Some years ago I wrote a novel called Dragoncharm. I’ve talked at length about its genesis on my website, so I won’t bore you with all that again. Suffice it to say it’s a story written entirely from the point of view of dragons – a fantasy adventure without castles or swords or even people. The book sold pretty well and spawned a couple of sequels. I dabbled with dragons a little more in Stone and Sky, but they were more on the sidelines. After that I left them behind. For a long time I felt I’d written everything I possibly could about dragons. Job done, time to move on.
I’ve written other things since then, fantasy detective stories and crime novels among them. But it’s always the dragon books that people ask me about. Usually: ‘When are you going to write another one?’
Well, the answer is: ‘Now.’ As I speak, my agent has an outline proposal on her desk for three new dragon novels. It’s called The Last Dragon Cycle (I haven’t called it a trilogy because the concept’s pretty open-ended and so may lead to more than three books). I’m four chapters into the first draft of book one – working title The Spiral Skull – and I’m aiming to have the manuscript completed later this year.
Before you get your hopes up, it’s important to understand this is an entirely speculative process. These novels haven’t been commissioned, so there’s no guarantee they’ll ever see the light of day. But if I do a good job, an editor may decide to publish. This is the reality of being an author, even one with a track record: you’re always pitching for business.
Right now, that’s not my concern. I just need to write the damn story. As I do so, I’ll be blogging about the process, much as I did with a short story called Flatland. As it happened, Flatland never got finished – click here if you want to find out why. Could the same fate await The Spiral Skull? It’s possible, but somehow I don’t think so. This time I think I’ll get to the end. What happens after that ... hey, why worry?
If you’re a fan of Dragoncharm and its sequels, I’m sure you’ll have questions about this new project. Feel free to ask them. Just post a comment on this blog, or send me an email. I can’t promise to have all the answers (you don’t want spoilers now, do you?) but I may be prepared to let a few details slip. If you’re lucky.
For example, you may be wondering if the new books take place before or after the events of the Dragoncharm trilogy – in other words are they prequels or sequels? The answer is: they’re both. What, you think a really powerful charmed dragon wouldn’t be able to travel in time?
And I have a name for you: Abalone. Remember him.
Oh wow. I am excited. You know, you could always self-publish them as ebooks on your website as many well-known spec fic writers do, eg: Peter Watts.
ReplyDeleteSound great, will be awesome with a few more dragon books, good luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you Graham :D I loved the Dragoncharm and the Dragonstorm, but the last of the trilogy was not released in my country. It's a shame... I pray, that this book will come here too. :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck to the writing!