It’s true.
While I’d never be a defence attorney for a dragon, there was a time when I did consider weaving them into The Divided Region. What can I say… It’s easy to follow everyone else when you are wet behind the ears in a new industry — or, in my case, a new genre.
Thankfully, I saw sense and scrapped the idea before a single dragon complained of heartburn.
No regrets there.
However, this brash statement of mine is often met (especially on the socials) with comical replies like:
“Boring. Never going to read your books.”
Or even better:
“YoU’rE nOt A rEaL fAnTaSy AuThOr iF yOu DoN’t HaVe DrAgOns!”
🤣
And sometimes, among the sea of despair, I’ll receive more sensible comments like:
“Why?”
To which, I’d reply with something akin to:
You know those used tissues that should have been discarded several hours ago?
The moist ones that are left to shed in your pocket?
Yeah, that's dragons (at least for me).
There's nothing inherently wrong with them (hell, I used to love Spyro the Dragon as a wee lad), but like a soy burger at a vegan party, it seems I cannot escape them in the fantasy genre.
So, instead of falling in line and following every other author, I did something truly radical.
I wrote a series that is not only free of dragons, but also murders a few other genre norms.
For example, you will NOT find the following in The Divided Region:
+ 1,000+ page books
+ Multiple POV characters
+ Orcs, elves, and dwarves
+ Complicated, intricate magic systems
+ Or a storyline dominated by romance and soft, mushy characters
Does that mean I will get a lucrative deal with one of the top publishers?
Unlikely.
Will it attract a severely underserved segment of the fantasy market?
ABSOLUTELY.
And that’s exactly why I am unapologetic about the “shortcomings” of my work. If you have no problems with dragon-less fantasy that is light on endless meandering and spicy scenes, then you might just want to give The Divided Region a whirl.
You can get started with Exiled (Book #1) right here:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/Exiled
DJJW