A Tribe of Dragons and Dreamers is an intriguing fantasy novel continuing the series following Talwyn Survalor and her efforts to save her world from the darkness closing in. What draws you to the fantasy genre and, in particular, dragons?

From the time I first started reading fantasy–which was many, many years ago–I’ve always been blown away by the ability of authors to create whole new worlds and, in many cases, draw us into them so fully that readers feel like they’re there. The same is true with fantasy races, creatures, and characters who are so skillfully sculpted that we feel like they are real.

Even when I was young, I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to be the author creating and sculpting fantasy places and people who feel real to those who read about them. I hoped that, one day, I’d get the opportunity to delight and entertain readers in a way that can make fantasy feel like reality. It took me many years to finally get the time, opportunity, and courage to try, and I am so glad that I did.

Dragons are my favorite fantasy creatures for a number of reasons. I’ve read and watched stories that portray dragons as evil hoarders who demand maiden sacrifices. I’ve read and watched others who portray them as wise and misunderstood. But regardless of which angle the creator of said dragon is coming from, some things are always true: dragons are majestic and mysterious creatures whose strength and flying abilities are cause for admiration.

What is one pivotal moment in the story that you think best defines Talwyn?

There are actually a number of pivotal moments for Talwyn in the story. She heads into the dragon shifters territory firmly believing certain things about both herself and the world around her. She starts to change and her views start to shift almost from the very first time she meets Dreyken, when she experiences something she believed she was no longer capable of experiencing. It takes her some more time and a few more shifts for her to come to terms with this, but this is the moment that starts her on a journey to healing the wounds of her past.

In fantasy novels, it’s easy to get carried away with the magical powers characters have. How did you balance the use of supernatural powers?

Like Brandon Sanderson and so many other great fantasy writers out there, the magic systems I create have rules, and I stick to those rules. In the A Trial of Kingdom series, though there are many species who have magic in their makeup, like shifters and seers, very few are actually able to channel magic and use it in any meaningful way. For those characters who are learning more about their magical abilities as the story goes on, I have a firm understanding of all those abilities, so that there is nothing that happens to them that doesn’t, or will not, make sense. And that is the key. When it is used in a story, magic has to ‘make sense’ within the world and the magic system, and it has to has limitations, even for the most magically powerful characters in the story.

When will book 3 be available? Can you give us an idea of where that book will take readers?

The current ETA for book 3 is spring 2024. Each book in the series will follow the path of one of the four seer guardians and their attempts to prepare themselves and the people of the realm for the coming war. In the first two books, though we learn more and more about who the mysterious dark sorcerer is and what his plans are, it’s drip fed slowly. Book 3 will be where the readers see the sorcerer’s evil forces in a much bigger way, from early in the story. It is where the antagonist, the dark sorcerer, starts acting in a more apparent way. The victories we see in the first two books are pushing him to rethink his strategy, and we see the beginnings of what that may be.

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