Of Wings and Shadows takes place during the events of Book 5, Of Claws and Inferno, hence the unique subtitle for the book. It starts at about a third of the way into that book, but Of Wings and Shadows is also written in such a way that technically speaking, it is stand alone. It’s the five hunts that the competing team completed from their POV. It helps if you’ve already read Of Claws and Inferno, but it’s not 100% necessary. I wanted people to be able to pick this one up alone if they want.
Of Wings and Shadows focuses on the Wild Hunt, a tournament organised by the superiors of the Knight Division to hunt down wild dragons. Tell us more about the Wild Hunt, which also features in Of Claws and Inferno.
The Wild Hunt is an attempt by the US government to try and streamline the process for catching dragons. Before dragons became protected species, there were rogue dragon hunters all over the place endangering themselves and others and causing tons of property damage, so the idea of the tournament is to funnel all interest in dragon hunting through one specific channel. It also made it illegal for anyone who is not a designated Wild Hunter to hunt dragons in the United States, therefore preventing some of the chaos.
Who are the four challengers Noah Wilson, Charlie Howard, Su Jin Han, and Beowulf, and what is their task?
Our hunters come from all walks of life. Each of these competitors had to win a regional tournament in order to qualify, meaning that they truly are the best that the US has to offer in dragon hunting. Noah and Charlie both have backgrounds related to animals: Noah is a Texas rancher and Charlie is a marine biologist. Su Jin is an aeronautics engineer. Beowulf is a YouTuber who got into the dragon hunting game to elevate himself to further fame and fortune. Their task is to catch five deadly dragons alive before the other team catches theirs. The dragons they have to catch are the midnight dragon, the storm dragon, the mercury dragon, the barb dragon, and the siren wyvern. They will take one dragon each and then convene for the final capture of the siren wyvern.
What made you focus on these new characters and their special role in the Wild Hunt?
It’s been very fun coming up with these creative and often wacky scenarios for a large predator encroaching on populated areas, and this book was no exception. It did turn out much shorter than I wanted, but it was still a lot of fun to come up with the places for the hunts and to come up with each dragon’s unique biology and effect on its environment. I know that people enjoy seeing dragons within the context of real science, so I went out of my way to try and get the dragons to seem like real creatures in modern times. The characters on the challenging team also seem like good people and I wanted the time to humanize them a bit since they’re only featured a little bit in Of Claws and Inferno.
What about your main characters, Dr. Rhett “Jack” Jackson and Dr. Kamala Anjali? Can you tell us anything without spoilers?
We get to see Jack and Kamala briefly in this book through a clip of a capture of a crystal dragon and again in the last chapter. We also get to say hi to Libby, Calloway, and Shannon as well. I really enjoyed the crystal dragon capture in particular because I mentioned this dragon in Book Four, Of Fury and Fangs, but I didn’t have enough time to actually feature it in that book, and so I got to feature it here instead. We see a little more of our home team at the very end of the book too, so don’t worry—you’ll get your Jack and Kamala fix with this book for sure.
Why do you think dragons continue to be such a potent image from legend in modern times?
I think some of it has to do with what made me write this series—I personally love Jurassic Park (1993) and there is plenty of interest in what it would be like if a reptilian apex predator was reintroduced into modern society. There are so many things that would change if we had to account for enormous, winged, quadrupedal predators. In a broader sense, I think dragons fascinate people because they can be viewed as a menace or as an inspirational being of beauty and elegance or anything in-between. They represent so much in nearly every culture just because it’s fun to wonder about magical creatures.
When you started to write Of Cinder and Bone, did you envisage it stretching to five books, and beyond?
My original plan for the series was a trilogy, then by the time I had finished Book Three, Of Dawn and Embers, I knew that I wanted to do a little bit more with the series. I think the story is done overall, but I am interested in someday producing the books in audiobook format and then making a dragon Encyclopedia. I may also someday write a short story about Jack and Kamala’s daughter, Naila, when she becomes a teenager and is old enough to consider following in their footsteps. That was the original concept of the first book a LONG time ago: a widower and his daughter in a post-apocalypse hunting dragons, but it obviously went in a completely different direction once I wrote it. I wouldn’t mind experimenting with her character someday. I think it might be fun.
As well as your series The Black Parade and short stories in several anthologies (including Marvel Comics' anthology Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda (2021)) can you tell us about your contribution to the anthology Farther Reefs - Ten stories of Ocean Adventure, new relationships, and nautical mystery, edited by J.S. Fields and Heather Tracy?
