Sometimes, storytelling is a process of careful research, planning, crafting, theorizing - as is the case with Sons of Rome. I've been working on that series in some capacity since high school, and it's my baby, and my most meaningful work, and also an absolute bear to wrestle most days.
But other times, storytelling is drawing on your years of already-accumulated reading and researching, and, on a whim, throwing the dice. That was definitely the case with Heart of Winter last year. I said, "Hey, this sounds fun." And it was.
Epic fantasy is my first love, and I'd always had a nebulous idea of writing a sword-and-sorcery, dragon-featuring fantasy series ~at some point~ in the future. But 2020 was a crazy year, and a year that seemed ripe for taking some creative leaps. About worrying less about an idea being the most unique thing ever, but about it being something worthwhile and deeply interesting. Like with the Hell Theory series, which was my King Arthur, Hannibal, Legion mashup that turned out to be a lot more interesting to write than expected.
I've been fascinated with Norse Mythology since my first childhood readings of Tolkien, and I've already done all this Viking research for SoR (Val and Vlad's mother Eira is a Viking, remember), but hadn't been able to do much with it yet. So with the Drake Chronicles, I pondered, "What if Peter Jackson wrote and directed the Game of Thrones TV adaptation, but it was super romantic?" And then I went out and did that, and by the end of that first book, I realized oh, I'm doing it. I'm doing my epic fantasy saga. Book one was fun - but book two was FUN. I love second books; I love expanding the world, and digging deeper into characters. I have never smiled so much while reading my own work. I'm super excited for everyone to read it, so, without further ado, I give you:
Edge of the Wild (The Drake Chronicles Book 2)
“Your lordship.”
It’s a title Oliver will have to get used to: in just a few short months, he’s gone from the bastard son of a dead duke’s equally-dead brother, plain Oliver Meacham, to Lord Oliver, the royal consort of King Erik of Aeretoll. Still uncertain of his place amongst the Northerners, but cautiously hopeful that what he’s found with Erik is real and lasting, his new relationship is put to the ultimate test on the journey to the annual Midwinter Festival: a meeting of all the lords and clan chiefs of the North, across the treacherous Northern Wastes. It doesn’t help that he keeps having these visions…of blue light, and antlered shamans…and dragons.
Lady Tessa Drake traveled North with her cousin Oliver as escort with the intention of wedding King Erik. But it was Oliver who captured Erik’s heart, and Tessa was instead offered the hand of Erik’s elder nephew, the handsome and kind-hearted Prince Leif. But with Leif away at the festival, and Tessa left behind at Aeres, she finds herself growing closer and closer to Leif’s younger brother, Rune, who’s recovering from a grave injury, and putting butterflies in her stomach.
In the South, in the duchy of Drakewell, Tessa’s older sister, Amelia, spends her days scouting for outlaws with her men-at-arms – and her nights in the arms of her oldest and best friend, Malcolm, a guardsman she loves, but can’t marry if she hopes to secure an army to defend her homeland from the invading Sels. Her mother wants her to marry one of Tessa’s foppish former suitors, but Amelia has bigger things to worry about: namely, the strange happenings in the Inglewood, and the claims of “beasts” roaming there.
The second installment in the Drake Chronicles is full of action, adventure, steamy romance, danger, necromancy, magic, and, finally, actual live dragons. It’s time for the Drakes of Drakewell to learn of the power that runs in their blood, just in time to save their respective kingdoms. Featuring M/M and M/F pairings, this is an ongoing epic fantasy romance intended for adult audiences.
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