Margin Street Zeroes (Queen Titania’s Court)

Today we welcome Frankie, who’s visiting from Robin Banks’ LGBTQ and neurodiverse urban fantasy series, Margin Street Zeroes.

Frankie peered through the door with eyes roughly the size of dinner plates. They didn’t see anyone they knew, which was too bad because they had so much to tell them. But they did see a big buffet table! They crept over to it and began to stuff their face and pockets. Elegant slices of cheese went straight into their mouth. Cherries and chocolates were stored for later. After all, they were Gio’s favourite foods!

After a bit, they spotted a fountain with some sort of glittery drink. They immediately snagged a glass. It wasn’t a single malt, but it wasn’t too bad! Then they noticed a throne at the head of the room, where a lady was talking to one of the guests. Frankie guessed they were supposed to go thank her for the hospitality, but first, just one more drink!

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Character Questions

Who is your best friend? Gio! She is the most wonderful person in the whole wide world! He’s clever, and pretty, and kind, and just so good at EVERYTHING it blows my mind! We met totally by chance and I still have no idea why she wants anything to do with me, because he’s so great and I’m all over the place, but I’m not complaining. Am I lucky or what?

I wish he didn’t worry so much about stuff because I know that there’s nothing she can’t deal with, but, huh, his brain kind of misfires sometimes, I guess. She’s still the most wonderful and perfect person ever, though! Oh, we got married! Twice! But we only had a proper ceremony the second time, with a viking boat and everything! And one of our best friends did the actual marrying bit, because he’s, huh, well, technically he’s a god, but he only does turnips and staple foods so you’d hardly know it. And our other best friend who’s his boyfriend — our other friend’s boyfriend, I mean, not Gio’s — he was there, and our landlady and my uncle who is also technically a god but mostly he’s just a huge pain in the ass, but don’t quote me on this! And the raccoons wore tutus, because Gio kinda likes stuff like that even though he’ll never admit to it, not even under torture.

Author Questions

Are there any authors who inspire your work? I don’t know about inspiring my work as such, but my favourite writers are Spider Robinson, Tom Robbins, and Emma Bull. I’d give at least a kidney to be half as good as them. Tom Robbins writes the bounciest stories ever, Emma Bull writes characters I end up feeling I know better than most of my friends, and Spider Robinson is just all-round fantastic.

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Margin Street Zeroes

My family is pretty simple, when you get used to it. There’s me, Frankie, Ben, and AK. Frankie and I are with each other, and Ben and AK are with each other, but not like that. They don’t want to be with each other like that, though, so it’s cool, even though it took me a while to get used to it. Ben and I are best friends, and so are Ben and Frankie. Frankie and AK are also good friends, largely because Frankie is the friendliest person ever and a natural wonder, but AK is pretty cool, too. AK and I don’t always get on, but we try. I like people of all genders, and so did Frankie, but now that we’re together they really only like me. Ben also thought that he liked me, but that’s because he hadn’t got himself quite figured out. I like Ben a lot, but not like I like Frankie, and that used to be super awkward until we straightened it all out. AK doesn’t really like anyone – not like that, anyway. Mostly he likes sci-fi, brewing his own booze, and chilling. Somehow, it all works out.

We’re all university students, but AK isn’t actualy enrolled, because he doesn’t legally exist. We live in our house because a librarian rescued me from a snow storm. We have three semi-domesticated raccoons, but that’s not really our fault; they lost the ability to speak, and now we feel responsible for them. Oh, and Frankie can spot lies and teleport, and they could technically break reality, but they don’t want to, so that’s not an issue. We can all open magical portals, and AK is the god of turnips, but we don’t hold that against him. It’s all good, really. This is the story of how we got there.

Check out the countdown sale, just $.99 beginning June 21, 2022!

About Robin Banks

I was born a while ago, and these days I don’t regret it too often. A fan of peregrinations with a terrible tendency to get myself marooned, I currently dwell with an excessive number of dogs right at the end of the big cabbage field. That’s the big field with the cabbages, not the field with the big cabbages. Don’t be silly.

I enjoy road trips, dogs, guitars, and getting into scrapes. My favorite writers are Tom Robbins, Spider Robinson, and Matthew Stover, Rory Miller for non-fiction. I refuse to be landlocked, because you need to have *some* standards. I like Irish coffee with condensed milk in lieu of cream. You can’t help some people.

