Why I wrote DP

WARNING: SPOILERS are containered herein for both "Dragons to Loose" and "Dragonic Freedom" but there are no spoilers here for "Dragonic Pride."

If you’ve read to the end of DF you must know that I couldn’t just leave my characters like that. And besides, things are getting so exciting now that there’s no way I could just abandon the story. Artists speak of their art taking on a life of its own, and that’s certainly happened here. I suppose I was never in control to begin with, but I feel more and more that I am serving the story instead of being its master. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my characters and my story, it’s just that I am now so deep into it that there’s no going back; Morrigan and I are in this together until the end.

Sorry. I didn’t mean that to sound morbid or anything, or to imply that everyone dies at the end (they might, might not, I’m not giving anything away on that count), but Morrigan is now a major part of my life. I never expected that would happen when I began DL, a number of years ago. I never expected I’d be spending four books with her or that I’d meet so many other characters to travel with.

DL was meant to be a love story. DF was meant to carry on Morrigan and Kyan’s story and also to be suspenseful. DP has its own purposes too, but it took me a little while to find them. I knew I had to write DP, knew how it would end, and knew what else I needed to accomplish, but the means and meaning were delayed in coming. With DL and DF I was strongly driven to write and knew what I wanted to say. With DP, it took me a little while to find my stride.

There are several DPs-that-might-have-been. A number of new characters went through several manifestations before arriving at their final personality and purpose. The ultimate fates of Morrigan and company also went through a few versions, but I was struggling to add purpose and meaning when in fact, a story with heart and significance was already there, waiting and needing to be told. When I realized that, the purpose fell into place and I discovered the story I wanted to tell and the character who’s story I wanted to tell.

DP is something of a mystery story, though not really in the “a murder has been committed, who dun it?” sort of way, with private detectives and DNA tests and a big trial at the end—though actually, now that I think of it, there is a little of that. Many answers for Morrigan and company will be discovered in this book, as they must be, for DP is the last stop before book 4, when it will all be over.

But let’s not talk about endings yet. There are, in fact, a number of new beginnings yet to be discovered, and a number of new characters who were met only briefly at the end of DF, or are yet to be met, in DP. I was particularly happy to be able to resurrect four characters who have appeared in slightly different incarnations in previous, lost, stories and give them a chance to spread their wings in this new world.

Just because there are new characters doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned Morrigan and company, however. DP is written from one main POV, with a few other extra POVs this time. The main one is, of course, Morrigan (and always will be). I’ll let the others be a surprise. There is also the return of a character who hasn’t been seen since DL, and don’t worry that we’ve left Leigh, Matilda, and Elli in Wost. We’ll see them again, along with a number of other characters and places that have been left behind. Indeed, Morrigan’s story is far from over.

So sit tight, and start contemplating mysteries and questions yet to be answered. Write down your best guesses, and see if you’re right when you read DP, Dragonic Pride, the third book in the Dragonic Voyages series.