eSpecs Books Focus #10: Ty Drago

I've got a special treat for you this month and next month. I'm going to devote Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays to writers from eSpecs Books. They're a great bunch of folks whom you need to get to know. 

Next up, Ty Drago!

Tell us a bit about your latest work. 

Dragons is a young adult science fiction thriller set at the end of this century. By now, space travel has been wholly privatized. Mining colonies have been established on the moon, Mars, and some of the asteroids, all of them controlled by the powerful Coffin Solar Exploration (CSE) and its billionaire founder, Charles Coffin.

In this world, Andy Brand, an eighteen-year-old high school senior from a small town in New Jersey finds himself a prisoner in a strange, hi-tech cell. His captors want no ransom. Instead, they seem interesting in compelling Andy to do the seemingly impossible: to create fire without benefit of a match. Andy, having been trained nearly from birth to do so, denies and resists them at every turn—that is, until his captors push him too far and force him to reveal what they already know.

Andy is a Dragon, a member of a vanishingly small subspecies of humanity capable of generating enormous amounts of thermal energy at will. Dragons have been hidden among us since the dawn of time, living quiet lives, trying to stay under the radar, because they know full well what can happen when they don't.

But there are always those who feel they can control the uncontrollable. Charles Coffin needs a Dragon to help with a rescue effort, and he's stolen Andy from his home and family to make that happen.

All is not as it seems, however, and Andy soon finds himself embroiled in a complex web of deceit and betrayal, a political and scientific puzzle that will test not just his considerable power, but his courage and intellect as well. Lives are at stake, and only a Dragon can save them.

That's all you get.

What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer? 

I've always been a writer. At the age of three, before I could read, I wrote stories. This usually involved me sitting naked on the living room floor, scribbling with a crayon (I've seen the pictures). But, in my head, I was telling a story. Later on, I "graduated" to drawing comics books. These I shared with the kids in the neighborhood, my first readership. But it was clear from a young age that I'm no kind of graphic artist. So, in high school, I embraced the written word and it's been my religion ever since.

What inspires you to write? 

Author David Morrell once said that every writer should ask the question, "Why do I write?"  For me, that's easy to answer. I want to be a hero. I wish I was a hero. But I'm not. So, instead, I write about heroes. These heroes vary drastically, from the "super" to the "anti," from the surprisingly ordinary to the over-the-top. I enjoy finding new ways to tell their stories, and I absolutely love it when my readers appreciate them. In fact, I guess you could say that I write for two reasons, the second one being the audience. As I write largely for children, I know firsthand how enthusiastic they can become about my tales and characters. It's a joy to write for them.

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work? 

Most of my novels deal with some kind of "kid empowerment," the idea that children make the best heroes—that they can be, and sometimes are, so much more than we give them credit for. Whether my protagonists are twelve, sixteen, eighteen, or twenty, the story always revolves around their struggles. Sometimes those struggles are against evil, invasion, or oppression. Sometimes they deal with growing up or coming into one's own under complicated and often dangerous circumstances. But, in every case, they are in the middle of it, relying on themselves, their own courage and ingenuity, to see them through.

That's the heart of children's fiction.

What would be your dream project? 

Well, I don't know if this is a "dream project" exactly, but it's a deeply personal one. I recently completed a rare adult novel, one based on a rough outline that my father left for me on cassette tapes before he died in 1992. Called The New Americans, this long family saga is a huge departure for me. It doesn't focus on speculative elements (science fiction, fantasy, and horror), which have been my bread and butter all these years. Instead, The New Americans tells the story of three young men from rural Sicily, who are forced by circumstance to emigrate to the United States in 1915, at the heart of what is now called the "Great Arrival," the single largest influx of immigrants in this country's history. It's a story of family, betrayal, and redemption. As of now, it's out in the market, looking for a home.

If you'd to know more, you can check the podcast that my wife and I did about this novel and the tapes that inspired them. Look for "Legacy: The Novel Writing Experience" wherever you get your podcasts!

What writers have influenced your style and technique? 

Wow. That's a tough one. I have authors I love: Yann Martel, Lee Child, Eoin Colfer, Jonathan Maberry, Heather Brewer, A.S. King, Stephen King, and others, but I'm not really sure how any of them may have influenced me. They certainly inspire me; reading their work often gets my own creative juices flowing. But I've worked hard to find my own voice, to tell my stories as best I can with my own style. 

I guess, if I'm as honest as I can be, I've been touched to some degree by Maberry's wit, Martel's irony, and A.S. King's truth. But I like to think that's more about motivation than influence. 

If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do? 

Ouch! One of my earliest published novels is an adult SF mystery called Phobos. It came out way back in 2003. I've grown quite a bit as a writer since then and sometimes when I re-read it, I think, "Oh, I should have done told this part this way, or changed this character like this." I think all of us do that at one time or another. Second-guessing oneself is an author's favorite hobby! 😊

But madness lies that way, or at the very least useless frustration. It's hard enough to stay positive as navigate this business—and, make no mistake, writing for the modern world is most definitely a "business." It does you no good to dwell on the nettles of your past.

Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why? 

Writing is a craft, rather like knitting. Everyone, to some degree, can be "taught" how to write. Over the past several years, I've taught many classes on writing, both to adults and children. And, while the teaching style for each is, by necessity, different, the underlying lesson is the same: Practice.

Storytelling, however, is definitely an art. I've read some technically well-crafted novels that suffered from poor execution, slow pace, or had downright boring stories. Conversely, I've read great stories that were simply badly written.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process? 

The first thing I need to do before I start a novel is to find its music. I literally put together an entire "soundtrack" for each story I write. Then I play these songs, over and over, while I plot things out in my head. In the case of Dragons, the music is largely that of one of my favorite bands, Imagine Dragons.

Without that music, I can often find myself stuck or, even worse, losing interest in a particular project. So, I make it a point to find the "soundtrack" first. This isn't always easy and can often take a longer time than I'd like. But, for my process, it's crucial.

How do your writer friends help you become a better writer? Or do they not? 

My "first read" for the last thirty years has been my wife, Helene. I honestly don't know what I'd do without her. She is, without any doubt, the toughest copy editor I've ever worked with. But every single one of my books is better for it!

What does literary success look like to you? 

I love to write. I love for my writing to be read. I've happily reached the stage where I can write full-time and, at sixty years old, I now find that I'm living my best life. I've been fortunate to have partnered with some wonderful, forward-thinking publishers, most particularly eSpec Books, which published Dragons. It's a great ride and I intend to keep at it until they pry the keyboard from my cold, dead fingers.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug? 

I recently completed a YA horror novel called Rags that I'm hawking around. It's a scary, somewhat gruesome tale set in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the early 1980's when the casinos were just starting to come in. It tells the tale of sixteen-year-old Abby Lowell, an orphan whose life is saved by a mysterious stranger who hides his face and wields his long black knife with deadly precision. Soon, Abby is unwillingly drawn into a life-and-death struggle against forces she can barely comprehend. I'm really proud of the book and its dark anti-hero, whom Abby dubs "Rags."

Look for it!

For more information, visit:

My website and bookstore are easy. We're at www.tydrago.com.

If you're a writer of speculative short fiction, check out my amazing ezine at www.allegoryezine.com. We're always looking for fresh talent!