Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this thrilling conclusion to a brilliant series. I never like endings, especially when it comes to a favourite series but this is a satisfying end and I can always go back and re-read them!
For my stop on the blog tour, I welcome author Liz Flanagan with her guest blog!
Why two heads were better than one when I was writing The Pirate’s Dragon!
In my previous novels, I’d always stuck to one narrator. I want to be open to learning and exploring as a writer, and so this time I decided to try telling the story in two voices. Also, the plot basically demanded it! The Pirate’s Dragon is the story of two very different children who live on two very different islands, learning to trust each other and question their own version of history.
Serina is the daughter of the rulers of Arcosi, and when pirates raid her island and steal her dragon, she is carried away to Skull Island. Raff is the son of the pirate queen who dominates Skull Island, and although he is suspicious of Serina, he welcomes her advice as they care for their baby dragons. Serina hides her identity, but it soon becomes clear that despite all her privilege, she’s never had a true friend before. Serina and Raff begin to form a friendship that will be challenged by a threat to the people they love the most – and their dragons! Will they be able to trust each other when everyone else tells them not to?
I ended up writing the story chronologically through the events of the plot. Choosing when to switch narrator became my new favourite technique. Raff and Serina have such different views and knowledge, it was huge fun to work with. What looks like a massive threat and a danger to one child, is something familiar and beloved to the other!
I also enjoyed showing each person from the inside – and contrasting it with how they seemed on the outside to the other character. This seemed like a lovely way of creating a more rounded impression of each of the main characters, who both have their flaws and their strengths. When I was editing, I definitely read through all of Raff’s sections at once, and then all of Serina’s, to make sure they felt consistent and also different enough from the other. I hope that when you start a chapter, you know immediately who is telling it!
So there are definitely two sides to this story, and I really hope you enjoy both of them. Please do let me know your thoughts about dual-narrator stories? Do you always have a favourite of the two narrators? (And if so, in this case, who is it?) Thanks for reading.
The Pirate’s Dragon is published by UCLan Publishing, £8.99 ISBN: 9781915235992
My Shelves Are Full 