There is a rumor going around that I might in fact be a collection of raccoons hiding inside a hoodie, but that’s not been confirmed to date, possibly because I bite.

I have also written about neurodivergence as Ash Banks (https://www.amazon.com/Ash-Banks/e/B08TMMNPZH), and about self-defense and recovery from violence and trauma as A.R. Banks (https://www.amazon.com/A-R-Banks/e/B09JHP4FT5).

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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The Lost Chord (Queen Titania’s Court)

Author Lyndi Alexander is up! Her character, Bee Warrick, comes from the YA fantasy, The Lost Chord.

Clutching her crystal ball-music box, Bee Warrick steps cautiously into the ballroom. She winces at the volume of the music and takes a moment to calm herself. “It looks like fairyland,” she whispers to herself. She watches the patterns develop as dancers in pairs swirl around the floor, and finally catches the rhythm of the music. Its joy makes her smile, and she continues inside to join the party.

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Character Questions

Who are the most dangerous people in your world? I think fathers are. They hurt people. My father always takes my brother to visit and never me.

Tell us about the greatest mystery in your world. People are. They say they don’t understand autism. I don’t know what is autism — I am not a thing that starts with A. I am a girl. I don’t know how I cross dimensions. It is just the music. One minute I am at home, and then I am in some other world. Maybe some people think that is magic. But I travel with six friends from different dimensions, and we are good people.

Author Questions

How do you handle multiple points of view in a story? I grew up on TV shows with large ensemble casts, and I love to tell a story the same way. I separate narration by chapters, because I feel that’s less confusing for the reader. It adds depth to the story, trying to keep track of who knows what, and what the consequences will be.

When did you know you are a writer? When I was 8 years old and wrote my first story, about how my cat caught and killed a rabbit. Fortunately, most of my current stories are less tragic.

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The Lost Chord

A poisonous wave is spreading disease and discord across the eleven known universes. Seven special people, known as Keys, must strike the Lost Chord in order to restore the balance. Among those Keys is Bee Warrick, an autistic teenager from Earth who has traveled between the realms for years without realizing it. Can Bee help the Conductor find the other Keys before a bitter enemy strikes the wrong chord and shatters the universes?

To purchase

About Lyndi Alexander

Lyndi Alexander dreamed for many years of being a spaceship captain, but settled instead for inspired excursions into fictional places with fascinating companions from her imagination that she likes to share with others. She has been a published writer for over thirty years, including seven years as a reporter and editor at a newspaper in Homestead, Florida. Her list of publications is eclectic, from science fiction to romance to horror, from tech reporting to television reviews.

She’s a single mother of seven with two children on the autism spectrum, a quilter, a gardener, and woman of all trades. When she has time, she blogs on a variety of subjects, including autism, science fiction and life at http://awalkabout.wordpress.com

Even the loneliest heart can’t withstand the power of magic.
http://lyndialexander.wordpress.com

Where love and danger intersect….

http://alana-lorens.com

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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A Drop of Magic (Queen Titania’s Court)

Today’s visit is by Janna Ruth, whose character, Samantha Kollmer, appears in the YA adventure, A Drop of Magic. It’s the first in her Ashuan Greed series.

Samantha’s eyes are wide with wonder as she steps into the Fairie Court. Never in her entire life would she have expected an invitation. Even now, she felt slightly out of place in her rather simple green dress. Lucille said it would make her eye colour pop, but with some guests having eyes that glow in the dark, it seems a little understated. Usually, parties would be the last place to find Samantha, but throw in magic, and she couldn’t resist to see it for herself.

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Character Questions

Who is your best friend? Oh, that’s easy. While I’m lucky enough to have five close friends to hunt monsters with, my best friend is the one I’ve known longest. Fabian and I have known each other since we were babies. Our dads were best friends and we’re something like second generation friends. laughs He’s a bit dorky, but one of the kindest people I know. The only problem is, he’s so scared of magic! For me, it’s this wonderful power of nature, and he would cut his own arms off if that would take his ability to control water away. Well, semi-control, it’s still quite random, which I’m sure could be improved if he tried, but… exasperated sigh Sorry, he is quite infuriating sometimes, but he’s practically my brother, so I guess, I’ll just have to roll with it.

