Monday, June 13, 2011

DRAGON'S OATH LETTER

Hey there to all our awesome HoN fans!

Kristin and I are so excited that the first of our novellas, DRAGON'S OATH, is nearing release time! To help get you ready for it I thought I'd give you a little inside peek at how these novellas came about.

Last winter I was in New York City having a fabulous meeting with my lovely HoN publishing team at St. Martin's Press. Happily, over the years we've become good friends with our SMP team. Kristin and I aren't being hyperbolical when we call them our family - we truly heart our publishing team! Anyway, during the meeting we're all chatting about the HoN because my publisher, editor, agent, publicist, etc., etc., are honestly huge HoN fans, so they always have lots of what you and I would call "fangirl" questions for me. Well, the conversation kept circling around to questions about the past. I think what set me directly on the path of the novellas was a comment someone made about how sad they were because Anastasia had been killed, and how awful it was that Dragon seemed to be unable to recover from her loss, which led to someone else chiming in and saying that they'd love to know how Dragon and Anastasia met. I remember saying that they'd met when Dragon was a fledgling, and that the story inside my head had Anastasia as a little older than him and not particularly impressed by the young Bryan "Dragon" Lankford.

Then questions were fired at me: "When exactly did they meet?" "Why didn't she like him?" "Where were they?" "When were they?" But mostly: "WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!" I think it was then that I said something like, "Well, I could tell their story." And there was a resounding, unanimous "Yea!" from my publisher.

So then I got to reach into my imagination and pull out those mental back files I have on my characters. It was such fun to bring alive Dragon when he was just teenage Bryan Lankford, rebellious son of the Earl of Lankford. It was also a pleasure to flesh out the Anastasia of the past, who was the youngest vampyre to be made a professor at the Tower Grove House of Night in St. Louis, Missouri, in the early 1800's.

And what I discovered as I told their story was that their past was shaping the very fabric of what was happening today at the Tulsa House of Night. So, by reading about fledgling Dragon you will find keys to understanding adult Dragon's motives and actions in DESTINED.

Oh, and yes, I made myself (and Kristin) cry at the end of the novella...

Happy reading!

PC"

DRAGON'S OATH RELEASE DATE: July 12th!

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, totally amazing, gosh i cant wait! house of night is my life! ;D

Domonique said...

I can't wait until Dragon's Oath comes out, I just know it's going to be amazing.

shaun said...

Aaaaaah excited! :)

Jordan Clarke said...

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKK! I can't wait to read it!!!!!!

Frankie said...

CANT WAIT!!!! SOOO excited!!! =)

Warsaw95 said...

ooo exciting, this sounds good! UK release date?

ShannonBMamaO3 said...

That sounds amazing. I have to say I'm a bit afraid to fall in love with their story knowing what happens to her in HON. I'll probably end up buying it anyway and torturing myself.

Are there any Adult novels in the works?

WildAboutBones said...

I'm so glad I am not the only one with these kinds of "fangirl" questions. So next are we going to learn about the horse lady (LOL I've gone brain dead this am and can't remember her name). I think that would interesting as well since she was the only other teacher that believed there were problems with the "administration" :D

PC Cast said...

Warsaw - I believe the UK release date is the same week as the US release. Ask at Waterstones for more details. It's already in their system.

Shannon - just trust me that between the novellas and the big books, I'm going to give you a nice sense of closure, even if there is some sadness. At this time I don't have any adult novels planned. I may think about that after I finish Zoey's story.

WildAboutBones - Yes, the next novella will be the story of young Lenobia - how she was Marked and how she got those scars on her back...and how she met her first and only love... Set in New Orleans, 1788!

AmVe00114 said...

Is there going to be more HON books added to the series already? I hope so because Awakened ending in a not-worthy-to-be-the-books-ending kinda way.. :D

PC Cast said...

AmV - did you read the last page of AWAKENED? It says: THE END and then "For now...Coming November 2011 Destined." So, yes, there are more books.

Critica said...

Yay! Dragon's story sounds so interesting!

Thank you for entertaining us all with your awesome stories!

Erin said...

Always nice to have a tissue warring. :D I can't wait to read it.

Gill at A Little Thing Called Beauty said...

I love how you are completely dedicated to bringing a complete and full story of every aspect of this amazing series! Superwoman!! x

Horselover said...

I cant wait for Dragons Oath to come out! Im soooo excited!

Are there goin to be any more HON books after Destined?

PC Cast said...

Horselover - yes. Exactly how many more? I don't know.

Rachel said...

this is so great! :) I'm so excited to finally now how they met and where. I have a quick question, so I am re-reading Chosen and realized that Zoey's birth father left when she was young, are you ever planning on him coming back and reuniting with Zoey. i thought that would be cool to see how that would go over. probably more drama.

thanks so much for these books :) they are amazing! ~ Rachel

PC Cast said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rachel said...

truee truee, didn't think about that.. well still can't wait for the new coming books :D

PC Cast said...

Jeesh, sorry Rachel. I posted my response late last night and didn't reread. It had so many typos that I'm re-posting.

Rachel - right now I don't have any plans for Zoey's bio dad. He really didn't figure much in her life, and I'm thinking a human guy who didn't have enough integrity to be part of his kids' lives would suddenly show up at a vampyre school looking for his daughter. Ugh.

Jordan Clarke said...

OMG I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 I can't wait to read and and i am counting down the days until i can get it, doing the same with destined :D OMG i just CAN'T WAIT ik they are BOTH going to be just AMAZING the house of night books are my favoutites and i swear i would re-read them to pieces if i didn't want them to almost fall apart (i've done that before...oops teehee) anyway I LOVE your book and I hope someday soon you will do a book signing in southern ontario cause i would love to meet you :) <3
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Jordan

Deishan said...

Yay I've just finished reading awakened, so not long towait!!
I agree with you about George R Martins series, but still waiting to read the last one
Luckily it's out before we go on holiday

Hayden said...

I see what y'all mean about crying.

:'(

stariee1997 said...

What's the next novella going to be called and when will it be released? It's about Lenobia, right?

PC Cast said...

I think the next book will be called LENOBIA'S PROMISE (not sure though). It'll be released in February.

Ritika said...

You guys are too good!!!
Please don't make your books SOOOOOOOOOOO ADDICTIVE!!!!Can't stop reading once you've started!!
I LOVE HoN!!!<3
Can't wait for Dragon's Oath!!It's gonna be SUPER DUPER FABULOUS!!!