Shadow Dragon Q&A!

Is this series good for kids?
The Shadow Dragon Saga is a Young Adult series suitable for teen readers. There are some darker moments of cruelty and fantasy violence, but if your child has read things like the Hunger Games or Wings of Fire, it would be at a similar level. Sex is mentioned but not depicted, and there is occasional lower level swearing.
In terms of whether kids will enjoy it, a friend of my daughters (12yo girl) borrowed a copy, started reading it on the way home, and didn’t stop until it was finished.

Is this series good for grown ups?
Reviewers say yes!
“Being an adult did not take away at all from this story aimed to the YA market.” 
And, “It’s reigniting my love of reading after years of an unidentifiable malaise towards it.”
There are plenty of deeper themes within the action driven pages to hold an adult’s interest. Yes, this is a book about tough and snarky teens, dragons, and fighting the undead, but where the undead are an allegory for climate change and the violence of capitalistic greed leading to the exploitation and destruction of natural resources and people, and how to hold onto family, community, and morals in such a world.

What does Sapphic mean?
Sapphic means “relating to sexual attraction or activity between women.”
In other words, the main character of this series is a lesbian (and also others, as well as bisexual, non-binary, and other diverse representation).
Romance, however, isn’t a large part of this series storyline, and what there is is slow-build and sweet. Think along the lines of the level of romance in “She-Ra, Princesses of Power”. 
One reader said, “No romance in this novel. We don’t know with who to ship (Riony). She is too good for all of them.”

How many books will there be in the series?
This is a planned six book series, with the first four books written and ready to go, and final two planned out for release by January 2025. If you’re read my other series you know I love a well plotted out storyline, and this series is designed to take you on a sweeping adventure across the land of Elundrae, from the underground refuge to the undead blighted wilds, to the decadent dragonkeeps, as our characters grow from kids just trying to survive, to heroes who may have a chance of saving their world from the curse of the shadow dragon.

How long is each book?
Around the 70-80K words mark. For those who don’t speak author, that’s around 300-400 pages in paperback at an easy to read size and format, that would take an average reader 8 or 9 hours to finish.  
All that to say, these are satisfying full novels but are not massive epic fantasy tomes. Can be binged in a single day if desired (even by 12 year olds). 

Are there cliffhangers?
OH BOY ARE THERE. One book ends in one of the biggest OMIGOD moments I’ve written (it will pay off, I promise!). But this is also why I’ve done all the groundwork already to get this series out FAST so readers aren’t left hanging for long, never more than a few months between books at the planned release schedule.
You may be tempted to not start the series until it is complete, but please, for the love of all authors, please give it a try on release.
If readers refuse to pick up a series on release, it becomes so much harder to get the series completed in the first place. Even if you grab the 99c ebook during launch week but don’t start reading yet, it makes a huge difference to an author’s mental and financial well being.

What were your influences for this series?
A wild and diverse mix of media! Notably, She-ra Princesses of Power, Arcane, The Dragon Prince, Diablo (game franchise), Avatar the Last Airbender, The Locked Tomb, How to Train Your Dragon, The Hunger Games, and also the current state of the world and climate change. 

Will there be audiobooks?
I’ve already spoken to Melody Muze (who did the Beshadowed audiobooks) about narrating this series and she said she’d love to, so book one is going into production already!

Any other questions? Hit me up in the comments!