"What is your book about?"

I get asked this question a lot, and believe it or not, I find it very difficult to answer. Maybe it is because the story has undergone so many changes, maybe it is because the answer isn't simple, or maybe it's just that I'm bad at summarizing my own writing. I don't know, but whatever the reason, I always have a hard time with this question. I always feel put "on the spot" by it. A "quick, make your book sound amazing to this person in fifteen seconds or less!" This self-imposed pressure and time-limit doesn't make things any easier, and probably is to blame for most of my bumbling answers.

So what IS my book about?

Well, in its simplest form, it is a story about a princess: a headstrong, adventurous princess, who is sent on a quest to save her kingdom.

But it is also a story about a squire: a boy on the verge of becoming a man, who desperately wishes to prove himself in combat, but instead is given the task of "babysitting" the aforementioned princess on her quest.

It is a story about a man: a man who was once warrior to the king, who has tried to put his past behind him, but when that past finds him and rips away everything he held most dear, he is forced to become, once again, the King's Warrior.

But it is also a story about a country: a land that has isolated itself from the rest of the world and forgotten much of what made it once great, a land that faces invasion, and a king and his people who must rise up and face the challenges before them.

It is a story about dragons: and various other creatures of myth who are outcasts in the land, but who also once made a promise. Will they keep their promise, even if it means protecting those who fear them?

It is a story about courage, and learning that courage is so much more than the absence of fear.

It is a story about love and friendship and loyalty.

It is a story about heroes, who sometimes arise from the most unlikely of places.

It is also a story about a minstrel... but you have to read the whole series to find out more about him...


But most of all, it is an adventure.