I've omitted the 'finally' from the title of this post, but I know some of you are probably thinking it (I am too). I started writing To Love the Dragon King at the beginning of 2020. I planned to write at my usual pace, then dive into writing another book while editing and getting this book ready to be self-published in early 2021.
I laugh hysterically when I think about that lovely plan now.
The pandemic hit my mental health and executive function and general ability to be creative hard, as I know it did to many others. There were times I wondered if I would ever finish this book, if I could even write anymore. But I did finish. It was a struggle at times and very slow, but I did it and I'm proud of that and of the book itself.
I had the idea for To Love the Dragon King almost ten years ago, I think, but I wasn't ready to write it, so I scribbled down everything I knew about the story and Lysander and Sascha in one of my many journals and put it on the shelf until it was time to write it (this is not the only idea that has gotten that treatment). At the beginning of 2020, I pulled out that journal and went through everything I had and started to expand on the characters before diving into writing. To Love the Dragon King isn't what I envisioned when I made those first notes or even when I began writing three years ago. For one thing, it was going to be a somewhat darker story—I don't write things that could be termed 'dark' in any way, but I was going to give it a go—but that didn't happen. I could not write dark during that period of time; maybe dark isn't my thing at all. *shrug* Characters and plot lines evolved as I wrote, which often happens since I figure a lot out as I go along, but with the time I spent writing this, there was quite a bit to make consistent at the end. And at the end, I really do love Lysander and Sascha and the family that surrounds them and the story I told (and that gorgeous cover by Natasha Snow).
I hope you do too.
About To Love the Dragon King
Once upon a time, before the hunts, dragons were plentiful in the world. Now they exist only in legend…except in the land of Ivria.
Without the Dragon Talent, Sascha has long been told his only value is his ability to make the best match possible, whether as concubine or husband. He has always done what his family expects of him, cultivating grace and beauty, and when his parents make a match for him, Sascha goes without protest. He never anticipates being contractually bound to a cruel man embroiled in a plot to overthrow the king of Ivria. Or being confronted by the king himself, a man with whom Sascha is disturbed to find himself fascinated.
With help from the few people he can trust absolutely, King Lysander is working carefully to uncover the members of a conspiracy to overthrow him and expose the existence of dragons to the world. Apprehending one traitor only complicates the situation further, not the least of which because of the man’s beautiful, intriguing concubine. Who may be involved in the plot and whom Lysander is immediately attracted to.
As danger looms, Sascha and Lysander grow closer, but can Lysander trust Sascha with his life and heart? And can Sascha be strong enough to love the dragon king?
CW: kidnapping/abduction, violence, depictions of anxiety
RSS Feed