Why is your studio called Dragon House Studios?
Literally, because I like dragons : ). To give a more direct answer though, I’ve always loved the concept of dragons and thought having one as a pet or a best friend would totally rock. I grew up learning about all kinds of different cultures, and of course Anne McAffrey is one of my favorite writers of all time. I was born in the year of the Golden Dragon, if we were to follow the zodiac and all that jazz, and I’ve just had a natural affinity for them pretty much all of my life.
Isn’t Dragon House a Christian Studio?
You bet your biscuits it is!
You’re talking an awful lot of mysticism though…also, aren’t dragons evil in the Bible?
I’m glad you asked! I generally get one of two reactions from Christians when my studio name is brought up in conversation. They tend to either fall in the “Dragons? AWESOME!” category (less conservative), or the “Dragons? …I see…” category (more conservative). Now, don’t misunderstand, I’m nowhere near trying to push the one world religion agenda; far as I’m concerned if the Bible says something is legit then it’s legit, and if not then tough bananas. Still, we’re all convicted of things differently.
An example, Sleeping Dogs is pretty much my Game of the Year right now, and it’s a hardcore Triad Syndicate title. Some folk might go “Whaaaaaat?!” while others might shrug and be like “Whatevs” just like some folk are cool with shows like Merlin (I’ve never watched it by the by, but I’ve heard it’s like Smallville but with magic?) and others not so much.
So, I’m really not convicted of my fondness of dragons. Going a step further, I’d like to direct your attention to the Book of Job in which the leviathan was loosed in the sea by God’s creation and command, and pretty much started wrecking fools. A second leviathan was sent with the same destructive purpose, and then after a certain point God decided the point had been made and severed the head of one of them (so as not to let such a destructive beast procreate).
By the way, I have always been deeply unnerved that to my knowledge there was never anything stating that the female leviathan was slain or died out, so…deep sea divers, ya might wanna look out for that…
So in that regard, analyzing this scripture one might come to the conclusion of the leviathan being God’s tool of destruction, a very uncanny way to resolve a conflict, one that was sent at His behest to change the world and attitudes of those involved. I view the leviathan as a tool. A gigantic really scary tool that can eat you and wipe out your armada, but a tool nonetheless.
Relating that line of thinking to the studio, we’re nothing more than a tool. A tool with a really, really awesome name, and one that intends to disrupt and annihilate a world ruled by Satan’s teachings and sin.
So, take from that what you will. Also Leviathan House Studios sounds nowhere near as cool, so, deal.
Some of your books have weird names…
Only some?
A lot of your books have weird names…
That’s better, I thought I was slipping for a moment there! The names of my novels aren’t necessarily immediately apparent in how they relate to the stories. Sometimes they are about as obvious as a slap in the face, other times as subtle as a spider bite in the night. There’s books like Loneliness and More Than a Fairytale where the theme is pretty darn clear. I think the Ballad of the Damned is vaguely more subtle, but it’s still fairly obvious what’s going on there, especially if you take the Grind House theme into account.
I’m working on a book right now, Apples Falling to Oranges, which is kind of a companion novel to the also unreleased and still early novel Chalice. For both of these novels, the point of the title is not especially clear, not until you get much further in.
My three flagship novels, none of which are released but all of which have a minimum of the first book in each series finished, are Academia, The Matriarch’s Daughter and The Blackest Rain. I consider these three novel series as well as More Than a Fairytale and its expanded universe to be the four pillars of the studio. For Academia, once you get a few chapters into the first book you know why it has that title. The Matriarch’s Daughter is pretty self-explanatory, and I already touched on More Than a Fairytale.
I think what’s more complicated is The Blackest Rain. What I think is interesting about all of the naming conventions here is that there is a certain elegantly complex simplicity that they convey. The Blackest Rain, if you take it at face value, is clearly a book about a torrent of painful and negative emotions that the protagonists have to deal with.
As you go through however, you begin witnessing and understanding the deeper layers to each title, and begin to understand the complex concepts that they convey. You begin to understand that there’s more to it when you reach beyond face value, so, that’s pretty cool.
I want all of my novels to have that feeling. I have a process to my writing where there’s the theme and the purpose. For example, More Than a Fairytale is a story with a lot of action, drama, pain and some horror elements. There’s the outset goal that Xea has to fight across an unknown land while protecting a baby and trying to find out why exactly the empress has murderous intentions for the family. On the outset, it’s a story with the goal of discovering “Who are you, why do you hate me, and where do I fit into this game of royal intrigue and murder.”
Beneath that there is the layer of a family drifting about and crumbling at the foundation. It asks the question of how far can you fall and how deep can you sink before you lose yourself and can’t find your way out.
Going deeper than that, it explores the unique bonds that siblings share, and how truly important said bond is if they are to survive.
Going deeper than that, it asks the question of how do you find the strength to get up every morning, look at yourself in the mirror, and find something worth pushing forward when you’re trying to recover from a horrible childhood trauma.
Going deeper than that, it drives home the understanding that no one is an island. The novel makes clear that your actions, no matter how much you tell yourself only have to do with you, affect your entire family, and your friends as well. The story examines the loose ends that parents don’t attend to, material, spiritual, emotional, that their children have to face and deal with. There’s also the journey of trying to climb back up that mountain after you’ve been thrown to the bottom and dashed upon the rocks.
Ultimately everything culminates in a series of choices. While the goal of the story is escape the Other Side, survive, and kill the Empress, the deeper feel and point to the story is the bond between the siblings Xea and Leah, and a journey of self-discovery.
What can we look forward to next?
Presently I’m pouring a lot of energy into Apples Falling to Oranges, though that’s a sci-fi/slice of life/action story that you won’t be seeing for some time. My studio is in the editing and proofing phase for Academia Book 1: Birth, The Matriarch’s Daughter Book 1: Silentium Nocturne, and The Blackest Rain: Sorrow. You can expect to see those rolling out towards the end of this month and carrying over into the next one.
In between that, I’m proofreading some new ashcans. There’s a hardcore sci-fi/fantasy/military fiction ashcan Restoring Order, the horror/drama/fantasy action ashcan A Necessary Sacrifice, and the action/spiritual warfare/fantasy adventure ashcan Malevolence. I’ll have more details on those later, as well as expected release dates.
Any last words?
YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE! Wait, what? Ah, but seriously, thanks for giving this a read, and please do tell your friends all about the studio. Also hop on over to www.lulu.com and pick up some books while you’re at it! And check us out on the twitter, @DragonHouseAK
Thank you all, be blessed, and keep rockin’ baby!