I'm happy to be hosting the talented Dan Wright again on his blog tour for the final 3-part installment of his Draconica Series. I've really enjoyed the previous books and am now reading this one. You'll see my review in a couple weeks! For now, you can read my interview with him. Comments appreciated!
She is Coming...
When Daniar Dragonkin heard those words, she had no idea of the full horror that would follow. Now, enemies converge to bring to life a monstrous plan that has been set in motion since long before the events of Trapped on Draconica. A plot to bring Her back from darkness.
With her family threatened, her old enemies back to torment her - and a civil war in Baalaria preventing any help from her sister, Daniar faces the darkness moment of her entire life. Her sanity will be pushed to the limit as she faces evil in it's purest form.
Heroes will die. Villains will rise. And She will return - bringing with it the end to all of Draconica.
She Returns is the first book in the Final Ragnarok saga - and the conclusion of a trap that has been building for years. Everything you'd read about Draconica so far has been leading up to this moment. This is where it all changes - and where Draconica's ultimate fate (and of it's people) will be decided.
Interview
Where
are you from and what do you do when you’re not writing?
I was originally born on the planet Asgard, to the
Frost Giants. I was adopted by Odin of the Asgardians and lived in the shadow
of my brother Thor for most of my life. Growing up I decided to overthrow my
family using my magic and trickster ways…
Oh sorry… that’s my alter ego. But don’t tell anyone
that, I’m trying to keep it low key.
Anyhoo. My name is Dan, I’m from the fairly famous
town of Canterbury and, when not writing, I work in a call centre – but am
hoping that one day I can earn a living from my books. I also play in a band
called Rage of Silence, which is my other project. I also enjoy watching films,
reading comics and manga, and I also have a fan parody series on Youtube called
Totalitarian Warlord and Termination Squadron. Oh, and feeding my cat whenever
she needs it.
How
did you come up with the idea for this book/series?
Fantasy has always been my first love for fiction.
Growing up I always loved the stories about knights and dragons and medieval
stories in general, but also Greek and Egyptian mythology. This series is
pretty much a mix of all the things I loved growing up. Dragons, cool looking
weapons and armour, awesome magic – and sexy girls that kick ass!
Actually the last one you have to thank 80’s
cartoons for. I saw a lot them growing up and one of my favs were the He-Man and She-Ra cartoons. She-Ra in particular was my first instance of
seeing a superheroine and she pretty much inspired the Dragonkin.
When I was looking for art for the novel, I met an
artist that was very manga-inspired with her art and that pretty much changed
my outlook in the characters and the way I told the story. It helped me craft
my writing style into something a little more tongue in cheek, but knowing when
to take itself seriously. I’d go so far to say that Manga and Anime were the
largest influences on the way I write.
Tell
us about the writing process—what were your favorite and least favorite
moments?
Editing is by far my most hated process! Though to
be fair, I think this is any author’s most hated moment. There’s nothing more
embarrassing for me going through the drafts of my work and seeing all the
mistakes, typos and moments when I read back a chapter and think “What the hell
was I thinking with that?” XD. This is why I often let my Mum proofread my
work. She’s an expert at picking out all the grammatical mistakes and plot
holes.
My favourite moment, probably goes without saying,
writing the book. I often plan out months in advance how the story will go
before I sit down to write it and it’s a great moment when I can sit down and
put my ideas down onto paper.
What’s
your favorite cure for writer’s block?
I go away for a few days, watch some films (animated
films are GREAT inspirations for me at the moment) and then go back to it.
There’s also a song by my favourite band, Dream Theater, called “Wither” which
is about Writer’s Block, so I like to listen to that now and then for
inspiration. Also, there’s this friend I had on Facebook that listens to all my
ideas and she offers me a lot of support when I need it. There’s been a few
times where I’ve thought about giving up – but she’s been there for me in my
darkest moments. If not for her I would have given up J
Can
you please share an excerpt? (250 words or less)
Oh go on then! Since you asked so nicely. I’m gonna
share one of my favourite scenes from my forthcoming novel Final Ragnarok: She Returns, which involves one of my favourite
characters – the Man in Shadow. In this scene, he has captured Lydia (one of
the heroes) and is about to torture her. This scene perfectly captures the
darkly comedic side of the Man in Shadow. And he’s a little picture of MIS to
go with it.
‘Is life
so inconsequential to you?’ Lydia wept.
‘Life?
