Those
three words scribbled on a piece of paper - far too many years ago now, were
the humble beginnings of The Snow Dragon Trilogy; and yet then there were no
plans to write three books, only to produce a single volume.
Shinobu
and the Dragon was duly written within a year (pretty much as it stands
completed), but from the first draft onwards, the story flatly refused to
become fully the children’s novel which it was intended to be. Like Tolkien’s The Hobbit, it clearly yearned
to be something more.
Further
like The Hobbit, Shinobu and the Dragon eventually gave rise to sequels (following
a suggestion by my late father, Bill) which were more adult-orientated in style
and content.
Shinobu
and the Baby Dragon - initially nothing more than a title which I had in mind
since long before completing the first book - was the trilogy’s second part to
be written; and indeed it was followed immediately by The Sea of Okhotsk.
By
this point, however, I could see no mileage in returning Shinobu Yamashiro to
Snow Dragon Island for a third adventure; and so I drafted in the character of
Russian Cosmonaut Yelena Kovalovski (once intended for another story), to fall
into the company of the island’s dragon population.
Nevertheless,
Shinobu was not willing to walk out of my life; and so in 2013, I brought her
back in the standalone adventure Shinobu and the Chinese Watercolor.
She
is still with me; and therefore later this year - God willing, she’ll return in
another standalone adventure both in paperback and on Kindle.
So
please stay tuned.
As
for now, Shinobu and the Dragon, Shinobu and the Baby Dragon, The Sea of
Okhotsk, and Shinobu and the Chinese Watercolor, are available in paperback
from all Amazon websites except those of Australia, Brazil and Mexico;
and on Kindle - individually, and as collection entitled The Snow Dragon
Trilogy - from all Amazon websites except that of China.
The
following link leads to the Kindle-exclusive collection on Amazon.com:
If
you do buy and read, I hope you enjoy and recommend!!!
Cheers.
No comments:
Post a Comment