I don’t know about you, but when I’m into a new TV show or book series, I love to hunt down extras and behind-the-scenes stuff online. Remember the good old days when we got DVDs that had director and actor commentaries included? Maybe they still do, but it’s been a while since I’ve had a computer that even has a DVD player so I’ve wandered into the streaming world like everyone else.
Anyway, I thought I’d answer a few questions and share some thoughts about my new series in case you also like extra tidbits.
Genesis of Death Before Dragons
If you’ve read my space opera or my heroic fantasy, you’ve probably guessed that I’m a fan of stories that take place in made-up worlds far, far away. It’s what I grew up reading (Eddings, Brooks, Feist, Tolkien, about a thousand Forgotten Realms and Star Trek novels…), and it’s always seemed fun to make up all new worlds for my stories.
But here with Death Before Dragons, we’re in the Pacific Northwest where I grew up and still visit. The main reason is because Val, the heroine of the story, popped into my mind as someone from my own time. I first came up with the character when I was rewatching Gross Pointe Blanke. The dialogue is fantastic in that movie and I always liked the idea of the hitman main-character Martin trying to figure out why he’s not satisfied with his life… through visits with a therapist who is totally not into him. I thought something like this would be fun to do in a fantasy story.
Since it would be hard for my heroine to call and text a therapist in a steam-age or medieval setting, I came around to the idea of having Val live in our world. I also wanted to give her a health challenge or two to work through (she doesn’t have it as bad as poor seizure-prone Casmir in my Star Kingdom series, but she’s otherwise a badass, so she needed an Achilles heel), and as someone who keeps an inhaler in my purse, it seemed like it was time to do a character with some lung issues. We’ll find out more about the why on that (for her) later.
I knew right away that if I was going to do an urban fantasy series set in a modern era, I would want to bring in some of my favorite creatures and beings from epic fantasy. Dragons for starters, but you’ll see some elves and maybe even some dwarves and gnomes as the series continues. Oh, and the goblins. You’ll meet the goblins in Book 2, and they’ll be back in 3. Who doesn’t love goblins? Continue reading →
