Local author Louisa Kelley’s second book in her sexy Daughters of the Draca series was released earlier this week. In the midst of a busy blog tour, she took the time to answer a few questions about what inspires her writing, why she loves writing about dragons, and why Portland works so well as a backdrop for her work.
Your second book in your Daughters of the Draca shape-shifter dragon series, Cara and the Draca, was released on January 24. What’s in store for readers in book two of the series?
Book two continues with another (easily stand-alone) spicy tale of the dragon shape-shifters called the Draca. These sexy Draca are scheming once again to increase their numbers with a powerful spell cast upon the citizens of Portland in the form of magical tattoos. Our shifter hero, Aedhan, is sent to Portland on a mission as the tattoo master of the mysteriously hidden tattoo shop. He wants to redeem his reputation as a bad boy; a Draca of who rarely follows the rules or cares about his own responsibility to the clan. Running the spell and minding the strict rules of behavior are all he’s supposed to be doing.
Then he meets our heroine, Cara, who is magically drawn to the shop. And that’s when he finds out she may be another precious ‘human daughter of Draca’ and things get exponentially complicated, out of control and pretty damn sizzling after that.
For those who haven’t yet started the series, can you talk about the series itself?
In book one, Lydia and the Draca, the Draca are beginning to die out as a species. They’ve been hidden in their (alternate universe) sanctuary they call Dracan for hundreds of years, and have been inbreeding to the point that their young do not survive. As a consequence for that and other disastrous decisions, the Draca as a whole have almost entirely lost any sexual drive…Their collective libidos at an all time low, the Queen of Draca, Nareen, casts a spell that seeks out human carriers of Draca DNA, in the hopes that intermingling species again could save the Draca. That’s when she discovers Lydia in Portland, who ends up being the carrier of a potent, ancient strain of Draca. The Draca call her a ‘human daughter of Draca’. They literally kidnap Lydia and the story goes from there… There’s a lot of hot sex, some rather, uh, unusual interspecies sensuality and of course, Lydia’s own emotional and transformative journey that changes her life forever.
The second book finds Nareen still hungry for more ways to increase population. She comes up with another powerful spell and directs it to Portland, along with her brother, Aedhan. Aedhan really wants to find himself his own Daughter of Draca in Portland, (all the males of Draca have fallen in love a little with Lydia), because he thinks if they’ve found one already, surely there must be more? But that’s not what he’s supposed to be doing there. This book is as hot as the first.
What holds my interest as an author is crafting a sexy and emotional read. I’ve never wanted to write the ‘dark’ side of paranormal. Serial killers, murders and horrible villains who do very bad things have never been what drives me as a writer. I’m more interested in clever, fantastically inspired stories that have fun, quirky characters and transformative, sexy, emotional journeys.
Why dragons? Where does your inspiration for the series come from?
Ah, there’s a great question! Because I am, and always have been, utterly fascinated with dragon mythology. In the Chinese horoscope, I was born in the year of the Dragon, so I think my spirit is part Dragon. And my writing muse, literally, will just not let go. I keep trying to start another writing project and it never works. The stories of my dragon shape-shifters demand to be told. I can’t stop until book three is finished. This story has always been intended as a trilogy.
I’ve been a huge science fiction and fantasy reader since I picked up the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis in fourth grade. After that, it was me and fantasy books all the way. Combined with my completely sappy, romantic heart (I avoid books and movies without a happily-ever-after), all things romantically paranormal rule my author’s world.
On February 9th, I’ll be blogging in more detail about the history of dragon mythology around the world and my own crazy obsession, at the fantasy/paranormal blog site called ‘Castle and Guns.’ See my blog titled, “Here Be Dragons” at:
http://www.castlesandguns.com/p/about-us.html
Cara and the Draca is set here in Portland, Oregon. You even seem to have the city incorporated into the header on your website. What aspects of the city inspire you?
Both books are set in Portland. The header of my website proudly features a photo of Portland. The city of Portland is a romance writers dream, as far as I’m concerned. The Willamette river running along side the downtown cityscape, the many picturesque old bridges spanning the river, the lush pacific northwest greenery, the forests and mountains so near by…Stunning beauty. The rainy winter days perfect for staying in and writing, and the brilliant days of summer with blooming trees on miles of city streets never fail to inspire…As soon as I moved to Portland over six years ago, my writing muse exploded.
There’s a climatic scene in book two that features a roaring, fire-breathing dragon on the top of the Fremont bridge in Portland. It’s a scene that’s been cooking in my head for over six years and was a total blast to write. Just looking at the bridges brings my dragon shape-shifters to life.
Your heroine is a member of a dragon boat racing team. Have you ever been involved in the dragon boat races? How did you research that aspect of your character?
My day job involves working in a chiropractic and massage clinic. Dragon boat races are huge in Portland, with many teams involved in the annual summer Rose Festival. I met dragon boat team members when they’d come into the office for chiropractic care after practices and races. This gave me the idea for Cara. I went to one of the practices and took photos and talked to folks, then conducted a more detailed interview with one of the teams’ co-captains. I also attended the races in June and enjoyed them tremendously.
When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I trace my writing passion to my exposure to the books of Louisa May Alcott (perhaps you can guess how I came up with my writer’s name!). Little Women rocked my young world. I am the eldest of four daughters, just like in the book, and of course, have always thought I am “Jo.” I loved to read and write, just like Jo. And she inspired my nine-year-old heart in so many ways that still touch me to this day. Reading and crafting stories and poems has been a passion as long as I can remember.
What’s next in your Draca series or are working on something else?
Coming up next is Nareen’s story. This book is tentatively titled “Nareen of the Draca.” Nareen’s a major secondary character in both books, and she’s been clamoring for me to tell her story. Nareen has her own emotional journey to go on and I am looking forward to getting her story done in the coming year. There are also some underlying plot lines that will have some fun conclusions in the third book.
Where can readers find your books?
First of all, you can find me on a major blog tour starting March 5th. I’ll be giving out a grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift certificate to one lucky randomly chosen commenter during the tour. This link tells you where I’ll be on any given day. Stop by and say hello!
http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/01/virtual-book-tour-daughters-of-draca.html
To purchase the books, there will always be links on my website: http://www.louisakelley.com/
Also you can go direct to the publisher://www.loose-id.com/
I am also on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/author/louisakelley, as well as all the major eromance book sellers.
Come check out some fantastic photos of Portland on my Facebook page: Louisa Kelley Author.
Happy reading!
Thank you, Lousia.
