Because...Dragons!

Mary Jo

I'm happy to announce the first ever digital release of my novella, The Dragon and the Dark Knight!   I've written a number of novellas and shorter works because they're an enjoyable change of pace and give me the chance to go to new and different places. They can also be quirkier or more humorous than full length novels.  In short--fun! 

The Dragon and the Dark Lord was originally published as a longish novella in the Dragon Lovers anthology with Jo Beverley, Barbara Samuel, Karen Harbaugh, and me.  The four of us were friends and enjoyed working together, and we did three different romantic fantasy anthologies: Faery Magic, Dragon Lovers, and Chalice of Roses.  Most anthologies are started by an editor, then they look for authors, but for these three, we authors put together our ideas and sold publishers on them.  Which has also fun.

The four stories in the anthology were all very different.  I loved twisting some of the traditional. dragon tropes. <G> Here's the blurb for my story:

Base-born Sir Kenrick of Rathbourne has earned his living as an itinerant tournament knight. His skill supports him and his squire, but his dream of a manor and wife and family seems impossibly distant.  Then he hears of a wealthy baron in Cornwall who is looking for a champion to slay the dragon that is terrorizing his lands. The reward will be a manor by the sea.  Kenrick believes dragons are only a legend--but the prize makes the story worth investigating.   

But there really is a dragon--and a dozen knights have failed to vanquish it.  And when he finds a luminous lady in distress, the real challenge is protecting her and her dragon…

 

Here's an excerpt. Kenrick has taken on the challenge of fighting the dragon, so he goes to scout Dragon Island, said to be the beast's lair.  There he comes on bandits assaulting a young woman.  A true knight, he immediately goes to her aid, successfully taking on four villains at once. And then…:

            Gurgling blood, the bandit fell forward, then pitched sideways over the cliff.  There were dull thumps as he struck rocky outcroppings on the way down.  Finally, a distant splash.  He would ravish no more maidens. 

            Dizzy and acutely aware of every blow he’d suffered, Kenrick staggered to his feet
and crossed the meadow toward the unconscious girl.  As he approached, her eyes opened and she pushed herself to a sitting position.  Blessed be, she had survived the assault.  Her plain, grass-stained gown was that of a village girl, but the wildly tangled red-gold hair that fell over her face would have won acclaim at the king’s court.           

            As she flinched away from him, he said, “Demoiselle, you are safe now.  Were you injured?” 

            She looked up, and he gasped as their gazes met.  The girl was stunning, her features exquisite despite the bruises on her face.  Her eyes were an amazing shade shimmered between green and blue gray, as mysterious as the sea. 

            And her figure! The ripping of her gown showed more than a gentleman should see.  Kenrick knew he should look away, and couldn’t.

            The girl’s gaze moved to the bodies of the bandits.  “I…I am not seriously harmed, Sir Knight.”  She touched the bruise on her cheek, wincing.  “I owe you great thanks.”  Her speech was surprisingly genteel, and she used proper English, not Cornish. 

            She was about to say more when a shadow fell across them both.  That hard, menacing shape was no cloud.  Kenrick jerked his head up and saw a great silvery dragon swooping down toward him, claws extended. 

            The girl screamed, “No!” and scrambled to her feet frantically. 

            Summoning the last shreds of his strength, Kenrick raised his bloody sword.   He had never imagined how huge, how powerful, a dragon might be.  The wings filled the sky.  Despite their vastness, it was hard to imagine how they supported that massive, silver scaled body.  No wonder a dozen other knights had died here!  No man could defeat such a creature.

            Now he would be unlucky thirteen, but maybe the girl could be saved.  “Get back!” he called to her.  “I shall hold him off as long as I can

            The dragon breathed out a stream of fire.  Though it wasn’t aimed directly at Kenrick, he was unable to control his instinctive jerk away from the blistering flames. With horror, he found himself teetering on the edge of the cliff.  He scrambled to regain his balance, stabbing his sword into the turf to stabilize himself.

            Then a blast of wind from the dragon’s wings struck and knocked him from his feet.  Slowly, inexorably, he tumbled over the cliff.  For an instant he was falling free, too stunned for fear.  Better to die this way than burned alive! 

            He slammed into a stone ledge that broke bones before he ricocheted into space again.  His last conscious thought was hope that the girl might survive…. 

