Spotlight Author Interview #NewRelease ~ DRAGON LAIRD by Alyna Lochlan
I'm thrilled to have my good friend, Alyna Lochlan here in the Tavern today! We're celebrating her new release, Dragon Laird, Dragon Spawn Chronicles Book 1. I've read this story and was held captivated from the very first page. The Tavern is serving Dragon Ale and Cherry Tarts. Before we settle down for our chat, I'll share the gorgeous banner for Alyna's new book. It's stunning!
MM: Welcome to the Tavern, Alyna! Delighted you could join us today. Describe a typical writing day. Are you a morning, afternoon, or night-owl writer?
AL: I start my day with promotion then check email then jump into writing. I try to write 1000 words a day. Then from there normally in the later afternoon I work on book covers and things for clients. If there is time after I do graphic business I will go back to writing.
MM: And as we can see, you're fabulous at the graphic design. Love the cover and banner! Can you tell us about your current work-in-progress?
AL: Please understand I am working on book far ahead from the finished work that is with my editor. She has the second book in my first series Dragon Spawn Chronicles. What I am working on now is the second series League of Blades. I am only 10k from finishing the first book in this series. Title is Tame the Blade. Here is the unedited blurb for this series.
A festering unseen evil is seeking any powerful or soulless beings to build their forces. Only a small band of immortals stand in their way, the League of Blades. A group of immortal warrior assassins, that are brothers in a cause, fight to protect the innocent.
After Elwynn Diablo is attacked and left defenseless, she is unable to hold evil at bay, but a dark, sexy predator comes to her aid to keep her alive until she learns to use her new powers. Yet his caresses and dark hunger for her blood ignites a passion neither of them has ever known.
The League of Blades brotherhood must find the orphaned daughter of the Elemental king, but Blade’s dark past and the score he must settle with it, wars with his need for Elwynn. When the god of war strikes out with his own plans for her, Blade makes the ultimate decision to make her his own or lose her for all eternity.
MM: Wow! You're very busy, Alyna! This is awesome news. Thanks for sharing a teaser. What inspires you when you’re writing?
AL: Most everything can inspire a scene. But I get a lot of ideas from listening to music. I love to brainstorm as well. It can help them and it helps me.
MM: Lovely...What’s your favorite item on your writing desk?
AL: I have many dragons on my desk, some from my readers, or family. I also have some Celtic items for readers and friends. One is a small Celtic bell that brings good luck. It hangs from my monitor. :)
MM: Ooo...love it, Alyna! Now for some fun questions. Do you prefer...
Champagne or Beer? I am a Champagne kind of girl. I love Mascot wine the best. No to beer. :)
Southern drawl or Scottish burr? Now that depends. I normally have a soft southern drawl but when reading or singing or am excited, my Scottish lilt comes to the fore front. LOL. My daughter likes to listen to me read out loud because I have a Scottish lilt.
Kilt or Leather pants? I am a Leather anything girl. I love the cold softness against my skin, and it has to be black. (Love it!)
First romance you read? Wow I can’t really remember. It may have been a Johanna Lindsey book. I was reading fantasy books from Tor and then picked up a romance. That is how I started to write. The adventures in the fantasy books had no romance so I took both genres and mixed the too. This was before we had any paranormal or fantasy romance book.
Print book or e-reader? I do both but if I had to choose it would be print and I have the ceiling to floor shelves to prove it. Writing and reading and doing cover art for books. Bad boys, love, sex, adventure on a daily basis. I have the best life ever.
Congratulations on your new release, Alyna! Wishing you all the best!
Blurb ~
Dragon Laird winner of Romantic Times’ Reviewer’s Choice Award winner for best fantasy of the year—2006.
Highlanders, dragons, a quest and adventure. Enchanted as a child, Rhiannon grows up hidden, safe from a destiny that could be disastrous to her world. But when an evil sorcerer, seeking to destroy the Power of Two, opens the veiled gate that holds the dragons underground, Rhiannon must emerge. She must find the warrior marked with the dragon's flame, for only he can defeat the evil devouring the land.
