SPOTLIGHT ON:
YA Urban Fantasy Author
Daniel Rice
CONNECT WITH DANIEL RICE
All About Daniel
Dan has wanted to write novels since first reading Frank Herbert’s Dune at the age of eleven. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he often goes hiking with his family through mist-shrouded forests and along alpine trails with expansive views.
Dragons Walk Among Us is his debut novel. He plans to keep writing fantasy and science-fiction for many years. You can explore his blog at https://www.danscifi.com.
Dragons Walk Among Us
Release Date:
July 19, 2021
Publisher:
The Wild Rose Press
Cover Design:
Debbie Taylor
Welcome Daniel to Jeny's TattleTales
Today we did something different and we posted the author interview on Youtube and Jeny's TattleTales podcast (available wherever you are listening to podcasts). But, there is a questions I will ask here and that is about what are your hobbies outside of work?
I’m a big believer in the advice to write what you know. Like Allison Lee, the protagonist in Dragons Walk Among Us, I am an avid photographer. Throughout the book’s narrative, I sprinkle details about photography that are hopefully interesting to the reader and add a sense of realism to a story that is, after all, fantasy.
I started photography while in college, right at the cusp of the transition from film to digital. Back then, I shot film, primarily slides. I liked Fujichrome Velvia because it produced lovely saturated colors that I enjoyed in the nature scenes I typically snapped. Since then, I’ve transitioned to digital, and I don’t plan ever going back to film! While in college, I did some work in darkrooms, both for black and white and color printing. Let me tell you, sitting in front of a computer to manipulate your photos is far easier, more enjoyable, and much healthier than messing around with darkroom chemicals. Plus, the level of control you have manipulating an image on the computer is lightyears ahead of what is achievable in the darkroom.
My favorite subjects are nature scenes, usually landscapes or wild critters. I’ve photographed many of the locations Allison Lee visits––like the Olympic wilderness beaches and Mount Rainier. Hopefully, having experienced these locations myself, the descriptions in Dragons Walk Among Us will possess a strong sense of realism. Recently, I’ve been photographing my son’s innumerable soccer games. Allison Lee’s challenges getting winning sports shots for her school’s online newspaper are based on my endeavors to capture nonstop sports action.
During the pandemic, my kids and I decided to start feeding the birds. This turned out to be a great project. Being under lockdown restrictions for months, we weren’t getting out much. This made it hard to photograph landscapes or wild critters. Well, the bird feeders brought the wildlife to us. My eldest son and I took scads of photographs of the little rippers––mostly goldfinches, chickadees, and juncos.
In parting, my advice to aspiring writers is to consider writing about what you know. It’s an easy way to pepper details about subjects that readers will find interesting throughout your tale. Drawing on my photography experience, I added a sense of verisimilitude to the story and depth to Allison Lee. Try it out. You might be pleasantly surprised by the results.
Dragons Walk Among Us Blurb & Excerpts
Shutterbug Allison Lee is trying to survive high school while suffering the popular girl’s abuse. Her life is often abysmal, but at least her green hair is savage. Her talent for photography is recognized by the school paper and the judges of a photo contest.
While visiting her friend Joe, a homeless vet, Allison’s life irrevocably changes after an attack leaves her blind. All her dreams as a photojournalist are dashed as she realizes she’ll never see again. Despair sets in until she is offered an experimental procedure to restore her vision. But there are side effects, or are they hallucinations? She now sees dragons accompanying some of the people she meets. Can she trust her eyes, or has the procedure affected her more than she can see?
Excerpt 1
Dalia resumes talking about strategies to solve the equation, but I barely register a word. My gaze is lured back to Dr. Radcliffe like a particle inexorably pulled into a black hole. My eyes widen, and my jaw slackens. Furrowing my brow, I blink, desperate to clear the mind-boggling absurdity from my vision.
Projecting from Dr. Radcliffe’s body is a shimmering golden dragon, the European variety complete with sparkling golden scales, talons, and green wings. The dragon fades and flashes in and out of existence. The tail, the bulky body, and leathery wings pass through the wall as if all are insubstantial. This is insane asylum madness. I must be hallucinating, or maybe it’s my prosthetic eyes. Not a single person, and there must be at least fifteen people in the library, notices the beast.
On top of that, the dragon doesn’t make a sound. There is no way an animal of that size can be silent in such a confined space.
I don’t know if I should hope it’s my eyes or not.
If it’s not my eyes, I’m a nutter. If it is my eyes…it’s too terrible to consider.
I draw a shuddering breath and chew on my lower lip. The hairs on the back my neck stand up straight, and my body tenses like prey ready to flee a predator. I want to look away from Dr. Radcliffe and the craziness glimmering all around him, but I can’t.
“Allison. Allison.”
I tear my gaze away from the professor, but I still glimpse the dragon’s glimmering golden light in my peripheral vision.
Dalia stares at me in evident exasperation.
