Author – DRAGON MOON RISING

The Author

Daniel Thomas O’Connor began seriously writing when he was in his mid-twenties. Book I of The Derkesthai Trilogy, Dragon Moon Rising, was his first published work. A vital influence for Daniel in writing this series was his view that dragons were more than the vast majority of fiction made them out to be. In fact, he saw a greater picture, in which man and dragonkind lived together peacefully and in relative harmony, until a dagger of evil was thrust between them.

His writing inspirations for fantasy fiction include Lloyd Alexander, J.R.R. Tolkien, Anne McCaffrey and Ursula Le Guin.

Dan has completed Book III of The Derkesthai Trilogy. All three books are currently available in the form of one, large novel. They have been printed under the title Dragon Moon Rising, A Derkesthai Novel.

Derkesthai is a word in the derivation of “dragon.” In Greek “derkesthai” means “to see clearly” or “to gaze.”

Dan lives in Kansas with his wife, his three children, dogs Charlie and Millie, cat Frank, and all the deer, birds and squirrels you can imagine.

Buy and read Derkesthai, the new novel from Dan O’Connor!

Questions and Answers from Dan

Here are some questions a young reader sent me last night. I thought they were cool questions, so here they are, with my answers.

Q: Why did you put blank pages between each chapter???…

A: This was the editor’s choice. I like it as it separates the chapters well.

Q: What encouraged you to write???…

A: Hmmm. I don’t know. It was creative, and fun. It was like making my own world for others to share. I loved that. I’ll have to think more on this one.

Q: What did you do to make up the names of the characters???…

A: I thought: “What would be a good name, one that sounds heroic, that makes me think of a dragon? Lessivius? No. Levisum? No. Lessiam? Yes!!!!” And then I’d use that name. Or I’d think, “What name would best represent a big, ugly, black, evil beast of a dragon?” And then something like “Falkaw” would come to mind, and I’d use it.

Q: How did you make the books so interesting?!

A: Well thanks. I think of things that interest me. If it’s interesting to me, I’ve found it’s usually interesting to others. I also read a lot, play games, watch movies, etc. And I know what I find boring and what I find interesting. So that helps. It is really hard to write something that is boring to write, read, etc. Another thing I do is I read back a part of the book from another’s viewpoint. Like I pretend I’m a 10-year-old boy reading the book. And if it interests me from that viewpoint, I stick to it. I’ll vary the viewpoint too, like now I’m a 14-year-old girl. And I can see if she would like it. By the way, I have been surprised by how many girls come up and tell me about how they like the book, or like the dragons in it. I kinda thought I was writing mostly for boys. But I’ve been proven wrong.

Q: How did you make up the name, Dragon Moon Rising?

A: When the moon cycle comes to an end in the series of books, a major thing will happen. The book is a sort of a countdown related to the moon’s cycle. In the first book, the moon is rising.

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The Illustrator/Illustrations

Linda Carol Nelson was handpicked by the author and publisher to illustrate Derkesthai, due to her extraordinary love for everything dragon. Like the author, she saw deeper than the last 500 years of imagery when it came to these magnificent creatures. More artwork at https://lindacarolnelson.com.