Author’s Note
653 Words
AUTHOR’S NOTE
You’d think that after several years of writing afterwords they’d be easier to write.
They kind of are, but it’s still crazy to write them, especially right after you’ve finished the novel.
So...
Old Dark.
If you’ve read my other fiction, you already know that I’m all about strong characters that turn heads.
(In Dark’s case it might mean smashing a few heads.)
Teddy bears.
Vegetables.
Androids.
Necromancers.
Dragons just seemed like a natural next step.
I don’t take on a project until I know that it will be unique to me. For lack of a better way to say it, it has be a “Michael La Ronn” type story, with all the things my readers are used to, but still a totally different experience.
Quirky humor. Drama. Fun characters.
I’ve never written about dragons before. I’m no stranger to them, though, and they have always fascinated me, but I wanted to do something different.
But I’m not a guy to reinvent the wheel just because, so I didn’t want to do something that was too foreign to readers.
I wanted a dragon hero.
Not a substitute for a horse, or a shifter, or a gigantic beast to be slain, but a dragon hero that was unique in some way.
Around this time I was watching the newest season of House of Cards. I also had a hankering to read Richard III—one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. On one of my podcasts, we had just had an interesting conversation about Tolkien and his approach to writing fantasy.
And like always, I started mixing ideas—what if my dragon hero was one part Francis Underwood, one part Richard III and one part Smaug from Lord of the Rings?
What if the setting was contemporary/slightly futuristic instead of a traditional fantasy setting (a la Game of Thrones)?
What if there was a magic system that mirrored our own natural resources? What would that world be like? How would humans, elves, and dragons interact?
How would it be governed?
What if the story took place on the verge of a pivotal election? As I write this afterword, Donald Trump has just won his party’s nomination in the United States, so if you were wondering about some of the political rhetoric and the fact that Lucan Grimoire is a billionaire and an outsider—no need to speculate anymore. I’m guilty as charged. I’m a novelist; I love using this kind of stuff in my fiction.
But...
I asked myself, how could I write about politics without being preachy? Because let’s face it—I don’t believe in taking political sides or in using my novels to promote any agendas other than having fun.
I’m not one of those writers.
That’s how Old Dark was born.
It was an amalgam of ideas and inspirations that began with a simple series of ‘what if’ questions.
The result was a dragon anti-hero and a story that I hope still has you guessing.
On a personal note, I love anti-heroes, and until now I hadn’t found the right novel to try one.
Seemed like the right time.
Dark turned out to be one of the signature characters in my catalogue. He’s different than my other protagonists, and he was a ton of fun to write.
This story evolved in some really interesting ways, too. When I sat down to write it, I had no idea what I was going to do.
I guess you could say I wrote the story in the dark ... (pun fully intended.)
Now that I’ve written it, it’s fulfilling to reflect on the whole process.
My favorite part of being an author is the fact that I get to write these afterwords. I love reflecting on what I’ve written. I write a lot, so I don’t often get to bask in these moments.
So thanks for indulging me.
Thanks for reading.
And trust me when I say that this story is just beginning, and you’re in for a crazy, dramatic ride.
See you at the end of Book 2, which you should totally buy right now.
Just sayin’.
—Michael La Ronn
Des Moines, Iowa
May 18, 2016
- Writer
