Today I am honoured to host Deborah Cooke, author of Flying Blind
,
Book 1 in her new YA Trilogy “The Dragon Diaries”!!!
Welcome to YzhaBella’s BookShelf, Deborah! Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview!
Can you give us a quick description of Flying Blind?
FLYING BLIND is the first book in my new YA trilogy “
The Dragon Diaries” featuring dragon shape shifters (Pyr) who are coming of age. It’s part of the Pyr biology that they come into their powers at puberty. This is a spin-off from my
Dragonfire paranormal romance series – essentially these are the kids who have been conceived in the adult books! Because
Dragonfire is set in the here and now, the
Dragon Diaries is set in 2024 – which I decided wasn’t that very different from 2011. Being a teenager isn’t going to change that much, at least not in my world. These kids just have cooler gadgets.
How about sharing a few tidbits of your main character, Zoë Sorensson?
This series grew organically out of the
Dragonfire series, as mentioned above, and that’s because there’s only ever one female dragon shape shifter at a time in that world. She’s called the Wyvern and is supposed to have special powers, including the ability to make prophecies. The thing was that * SPOILER ALERT* in the third book of the
Dragonfire series (
KISS OF FATE
) the current Wyvern sacrificed her own life to save the day. So, the child that was conceived in that romance was a girl, ZoĂ«. And she’s the next Wyvern. She’s made some cameo appearances in the
Dragonfire books since then, as a baby and a toddler, and I realized about a year ago that she would have a special challenge growing up. Since there’s only one Wyvern at a time, and since the Wyvern traditionally has kept to herself, no one even in the dragon shape shifter world knows much about Wyverns coming into their powers, or even the full extent of what a Wyvern can do. I thought her coming of age would be fun to write – and I also made it worse for her in
DARKFIRE KISS
(
Dragonfire #6). As a toddler in previous
Dragonfire titles, she had some fledgling powers – in
DARKFIRE KISS, she starts to speak and loses any Pyr abilities with that development. So, this trilogy is about Zoë figuring out the Wyvern role and making it work.
So, when we meet ZoĂ« at 16, she feels not just as if she’s average but that she’s letting down the Pyr by not having her Wyvern powers. She particularly wants to be able to fly in dragon form. Of course, once things start to happen for her, it’s not as easy or as straightforward as she’d expected – and (big surprise) a new challenge emerges for the Pyr, one that only the kids can solve.
Did anyone in your own life inspire ZoĂ«’s personality?
I think all of my fictional characters are a blend – of bits of my own character, of traits from people I know, of characteristics I notice in strangers, along with a sprinkling of pure speculation.
How did you get the idea for Flying Blind and the magical/paranormal talents of the main characters?
I’ve talked already about the origin of the series, but what was really fun was thinking of a new challenge for these teenage dragons, one that was distinct from all the stuff their parents have done. Also the adult
Dragonfire series takes place during a war – between good dragons called the Pyr and bad dragons called Slayers – but by 2024, that war will be over and (duh) the good guys will have won. This means that the Slayers will have been defeated. So, ZoĂ« and her buddies needed a different enemy. I decided that the Mages would be a group that the older dragons didn’t take seriously as a threat and that only the younger dragons see the truth. The world of the
Dragon Diairies is also different from that of
Dragonfire because the growth of power of the Mages has drawn other kinds of creatures out of the proverbial woodwork. Can they be trusted? Should ZoĂ« and the dragons fight them or ally with them? No spoilers here, but I’m having fun.
Can you share with us the origin of a Wyvern?
The Wyvern is the only female dragon shape shifter in my
Dragonfire world, and there’s only one at a time. The idea is that she’s elusive and mysterious, and has more powers than the male dragon shape shifters. She can, for example, shift to other forms than just woman and dragon. The last Wyvern could also become a salamander. She can spontaneously manifest in other locations – a trick that ZoĂ« also really wants to learn! – and she’s a prophetess. The story is that she can see the past, the present and the future simultaneously. She can also dispatch dreams, sending messages to other dragon shape shifters. So, there are lots of great powers on the list, so many that I wouldn’t mind being a Wyvern either.
What I like also about the Wyvern’s nature is that she tends to be mysterious and knowing. ZoĂ« lost what little bit of that she had when she was two, and she really wants some of that mysterious mojo back. Do you think it has anything to do with the fact that the guy she’s crazy for, the hot rocker Jared, is older?
How do you keep track of your world building?