What is Life if not a Fantasy? A dream? Life has no meaning, no purpose – so
why should I?’ One of his spider limbs let go of Lydia’s thighs and moved
around her chest. ‘I could rip your armour from you and violate you in every
possible way I can. I could make you scream in both pain and pleasure at the
same time and I would enjoy every single second of it. I could hurt you really,
really badly, just to make you scream.’
He
waited for a reaction from Lydia. She just gazed at him in disbelief.
‘Nothing?
Ah well. I never was one for chat up lines.’
What’s
your next/current writing project?
There will be a sequel for Final Ragnarok, which I’m hoping will be out December 2015. This
will be the final book in the Draconica
series – and I intend to give it an epic showdown to end it! The final few
chapters along will be one big fight scene.
I also have a book coming out through Paper Crane
Press called Amanda Moonstone. This
is a new series I’m working on, inspired by Pixar/Disney films. It’s about a
sorceress that tries to rescue a missing prince – but she becomes attached to
him. Amanda I think is one of the best characters I’ve created – and I hope
people come to love her. She’s the kinda like my version of Elsa from Frozen, she has a huge burden to bear
and it’s tearing her apart.
In actual fact, one of scenes in this book was
partially inspired by the song “Say Something” by A Great Big World. When I
first heard that song, I was so moved by it, it inspired me to write a scene in
this book. It also has a character in there that I consider my creepiest
character yet. I won’t say too much, but his name is The Author. J
That should be out sometime next year. Like my other
stuff it will have art to go along with the story. I’m actually looking forward
to releasing it and it’s my first book through an indie publisher so that’s
really exciting for me.
Here’s
a totally random question for you:
What
if the world of Draconica got sucked into the Twilight Zone and emerged as an
episode of Star Trek (either the original or TNG). Which characters would play
the captain, first mate, security, engineering, etc? And give us a one liner
that could stick to each of them, like “Damn it, Jim, I’m a doctor, not a ___.”
Ah! Random questions work for me!
I must confess – I never really watched Star
Trek in great detail, so I apologise if I miss out any important
characters. But here’s my choices for each role. I can never remember who did
what, so I’ll go with the original characters and you can probably guess who
does what.
Kirk– Daniar (of course).
Spock – Rana
Bones – Erowin
Chekov – Kalak
Sulu – Finn
Uhura – Zarracka (because why
not?)
Scottie – Ben (from Trapped on
Draconica)
Also, I’d had Jihadain play the
Khan role, because I think Daniar screaming “JIHADAIN!” in the same why Kirk
cried “KHAN!” would be pretty cool!
Thanks
so much for stopping by!
No problem. Thanks for having me! And here’s a
picture of Finn for your readers as a thank you for having me. You’re welcome!
;)
Finnnnnn!!!!!! I'm such a fangirl! He almost rivals my love for Legolas...almost :)
About
Dan Wright:
Dan lives Canterbury, Kent, UK. A huge fan
of both Fantasy and Manga, he has a style that combines both within his
writing, which lets him tell stories that are both dramatic and tongue-in-cheek
at the same time. He picked up a love of Fantasy stories after reading The
Lord of the Rings, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and numerous
Roald Dahl novels.
Dan also runs his own website, blog and a
wiki page dedicated to the world of Draconica. He has also been a reviewer for
the website Read2Review and occassionally reviews books on his blog. He has
also written a short comic book strip called Queller, which was published
in an anthology for the comic Lighting Strike Presents... At the
moment he is also currently working on a script for an independant video game -
to be released in the future.
Authors who have inspired Dan are Douglas
Adams, J.R.R Tolkien, Harlan Ellison, Alan Moore, Joss Whedon, H.P Lovecraft,
George R.R Martin and Hiromu Arakawa.
Contact
links:
Savarna’s sister, Chitra, had married
Mike Nolan, an architect. Savarna loved him like the brother she’d never had.
He was easy to get along with and always up for a joke or two, even if the joke
was on him. Chitra and Mike were the same age. Their parents, Mira and Davidia
Sikand, had been hesitant at first, since Mike had been raised Lutheran and
wasn’t, as they said, “from quite the right background.” Her parents quickly
came around when, after being married only six months, Chitra had been
diagnosed with metastatic cancer. They saw their son-in-law lovingly and
devoutly stay with their daughter through the horrendous but successful
surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. If it hadn’t been for Mike’s
determination, energy, and positive attitude, they were not sure Chitra would
have fared as well as she did. “Savarna, could you stop and pick up some drinks
for Mom’s party? It’s the only thing I forgot.”
