At times it’s hard to believe what you see…
Shutterbug
Allison Lee is trying to survive high school while suffering abuse from the school’s
mean girl. Her life is often abysmal, but at least her green hair is savage.
Her talent for photography is recognized by the school paper and the judges of
a photo contest.
While visiting her friend Joe, a
homeless vet, Allison's life irrevocably changes after an attack leaves her
blind. All her dreams as a photojournalist are dashed as she realizes she'll
never see again. Despair sets in until she is offered an experimental procedure
to restore her vision. But there are side effects, or are they hallucinations?
She now sees dragons accompanying some of the people she meets.
Can she trust her eyes, or has the
procedure affected her more than she can see?
Welcome,
Allison. Tell us a bit about Dragons Walk Among
Us. First off, a violent attack leaves me blind. Luckily,
cutting-edge prosthetic eyes restore my vision, but there are wild side
effects. I can see dragons following some people around. Am I going crazy or
what?
What made
you choose photojournalism for a career? My dad gave me a used camera when I was
ten or eleven. I’ve been taking pictures ever since. I want to turn my passion
for documenting social justice and climate issues into a career.
Knowing
what you know now, if you had it to do over again, would you stay in high
school? Since I am the target of bullying by the mean girl, I’d bypass high
school in an ideal world.
What is
your biggest fear? Becoming my mother. She is a monster capable of
killing in cold blood without remorse. I don’t ever want to become like her. My
humanity is the best of me.
Who is
your favorite fictional character and why? I identify with Frankenstein’s
monster because we’re both misunderstood and misrepresented.
What is
the best piece of advice you ever received? My dad always
encourages me to lead with kindness. I found that to be pretty good advice.
Allison,
thank you for taking time away from your work and studies to speak with us. Now
we’d like to talk to you. creator, Dan
Rice.
Which
writer or character[s], from either books or movies, [or both] have had a major
impact on your writing? When I was around 11 or 12, I first read Frank
Herbert’s Dune. I was swept away by
the story and amazed the author created such a real fictional world in a
slender volume. After reading that novel for the first time, I decided I wanted
to try out this writing thing.
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman and
EXO by Fonda Lee
influenced my thoughts about Dragons Walk Among Us and The Allison Lee Chronicles series
in general. Both YA tales feature protagonists struggling with their identity and
loyalties in a sci-fi/fantasy setting, much like Allison Lee’s story.
With
regard to research, where did you start for this novel? Did that lead you down
different paths, thereby changing the original concept? My research was
limited to double-checking my geography. I had visited most of the
locations—Seattle, Mount Rainier, the Olympic coast— many times. Since the
story is inherently a fantasy, I didn’t feel the need to over research if such
a thing is even possible.
A real-life event did inspire a particular
theme running through the book. In the opening chapter, the school’s mean girl
bullies Allison over her biracial appearance. My biracial son was bullied over
his appearance at summer camp while I was writing the novel’s first draft. Although
he was initially disturbed by the bullying, he got over the event and
eventually, I believe, buried the hatchet with his antagonists. Allison follows
a similar character arc.
Tell us a
bit about your publisher. How did you hear about them? I’m published with The
Wild Rose Press. I first heard about them years ago through my critique group,
The Puget Sound Writer’s Guild. I believe one of the press founders belonged to
the group many years before I joined up. At the time, I was trying to write
epic fantasy, which I didn’t think The Wild Rose Press would be interested in
(and if I’m honest, my writing wasn’t good enough at the time).
What influenced
you to submit to them? I was shopping around Dragons Walk Among Us without tons of
success, despite feeling confident it was pretty good. I happened upon an ad
from Alicia Dean (fellow The Wild Rose Press author and maybe editor) offering
editorial services in an email list I subscribe to. I had always hesitated to
hire an editor due to the cost, but her discounted rate seemed reasonable.
After working with her, my manuscript sparked interest from a couple of small
presses. One asked for the full manuscript but ultimately declined to publish
it.
I knew The Wild Rose Press was interested in
YA from my research into publishers. So after polishing up the manuscript some
more, I sent it off to them. About nine months later, my novel was published. I
guess my story proves the publishing world is small!
What are
you reading right now? The
Lost Cord by Lyndi Alexander is a YA Fantasy featuring a protagonist
with autism. The
Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter is an action-packed epic fantasy. Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff is a
dark fantasy about humanity being subjugated by vampires.
What’s
next for you? I just finished up my first round of edits for The
Blood of Faeries, book two in The
Allison Lee Chronicles. In this adventure, Allison’s friend is seduced by magic
and mysteriously disappears. Allison will need to master her supernatural
abilities while confronting beings thought long ago extinct and fiends all too
human to rescue him.
https://www.danscifi.com/dragons-walk-among-us
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Walk Among Us, go to:
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Sounds amazing! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI love fantasy stories. Yours sounds like a winner!
ReplyDeleteSounds amazing!
ReplyDelete