Writing
about Dragons and dreaming of castles in France
I’m writing this post for Creativindie’s
writing contest for a free writing retreat
Goal: To go to
Saint-Sylvestre-sur-Lot, France from October 25th to November 23rd
Reason: I’m in the
midst of writing three back to back dragon shifter romances that take place in
England, Russia and America and I’m dying to explore the creative backgrounds
that a beautiful and inspiring setting like a castle in France could give
me. I’m entering an AWESOME contest
hosted by Derek Murphy who is giving a few lucky authors the chance to win a
coveted spot in his castle for the month of November to go crazy for Nanowrimo
(National Novel Writing Month). If you want a chance to enter you can find
Derek’s Contest Page here .
So what would be my
exciting story be? The second story in my dragon shifter romance series. Here’s
the book set up (since I haven’t written it yet).
A good dragon never leaves his
hoard of jewels unwatched…
Mikhail Barinov had one duty to his family: As the second eldest in an ancient
line of Russian dragon shifters, he is honor bound to secure and protect the
hoard of gold and jewels his family has amassed over the centuries. But there’s
one little problem…the hoard of jewels was lost almost five centuries ago in
Elizabethan England when Mikhail was distracted while seducing a virgin queen.
Exiled by his family until he can return the jewels, Mikhail is determined to
find them and bring them home by any means necessary. When a shocking discovery
of buried jewels in a construction site in London exposes the missing hoard,
Mikhail races to England to steal back his family’s precious gems.
Diamonds are a girl’s best
friend…
Piper Linwood has a thing for diamonds, well not just diamonds - all
that glitters is gold is her motto. As a professional gemologist, she travels
the world to attend famous auctions as jewelry specialist. When London
announces the discovery of a hoard of jewels, she is called into to assess the
gems and their value. But her job is put into jeopardy when a mysterious, brooding
man kidnaps her and forces her to help him steal the jewels from the auction
house. Piper travels with her captor, Mikhail, all the way to Russia where she
learns that the dragon tattoo on his back is more than just a symbol. It’s a
living, breathing part of the sexy, irresistible bad boy she’s starting to fall
for. But she has to find a way to escape him and return to the jewels to
England no matter the cost, even if it means betraying the man she’s come to
love.
I can’t wait to immerse myself in
European history considering how much of it will be based in Elizabethan
England. I also get to research gems and I get to explore the history of the
Real Cheapside Hoard that was discovered in the 1920s which I am basing the
present day discovery in my book on (to read more about this amazing find go
here.
Want
a sneak peak of my rough draft of book one? Keep reading! And please pardon
typos!
**Exclusive First Look at the FIRST Barinov Dragon Book**
The
Russian State Library was a beautiful architectural cross between Soviet era
design and classical design, which called back the days of the Czars. Housing
over 17.5 million books, was one of the world’s largest libraries. The smell of
musty books and recently cleaned marble steps inside the library were a welcome
mix of aromas that always calmed Madelyn. Having world of infinite stories at
her fingertips was exciting and reassuring. But she wasn’t here to see their
vast array of novels. She was here for one book. A heavily guarded book that
required supervision whenever it was handled.
Madelyn
walked up the white stairs into the upper decks of the library, her eyes
dancing from the blue marble columns to be in the stacks of books. She kept
walking and left the modern rooms behind so she reached a wing of the library
that housed antiquarian book collections. One of the collection areas was a
beautiful room that was two stories tall with gleaming walnut bookcases illuminated
by hanging golden globes of light. A slightly domed ceiling was painted with
scenes of Greek mythology, the gods on Olympus displaying their power and
might.
The
security guard stood at the back of the room by a small sign in desk and he
waved her over.
“Good
morning, Miss,” he replied in English with a heavy accent.
Madelyn
smiled. She’d been relieved to discover that many of the guards were fluent in
English to a degree. Despite her scholarly background, she had no head for
languages.
“I’d
like to check out this book please.” She retrieved a small piece of paper with
the name of the book in English and Russian in its location on the shelves. The
guard read the card and then his brown eyes looked from it to her face,
studying her.
“This
book? You are sure?” he asked, his voice oddly hushed and his face drained of
color. He pushed a security badge on his chest with one finger as though he’d
done it a thousand times when nervous.
“Yes.
That one.” Madelyn assured him.