How does magic work for you? Is it different than the usual? I’ve only recently started to discover my magic. It’s not with spells, runes, or sigils. Instead, I tap into the rivers of magic that flow around the earth, giving life to all of us. When I close my eyes, I can see it swirl around me, like water, but green and utterly undisturbed by gravity. To craft a spell is a bit tricky. There needs to be intent and intuition. I dip my finger into the magic and separate it into threads that can then be woven into spells. The patterns are pretty complicated, but that’s where intuition comes into play. I’m really still practicing, but anything is possible.

I’ve only recently started to discover my magic. It’s not with spells, runes, or sigils. Instead, I tap into the rivers of magic that flow around the earth, giving life to all of us. When I close my eyes, I can see it swirl around me, like water, but green and utterly undisturbed by gravity. To craft a spell is a bit tricky. There needs to be intent and intuition. I dip my finger into the magic and separate it into threads that can then be woven into spells. The patterns are pretty complicated, but that’s where intuition comes into play. I’m really still practicing, but anything is possible.

Author Questions

How do you handle multiple points of view in a story? In Ashuan, I have six main characters, who all get their own point of view. The series originated as a drama (think TV script), so I never had to worry about POV until I started turning them into a novel. I try to give each of the POVs a certain flavour. Though they’re all third person narrated, I still want to give them a unique voice. With some characters it’s easier, because they have a very distinct way of talking and also taking in new information and thinking about it. Others are more “normal” and thus harder to differentiate by voice alone, so I focus more on what is important to these characters and how they prioritise their thoughts.

What social media do you like most, both personally and for promotion? I’m surprised to say, it would be TikTok. Now, I do love working on Facebook, and lately, the algorithms have improved (in my opinion), and it’s still the place where I connect with most of my readers, but TikTok has surprised me. I was so not a video person, but what I like about TikTok is that it promotes more natural short snippets. It doesn’t have to be polished like pictures on Instagram, for example. And they’re so short, it’s really just a snapshot of my life. And you can be so creative. Right now, 90% of my ARC readers are from TikTok and that’s really awesome because I get to react to and interact with their posts about my book on top of the reviews on other sides.

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A Drop of Magic

Magic, Demons & High School Drama! All Lucille ever wanted was a perfectly normal high school experience, but her town doesn’t do normal. Not when a few Latin words set her hand on fire, the entire town gets possessed by evil spirits, and the cute guy she’s got her eyes on brings a freaking sword to the battle. Now Lucille has to make a decision: return to her cushy, and safe, life-style at the boarding school, or face the monsters that hunt her and the magic that lurks inside of her.

Purchase here

About Janna Ruth

Once upon a time, Janna Ruth studied the plate boundaries of this world. Now, she’s creating her own worlds. Born in Berlin, Germany, Janna currently lives in Wellington, New Zealand. Her writing career kicked off when she won a writing competition for German publisher Ueberreuter, resulting in her debut novel “Tanz der Feuerblüten”, a Japan-inspired novella.

Almost simultaneously, her first self-published novel “Im Bann der zertanzten Schuhe” hit the shelves and went on to win the 2018 SERAPH for “Best Independent Title”. Janna likes to tell tales of mental health and environmental issues with a pinch of the speculative.

If she’s not writing, Janna has a plethora of hobbies, such as aerial acrobatics, cake decorating, drawing, reading, and anything crafty you throw her way.

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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Transformation, Part 2

As planned, I read my short story, “Transformation,” at Fall Folk Festival, along with a couple of selections from Aunt Ursula’s Atlas. The crowd was tiny, but we had a great discussion about “Transformation.”

When I began work on this story, I was riffing on the idea that a witch’s spells would start randomly coming apart. But as it developed, there was a really interesting dynamic between the witch, Madame Cariyu, and the village of Yoreville.

You have that sort of traditional hostility from the village priest, while at the same time it seemed that many of the residents were turning to Cariyu for help on a regular basis. It might seem like they exploited her magic, threatening to expose her “evil ways,” yet Cariyu may have been threatening them, as well. She did the favors they asked of her, knowing that she had a long list of clients she could expose as having consorted with a witch.

How important was the witch to her village? For one thing, her name is pronounced like “carry you.” That might be a hint. Plus, there’s that demon statue up on the hill. In any case, I hope you all enjoyed the story.

