![]() Hello and welcome to my Weekend Reads. This weekend, I'm proud to host Page Turner Book Tours and Legacy Of The Dragonkin Blurb: Benji Dragonkin aspires to be a hero, just like his mother - Queen Daniar Dragonkin. He wants to become a famous warrior so that he can save the day - and win the heart of his long time friend, Lydia Taurok. But with his mother being overly protective of him, and a dark side to his father that threatens to tear their family apart, Benji has a long way to go just yet. Zarracka Dragonkin, still a prisoner of Daniar, plots her revenge against her sister - and Benji may just be the key to her victory. And in the land of Drewghaven, the Kthonian Knights arise once more, determined to once again bring forth their revenge against the men of the world. Their leader, Jihadain, seeks to settle old scores with Daniar - and break her spirit in the process. With villains gathering and allies faltering, Benji sees this as a chance to prove himself a true warrior. But even more harrowing is a warning that his mother receives, forshadowing a greater evil: "She is coming..." Amazon UK | Amazon USA Welcome, Dan! Thanks for being here today. When did you first start writing? It was actually back at my old school. I wrote and drew (by that I mean vaguely sketched something) my own comic called “The Abbey School Avenger”. It was something I did in my last couple of years at school and was kinda an outside project for me. Years later, I tried writing scripts for TV and comics, with no success. I went into novel writing around 2007. Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be? I originally wanted to be an actor first and then a musician (which I still do from time to time). But getting work in those kind of industries didn’t really work out for me. So I decided to get into writing. I guess I always did want to be a writer in some ways as I have an overactive imagination and like creating stories and characters. What genre do you prefer or do you mix it up? Fantasy and sci-fi are my main forte. But I do like to mix in other elements to them as well. After watching a lot of Studio Ghibli, I’m trying to mix in some Slice of Life elements – that is trying to make my characters believable and give them real life issues as opposed to fantasy ones. Where does your inspiration for these stories (this story) come from? Lord of the Rings was my first inspiration for writing Fantasy, but I also drew a lot from ancient history – such as Medieval, Greek and Egyptian Mythology and from Anime and Manga. But at the same time, I also draw from real life experiences based on the people I meet and stories that I hear on the news or from other people. If something inspires me, I will find a way of incorporating it into my own stories. What has your publishing experience been like? It’s been a fun experience on the whole. It’s rewarding spending all that time getting your book ready for publishing and then seeing it go out onto the web. It’s even more rewarding when you check your sales figures and see how well they’ve been selling! I’ve been quite lucky with this one as my sales have been pretty good, hopefully I can expand on that. Do you have a certain routine you have for writing? i.e. You listen to music, sit in a certain chair? Not really. I just sit at the computer and write away. Sometimes I do listen to music, as typing away in silence can be a little boring. Sometimes though, depending on the music I put on, it can be a little distracting and stop me from writing. I have to be careful with my music choice. I tend to listen to a lot of Rush and Dream Theater – their music isn’t too heavy, but has a lot of emotion to it and it can inspire me. If I’m in the right mood. How do you come up with characters names and place names in your books? There’s not really any thought process. Usually I just think of a name that sounds cool and try to apply it to a character. For my characters, I like to give them a name based on their personality. If they are a nasty character, I will give them a nasty sounding name (usually with a lot of k’s). If they are good or sweet, I will give them a gentle name. If they are violent, a tough name – and so on. It’s kinda the same for places, I name them depending on what it’s like as a place to live (calm, violent, dangerous, etc) In your most recent work, who is your favourite character and why? It would have to be a tie between the two main villains – Kthonia and the Man in Shadow. Kthonia is an ultimate bad ass villain that seeks to destroy everything and gives the heroes a tough time. But if you understand her motives, you’ll see WHY she does it. That’s always been a thing for me when I create a villain, the reader needs to understand their motives and why they are doing what they are doing. Saying that, I contradict it a little with my character the Man in Shadow. He’s an enigma and you never are sure of his motives. He’s one of these Faux Affably Evil types, in that he’s always so casual – even when he’s threatening to kill someone. He’s one of these people that doesn’t appear often in the book, but when he does he makes sure people know it. Did you learn anything from writing your book? What was it? Learn when to stop! This is something that I struggle with during the editing stage. Even when I’ve finished with a book I’m always thinking of things to add to it – changing some story parts or completely altering some parts of it. This is great, but the problem is that sometimes I come up with TOO many ideas at once, and I spend ages trying to incorporate it in. The trick is knowing when to add or change stuff and when to just walk away. When I’ve learned to do that, I’ll let you know! How did you/do you market your work? I’ve actually been letting people know about the book on my blog for a while now, such as posting teaser artwork for it or talking about characters in it. Also at some conventions I’ve done I’ve left little cards that mention it in the books I’ve sold. And it looks like it’s paid off as the sales have been pretty good. Outside of that I just use good old fashioned word of mouth to let people know. And the odd blog tour here and there doesn’t hurt now and then. J Can you describe the feeling you had when you saw your published book for the first time? Relief. It had been an