SEELIE KAY: Postcards from The Ledge: This week in The Loft: Author Daryl Devoré!

Joining me today in The Loft is Canadian author Daryl Devoré. Daryl writes romance in a variety of sub-genres and heat levels, including new adult, episodic, sports, contemporary, urban fantasy, and twisted fairy tales. The author of 20 books, her latest tome, "The Last Dragon" is now an audiobook. A retired teacher, Daryl enjoys gardening--unless the mosquitoes are hungry. She lives in eastern Ontario in a 180-year-old farmhouse with her husband, two cats, and a few house ghosts.

Author Daryl Devore

S: Good morning, Daryl! Thanks for chatting with me today.

You write in a vast array of sub-genres. What inspires your stories?

D: Everything. And anything. For my rock star trilogy, I was in the car with my husband and we were driving to our daughter’s for a visit. "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor came on the radio. I grabbed my laptop and wrote three chapters of a book I didn’t know I was going to write and it grew into a trilogy. "The Last Dragon," eight years earlier, I wrote a hot medieval romance and someone said they kept expecting a dragon to pop up. That floated around in my head for years and suddenly one day, the dragon announced it was time to tell the story. That book has now led into a second book with the concept for two others.

S: It's amazing what can inspire a story if you're paying attention, isn't it?

Do you read reviews?

D: Yes and no. I will look at the number of stars and if it’s a four or five, I’ll read it. Not to pump up my ego, but to use it for teasers and in promo posts. The other reviews, I don’t read. There are a lot of trolls out there. Why raise your blood pressure over their nonsense? People have the right to have an opinion and not everyone will like a book. Telling me I should have written it this way or not written it that way is useless. The book is written. I like it--or I wouldn’t have published it. And I am not going to change it. I have very good critique partners and beta readers. If there was a massive problem with the book they wouldn’t hesitate to point it out. Because they know I have their back and would do the same for them.

S: The opinions of your peers and beta readers should carry more weight.

What attracted you to your partner?

D: I fell for him, literally. We both were taking Judo at the time and he threw me on the mat. Somehow, we just moved on from that to now 37 years of marriage. We both left Judo. I took up TaeKwon Do and am now a 2^nd degree black belt.

S: A dangerous woman. I like that!

What would you like people to know about you?

D: I love chatting with fans or people about writing. I met a wonderful lady, Colleen. It was fun to watch her chat with me like I was some A-list celebrity. I’m a barely-known author. But I have published books and that so amazed her. I think I am going to use her in a book one day, when I get over my current medieval fantasy phase. Most writers aren’t like the stereotypes. We don’t sit in caves and toss out books every so often. Nor do we sit by a crackling fire, sipping bourbon while tapping out bestsellers on our laptops. I guess there is one other thing to know about me – I’m female. My name is also female, but most know it as a male name. When the name is said to rhyme with Karl – that is the female version. When it is said to rhyme with Carol – that is the male version.

S: If you had to do it over again, would you still write books?

D: Simple answer--Yes. I wrote my first book in grade 10 (sophomore year in an American school). I took a creative writing class and the first assignment was sort of chapter one. My teacher said, "Keep going." So I did. Yes, I published it. But many years later and after a lot of revisions. I was that kid in class who, when the teacher said there was an essay to write, I got excited. Writing comes naturally to me.

S: What inspired "The Last Dragon?"

D: As I mentioned earlier, someone mentioned a dragon and one flew around in my head for years and then boom, I sat down and wrote the story.

S: Is there anything special you would like people to know about "The Last Dragon?"

D: Yes, it’s amazing. My narrator said he loved reading it because it flowed and that made his job a lot easier. I love the characters in this book. It just felt right writing it. Also, this bookmarked the division between me as a hot romance writer and a sweet romance writer. Detailed sex scenes did not feel right with the pure sweetness of Derry.

Here's the blurb--

What do dragons, knights and romance have in common? Grab a copy of multi-published author Daryl Devore’s medieval fantasy romance – The Last Dragon and discover the answer.

A sorcerer craving dominance merged with a dragon, the power overwhelmed him causing him to split into three dragons. Demora ruled thought, but was lost in time. Yidithe offered protection, shining like the light of the sun. Ayrradex craved chaos, reveling in destroying souls.

Many knights died, attempting to slay the devil beast. One knight, Prince Hawkyns, did not fear death. He’d lost everything. Away on a mission when Ayrradex attacked his father’s kingdom, Penrythe, Hawkyns returned to find his noble father – feeble and defeated. His wise mother – crazed. His beautiful wife and unborn child - dead. Only a pile of ashes remained for him to bury. He knelt before his King and vowed to slay the devil-beast or be slain.

Derry was born with powers that terrified her parents. They delivered her to a nunnery to be raised in secret. Jathe, a wise sorceress, discovered the young girl and trained her to one day use the secret hidden in her soul.

Legends spoken around campfires hinted the sole way to destroy Ayrradex was when the hearts of a knight and a golden dragon became one. But after a vicious battle with Ayrradex, the golden dragon was thought to be dead.

Can Prince Hawkyns’s bravery and Derry’s powers end the reign of the devil-beast’s terror?