Hi Everyone!
We are proud to welcome Ashley Sheesley and her YA Fantasy novel Child of the Dragon.
Child of the Dragon is Legendborn X Fourth Wing with sword-swinging disability rep, cursed dragons, and all the sassy narrators.
We had the opportunity to interview Ashley and learn more about Child of the Dragon!
What inspired you to write Child of the Dragon?
I was writing a dragon field guide for a creative writing assignment back in high school and came across various mythologies of shape-shifting dragons. I wanted to know what it would be like to have those powers and be in high school, and I wanted to know what the consequences of something like that would be. I remember having a sleepover with a friend and staying up until probably three a.m. talking about the complications of such a “gift” and how it might instead be a curse
Can you tell us a little about your writing process? What do you do when you confront that mischievous minion “writer’s block?”
Some books I approach by completely pantsing them. Others I plot all the way through. I’ve found I work best with a kind of skeleton outline—I think of it as scaffolding. That way I can have a plan for where I’m going but still have the freedom to let my characters take the lead on how we get to our destination. I tend to be very visual with my storyboarding. I have a giant poster board with sticky notes of scenes I want to use so that I can then organize them into the best order. I also use OneNote a lot to make those brainstorm maps and just have files of spiderwebbing story ideas and zigzagging plot arcs. And, of course, so many Pinterest boards!
As far as writer’s block, it’s silly, but I was once doing writing sprints with a friend—except we called them word wars. And we got really into it. We were issuing official declarations of war to each other and everything! But eventually we decided we needed to call a truce, and even drafted an official peace treaty (which has long been lost to time, unfortunately). In the peace treaty, we decided we needed a reason to combine forces, and that mutual enemy was The Duke of Writer’s Block. And even to this day, when writer’s block gets bad, I still secretly think “I can’t let the duke win!” But ultimately, when it comes to writer’s block and defeating the duke, having a group of friends to bounce ideas off of has been my best weapon.
Were there any major influences for you as a writer?
Without a doubt my writing friends have been massive influences for me, and I can think of a couple really awesome writing teachers and professors I’ve had over the years who really helped me feel like this was a path I could pursue. As far as authors who have been influential to me as a writer, Cinda Williams Chima comes to mind. I love her books! I think I’ve watched all of Brandon Sanderson’s lectures on writing, and I learned a lot from those. A lot of my humor and the way I write humor was also very much shaped by growing up with the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan.
Without any spoilers, is there a character who holds a special place in your heart?
This is such a hard question! It’s like picking a favorite child! They’ve all taken pieces of my soul throughout the years. Having started this book back in high school, obviously a lot has changed from what that first draft looked like over a decade ago, and with each major revision,
I’ve kind of related more with different characters. So, the first time, Kat was obviously my main character, and she was the one who took the biggest chunk of my soul with her at the time. Through her, I got to explore this idea of finding out about secret magical worlds and get to escape into an adventure while balancing all these new responsibilities of coming of age.
The next time around, I really started to connect with her super anxious best friend Aaron, one of the other POV characters. I got to think more about the way anxiety impacts my life and how I want to value kindness and friendship.
The next major revision had Coleman, my chronically ill disaster assassin, take a much larger role in the overall story, which was around the same time I was newly chronically ill myself. Through writing him, I was able to explore a lot of the frustrations and victories I was experiencing while newly diagnosed. I even had Coleman pick up mobility aids before I was fully comfortable picking them up myself, and I found a lot of comfort in him.
If your book had a soundtrack or theme song, what would it be?
I actually do have a playlist of songs that remind me of certain characters or specific scenes I’ve slowly assembled over the years (here’s the link!), but I’ve struggled to find one song that kind of encompasses the book as a whole. Maybe “Where the Shadow Ends” by BANNERS.
What is your favorite trope?
I am such a sucker for those “who did this to you?” scenes or those scenes where characters just go absolutely feral when the person they care about—romantically or platonically!—gets severely injured or threatened. *Chef’s kiss*
So what are you reading now? What’s on your TBR List?
I just picked up Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd from the library! I’m not very far yet, but I love finding kidlit fantasy books with disability rep, so I’m pretty excited! I currently have eight books on hold at the library, lots I’m on the waitlist for once the library gets them, and an embarrassing number of books I own that I haven’t read yet. In those various piles, I’m really looking forward to So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole and Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. I also have a goal to finish the Wheel of Time series this year! I’ve slowly been chipping away at those, and I only have a couple left!
About Ashley Sheesley
Ashley Sheesley is a disabled author, scientist, animal lover, and a big fan of all things fantasy. In fact, she is only a scientist because she can’t figure out how to be a wizard in real life. She has a BS in Animal Science and an MPH in Veterinary Public Health and currently works as a virologist for Utah State University. When she’s not studying infectious diseases or writing about dragons or werewolves, she loves to draw, paint, crochet, knit, spin wool, or venture out in the dead of night to Dark Sky zones and take photos of the stars. She lives with her husband and her small army of animals—a bearded dragon, two rabbits, and three cats.
She can be found on Instagram and Blue Sky @ashintheashes, Tumblr @chronicallydragons, and Twitter @ashshees.
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