Sure! Farther Reefs is an anthology primarily focused on lesbian and polyamorous romance. The story I wrote, “For Want of Treasure,” is about Lila, Kida, and Thomas: a ship captain, a treasure hunter, and a merman in a polyamorous relationship who run into trouble with pirates. The pirates kidnap Thomas, so it’s up to Kida and Lila to rescue him. I had a lot of fun writing this story. I really think it’s a great anthology and encourage people to give it a look-see.
Are there any new books or anthologies awaiting publication?
Yes. I have a short story that was accepted into Milton J. Davis’ upcoming Spacefunk anthology, which is tentatively set for a fall 2023 release. My story is about the captain of a spaceship who is about to do a land survey of a new planet, but her superiors order her to attack a settlement of native aliens, so she has to stand up to her superiors in order to prevent a possible intergalactic war. He also just opened submissions for Terminus 3, which is a speculative fiction anthology where all its short stories are based in Atlanta, Georgia, so I have plans to write a short story for that one as well. I also have an upcoming science fiction space travel novel that I wrote for Falstaff Books that tentatively will be out this fall or early spring of 2024. It’s basically Titan AE meets Ender’s Game.
Will there be a book 6 for Of Cinder and Bone? How do you see the series developing?
No. I believe the series is now finished, but never say never. I have no plans for future books, but if I get a good enough idea, I’m more than willing to keep writing books in this series.
What are your thoughts about the arrival of AI, which has crashed onto the literary and artistic scene causing debate, and some annoyance?
I hate it. I knew as soon as it became available to the public that it was going to be a problem. The arts industry has been at war with the working world at large since forever, and this easily accessible AI will now give them every excuse to not pay people in the arts. They didn’t hesitate to start abusing it and I’m not the least bit surprised that the charlatans are already creating millions of worthless books with stolen IPs. Things are about to somehow get even worse for the arts industry if the government or companies at large don’t start to ban this stuff from publication. And to be honest, I think that Hollywood has been secretly writing scripts using AI and just not telling anyone the truth. In particular, the movie adaptation of Uncharted. I have no proof, but I swear to you, that movie was written by AI. There is not a single cliché that movie did not do with a straight face. I dare anyone to sit through it and then tell me that wasn’t written by an AI. The other movie I personally think was written by AI is the Black Adam movie. It also has such a severe lack of creativity that I won’t be shocked if years later, someone reveals it was also written by AI. We’re in a world of trouble as writers. God help us all.
Last year when we spoke in the aftermath of Covid, you were planning to attend two conventions. Has that changed and are you planning any more attendances?
I am still sticking with minimal conventions, personally. The tentative plan for the rest of 2023 is for DragonCon in September and Multiverse Con in October. I normally wouldn’t be going to DragonCon, but a colleague of mine has tables and offered me a spot at one, so I will try my luck selling books that weekend for the first time ever. Right now, it’s more money than anything else why I don’t attend more than 3 cons per year. I need a sugar daddy, honestly.
What will you do on the day of the book launch, July 22nd?
Absolutely nothing! No one showed up to my past virtual book launch parties, so I ain’t doing anything the day of the launch other than probably updating the TVTropes page because I’m weirdly neurotic about that for some reason. I may also post one more excerpt, but since the book is so short, I’m only doing 2 excerpts. I don’t have much readership, so the book’s just gonna be out and that’ll be the end of things for the series, at least for now.
Can you tell us about what you’re working on now?
Sure! I actually just started my very first screenplay. I’m terrified. But weirdly enough, because I went from writing novels to a screenplay, I’m blazing through Act I. The key to screenplays is to be straight to the point, so not having to add so much supplementary information and narration is kind of cool? I’m teaching myself to remain succinct so that I can keep it within the most commonly requested 110-page limit. I plan to have it completed this year so that I can begin submitting it to relevant parties within a year. Additionally, I will eventually be writing a 2nd and 3rd book for Falstaff Books of that same science fiction space travel series, but that’ll be a bit further down the line in 2024-2025 and beyond. I’m giving up the self-publishing game after Of Wings and Shadows. I’ve reached a point of no return with my career and would rather depend on either an agent or a small press publisher from here on out if I write any other books because I’ve failed too many times at this on my own. It would take a miracle and about $100k for me to keep self-publishing at this point. Bitter, who me? I’m extremely grateful for all the opportunities that I have been given to participate in and for anyone who’s read my work. I just don’t have the capital to keep it going any longer. It’s been real, y’all.
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