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Coming up, I have a sort of blog tour in support of Dancer in the Grove of Ghosts. It starts Saturday, November 16, on the blog of David Lee Summers. Then on Wednesday, November 20th, I’m visiting Charles Yallowitz on his blog, Legends of Windemere. Next up is the Loveshade Family Blog on Saturday, November 23rd. I’m also planning a stint on C. S. Boyack’s Lisa Burton Radio, but that one isn’t scheduled yet.

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Fire & Heist

Fire and Heist, by Sarah Beth Durst, is a YA book featuring people who can assume draconic form — or maybe it’s the reverse. They get up to some mischief while trying to blend among ordinary humans. 

I recently read a review by Teri Polen on her blog, Books and Such. Rather than steal her thunder, I thought I’d link to her post, so here’s the link. Polen is a prolific reviewer, and I highly recommend her blog. Go ahead and check it out!

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Wyrmflight: A Hoard of Dragon Lore — $4.99 e-book or $17.99 trade paperback. Available at Amazon or Draft2Digital.

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Einar, the Great and Terrible

This is part two of my blog visit from author J. Keller Ford. The subject: her wicked dragon king, Einar.

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When talking with Deby the other day about my new book, Bane of the Dragon King, as well as the complete trilogy, she asked me an interesting question: Was Einar (the protagonist dragon) born into power or did he acquire his title through other means?

This question excited me as it was the first time anyone had asked the question and it is the first time I’ve been able to devote my time to just talking about Einar, which is just way too cool for words.

Einar was found as an egg by the young prince of Berg while on a hunting excursion with his father. He was forbidden to keep it, but as young children often do, he disobeyed his father and snuck the egg into the stables at the castle. Within a couple of weeks, the egg hatched, and the prince named him Einar, which means ‘alone’ and ‘warrior’. As Einar grew, he became disgruntled with the way he was treated and kept hidden. His demands on the young prince became so immense that the young man couldn’t keep up with them all, so Einar killed him and began to kill others within the kingdom who refused to serve him. By the time the dragon was two-years-old, he’d killed off everyone in the kingdom who challenged him and turned them into shadowmorths, his army of human souls transformed through the powers bestowed upon him as a Timberlake Smoothback dragon into killing shadow creatures.

Over the years, other skills and powers of a Timberlake Smoothback emerged, and Einar was able to infiltrate and take over other realms and kingdoms, thus proclaiming himself as the Dragon King. Attempts to capture him and kill him were thwarted at every turn. Now, two hundred years later, Einar the Dragon King comes face to face with the only ones who have the power to kill him once and for all. The battle for Hirth, for Fallhollow, and for all the universe has begun. I hope you take the journey to find out who wins!

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J. Keller Ford is a scribbler of speculative fiction and YA tales. As an Army brat, she traveled the world and toured the halls of some of Germany’s most extraordinary castles in hopes of finding snarky dragons, chivalrous knights, and wondrous magic to permeate her imagination. What she found remains etched in her topsy-turvy mind, and oozes out in sweeping tails of courage, sacrifice, honor and everlasting love.

When not torturing her keyboard or trying to silence the voices in her head, Jenny spends time collecting seashells, bowling, screaming on roller coasters, and traveling. She is a mom of four magnificent and noble offspring, and currently lives in paradise on the west coast of Florida with a menagerie of royal pets, and her own quirky knight who was brave enough to marry her.

Jenny is the author of The Chronicles of Fallhollow series. The first two books, In the Shadow of the Dragon King, and Rage of the Dragon King, are currently available. For more information about her books and to sign up for her newsletter, please visit www.j-keller-ford.com.

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Wyrmflight: A Hoard of Dragon Lore — $4.99 e-book or $17.99 trade paperback. Available at Amazon or Draft2Digital.

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Dragons of Fallhollow

J. Keller Ford has been a blogging friend of mine for years now. We’ve supported and encouraged each other, and I’m always excited to hear she has a new publication. This very week, she releases Bane of the Dragon King. This is the finale of her YA fantasy series, Chronicles of Fallhollow.

Now she has kindly offered to visit Wyrmflight and tell us about the dragons she created for her stories. Take it away, Jenny!

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Let’s face it. There are not enough dragons in Young Adult fiction. If I had anything to do with it, there would be one lurking about in every YA fantasy novel. I suppose that’s why I put so many different dragons in my series of books, The Chronicles of Fallhollow.

