My writing process is a mix of structure and enthusiasm. Once I’ve formulated the idea for a book, I sit down and write what I call the First Fifty.

The First Fifty are the first fifty pages of the novel. They come fast and furious, and if I’m still excited after they’re finished, I know the book has legs.

When I started Dragon Run, I wrote the First Fifty from a dragon’s point of view, Lord Archovar’s to be specific. Those words didn’t come easy. I fought and struggled and wrote and rewrote and. . . finally gave up. I banished the manuscript to a dark corner of my hard drive and moved to other things.

The story, however, stuck in my head. A year later, I was working on a completely separate project, and I found myself thinking about the Mountainfoot Third. If you don’t know who they are, don’t worry about it. The point is that I couldn’t get the story out of my head.

I sat down to write a new First Fifty, this time from the point of view of Magister Lundi, the most powerful magic worker on the planet. Excited by the idea, I jumped right in… and found myself once again in a world of hurt. Try as I might, the words simply wouldn’t come.

I put the book aside.

One year later, I found myself still thinking about the story. Despite everything, I still wanted to write it. I went back to the keyboard for a third time, more than a little nervous that it wouldn’t work.

That’s when I realized I’d been getting the story wrong. It wasn’t about the great and powerful. It was about a regular kid, someone without any powers, someone just like you and me.

If you’ve been to one of my presentations on writing, you’ve heard that story before. Here’s the part you haven’t heard: Dragon Run was just the beginning.

That story that I couldn’t abandon, that intangible thing that kept bringing me back, year after year? It’s still being told.

Now, at last, you can read the next book in the series. It’s called The Boy With The Sword, and it’s just gone into distribution. That means you can buy it at Amazon now, and it will be available more broadly soon.

If you’re new to the world of Dragon Run, don’t worry. You can read this book as a standalone. If you’re already familiar with Al, Wisp, and Trillia… well, you’re in for a treat. You can find all the details at the website .

I hope you enjoy reading Al’s story as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!

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