Laird Dylan is a shadow in his own keep. Branded at birth with a dragon's head mark, he is shackled to a cursed life. Now dragons lay waste to his land. But his duty to stop them is derailed when he meets a woman who is unafraid of his shadowed past--a woman he could love.
In the midst of evil, Dylan and Rhiannon find a love more powerful than dragons and sorcerers. But will it be lost to save the world they know?
Prologue ~
Enchanted Forest, Britain’s DunLepuron Mountains, northwestern seacoast
“Sweet Virgin Mary.” Dearg crossed himself as he cowered in the dark. It had been a mistake to enter these woods.
“Quiet, you fool, ’afore a harpy descends upon us,” urged his companion, Ethan, as he glanced around nervously. “Laird Dylan requested meat for his table, so let us be about the hunt, then leave this cursed place.”
Dearg tilted his head back and stared up at the malevolent shadows of twisted tree limbs. No light penetrated the unholy darkness that deepened with each step. Until, suddenly, a flicker of movement passed his vision.
Grabbing Ethan’s arm, he pulled him to a stop. “What be that?” So powerful was his dread, he feared his legs wouldn’t hold. The two waited. Anxious gazes bored into a grotesquely twisted group of trees. Through the dancing leaves, the shadows flickered briefly on a huge mass moving toward them.
“There it be again.”
“I see it,” Ethan confirmed.
“I do not like this.” Dearg’s heart stopped in a moment of terror. His blood ran cold.
He could take no more of these woods or their unseen forces! He turned to run or crawl on trembling knees if he must back to the great hall.
“Look, Dearg! ’Tis a dark cloud of smoke,” Ethan whispered loudly, his voice shaking.
Dearg’s quick stride faltered as he hesitantly glanced to where Ethan pointed. A great cloud of thick haze rolled toward them with rapid speed. The trunks and branches of forest growth exploded as if the gods had stomped on them. The sound became a loud roar of trees and bushes being consumed. The very ground thundered with its power.
Dearg sucked in a paralyzing gasp. “By the sword, ’tis dragon’s breath. If it reaches us, we will be swallowed up, our bodies torn apart.” He turned to flee and found Ethan had abandoned him to run ahead.
“Dragon’s breath! We will be burned alive. Run, man!” Ethan yelled over his shoulder.
Dearg tried to make his legs move, but they felt leaden, as if they had grown roots. He screamed and forced his frozen legs to follow as the heat of fear crawled up his spine. His gaze fastened on Ethan, always keeping him in sight, even while he felt the beast’s fiery breath hot across his neck. Branches grabbed at him as he ran, trying to halt his escape. He jumped a rotten log then glanced forward toward his friend only to watch Ethan drop from sight. A shrill, blood-stopping scream echoed round him.
Dearg rushed to the spot Ethan had disappeared. A huge pit yawned forth where the earth had fallen away, leaving only bared roots and rocks. “Ethan!”
His friend’s cries came from far below filled with pain and terror. He needed to help Ethan, but glancing back at the approaching black-death, Dearg knew he wouldn’t stay. Saving his own bloody neck came first.
He took off, running into the darkness, his trembling legs barely carrying his bulk. He prayed the forest would not devour him as panic fueled his need to survive. Then all was consumed in the thick black smoke, choking all life in its path with its demon heat.
All hope died in its malevolent embrace.
Buy Links ~ AMAZON | THE WILD ROSE PRESS
More about the author ~
Award-winning author of Scottish paranormal dragons and wizards and dark vampire bad boy romances, Alyna Lochlan has a love for all things mysterious and magical. It is the heartbeat of all humans to wonder what lies beyond the next turn or what dwells in the darkness. She started writing stories at a young age. She held on to her secret passion and has won various writing awards, one being Romantic Times' Reviewers Choice Award, Book of the year.
Ms. Lochlan studied commercial art in college, developing several commercials for Channel 6 TV, as well as menus for some top restaurants in Florida. She also is a cover art designer for published books at DCAGraphics.com, but her love of the written word held fast. Alyna has completed many novels and novellas with many others in the works. Her other published works have appeared in health magazines, newsletters, and other short story publications. She also works as an editor, helping others obtain their dreams.
Social Media Links ~
Website: www.AlynaLochlan.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlynaLochla
