A-Z Blogging Challenge: D and E

Still catching up here. It's still fun and I think this might be the most blogging in a row that I've done ever... Also, thank you for reading and commenting (Ashley Nixon you're awesome for including me and my pitiful blog in your post), I'm getting an incredible high and when I'm high, I write like a fiend. :) Enjoy D and E in my challenge posts.

D is for Dragons! Yay!! Putting dragons into my books was a really hard step for me. I feel like it's rarely done in a way that doesn't take away from the rest of the book. It always seems to pull focus and maybe that's because they're so - "Oooh dragons!" - for all of us readers. In my books, the story isn't about dragons, I try to use them as nonchalantly as possible. They are there, but they're also not. Some of them are pets like dogs and cats, others are friends and become real characters, and still others are only rumors. Its hard to really describe any other way.

To give an example, one of my characters named Kye has a dragon. He found her as an egg and raised her. She is his best friend and constant companion. Elee is a Copperstar dragon, a breed that is about the size of a draft horse, with similar build except for a long neck and of course, that classic dragon head. They are slow to trust, a beautiful copper color, and of the more elevated classes of dragons. This means that she has a great amount of personality and intelligence. She can even communicate to a degree, with Kye mostly. Compare it to your favorite pet you've ever had, how every look or noise or movement was like them speaking to you, clear as day. The lower classes of dragons still have immense intelligence and some communication with their "people", just not as much and they're usually much smaller. There you have it, my dragons.

Next is...

E is for Eranie Snowchild. Eranie is one of my favorite characters. She is tall with long and dark curly hair, she has violet eyes, and most especially she has a very special gift.

Eranie was born into one of the gypsy clans but her family was attacked on a trading trip through the nothern  mountains. Her family's caravan was attacked and Eranie was thrown from her horse and lost in the snow. Cold and alone, she waited for her family to come back while she hid from the attackers in a bear's den. When she entered the den, she found a mother bear and her cubs. The mother bear awoke and growled before charging past the almost frozen child and attacking an encroaching attacker who was hunting the tiny child.

When the mother bear returned she was accompanied by the Goddess Andarta, earthen goddess and mother of all bears. She laid her hands on Eranie and blessed her as her own. She then turned to the mother bear and asked her to take Eranie to the Fortuna Keep. Eranie relayed her story to the Queen who placed her in the care of the Head Priestess for training and schooling. She is now the goddess's conduit to her followers. Andarta speaks through her as her Head High Priestess. While respected among her clan, her connection with the goddess keeps her fairly disconnected from people outside her close circle of friends. Because of this and that she always seems to have secret knowledge about the world, outside those who at least know her well, she has been nicknamed the Snow Witch. This is also where she gets her surname, Snowchild.

Eranie is an excellent horsewoman and warrior. She is fiercely loyal to Famke, who is like a sister to her. When Famke began to train for war and took up her army, Eranie rode with her. She and her black mare, Koshka are a terror on the field of battle. To me, she is such a pillar of strength and an inspiration. As most of my characters are, the roots Eranie springs from belong to someone I know and greatly admire. As her story unfolds, it makes me so excited. I love her to death.

This picture, by amazing artist Nene Thomas, is how I picture Eranie. Its only missing the violet eyes.