A Princess of Kesselt

A Princess of Kesselt is my second book to be published soon. I wrote it soon after the first publication of The Greggs of Kesselt. The idea of the book was not to be a direct sequel of the first book. I always envisioned writing separate novels of the Greggs and not a closely interconnected trilogy or series.

The idea of A Princess of Kesselt started with the simple rescue of a princess. Then it evolved into the elaborate story of Princess Richelle's coming to the Grem Laor valley of the Dragon Mountains in North Kesselt. As I was writing it I wove into it Thomas Kinkiad and more back story. In the end I ended up with a story closely connected with The Greggs of Kesselt.

Two books that influenced me in writing this story was Thuvia Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. Its not that I copied the story lines. What I liked from Thuvia was that a young lady could endure an adventure just as well as the big brawny men like John Carter and Conan. As for Last of the Mohicans I liked the element of a story in rugged mountain wilderness.

But what really influenced me was a panel from Marvel Graphic Novel #21, Marada the She-Wolf . In the full page panel Marada is clutching a bow with arrow while straddling a log in a dense forest. Lets face it she looks badass. That image stuck with me for many years.

I started writing A Princess of Kesselt late in 2004 while finalizing the publication of The Greggs of Kesselt with my former publisher. I understand that there will be accusations of me copying Hunger Games but until the movie came out I was ignorant of Suzanne Collins's work. Besides other than having a bow wielding young lady for a main character the similarities end there.

When I was first looking to publish The Greggs of Kesselt one submissions editor of a Sci-Fi Fantasy publishing company actually questioned the use of a dragon in my first book. Not because it did not fit in the book or was gratuitous he simply did not like the use dragons and their use was amateurish. Really. Dragons are a part of fantasy as much as magic, swords and funny little men with hairy feet. I reject the premise that you must exclude major elements of that genre when writing in it. That's like writing a Private Eye story and never being able to have  a good looking dame in it. It can be done but why is that so much better. (Notice: no question mark). Having a particular element does not diminish a story. Its how the element is used. Think about George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice, if there were no mention of dragons. How would the story feel or would it have been as appealing? My feeling is if you don't like dragons don't read it. Which leads me to why I went off on this tangent...

I purposely wrote in dragons in this story. I even set up this story for a major plot line in the third book of Kesselt concerning dragons. And the dragon element sets up Tor Gregg with my original first attempt at writing a book. A story I would like to finish.

In the meantime I need to get going and finish preparing A Princess of Kesselt for publication.

Until then, enjoy.