But
now she was feeling anxious. She’d
checked out several books yesterday but hadn’t discovered this particular book until
she was pouring over the ancient collection of card catalogues that looked as
though they’d been written half a century before. There on the yellowed paper
of the cards, in ink that was turning brown, she’d read the name of the book My Year With Dragons. The library had
been about to close and she only had time to scribble down the book’s information
before a guard politely escorted her out of antiquarian collection area. The
guard stared at the card again and then nodded. “Dah, okay, we get you the
book.” He pointed to a small research table near one of the vast glass windows.
“Sit,
please.” Then he took a card and walked over to the shelves on the opposite
side of the room.
While
he retrieved the book, Madelyn set out her notebook and pens, her hands
shaking. Why was the guard so hesitant to give her the book? From the book’s
description in the card catalogue that she’d be able to translate, it was a
memoir from an English man who spent time in Russia, there was no political or
social discourse in it that could prompt a Russian security officer to be
concerned… But he had been. The man looked ill at the thought of fetching that
book…
She
peeped at the guard from the corner of her eye. He unlocked a glass case on one
of the shelves, his head cocked to the side as he squinted at the titles on the
spine. Then he used his index finger to gently tug a shorter leather bound book
free of the case. Once he had the book in his hands, he didn’t immediately come
over to her. For several seconds he stood there, holding the book and staring
at her, before he finally walked over.
“Please
be careful. This is special book.” He held out the leather bound tome and Madelyn
accepted it. Her skin tingled as she felt the smooth leather in her palms but
she hid the reaction. The guard nodded at her again and then walked back to his
station.
Madelyn’s
skin continued to tingle as she lifted up the book to get a closer look. The
cover was thick leather and not made marked with any titles or identifying
marks except two initials in the right bottom corner J.B. Madelyn smoothed her fingertips over the initials and then
opened the front cover. There on the front page was the title written in pen
and ink. Not in typeface.
“My Year With Dragons – A personal collection of observations
about my time spent with the Barinov family by James Barrow. Dated 1821.”
Madelyn
whispered the words. It was written in English, and James Barrow, that name
could be English or American. She held the book in one hand and made a note in
her notebook before she turned to the next page. Her heart stuttered to a stop
in her chest.
Three
pencil sketches depicted the faces of three different men. Names were scrawled
beneath each intimate portrait.
Grigori, Mikhail and
Rurik. The
Barinov Brothers.
She
studied the sketch of Grigori, fascinated by the handsome face, the pale hair
and light eyes. There was a melancholy beauty to his lips, and almost rueful
smile barely hinted in the drawing as though he had sat still long enough to
assist the artist but as soon as he was able, he’d move again. The second man
Mikhail seemed more brooding, his hair dark and his eyes almost black. He
seemed worried, but he too was beautiful. In the last Rurik, had dark hair and mischievous
eyes, with a playful, charming grin on his lips that outshone the white scar
the dropping from above his right eyebrow down to his cheek as though he’d been
slashed.
It
was Grigori that Madelyn’s eyes came back to over and over. Something about his
face…like a half-remembered dream. Deep inside her, there was a stirring, as
though a part of herself she never knew existed had come awake.
“Grigori,”
she test his name upon her lips, finding she liked the way it sounded, the
syllables strong and yet soft.
She
needed to have this sketch. The compulsion to possess his likeness was too
strong. She glanced about the room and saw the guard was on his phone, texting
and not looking her way. Sneaking her cell phone out, she flicked the camera application
on and snapped a hasty picture of each of the brothers before she put it back
in her purse. Hands trembling she turned the page again, forcing herself to
look totally calm and not like she’d been taking photographs of a protected
manuscript.
The
next page it was a diary entry dated March 16, 1821.
“Dragons are real…” The
first words of the entry made her body shiver and the sudden chill shot down
her spine. She forced herself to keep reading and couldn’t help but wonder what
James Barrow meant. Dragons weren’t real, at least not in the fire and
brimstone sense.
“I
met the Barinov brothers in Moscow and learned they were not mortal men... they
were possessed of strange abilities. The touch of fire, the breath of smoke,
the eyes that glowed...”
**
If you like what you read, please
comment on and share my post and visit Derek Murphy’s page to enter if you’re a
fellow author!
Thank
you for stopping by my blog!!
