3 Days Until Release! There be dragons here

TODAY’S WINNER: DIANA!

Available Now!
B&N | Amazon | Kobo

Three days to go! But here’s a secret: the book is already out! Today I’m giving away one copy of A KNIGHT TO REMEMBER for Kindle or Nook. Be sure to comment by answering the question below to enter to win and the grand prize–a Nook Simple Touch reader! Grand Prize open to US residents only.

I love dragons. I think they are super cool. When I set out to write this series, one of the things I wanted to include was dragons. They play a large part in the second book, Only for a Knight, but we see Nero, the black dragon, in book 3. And a red dragon.

Before I get too far, here’s a little background on the dragons in the book. They were put into shadow by Queen Maeve thousands of years ago to protect them from hunters. These dragons can cross through the veil separating the Otherworld and the human realm and Maeve feared they would be hunted to extinction. They’ve been asleep for a very long time. Nero was the first dragon awakened, used by the Unseelie to terrorize our good guys. In order to combat those bad guys, Queen Maeve decides she must awaken the dragons and bring them back from the shadow. She takes Derron and Elyne (the hero/heroine) along with her because she needs their help.

When I wrote the book, I chose colors for the dragons but I didn’t really have any reason for that. I just picked the colors I liked. But then I got to thinking if there was any symbolism for each one and started doing some digging. Here’s what I discovered.

Nero, the black dragon
Black is associated with darkness, the unknown, the invisible. In Western culture, black dragons represent incarnated evil. They are “invisible” at night because of their color. They can also hide well in caves, lurk in shadows and remain unseen until ready to strike. It’s funny I should pick black for this one because he’s on the Unseelie or the “dark” side of the war with the Fae/Seelie/our heroes. But Nero isn’t ALL that bad. Not really. He’s just being used by the bad guys to inspire fear. The villain of the story, Lord Kieran, wants all the power and control over the Otherworld and the human realm and he’ll use whatever means he has to get it—including Nero. (Plus, Nero is my homage to Star Trek. There I go again showing off my nerdom.)

Ambrielle, the emerald dragon
Green is associated with the earth and its vegetation. The color green for dragons can symbolize spring, rebirth and life. It can also symbolize health, peace and eternity. Because green is associated with nature, there is a symbolic link between the green dragon and the mother goddess. I didn’t really have a specific reason why I chose this color for her. But in hindsight, she is kind of the ringleader of the “good” dragons. She’s the one in charge, the one that talks to Queen Maeve when she goes to awaken them and strikes a deal with the queen.

Aura, the azure dragon
Light blue dragons represent the sky. Dark blue dragons represent still, dark waters. As we all know, blue is a calming color. You’d want to paint your bedroom blue because it’s a restful color. In some cultures, blue protected against the “evil eye”. In Asian countries, blue eyes were a sign of magical powers. I admit it. Aura is my favorite. She’s also Elyne’s dragon. Plus blue is my favorite color. *grin*

Luna, the silver dragon
I picked silver for Luna because, well, it reminded me of moonlight. And her name is…Luna. This color symbolizes, shockingly enough, the moon. It is a sign of clairvoyance and intelligence. Silver dragons would have powerful healing abilities. Luna picked Derron as her rider. She’s smaller than the others. I don’t know why but maybe I thought she was younger. Not a baby but not quite as old as Ambrielle and Nero. They’re the ancient ones.

So there you have it—a discussion on dragons and their colors. There are a whole lot of other colors for dragons, of course. And they’re associated with lots of mythology in the Western world as well as in the East. I’m sure we’re all familiar with the Chinese dragons.

Here’s the official blurb for the book:

Henry Chase is desperate to find his missing daughter lost in the Highlands. He steps through a stone circle and is transported to the Otherworld…a place of dark magic and strange creatures, where his human appearance is hidden by glamour allowing him to masquerade as a Fae Knight. The moment he meets Queen Maeve, ruler of this alternate world, he’s besotted by her beauty and determined to break down the walls she’s erected around her heart.

In the aftermath of war, Queen Maeve’s kingdom has been turned upside down. She must close the portals to the human realm and send the humans in the Otherworld back where they belong. But before she can restore her lost magic and set things straight, her archenemy, the Goddess of War, attacks looking for revenge.

When the goddess captures the queen, Henry offers his life for Maeve in the hope his bravery will earn the queen’s love. Discovering Henry is human and knowing she must send him back to his world, Maeve tries to fight her feelings for him. Now she must choose—life at court or life with Henry—before she loses him forever.

Do you like dragons?