and i do want to read this book now
so thank you a lot for coming to introduce us to Drakon and William
I've always had a soft spot for dragons. I'll definitely have to check out your book. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree that they seem to always get a bad rap like Smaug but I've found most that I've read about may be growly and come off as being mean but are really good guys.
Thanks for posting for us today!