DRAGON LOVE

CONTEST CLOSED!

Thank you to everyone who commented. The winner of an autographed advance reader copy of Firelight is: Catie S (Book Bound)! Congratulations, Catie! Please email me your address at sophie@sophiejordan.net. I'll see you all here again on July 30th with a new post and more goodies to give.



I was fortunate enough to attend the BEA conference (Book Expo of America) this past May, where my upcoming book, Firelight, was featured on a YA editor buzz panel. In that panel, Scholastic editor Arthur Levine, (I tried not to blather incoherently in the presence of the man responsible for bringing Harry Potter to the US) asked my HarperTeen editor, the brilliant Farrin Jacobs, “So, when a dragon has sex does steam come out of her nose?”

Sitting in my seat, I laughed, blushed and then I thought. And I thought. I reflected back over the pages I’d written. His question wasn’t that “out there”, if you know what I mean. Jacinda, the protagonist in Firelight, does tend to “overheat” when she’s … ahem, engaging in intimacy. How’s that for vague?

No, she’s not Drew Barrymore in Firestarter (gah, did I just age myself?). To give you a better understanding of Jacinda, let me back up and tell you a bit about her. Jacinda is actually a draki – which is what dragons have evolved into over the millennia. Why, you may ask, have dragons evolved? For the same reason any creature evolves – to survive and avoid extinction.

The draki are neither dragon nor human, but something in between. The draki spend most of their time walking about as humans, to protect themselves from mankind, of course, but at their core they are winged, scaled creatures possessing varied talents. Meaning each draki has his/her own specific talent.

Whereas the dragons of my lore (yes, I’m making this stuff up) possess myriad mystical “gifts”, i.e., fire-breathing, the ability to sprout scales and breathe underwater, the gift of immense strength and speed, the ability to mesmerize, the ability to make oneself invisible … the list goes on. Each individual draki, if lucky, has only one talent. Naturally, some talents are deemed better than others. And that takes us to Jacinda.

Jacinda possesses a coveted talent. She’s the last fire-breather in her pride. So, yeah, she’s the bomb – even if she doesn’t want to be, even if she would rather be a “normal” draki. Instead, she’s this commodity, revered, protected, suffocated … her future mate hand-picked already. But I digress … let’s get back to the dragon love.

As a fire-breather, Jacinda demonstrates attraction and desire a little more … expressively. Okay, when I say she gets all hot and bothered, I mean she really gets all HOT and bothered. Yep. Since her lungs can produce fire, burning up inside with a smoldering sky-high fever doesn’t hurt her. But it can make kissing a little risky for the guy. Whenever I hear Firelight described as a steamy read from those who have already read it I can’t help but smile. Because it is a steamy read. In so many ways.

So, Arthur Levine posed a very good question when he asked: “So, when a dragon has sex does steam come out of her nose?” Hmm… I think I’ll quote my editor’s response to that. “Arthur, you’ll have to read the book.”

And I hope many of you pick up a copy when it releases on September 7th and find out for yourself. For now, one commenter will win an autographed ARC of Firelight. To get the ball rolling, why don’t we continue the discussion on dragon love, shall we?