Time for another tale

I've been busy with an aging dog who's not doing too well and some other projects recently but it's time to tell you about another release. This one came out in February this year and goes back to the hetero-erotica  side which I've been neglectful of for a time due to the popularity of the gay romance stories. But I will never stop righting plain old he and she romances, I swear!

This one was a lot of fun to write. I've been a dragon fan for a long time, especially those created by Anne McCaffery for her Pern series which I read avidly for a number of years. Both her dragons and her people were wonderful!! I'd been a bit abashed about trying to do anything with a dragon in it but when several of us decided to try a dragon shifter PAX (special themed collection of five tales sold as a discounted package by Amber Quill) I had to give it a try. Certainly there was a bit of every dragon tale I ever read in the back of my mind as well as a nod to other fantasy and paranormal adventure stories. I was a very avid reader in those genres for years  and a lot from them linger in my subconscious I know.

The Farm Girl's Dragon owes a good bit to Elizabeth Moon's series about the pig farmer's daughter (please do not ask me to give the name--I cannot hope to spell it right!) who becomes a knight but it's my own tale with my own twists and stamp on every line! Of course no author can work in a vacuum but even given the synopsis for a book I doubt if any two writers would come up with the exact same story. We bring our past and prejudices , our hobby horses and passions into anything we create.

I grew up with traditional fairy tales and loved the romanticism but always felt a bit miffed that the heroine was painted as fragile and ever in need of rescue. What if, I said, it is the prince who needs a knight to protect and assist him? Well, my prince Haz wasn't a weakling or coward at all, but knights are always good to have in your corner when there is a fight, an unfair one at that! But Haz  also had an unknown secret weapon!

I had one reviewer who felt the plot was all wrong and no crown prince would ever seek to get rid of a younger sibling as a possible threat or rival! As a student of history (BA and MA if it matters!) I beg to disagree. Many noble or royal younger sons who were popular and perhaps from a different mother-line have been deemed a threat by the heir apparent and dealt with accordingly. I stand by my plot with no apologies! Someday I will write A Surfeit of Princes which takes some of the theme of The Lion in Winter about Henry and Eleanor of Aquitaine and their sons and replays it in a mystical world where magic prevails.

Anyway, this story is part fairy tale, part gentle spoof and intended to be just a fun and mostly light hearted read. I hope most of my readers find that in its lines. I really liked the cover and have a fondness for both Haz and Yerna, his girl-knight! Maybe you will too!