exhausting time trying to release this novel – simply because the artwork was taking so long (my original artist left the project) and there were so many delays. But in the end I was happy with the result and sales have been pretty good for me. When the paperback is released I’ll probably be able to relax a little more! Favorite authors? In no particular order, J.R.R Tolkien, George R R Martin, Joss Whedon, Alan Moore, Douglas Adams, H.P Lovecraft and Hiromu Arakawa Have you ever suffered from a "writer's block"? What did you do to get past the "block"? Quite a lot. Sometimes outside things, such as work or other worries, can make me feel stressed and this affects my writing. But I take it that “writer’s block” is a sign that I’m not quite ready to go back to writing yet. So I take a breather, find something else to do and then get back to it when I’m ready. What piece of advice would you give to a new writer? Learn to be patient. Writing is not a quick access to worldwide success, contrary to what you may believe. It takes time to perfect your style, build your audience and get a name for yourself. Don’t try and rush into things or try to match to current trends. Take your time and learn the art of crafting your storytelling. Success doesn’t come straight away and it may take a good few months (or even years) before you reap the rewards. But stick with it – sooner or later you will catch a break in some form or another. Are you working on anything new? If so, can you tell me about it? I am currently editing my third book in this series – which will possibly be my biggest book to date. I may even have to split it up into more than one book. It will continue a lot of plot points from this book (and the previous), but also open up to a number of different possibilities and ideas that will definitely shape the world of Draconica. Thank you for your insights and your experience. I wish you the best of luck with your latest book. Links: Website: www.pandragondan.co.uk Blog: http://www.pandragondan.co.uk/apps/blog Social Media connections: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PandragonDanWright Twitter: https://twitter.com/PandragonDan Buy links: Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Legacy-of-the-Dragonkin-ebook/dp/B00BK848K4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361728499&sr=8-1 Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-of-the-Dragonkin-ebook/dp/B00BK848K4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361728517&sr=8-1&keywords=Legacy+of+the+Dragonkin Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/289092 Reviews: Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17411676-legacy-of-the-dragonkin Enjoy a snippet from Chapter 4 of the book: Benji hung his head low, disappointed. He threw is sword to one side and sat on a nearby step, head in his arms. All the fight had gone out of him it seemed. ‘Why so glum?’ Daniar asked. ‘There’s no point going on, is there?’ Benji pouted. ‘If I don’t have your powers, then what’s the point? I’ll never be as good a hero as you if I can’t do what you do.’ Daniar sat beside Benji, placing her arm around him. ‘Don’t get disheartened, Benji. You don’t need powers to be a hero. You can be equally as heroic without them. I once knew a man who didn’t rely on powers to see him through and without him, we would never have been able to defeat the empire all those years ago. He had heart, and that’s all you need to be a hero. In fact, the one I refer to is the one whom you are named after’ Benji didn’t respond, still upset. Maybe he just needed a little more encouragement. Daniar unbuckled the scabbard belt from around her waist. ‘Benji, there’s something I think you should see. Maybe this will give you the fight you need.’ She partially pulled her sword from the scabbard, revealing its beautiful golden blade that glistened in Benji’s eyes. ‘Wow,’ Benji gasped, mesmerised by the sparkle of the blade. ‘This sword is called Truthbringer,’ Daniar said. ‘It used to belong to your grandfather. He passed this to me when I was nineteen.’ ‘This is the same sword my granddad used?’ Benji asked. ‘It doesn’t look anything like in the pictures.’ ‘Yes well,’ Daniar said sheepishly, ‘the original blade was broken some years ago so we had to forge it again. I had it made from gold because I wanted to bury your grandfather with it, but he insisted I keep it...’ Bringing up memories of her father made her become a little emotional as usual, but she stopped herself from crying. ‘He said he wanted you to have it one day. Because he knew that one day you would grow up to be a great warrior. You see Benji, this sword has been passed down to generations of our family for many decades. The sword represents the fight for truth and justice and those who hold it fight for the ideals it represents. As long as I’ve had it I’ve never forsaken those ideals – and one day, you will get to hold this sword and realise what it means to be a symbol of justice.’ ‘Wow,’ Benji said, ‘my first real sword.’ He reached out to touch the blade, but Daniar quickly sheathed it and pulled it away from him. ‘I don’t think you’re quite ready for this just yet,’ Daniar said. ‘Huh, but you said...’ ‘I said one day. I think you need a bit more practice with your wooden sword before you can hold this one. I’ll keep a hold of it till then.’ ‘Aww, no fair.’ ‘Don’t worry, my son,’ Daniar said, kissing his forehead. ‘You’ll be holding it soon enough. But you won’t get there by sitting on your backside, will you? What say we carry on? Afterwards I’ll make sure Harrison makes you some mint leaf pudding.’ ‘Mint leaf pudding?’ Benji cried, finding fresh motivation. ‘What are we waiting for?’ About Dan Wright: Dan lives in the UK, his hometown being Canterbury, Kent. 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. Dan also runs his own website, blog and even a wiki page that goes into detail of the world of Draconica. He is also a reviewer for the website Read2Review and also reviews books independently on his own website. 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. You can connect with Dan Wright at the following places: Website | Facebook | Twitter Thank you for stopping by today. Happy Reading! (((hugs))) Louann Comments are closed.
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