Ever since I read Firestarter in my early teens, I've been
fascinated by stories about people with supernatural powers. And I fell in love
with dragons at about the same time. So the Dragon Within Series is sort of a marriage of
the two. It's my own kind of twist on the dragon mythos set in modern day USA.
This series has presented me with what is, to me at least, a
unique challenge. It's my first set of fantasy novels set in the real world.
I'm more comfortable working with my own made up worlds, which I know
everything about. This series starts off in Arizona, then moves through
California into Oregon. And I haven't even finished the last book, which at the
moment is in Iowa. I have visited Arizona once, years ago, but I have never
been to these other states and that means research. Lots of it. I've been so
nervous about getting something wrong and I've not dealt with that a lot in my
writing career before.
Since I wrote the first novel in the series I have
started another series set in our world, however I never specify the city or
state where it's set, because I'm going for a sort of "any big city in the
US" kind of a feel. Really it's a made up city not unlike Derry in the
works of Stephen King. And yes, it was Mr. King's use of fictional cities in
the real world state of Maine which inspired this.
This works in my Dual Realm Novels because the series is set
entirely within this fictional city and, unlike Mr. King, I've not set it into
any specific state. It has been a much easier series to write as a result.
The Dragon Within Series has really forced me to write in an
entirely different way than I've been accustomed to and I've enjoyed the
challenge. So far Books 1-3 have been released and Book 4 comes out in March.
That only leaves Book 5, which I am currently writing, and the series will be
finished. I'm both happy and sad, because over the course of so many books I've
really gotten attached to these characters and their story. I only hope my
readers have come to love them as much as I do.
Have you ever noticed how life can shift all of sudden? You’re going along thinking everything is great and then WHAM, you get hit by a bus. Well, maybe not a literal bus, but you get what I mean, right? I’m talking about that moment in time when everything changes and life as you know it comes to a crashing halt.
My name is Abigail Freeman and for me, that moment came on my sixteenth birthday. It wasn't anything so dramatic as getting hit by a bus. In fact, it was so subtle, I didn’t even recognize it for what it was. Not until later could I look back and say that was the moment my life changed forever.
My name is Abigail Freeman and for me, that moment came on my sixteenth birthday. It wasn't anything so dramatic as getting hit by a bus. In fact, it was so subtle, I didn’t even recognize it for what it was. Not until later could I look back and say that was the moment my life changed forever.
It isn't easy to start a new life. To leave behind everything you know to go to a strange place full of strange people. Especially when you're sixteen and everyone you love thinks you're dead. My name is Abigail Freeman and this is exactly the situation I found myself in after discovering the shocking truth about my heritage. Before Zack came into my life, before I knew anything about dragons and powers and secrets, I thought I was an ordinary girl. No different from my friends and family. Once I discovered the truth, everything changed.
Sometimes life is crazy. I guess that's part of being a teenager. My life has gotten crazier than most. On my sixteenth birthday I found out I'm a dragon. I know what you're thinking, but it's not like the movies with the scales and the wings and the fire breathing. All that is a myth. I'm a real dragon. Someone who has power over the air around her. Everyone tells me I can do more. I can control all the elements. I'm special. A hybrid.
I don't want to be special. Not if it means letting my parents go on thinking I'm dead. Not if it means spending the rest of my life running from people who want to kill me for real.
All I want is to be normal again. Only I don't think it can ever happen. I have no choice but to stay one step ahead of my enemies. There's just one small problem with that. One of those enemies might be the only person who can keep me alive.
Running to Oregon in search of the one person who could help me seemed like a good idea at the time. Even if she was a fearsome hybrid. Even if I had seen her kill people without blinking an eye. Even if I wasn't sure she wouldn't do the same to me. When you're desperate you do what you have to. And I was desperate. I was also hated, hunted, and struggling to gain control over my growing powers. Trying to do that on the run without getting anybody else killed is exactly as hard as it sounds. Harder even.
All I wanted was a safe place. And I found it. A place where I can stop and breathe and even learn without feeling like I have a target on my back. If only I'd known security would come with such a high price.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kyra Dune was born in Oklahoma, but spent most of
her life travelling with her family. She is the author of more than two dozen fantasy
novels, including: Shadow of the Dragon,
Elfblood, and Firebrand. As a child,
her favorite stories were those that told of ordinary children being whisked
away to magical lands. She has yet to find her own secret wardrobe or rabbit
hole, but she hasn’t given up the search. You never know
what might be waiting over the next rainbow.
Originally featured on The Rough Draft Daily
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