Shadow of the Dragon follows a rising king haunted by the past, as he faces monstrous dragonkin and treacherous enemies beyond his kingdom’s borders in a breathtaking journey of vengeance, power, and destiny. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

When I reached the end of my first book in this series, The Hidden Kingdom, Aaron was in an excellent position with a clear path to the throne. However, the looming threat of the dragonkin left some unanswered questions as to the fate of our heroes and their kingdom. I also wanted to have an opportunity in book 2 to do more world-building, especially in the Hidden Kingdom, and to review all the events in this epic adventure from the viewpoint of the subjects living there. Book 2 also follows Aaron in his new role as a leader, and he faces internal opposition in his own court and external threats at the same time. 

Brenda stands out as a fierce and memorable female lead. Was she based on anyone or anything in particular?

I did not have any specific person in mind when I created the character of Brenda. I have always admired strong female leads and people who do not sit back and wait for bad things to happen such as waiting for the enemy to attack, in this case. Brenda takes a proactive stance when no one else will, and she knows how to inspire others to follow her. 

How did the collaboration with narrator Phillip Nathaniel Freeman come about, and what made him the right voice for Shadow of the Dragon?​

I thoroughly enjoyed searching for all the right voice actors to make up this large cast. I looked at 10-15 voice actors per major book character before choosing the one I wanted, and I chose the narrator at the end of that process, which was a major decision. I had already selected Phillip to portray some important characters before I selected him as the narrator. I knew he would deliver a powerful and dynamic narration. His deep, authoritative tone also makes it seems like the events in the story are actually happening. He is also extremely versatile and capable of doing many character voices. While there was a cast in place, there were many opportunities for Phillip to do several minor characters too. When I listen to other audiobook narrators, I know when the narrator is doing a character voice, but when Phillip does a new character voice, it is nearly impossible to know that it was him.

Were there any particular scenes or characters in the audiobook that surprised you in how they came to life through the narration?​

I enjoyed listening to all the voices among the cast for each character, and it was a nice surprise when it all came together to hear the combination of voices in important scenes. I was pleased with the very challenging non-human dragonkin voices that Phillip also did well, since there were several distinct ones. Robert Cossyleon as Prince Damien and Bobby Gaglini who portrayed young Timothy pleasantly surprised me many times with their creative and expressive interpretation of their character dialogues because I had not thought of those exact expressions or dynamics.

Author’s Facebook Page | X