I have an enormous binder – which keeps getting fatter! – called The Great Book of the Pyr. I keep all of my reference materials in there – timelines, schedules of eclipses, story ideas - and also create a page for every character who has appeared in the series so far. On that character page, I list details like eye colour, hair colour and appearance in dragon form, which are the kinds of things that I always need to look up in a hurry. There’s also a summary of the history of each dragon, once I’ve discovered it, as well as his relatives and personality traits. I find that I can keep the greater scope of the stories in my mind – I just know what Delaney’s son Liam would do and wouldn’t do, for example, and I’ll never forget the story of the last Wyvern – but I need to be able to reference the details for continuity.
The other thing that helps is the production process for publishing books. Once an author completes a book and delivers it, that book keeps reappearing in the author’s life. About every eight weeks, it reappears. With a publishing schedule like mine, that works out well. For example, I wrote and delivered
FLYING BLIND, then I began to plan out
WINGING IT. When I was about halfway through the writing of
WINGING IT, I received the copy edit for
FLYING BLIND. This was a great chance for me to review exactly where I’d left ZoĂ« and her pals – invariably at this phase, I find a loose end that I’ve forgotten to carry forward. It’s usually small, but I’m fussy about things like that! Also, the production department at the publishing house keeps a style sheet and the copy editor reads for continuity. There are always a lot of questions from the copy editor – sometimes the answer is short and quick, but other times, a longer explanation or new backstory is needed. I can integrate that into the book that I’m still writing, if so.
What are the most challenging and the most rewarding aspects of writing?
I love telling stories. I also love learning about writing techniques, so that I can tell those stories in a more compelling fashion all the time. Being a writer and storyteller is the best job I can imagine – and the best reward is hearing from readers who love those stories. One of the wonderful things about the internet is that it’s made it possible (or a lot easier) for writers and their readers to connect. I used to have readers who regularly wrote me letters (snail mail) but think the immediacy of email and Facebook and blog discussion is exciting.
I think the most challenging aspect of being a writer is finding the balance. There is so much online promotion expected of authors, and even those fun connections with readers take time. This coincides with a desire from publishers (and readers) to see linked titles produced in more rapid succession than was traditionally the case. So, authors need to write more and promote more, too. Making that work – and ensuring that your friends and family still know who you are and remember what you look like! – is the biggest challenge.
What do you feel are the benefits/drawbacks of the new electronic readers such as Kindle or Kobo? Will they be the “death of print”?
One big advantage of digital readers is that they make it possible for books to remain available to readers. In traditional print publishing, a book has a pretty short shelf life - after the first month of its release, new copies can be hard to find. That’s because of the cost of printing and distributing physical books. Linked titles are usually kept in print, but once an author finishes a series and moves on to a new one, it can be tough to find the older books. A lot of my
backlist is out of print, and I hear from readers all the time that they’ve found, for example, the first book in a linked series and loved it, but can’t find the others to read more of the series. So, digital editions make it possible to ensure that those titles are available. I’ve started to re-release some of my own
backlist in digital editions this year.
The other advantage is that books can be produced that might not be considered viable for production in traditional print publishing. This might be because the story is considered odd or tough to market, which might just be because no one has done it before. There can also be continuity issues. It’s really common for an author to part ways with a publishing house, but not be at the end of an intended series. Other publishing houses don’t want to pick up the end of an existing series – they want one of their own. Digital publishing means that authors can now finish those series, and self-publish the titles electronically – if they can find the time! That’s a cool thing.
There is no denying, though, that the explosion in popularity of digital books is a big change for publishing and for authors. That it coincides with a recession means that the impact will be magnified – which is probably why we’re seeing such a staggering growth in piracy numbers. Although it’s appealing to get a book for free, we all need to think about the repercussions of snagging illegal versions. If authors and publishers don’t get paid for their work, authors will have to stop writing. We won’t have time to tell stories if we all have to go and get “real” jobs.
I am an avid reader and LOVE the actual physical feel of a real book almost as much as the reading experience. As such, I am holding out purchasing an eReader for that and a myriad of other reasons. Most notably, I am turned of by the cost of digital copies. Do you feel that electronic copies are fairly priced?
I love physical books. I love the smell of them and the feel of them and the look of them. There’s nothing that makes me happier than bookshelves stuffed full of books – whether they’re old favourites or friends I haven’t met yet. Plus I spend enough time looking at a computer screen all day that I don’t want to read on one at night. I recognize that I’m in the minority, though – Luddites, unite! – and that digital books are here to stay.