I enjoyed writing all the dragons in my books. The first ones the reader stumbles upon are the palindrakes. These are smallish green dragons, roughly the size of an eagle, and are messengers of the forest. They are kind, curious and gentle and pretty blend in well with their surroundings.

The next dragon the reader meets is a somewhat small dragon named Mirith. He is a mix between a mountain-dwelling, fire-breathing Timberlake Smoothback and an Opernicus, a desert dragon. He is short, and stocky with autumn colored scales, a head like a bird’s, and a mane of autumn colored feathers. He is an ice-breather and a lightning thrower. Even though he appears brutish, he really is a sweetheart, once you get to know him.

The third dragon is the villain, Einar, the Dragon King. He is an immense (think twice the size of Smaug), with scales as black as midnight dipped in liquid amethyst. He’s the epitome of evil.

The last dragons we see are the beautiful, white/silver peaceful Edryd dragons of the Silver Isles. They are wise, gentle and appear as white clouds streaking through the night sky. They are enemies of Einar and play an important role in the final novel in the trilogy, Bane of the Dragon King, releasing November 13.

And that’s it. Those are all my dragons. I hope you read the books to find out more, and please feel free to reach out to me with questions. I love talking dragons and I would love to hear from all the dragon fans out there.

Thank you for hosting me today, Deby. You’re the best. Hugs to all.

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J. Keller Ford is a scribbler of speculative fiction and YA tales. As an Army brat, she traveled the world and toured the halls of some of Germany’s most extraordinary castles in hopes of finding snarky dragons, chivalrous knights, and wondrous magic to permeate her imagination. What she found remains etched in her topsy-turvy mind, and oozes out in sweeping tails of courage, sacrifice, honor and everlasting love.

When not torturing her keyboard or trying to silence the voices in her head, Jenny spends time collecting seashells, bowling, screaming on roller coasters, and traveling. She is a mom of four magnificent and noble offspring, and currently lives in paradise on the west coast of Florida with a menagerie of royal pets, and her own quirky knight who was brave enough to marry her.

Jenny is the author of The Chronicles of Fallhollow series. The first two books, In the Shadow of the Dragon King, and Rage of the Dragon King, are currently available. For more information about her books and to sign up for her newsletter, please visit www.j-keller-ford.com.

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Wyrmflight: A Hoard of Dragon Lore — $4.99 e-book or $17.99 trade paperback. Available at Amazon or Draft2Digital.

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Baby Dragons

In line with Fairy Dragons, which I mentioned last week, there is a whole sub-genre of books that feature baby dragons. Some of these are juvenile novels where a youth protagonist cares for one or more baby dragons. The emphasis here is on compassionate kids taking care of beasts that their parents regard as dangerous and terrifying.

One example is Susan Fletcher’s Dragon Chronicles series: Dragon’s Milk (1989), Flight of the Dragon Kyn (1993), Flight of the Dove (1996) and Ancient, Strange and Lovely (2010). A did a series review a while back. A more recent series is Dragon Slippers, by Jessica Day George: Dragon Slippers (2006), Dragon Flight (2008), and Dragon Spear (2009). Here’s my review.

Sometimes the main character is a young dragon, as with the graphic novel series, Dragonbreath (started in 2009) by Ursula Vernon.

And how could I forget Cornelia Funke’s Dragon Rider series? I really need to get to those books some day.

There’s also a category of picture books featuring dragon characters. Sometimes there is an actual baby dragon, but more often a child character is coping with draconic behavior. Some that I’ve reviewed are Dragons Love Tacos (2012) by Adam Rubin, and Dragon Was Terrible (2016) by Kelly DiPucchio.

I’d suspect these are intended for fantasy-loving parents who want to introduce the genre to their young children. So if you have kids or grandkids, by all means go on a “dragon hunt” in your local bookstore or library. You never know what you’ll find!

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The Questing Beast, Part 2

I’ve been talking about the Questing Beast, a dragon-like monster from Arthurian lore. This creature continues to feature in modern works, as well.

In The Once and Future King, T. H. White created his own legend of King Pellinore and the Questing Beast. Here, Pellinore is more of a comic figure who never finds more of the dragon than its droppings. A friend persuades Pellinore to give up his hopeless pursuit. After a while, though, Pellinore learns that the Beast is pining away from loneliness now that the chase is over. The hunter nurses his former nemesis back to health and gives it a head start before once again setting off on his eternal quest.

