Quote:
Originally Posted by zsaphire
Mr. Carroll, I just wanted to post out here that I love your books. I know I know but even though I'd be a fan of just the writing my other and biggest reason is that the Dralin series was the first book that was recommended to me by my daughter. Both her and I are avid readers but until Dralin it was always her kiddie books and my "grown up" stuff. I was skeptical at first but by the time we made it through your entire catalog I have become a huge fan. We got Wyvern the day it came out and it was a race to finish. We've talked for hours about the mechanics behind your magic system all the way through why purple dragons shouldn't be pigeon holed into evil (purple is now her favorite color). I can't thank you enough for the books. Please keep up the outstanding work!
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Hi!
And wow! That is so cool!
I try to make the viewpoints of the characters fit the people, not the age, or the gender. It results in stories that aren't directly aimed at any age group or person. It's good to know that it results in them touching different people in different ways and that it really resonated with both you and your daughter.
I'm actually
very happy with how the magic system is working out.
Each book I write develops it more. You might like to know that it started with an image in my mind of book covers where someone was casting magic and their cloak and hair would be windswept forward. It was that image that started the entire system that developed from there. Basically, it was cool!
From there, I started considering how it would effect the caster and the people around the caster. One of the keys with any system is putting limits on how much magic could be used. Gestures, incantations, wands, ingredients are all useful towards that. Needing massive amounts of sleep and food really help limit it too.
Then I needed to figure out WHY there was magic, which was described in detail in the Dralin Trilogy. I'm really happy with that, because it kinda explains why someplace like Earth
wouldn't have magic. The energy isn't there.
Honestly, the world-building that goes into writing and figuring things out is a large part of the fun that goes into writing fantasy.
As to why purple dragons are evil . . .
. . . well . . . you have me there. *laughing* Honestly, I really do make all this up as I go. It seemed like a great twist in the story when I came up with it. I also needed ways to make my dragons unique from every other fantasy series. (I think their personalities do that quite well for one) The four colors and their alignments seemed like a good idea at the time.
Now, of course, I'm stuck into the decision and have to roll with it.
I have more planned in the future for the dragons of Ryallon though. There's much that even I don't know . . . (as I said, I make this all up as I go. Shhh, don't tell anyone) I do agree that purple is an awesome color though.
It's my wife's fav too.
I am writing more as fast as I can.
Thank you both for reading them, and thank you for letting me know. It means so much more to me than you can imagine for me to get comments like this.
All my best,
John