“Did you hear anything I just said?”
My gaze shifts back to Dr. Radcliffe and the draconic projection surrounding him. A student walks straight through a foreleg. My mouth drops open.
“What is it?” Dalia asks and turns in her seat to face Dr. Radcliffe. She turns back to me. “Do you know him?”
“Know who?” I shift my gaze to Dalia, long enough to catch her puzzled look, then look at Dr. Radcliffe.
“That old man you’re staring at,” Dalia says.
“Are you okay? Is he the one who attacked you?”
I stare at my friend.
“What? No. How would I know? I don’t have any memory of that. That’s Dr. Radcliffe. He knows my dad.”
I see golden scales and a red cardigan right behind Dalia. I look up and feel like my prosthetics are going to pop out of my head. Behind Dalia is Dr. Radcliffe and the twinkling winged beast.
“Oh my God,” I whisper.
A spectral golden forefoot with foot-long white talons passes straight through Dalia’s chest.
“What?” Dalia says. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Dr. Radcliffe stares at me from behind rimless spectacles. He is holding a thick book at his side. I try to meet his gaze, but my eyes keep flicking up at the looming dragon’s head, staring down at me with yellow eyes split by black pupils.
“You’re Raymond Lee’s daughter,” Dr. Radcliffe says. “Wait. Don’t tell me. Alice.”
I shake my head. Dalia faces the professor.
“Hello, Dr. Radcliffe,” Dalia says. “Allison was telling me all about you.”
“Oh, that’s right. Allison.
How could I forget? And who are you, young lady?”
“Dalia.”
“What a lovely name. Your hair. Pink like a dahlia,” the professor says and hefts the book he holds. “Well, I will let you young ladies get back to it. Good day.”
Excerpt 2
“Do you remember Dr. Radcliffe? From the library?” I ask.
“That creepy guy? The professor?” Dalia says.
Haji leans back in his chair and furrows his brow. “You mean the eccentric-looking guy you want to take a picture of?”
I move close to the table and look both of them in the eyes in turn. I whisper, “Yes, that guy. Here’s the thing.” I moisten my lips. My hands are clammy. I grab the warm mug of coffee and take a swig. “He’s followed around by a dragon. I think I’m the only person who can see it.”
Dalia breaks out laughing so hard she goes red in the face. “Is this an April Fools? It isn’t April yet.”
My face heats up, and I stare at the table. Dalia’s reaction is just what I feared. She thinks I’m a nut job.
“I don’t think she’s joking, Dalia,” Haji says.
“Dragons? We don’t live in a fantasy world, Haji. I know you want to, but we don’t.”
I look up. Haji is frowning, and Dalia is fighting back giggles.
“I’m serious,” I say in a soft voice.
“You can’t be.” Dalia leans back in her chair and starts chewing on the tip of her right thumb.
“Maybe you should go see Dr. Woolworth,” Haji says. “Is she working today?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” I take another sip of coffee. “I’m not going to see her.”
“You need to go see her,” Dalia says. Her voice is strident, and she leans forward to rest her elbows against the table. “You need to tell her that you’re hallucinating. Dragons. That’s crazy.”
“Not dragons,” I say. “A dragon. Only one.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Dalia sits up and drops her arms to her sides. “Dragons don’t exist. Seeing dragons is not normal. It’s like my grandma claiming she sees angels. Grandma is schizo.”
“I’m schizo now?” My face grows warmer, and my voice is shrill. “That’s not what I mean. You need to go see Dr. Woolworth.”
“Maybe we should all calm down,” Haji says. He makes a pushing down motion with his hands.
I look around the café, afraid we’re creating a scene. People might hear us. Decide that I’m a schizophrenic nut. Thank God. No one is paying attention to us.
“Nobody is saying anyone is crazy,” Haji continues. “We’re just concerned. I have a feeling there is more to this tale. Maybe, Allison, you can share the rest with us?”
Dalia crosses her arms in front of her chest. She nods. “Okay. This is a judgment-free zone. Let’s hear the whole story.”
I take a gulp of coffee, followed by a deep breath. I’m on the edge of a yowling chasm of madness. Either my friends can pull me back, or they can let me fall. I stare into my nearly empty cup as I speak, admiring the air bubbles floating on top of the black brew. I tell them everything, from seeing Dr. Radcliffe and his draconic companion in the library to emailing and then unsuccessfully stalking the professor and finally his response to meet tonight at the Chapel Library.
The tale told, a weight is lifted from my shoulders, the vise crushing me in its iron grip loosened. I look up at my friends, a ghost of a smile on my lips. Dalia and Haji stare at me. My BFF’s mouth hangs open, and her eyes are scrunched up in a puzzled squint. Haji, his usually smooth forehead furrowed, leans back in his chair.
“Have you talked to anyone else about this?” Dalia asks. “Like your dad?”
I sink in my chair like a lead balloon.