 And after that, things get really interesting!  Anne McCaffrey, author of the Dragons of Pern books, agreed to read the anthology, and here is the quote she gave us:

"What a marvelous presentation of romantical dragons, showing off for the ladies, or man of their choice, happenstance or traditional.  Very, very good collection for all hungry draconaphiles, aka dragonlovers.  Well written, stylish and above all inventive.  Dragon Lovers is sure to please readers of all ages.”

Here's a quote on my story from John Charles, a well known bookseller and romance reviewer:

"In Mary Jo Putney's exquisitely crafted and deliciously witty "The Dragon and the Dark Knight," freelance knight Kenrick of Rathbourne is hired to slay a dragon but changes his mind after meeting the mysterious Lady Ariane."

            John Charles, Booklist

Apparently I'm a draconophile since there are several living in my house.  The pictures scattered through the blog are of my dragons. 

Do you find the idea of dragons entertaining?  Or alarming?  Or otherwise?  If so, let me know!  I'll give away a print copy of  Dragon Lovers to one commenter.  Sorry, US only. 

Mary Jo

Comments

[Amy J]

That first dragon is adorable. I will have to dig through my bookshelves and see if I have the anthology; can't believe I would have missed one.

[Larisa]

Love dragons. Pretty sure my cats are ll dragons in disguise. Especially in winter when they demand I turn on the fireplace for them to toast themselves by all day.

[Betsy Hermes]

I don’t remember reading this one, and I think I would have! I’ll definitely have to get it to go with Ms McCaffrey’s Pern series, and G.A. Aikens series!

[Karen W.]

We love Dragons! Hubby has quite the collection of them. They have their own display cabinet but it's running out of room! We fell in love with Anne McCaffrey long ago and that fueled our love of dragons.
I have to find this book now!! :-D

[Pamela DG]

I enjoyed reading Anne McCaffrey's books when I was in college, and years later married a man who has a fondness for dragons. I loved Cressida Cowell's "How to train Your Dragon and the movies based on her children's books. Toothless's habits and actions remind me of my black cat. Thankfully, the closest we have come to owning dragons are two opinionated tortoiseshell sisters, a chatty Chartreux-mix and a sweet, bewildered male black cat whose not sure what to do with all the talkative females in the house. This looks to be an exciting, fun read.

[Laura]

Live dragons. Of course, given my Welsh heritage, it’s a must!

[Anne H]

Love dragons, and so does my daughter

[Sue McCormick]

A long time McCaffrey fan, of course I love dragons. I shocked some folk on the Pern facebook page (or maybe on the McCaffrey facebook page?) by noting that I didn't HAVE a cover for my first encounter with Pern; I started reading Anne in the magazines, so I couldn't go find a cover for Weyr Search. (Someone else on the page did find it and publish it). But the first reaction on that page was "You've been reading her works THAT long!"

I'm glad that this is now available on e-reader; I will probably order it when I get my e-reader stuff untwisted.

I own Dragon Lovers, so don't put me in the drawing.

[Mary Holden]

I think I have read virtually all of the early dragon books, Anne McCaffrey, G.A. Aiken, and many authors who only wrote one or just a couple of books or stories. I remember seeing this book, and thought I had purchased it, but I can't find it now. Plus, I would dearly love to have an autographed book by you! Please put me in the drawing!

[Lola Gaunt]

Wow, I finally found a book of yours that I have not read.Amazing, I thought I had them all.

[Ronda Fermino]

Hi Mary Jo Putney

I Love Dragons ... I find them to be ethereal and fascinating!

Thanks!😊

😊❤️📚📚📚❤️😊

[Beverly Abney]

I still have all my Putney's and Beverley's but I evidently didn't keep collections. I will have to see if they are available to buy. Or, maybe I need to check the boxes under my beds, first.

[Pat Dupuy]

I love all the ways dragons are depicted in fiction. Everything from badasses to sweethearts.

[Allison Herndon]

Oh, love dragons of all kinds. The little dragon in the first picture is adorable. This story sounds fun. And, the other authors? The whole book must be great! Thanks for the chance to win it. (Hmm, I think this would make a great birthday present for me tomorrow. Just sayin'!)

[Ellen Solensky]

Dragons are the best ! I remembered this anthology but now I must reread all the stories. Are you familiar with Eileen Wilks ? She has dragons in her books.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Amy, isn't that little guy cute? He's hollow rubber and quivery, and sits on the table at Thanksgiving. I hope you have the anthology, but they often fall through the cracks.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Larisa, you think cats are furry dragons? You may be onto something here!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Betsy, they are both definitely Dragon Queens. *G*

[Mary Jo Putney]

Karen, be careful! They may escape their display cabinet, and the what might happen???