The Questing Beast has also been featured in T.V. shows such as Merlin. In this telling, the Beast is associated with the Old Religion, a faction opposed to Merlin and Arthur. The dragon’s venom is so powerful that nothing can cure it. Once bitten, death is assured. In the first-season finale, Le Morte d’Arthur, Arthur is bitten and Merlin desperately seeks aid from Nimueh,  leader of the Old Religion. Turns out, there is one way to save the Questing Beast’s prey. The victim can be spared if another person is willing to sacrifice their own life. There’s a lot of hot-potatoing as the price for Arthur’s salvation gets passed from person to person. You can read a full synopsis here.

All these events take place in a mythical version of Britain, but it seems the Questing Beast may even have made its way to the Americas. Residents of the Republic of Molossia, a self-declared micronation located in Nevada, USA, claim to have found fossil evidence of the Questing Beast. There is a hoofprint-shaped indentation on their landmark, Helicopter Rock. The residents claim this is a track left by the Questing Beast as it leapt to escape King Pellinore.

It just goes to show, you can’t keep a good dragon down.

 

 

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A few of my other books:

Aunt Ursula’s Atlas, Lucy D. Ford’s short story collection

Masters of Air & Fire, Lucy D. Ford’s middle-grade novel

The Grimhold Wolf, my Gothic werewolf fantasy, and my epic fantasy, The Seven Exalted Orders.

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The Questing Beast

The best known dragon of Arthurian lore, the Questing Beast is a creature that contradicts itself. It is described as a hideous mongrel with a snake’s head and neck, leopard’s body, hindquarters of a lion, and deer hooves instead of paws. Even stranger is the noise that accompanies the Questing Beast wherever it goes. When it is nearby, you can hear a constant growling and barking as of many hunting hounds. Some legends say that the Beast actually did swallow a pack of hounds and they are still barking inside its belly!

In the Middle Ages, questing was another word for the cry of hounds following a scent. Indeed, its name in French is the Beast Glatisant, which refers to the baying of a pack of hounds. So, calling it a Questing Beast is something of a joke. For further irony, the Questing Beast doesn’t seem to be questing for anything. Instead, various characters take it as their quest to slay the Questing Beast.

This dragon’s initial appearance in Arthurian lore is when King Arthur wakes from a nightmare and beholds this bizarre animal with its noisy ambiance. It seems Arthur had spent a night of passion with a woman named Morgause (a.k.a. Morgan Le Fey), not knowing she was his sister. Their son, Mordred, was destined to destroy everything Arthur tried to build. The Questing Beast’s arrival is believed to be harbinger of this doom.

Arthur chose not to pursue the Beast, but soon after he was approached by another knight. King Pellinore explained that it was his family’s curse to endlessly pursue the Questing Beast. Arthur consulted his wizard, Merlin, who divined the dragon’s origins. A princess had once been tempted by the Devil to lust after her own brother. Through Satan’s machinations, the brother was killed, and their child was born twisted by his mother’s crimes. Perhaps King Pellinore was descended from the same royal family. This could explain his oath to destroy the Beast.

A separate story describes the Questing Beast quite differently. In this version, Sir Percival encounters the Beast while searching for the Holy Grail. What Percival sees is a small animal, pure white and beautiful to behold. The barking still accompanies it, except when the Beast pauses to drink from a pool. Some have suggested the Questing Beast represents Christ guiding Sir Percival on his quest. However, evil forces are tearing the Beast apart from inside. This could refer to Jews, who follow the Old Testament instead of Christ’s teachings, or it could just mean all those rude people who insist on talking during mass.

In yet another variation, the Questing Beast is hunted by Sir Palmades, a Saracen knight who wants to win the affection of Queen Isolde of Cornwall. I was kind of surprised to learn there had been a Saracen knight in Arthurian lore. Ultimately Sir Palmades converts to Christianity and puts his hopeless love aside.

And those are just the Medieval variations on the Questing Beast! Check back on Saturday for the more contemporary versions of this ancient dragon.

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A few of my other books:

Aunt Ursula’s Atlas, Lucy D. Ford’s short story collection

Masters of Air & Fire, Lucy D. Ford’s middle-grade novel

The Grimhold Wolf, my Gothic werewolf fantasy, and my epic fantasy, The Seven Exalted Orders.

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