Today's special guest is Linda K. Hopkins. Linda lives in Calgary, Canada, with
her husband and two great kids. When she's not writing, she's usually reading
(a great pastime when you are trapped in a snowbound landscape eight months of
the year!), tinkering on the piano or just living life!
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
I asked Linda whether any real places around the world inspired the setting for her book. Here is her response:
It is a well-established fact that dragons
live in mountains. Or under them, as the case may be. A place where the
creature can see the world, but also hide away from prying eyes. Where he can
do whatever dastardly dragon things he wants to do, without the risk of being
interrupted. But unlike other wild creatures, dragons are also drawn to people.
No matter whether it is a source of amusement or appetite, dragons never stray
too far from human habitation.
Bound by a Dragon is set in the Middle
Ages, in an unnamed village close to a range of mountains. Set deep in the
mountains is Storbrook Castle, the home of Aaron Drake. Rumors abound about
Storbrook Castle, linked as it is both men and dragons alike. The villagers are
sure they know the stories about the castle, but in truth, very few have seen
the imposing structure, built on the summit of a granite peak. The dragon is
rumoured to live in caves beneath the castle, but who really knows for sure?
The small army of servants who work at the castle are mum on the subject, and
with no reliable source of information, the villagers draw their own
conclusions. But are they right?
Storbrook Castle was not based on a single
castle, but was rather an amalgamation of different designs. The castles built
in England following the Norman invasion provided much inspiration, but there
are not many mountains in England, and certainly no mountain-top fortresses,
such as those found in Germany and other European countries. The mountain top
setting was inspired by Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria. Although not a
medieval castle, this beautiful castle, built by King
Ludwig II, has been the inspiration for many tales of fantasy.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The dragon
turned its head and seemed to look straight at Keira. Pulling her arm out of
her sister’s, she drew
herself upright and stared straight back, meeting the golden eye of the dragon
before it turned its enormous body in a slow, fluid motion and lazily flew
towards the mountains.
A dragon has moved into the neighborhood of Keira's
small, medieval village, unsettling the residents as they fear for their
safety. All except Keira, who is fascinated by the creature, both dangerous and
beautiful. But when Aaron Drake decides to take up residence in his ancestral
home of Storbrook Castle, set deep in the nearby mountains, Keira finds herself
unsettled by the handsome stranger. Why did he decide to move to Storbrook,
almost eighty years after it was last inhabited, and does the dragon really
live in the caves below the castle?
AN EXCERPT
Storbrook
Castle! The name sent a shudder down Keira’s back. The castle was hidden deep
in the mountains, a good thirty miles away; and although few in the village had
ever seen the castle, there wasn’t a child in the village who hadn’t shivered
in fear and delight at its purported horrors. It was rumored that the caves in
the mountains below the castle had been the home of many maiden-devouring
dragons in days gone by. Children and adults alike whispered about the dark
corridors where abducted maidens, held against their will, were forced to do
unspeakable things at the dragon’s bidding, and
where other heinous dealings occurred, too dreadful to be repeated. It had been
over eighty years since a dragon was last seen in the village, but that dragon
had been slain by a valiant villager, striving to protect a damsel in distress.
Unfortunately, as the story went, the damsel’s life had still been forfeited,
and the dragon had destroyed half the village with fire before being killed; regardless,
the villager was celebrated as a hero for keeping further maidens from being
kidnapped by the dragon.
“Storbrook
Castle!” repeated Keira, her voice dropping slightly. “They say the dragon
lives in the caves below the castle.”
The
stranger laughed lightly. “I hate to disappoint you, but I haven’t seen sign of
a dragon anywhere near the castle, and no half-gnawed bones in the rooms,
either. I have heard about this dragon, though!” The man glanced around before
leaning towards Keira, lowering his voice. “How many beautiful damsels have
been snatched up by this dreadful monster?”
“Now
I must disappoint you,” responded Keira with a smile. “No damsels, beautiful or
otherwise, have disappeared from our village or any of the other villages in
the area. Our dreadful monster doesn’t seem to be that dreadful at all!”
“You
don’t fear the beast?” he asked in surprise.
“No,
why should I? It hasn’t done anything fearful!”
“But
you must have heard terrible stories about the dragons that troubled this area
in the past?”
SPECIAL LINKS
Website
Facebook
Amazon
Nook
Kobo
The author will
give away a $25 Amazon gift certificate via Rafflecopter:
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2014/06/virtual-book-tour-bound-by-dragon-by.html
