And yet, despite having a year's experience under my belt, I'm still new to self-publishing. Just today, I discovered a clever marketing scheme that might help me with my next book if I decide to self-publish again. In the world of authors, I'm very much still considered an amateur. Everyone's got to start somewhere.
Tonight I'd like to reflect on the origins of Dragon's Destiny. The idea for the story originally came to me in high school, and somehow I knew even then that it would be my first book. It had potential, but it wasn't ready yet. The story was originally set in modern times on Earth, where Amadeus was able to pass off his birthmark as a tattoo. However, I knew later that this time period and setting didn't quite fit with my plot.
It took me several years to start writing down my idea, when the Inklings Theme House at Whitworth University inspired me to tackle National Novel Writing Month. I wrote about half of the book, and quit there. Fortunately for my readers, that wasn't the end. I'd begun and never completed several novels before, but Dragon's Destiny was different. It was the Elko County Writers, over a year later, who inspired me to finish this time around.
Interestingly enough, "the dragon" -- the unnamed entity mentioned throughout the book -- was never a part of my original story. To this day, it's hard to explain where he came from. The character of "the dragon" was developed from my beliefs and faith in God, and everything fell into place from there. I remember writing the dream scenes and secretly hoping I, too, would be granted a vision from the dragon. Alas, I was not so fortunate. Instead, I found the dragon in my book granted me many insights about life and faith that I'd never had before.
While Dragon's Destiny definitely has themes of faith and fate, I believe it has something for everyone regardless of their personal beliefs. If you are a Christian, however, I would encourage you to look a little deeper into the messages behind Dragon's Destiny -- maybe you'll reach the same conclusions I did.
Finally, if you haven't read my book yet, now is a great time. Dragon's Destiny is available on Kindle for free now through Friday. Get it here:
http://smarturl.it/DragonsDestiny
As always, thanks for reading.
Until next time,
Heather Kennison, Author
