I think the coolest thing about Sarah is that she’s turned her book series into episodic fiction…which means it’s basically like a tv show where each short book is like an individual episode of a show and then entire series is like a season. Before we jump in, I asked Sarah to tell us a bit about her book!
“DRAGON SCHOOL: FIRST FLIGHT is the story of Amel, a disabled teen girl and Raolcan, a very empathetic dragon, meeting for the first time. It’s the beginning of a friendship that will save the world. And while everything is stacked against them, none of that matters when two friends always have each other’s backs.”
Sounds amazing, right? What could be better than dragons? Let’s jump in and see what else she has to say!
- In First Flight, Amel has to learn to ride a dragon before she can become an initiate. If you were to jump into her world, would you be an instant rock star at working with dragons or would you be more likely to fall off before you even got in the air?
I would be incredibly bad at riding dragons. I’m terrified of heights and poorly coordinated. That being said, I have overcome that fear a few times – usually with tears pouring down my face and my heart going a million miles an hour! When I was thirteen, I rappelled backwards down a ten-story grain elevator, despite my intense fear of heights.
- Rules of your book universe withstanding, when is the best time to work with writing dragons, morning or evening?
It depends entirely on the dragon. Eager, morning dragons like Raolcan are great in the morning, but cranky dragons like Kyrowat are likely to belch sulfur in your face if you wake them too early.
- Amel wants to join the Dominion Dragon Riders but first has to become an initiate…which sounds a little complicated. What was the hardest thing you learned to do in school growing up?
I was homeschooled until Grade 10 (Sophmore year) so probably the hardest thing for me was transferring to a normal high school. I also found pre-calculus tricky, so I took business math which has turned out to be very helpful in my day-to-day life.
- Each of your dragons have different colors that are associated with different purposes/talents. Without considering the meaning, if you were going to be a dragon, what color would you want to be?
Hmmm… good question. Whites are the prettiest and that would be tempting. Reds are neat because they are all rough and calcified. But I have a real love for the color black, so if purpose or talent was taken out of things I think I’d lean to black. Or maybe red. No .. wait … green. Okay, I can’t decide.
- In your story, Amel has a crippled leg that prevents her from accomplishing her tasks in the same way that the others do. What’s been one things you’ve had to work around in your own life when it comes to your writing?
Well, I have two small children (4 and 6) and I am their primary care giver, so writing while someone asks for a snack every thirty seconds is a real talent. But, more seriously, I had real trouble birthing my children and had intense chronic pain for many months after and some permanent health issues. I use those experiences to help me think about how Amel would feel when I write about her day to day troubles as she drives toward victory.
- Training at Dragon School is grueling, but is there anything you’d love to train for in your own personal life?
Hmmm. Well, learning to write a quality novella every eighteen days has felt like a massive training in writing! I wouldn’t mind taking a rigorous course in logic and rhetoric. That would be neat.
- You treat your books almost like a tv show, using each shorter story as an “episode” and giving “seasons” to your stories. I’m guessing this means you have a fondness for tv shows, so what are your top three?
This is so hard! I love SO MANY tv shows.
Okay, breathe, Sarah. There are no wrong answers (except that there are).
- PSYCH (K.M. side note: loved this show!)
- Justified
- Heartland
- If you had the opportunity to breath fire, would you or would you be worried about it being a safety hazard?
In the winter (October -May in these parts), I’m the first in my house to get up every morning in the freezing cold. It’s my job to start the fire in the woodstove in the kitchen before making coffee and breakfast for everyone. If I could light that fire with my breath (instead of a combination of good drafting, birch bark, and mild cursing) I most certainly would! In fact, I’d use that talent all the time! Lighting the barbeque, loosening seized bolts, or just warming my mouth when it’s -30 and I’m waiting for the kids to get off the school bus… yeah, a girl can dream!
- In our world, where would be the best place to find a dragon, assuming they exist here?
Dragons are incredibly arrogant, so I suspect they would hide in plain sight, thinking that no human would be clever enough to catch them.
- Pretending I accidentally found a dragon in the wild, what would be the best thing I could do to befriend it and call it over to me?
Offer them molten honey. They’re absolute softies when it comes to their favorite treat.
First Flight can be found here! Want to learn more about Sarah K.L. Wilson?
And be sure to catch her live interview on our replay Facebook Live or above!
Have an author you want to see put through their paces with one of my quirky interviews? Let me know in the comments below AND be sure to tell me which of these answers from Sarah was your favorite!
Stay inspired,
-K.M. Robinson