Featured Artist Friday: Gwen Dandridge
Today I would like to introduce you to another YA Fantasy author from the Clean Indie Reads group! Please welcome Gwen Dandridge to the blog!
The Dragon's Chosen - Gwen Dandridge
The dragons came from beyond the Crystal Mountains, demanding a virgin sacrifice…and Princess Genevieve learns she's it when she's handed a golden token–the mark of the chosen. Genevieve accepts her fate. She must, in order to save her kingdom. But the journey to her final destiny is complicated by the arrival of Chris, a 1970s Berkeley co-ed. To Chris, the whole scenario reeks of deception. Where she comes from, corsets are for burning and virgins are hard to find. She's sure the dragons are out for more than innocent blood, but the only way to find out what they really want is to accompany Genevieve on her journey. Not what she had planned for her freshman year of college. Genevieve is duty-bound–unless Chris is right. Then her sacrifice would mean nothing. Other than woe to those who duped her...
What advice would you give to beginners who are nervous?
Read and re-more. When you write, make sure that you connect with other writers. They are your best comfort when you hit a hard spot, get a rejection or feel like your plot is going nowhere.
What inspires you to write?I like finding out what happens to my characters!
What is the most important thing you have learned about yourself through writing?That I will persist and that, given time, the subconscious will figure out answers to plot questions.
Describe your ideal place to write.My ideal place is somewhere that I don’t have internet connections.
Would you be willing to share an excerpt from your latest book?Absolutely! Here’s a section from The Dragons’ Chosen.
When next she spoke, it was so low I almost didn’t hear. “How much time is left?”
“Time?”
“Before you leave.” She stared directly at me.
I looked down at my lace sleeves, making a conscious effort not to fiddle with them. “Less than a fortnight before I set forth, just under twelve days, and then one month’s time to arrive at the place designated by the dragons. I have to be there by my birthday on the sixteenth of October. Time seems to move with increasing speed since this has happened,” I admitted in a shaky voice.
“You’re truly planning on going, aren’t you?” Her voice was incredulous.
“Yes,” I answered, proud that my voice didn’t quaver.
Chris’s voice rose. “This is beyond stupid. It’s medieval.” She shook her head as if something she said caught her attention. “You don’t need to go. There are lots of other options: you can petition your rulers, your religious leaders, your people. Anything but serve yourself up as a before dinner canapé to a dragon.
“This is my kingdom. I have no choice.
She raised her arms over her head and let them fall into her lap. “You always have a choice,” she shouted.
I cocked my head at that. It was true in an absolute sense, but for me there was no honorable alternative. I tried to smile but I don’t think I expressed it fully. “Yes, and this is mine.”
Where did you get the idea for your book?I wondered what would happen if in a fairy tale with a princess and a fairy godmother, the godmother didn’t fit the prescribed mode.
Are you working on anything new, and would you be willing to tell us about it?I’m working on a sequel to The Stone Lions named The Jinn’s Jest and another YA book tentatively named, The Lady and the Tower. Lady is again a book where I asked myself the “what if” question. What if a girl was trapped in a tower who wasn’t gentle, well-bred and accepting. What if she was feisty and contrary.
Thank you for being part of Featured Artist Fridays, Gwen!
If you would like to learn more about Gwen and her writing journey, please visit her WEBSITE.