[Mary Jo Putney]

Pamela, LOL about the black tom! It was mentioned above that cats are really furry dragons, and I'm on my way to being convinced!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Welsh, Laura? Then DEFINITELY dragons!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Anne, there's something rather magical about them, isn't there?

[Mary Jo Putney]

Sue, I also remember Weyr Search. I didn't read the later books, but I loved those early Pern stories.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Shall do, Mary Holden!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Lola, anthologies are easy to overlook, unfortunately. But all four stories in this one are fun.

[Quantum]

Like many here I was (long ago) introduced to dragons with Anne McCaffrey's Pern series. I seem to recall that these dragons were a genetically engineered species designed specifically to help the settlers on planet Pern. I guess Asimov's laws of robotics would have been modified to apply to dragons so that they were essentially human friendly. Other authors have different perspectives of dragons!

MJP, if your dragons make it to audio I would love to listen .... especially if dragon sound effects are included!

[Sally Fortney]

I've read all of Anne McCaffrey's books and the Pern ones by her son and daughter. Pern dragons were genetically engineered from native fire lizards and mind melded with their riders at hatching. Your novella sounds wonderful.

[Kareni]

I think dragons can be both entertaining and alarming; sometimes they're even alarmingly entertaining! One recent-ish romance I like with a dragon is Thea Harrison's Dragon Bound. Thanks for a fun post, Mary Jo.

[Patricia Franzino]

I love reading about dragons in any story. The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik is just one example. The reader sees the dragon grow up under the guidance of an officer in the Royal Navy. The relationship between them is of parent and child with a great love for each other.

Mary Jo, your story sounds fascinating between the couple and the dragon connecting them to find each other.

[Anne Gracie]

Oh, now that's a rabbit-hole (or a dragon burrow) -- what exactly does a dragon sound like? And how would the create it in an audio book? I loved the Pern series, and I seem to recall the dragons "bugled" and "trumpeted" -- which my brain processed fine in the reading. But now, thinking of audio, there is interference from soldiers' bugles and trumpets, which is not dragonlike.

[Anne Gracie]

Lovely post, Mary Jo. I might have the original paperback, but of course I've just bought the e-book, because the print is easier to read.

And if anyone is interested in making paper dragons, there's a free tutorial here, and the dragons look wonderful.
https://artvalleyva.com/collections/digital-downloads

[Christina Courtenay]

I love dragons! Must go and buy this immediately :-) I have a carved dragon like yours and fits perfectly on my mantlepiece.

[Vicki L]

I do have this book so I don't need a copy. I'm just chiming in to say I enjoyed the story greatly and have reread it several times.

As for Dragons, oh yes, love them. Used to collect them until they overcame their spot and I had to weed them out. As for Anne McCaffrey and her Pern books. Yes, yes...have all of those as well!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Ronda Fermino--there's just something really cool and mysterious about dragons, isn't there? A writer can make them into anything she wants!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Beverly Abney--that sounds like a lot of work. *G* Anthologies can be fun, but personally, I prefer reading full length books. But I do like writing the shorter stories. Hmmmm...

[Mary Jo Putney]

Pat Dupuy--so true. My dragon in this story is both.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Allison, happy belated birthday! They make bunny slippers--I wonder if there are any dragon slippers????

[Mary Jo Putney]

Ellen, I had a slight acquaintance with Eileen Wilks, though I usually associate her with werewolves. She's a very good writer.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Quantum, I may do an audio version of this someday, but it will be a while. My dragons hiss or roar, depending on circumstances. It would be interesting to see what Siobhan Waring could do with that. *G*

[Mary Jo Putney]

The Dragon Riders of Pern! So many of us fell in love with them, and were dragon-marked forever. (In a GOOO way. *G*)

[Mary Jo Putney]

I'm glad you enjoyed the post, Kareni. A lot of authors have taken dragons in lots of interesting directions.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Oh, Patricia, TEMERAIRE!!! Her world build was so fascinating, and so was her historical research for the Regency era.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Anne, you find the most FASCINATING things. Not just paper dragons, but koi, too. Delighful!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Christina, that is a classic Chinese dragon form.
I have the exact same shape that's a dragon candle. (Which I would never burn!) My dragons send salutations to yours across the Atlantic. *G*

[Mary Jo Putney]

Vicki, I'm glad you enjoyed my story. Collecting dragons is one of those things that can easily get out of hand. *G*