Dragon Tale
Happy Year of the Dragon (Belated)
Yes, it’s the first of April, and I’m sending out a newsletter about Chinese New Year. I’m okay with being late. In this case, I have a good reason: I’ve been hard a work making deadlines for my publisher. But I did want to mention how auspicious this year feels. I was excited to see that my latest book, “The Others,” will launch in September during The Year of The Dragon. Technically, it’s the year of the Wood Dragon, which, according to my Internet sleuthing, will bring evolution, improvement, and abundance.
Dragons are beautiful, sometimes dangerous, creatures with a long life in literature. From Smaug, the treasure-hoarding beast of “The Hobitt,” to Gabriel Blackmore, the 300-year-old dragon shifter cursed by Voodoo in “The Dragon of New Orleans,” these scaly beings capture our imaginations because of the power and peril they represent. Their mysticism was on full display in San Francisco in late February for the Chinese New Year Parade. The parade itself is more snake-like, winding around the streets of Union Square as tens of thousands of bystanders watch it pass by. The dragon in the parade this year was a masterful effort, a glorious, glowing human ribbon undulating down Market Street as hundreds of firecrackers exploded nearby. The air around the fireworks is supercharged, pressing against your sternum as you pass.
Eventually, we left the parade and walked up Grant Street; the noise deafening, the asphalt littered with the ornamental red paper the fireworks come wrapped in. Grant Street is a narrow jewel box of a street framed overhead by red lanterns. On parade night, the night was also illuminated by the cascading light of fireworks launched into the night sky as North Beach sat in the distance.
On evenings like this one, San Francisco feels like a dragon, its smoky passages and ancient rituals powerful and mysterious. How lucky we are to live here, I thought as we headed towards Vesuvio Cafe for a nightcap. How lucky we are to be surrounded by magic.
San Francisco is a magical place. Nights like the Chinese New Year’s Parade are especially potent, but the mystical draw of the City by the Bay is always on display if you know where to look. Knowing how to recognize and find San Francisco’s magic is a theme in “The Others,” the first book of “The Council Trilogy,” an urban fantasy series focusing on the dangers of extremist politics through the lens of a secret society of supernatural beings. Those who have been with me on my journey as a writer will recognize the first two books as updated versions of “Women King” and “Dark Horse.” (I wrote in my November newsletter about the fascinating experience of bringing the books up to modern times.) A draft of “The Campaign,” third and final installment of the series is sitting on my desk, ready for my attention.
Spark Press will publish all three books between September 2024 and September 2025. Working with a publisher has been a learning curve, but I’m enjoying myself. I'm fortunate to have a great publisher and project manager. Working with them to choose covers for the books, I ended up with a fabulous omen that bodes well for my latest publishing adventure.
What are the odds that a dragon bridge would be the perfect backdrop for Olivia’s next daring adventure? I take it as a good sign and hope that you all experience a year of abundance and good fortune. Stay tuned for more news about my book launch in the coming months, and please check out my new website.