The pricing of digital books is interesting, in that people seem to think that a digital book should be free or very, very cheap. Maybe that’s because it has no physical substance. Maybe that’s because they have to buy the digital reader in the first place. When a traditional print publisher releases a digital edition of a book, however, there are still lots of costs associated with the production of the master file. There’s editing, and copy editing, cover design, sales and marketing efforts, etc. etc., as well as the royalty payments that will be due to the author. I heard an editor say at a conference last year that printing a mass market paperback (that’s creating the physical book) is only 8% of the cost of that book. When you supply digital editions, there are hardware and server costs, as well as helpdesk people, associated with the support of that publication. It probably comes out to a similar percentage on a per copy basis.
So, I’m not sure you’re going to see a lot of wiggle room on pricing from the big publishing houses, simply because of their economic model. For my books, for example, the reader can choose format – trade paperback for
The Dragon Diaries or mass market paperback for
Dragonfire or digital for either – with the digital edition being priced very similarly to the print one.
Can you please share with us how old you were when you wrote your first story?
I was always writing! The first reasonably coherent piece of fiction I remember writing was a murder mystery novella that I wrote in Grade 9. I used to read a lot of Agatha Christie and Phyllis A. Whitney, and I was sure I could do this. Even at the time, though, I thought my “twist” was a bit lame. What’s funny is that I read a published book last year which was beautifully written but used that same twist. I still thought it was lame, although I enjoyed the book!
Besides being a writer, what other types of jobs have you held?
Oh, I’ve done lots of things. Writers tend to have very diverse resumes, but never make much money at anything – maybe not even at writing! Maybe we’re having fun instead. Let’s see - I worked all kinds of retail jobs while in school; I’ve sold printing; I’ve been a typesetter and done desktop publishing and some website design; I’ve written software documentation; I’ve done bookkeeping. Writing is the best of all of them!
What are some of your favorite literary works?
I’m an omnivorous reader. I’ll read anything, and try any genre once. Not everything goes on the keeper shelf, though what’s there is pretty eclectic. My favourite YA book is
Melissa Marr’s WICKED LOVELY
. I love Tolkien and Gaiman, Jane Yolen and Ursula K. Leguin. I have a huge collection of folktales and fairy tales, and old stories – Ovid and Bocaccio and Jacques de Voragine. I love Jane Austen and Alice Hoffman.
Robertson Davies’ THE REBEL ANGELS
is a book I re-read at intervals;
A.S. Byatt’s POSSESSION
is another fave, as is
Majgull Axelsson’s APRIL WITCH
. I love Donna Leon’s mysteries and Anne Rice’s vampires, and I adore Angela Carter’s work – and I think I’ll stop here before this list becomes an essay!
Please share with us what can we expect from you next? Will there be a sequel? Do you have any upcoming appearances? If so where can our readers find you?
FLYING BLIND is the first book in a YA trilogy, all of which star Zoë. It will be out in June 2011. The second book,
WINGING IT, will be out in December 2011, and the
third book – which doesn’t have a title yet – will be out in June 2012. I have a separate website for the series, right here:
http://www.thedragondiaries.com
Also, my
Dragonfire series of paranormal romances is continuing. Book #6 in that series is Rafferty’s firestorm and is called
DARKFIRE KISS. It’s a May 2011 release. Dragonfire #7 will be out in January 2012 and #8 will be out in October 2012. That’s enough to keep me busy in the short term! You can read more about
Dragonfire on my site
http://www.deborahcooke.com
As mentioned, I’m also re-releasing some of my
backlist in digital editions, most of which are Claire Delacroix historical romances. (Some time travels, too.) You can find out more about those books on the Château Delacroix website, right here:
http://www.delacroix.net
My blog is Alive & Knitting, right here:
http://www.delacroix.net/blog
And my Facebook page is right here:
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorDeborahCookeFanPage
Thanks gain for participating! Your time and responses are very much appreciated and we hope to see more of your works in the near future!
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June 2011
ISBN-10: 0451233883
ISBN-13: 9780451233882
The next generation of shape-shifting dragons from the popular author of the Dragonfire novels.
Zoë Sorensson is perfectly normal, except she's been told she's destined for great things. Zoë's the one female dragon shapeshifter of her kind. But Zoë is at the bottom of the class when it comes to being Pyr and her powers are AWOL, so she's sent to a Pyr boot camp.
Zoë quickly realizes that she has to master her powers yesterday, because the Pyr are in danger and boot camp is a trap. The Mages want to eliminate all shifters and the Pyr are next in line-unless Zoë and her friends can work together and save their own kind.
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NAL Titles by Deborah Cooke
Reviews are written on a volunteer basis and are only the opinions of the individual review author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and/or views of the author, publisher, or public readers in general Copyright © YzhaBella's BookShelf 2010-11
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