Recently I was very lucky to read an advance copy of Dragon’s Future by Kandi J. Wyatt, and then I had the privilege to interview her via email. I loved her book and I am very pleased that it is only the first in an exciting new series called Dragon’s Courage. Dragon’s Future is due for release on the 10th August 2015; read my review here.

First, a bit about yourself, your family and home?
I am a wife, mom of five, teacher, artist, author, and photographer’s assistant. I have been married to my knight in shining armor for twenty-three years and without his love, encouragement and support, I wouldn’t be all the things that I am. I have five children, ranging in age from 13 to 26, two are girls. Yes, I had three teenagers in the house at once, yes, food was scarce. I received my elementary teaching degree from a private college in Iowa. I taught 1st through 3rd grade and 3rd through 7th grade in one room in small private schools. I now teach junior high and high school students Spanish in a small town on the Southern Oregon Coast. I live in in an even smaller town that is on the northern border of the school district. I can hear the Pacific Ocean at night.

What is the first book you remember falling in love with? What made you love it?
It would have been either Nancy Drew or Trixie Belden mysteries. I loved the interaction of the characters and the mysteries that they got into. I also enjoyed the fact that they were both part of families and went to someone older when they needed help.

What was the last book you recommended to someone?
That would have been Disenchanted by Janet Ursel. It released on July 14 and I was able to do a pre-read for her. At first I was very confused as to what was going on, but then as the end drew nearer, I started to see the puzzle pieces. It was wonderful!

Did you always want to be an author or did your first book surprise you?
As a teenager, my sister and I were best friends. We would spend hours either creating our dream home, drawing, or writing stories. I never dreamed I would be an author though, I just loved to write. Most of what I wrote was short stories, nothing elaborate. Then in 2002 or 2003 I read one of Timothy Zahn’s Dragonback novels. In the back was a study guide for teachers to use with their students. One of the questions was to create a story from a place you already knew. I began writing and a novel came. Still, I didn’t think to publish it; I wrote for my kids. In 2009 Dragon’s Future was born. I let it sit on my computer until this past February when two of my children and I went to a writer’s conference where we met Tess Thompson of Booktrope who said her publishing company was accepting manuscripts. I debated and without telling any of my family, I clicked send. It was later I realized I had submitted a rough edit and not my refined edit! Booktrope liked it and put it into their new imprint, Updrift–books for parents that they want their kids to read and that kids love to read. It was a perfect fit! Since then, I’ve submitted the four other books in the Dragon Courage series and a historical fiction that will be released in October under the Vox Dei imprint with Booktrope.

Is there a special place you prefer to write from?
Not really. I usually write in the mornings when there is no one else up or around yet. However, most of my best ideas come while I am driving. I play the scene over in my mind. Later, when I sit down to write it I often can’t get it exactly like it was while I was driving.

I’ve read that you are also an artist, could you describe your art?
My sister taught me the basics of charcoal and pencils when I was in high school. Since then it just pretty much sat dormant for twenty years or so until I wrote the Dragon Courage series. As I wrote, I began to want to illustrate scenes. So, I picked up the pencils and started again. Eventually, my critic (my husband) said I was good enough to put work up on DeviantArt to get feedback. That was probably the best move I did. I learned so much from several of the artists on there.
I mainly draw using pencils and colored pencils. I am learning to use my watercolor pencils as a supplement to my normal work. My newest media is soft pastels. They are basically chalk but they spread and blend and are something you can work really quickly with. Most of my pictures take twenty hours or so to complete; therefore, having a medium that I can finish a drawing in an hour to an hour and a half is wonderful!

What is the most unusual person or animal that you have drawn a portrait of?

Drawing by Kandi J. Wyatt.

The photo that the drawing was created from.

There isn’t really an unusual person or animal that I have drawn, but I do have a favorite. My nineteen-year-old daughter spent what would have been her senior year on Rotary Youth Exchange in Finland. Right around her eighteenth birthday when she had been there for six months, she posted this photo of her at the school ball. I loved it so much that I decided to draw it. As I was working on it, it was as if she was in the room with me. It is my best drawing to date.

There is much in Dragon’s Future about twins. Do you have twins in your family?
My mom has a set of twin cousins and miscarried twins when I was six. My dad has two sets of identical twin brothers. He was the first born and only single birth for his mom. The doctors told her if she had any more kids they would be multiple births. Grandma believed the doctors and didn’t have any more. (Five boys was more than enough for her!) We jokingly say that our eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds are our twins. They are sixteen months apart. So, twins have been a big part of my growing up. My sister and I always wondered which of us would get the twin gene.

Why do most of the names in Dragon’s Future contain the letter ‘y’?
When I was designing the story, I wanted something that would define the people from that area. So, all the people had a ‘y’. The dragon names all begin with ‘Wy’ or ‘Wry’ because I was using the old English version of wrym for dragon. Once we move away from Three Spans Canyon the names will be different. I designed each section of the world after places I knew or knew of.

Have dragons always been a passion for you?
If you would have looked in my sticker album that I collected as a teenager you would have found unicorns, pegasus, and horses. However, as I grew older I met my husband. He loved the medieval time frame and I was drawn to the dragons that went with the theme.

When can we expect your next book?
My next book will be an historical fiction, The One Who Sees Me. It will be released on October 3.
The next in the Dragon Courage series, Dragon’s Heir will be released on December 8.

If you would like to find out more about Kandi J Wyatt and her books, visit her blog, facebook page, Google+, her art site or follow her on twitter and instagram (@kandijwyatt). You can also find out more about Booktrope Publishing by visiting their website.