Today the winners of the Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2016 were announced. Blood Dragons was on the list of Finalists.
It was a blinding surprise to discover Blood Dragons had won the Silver Award.
To celebrate I wanted to explain why it’s such an important novel to me.
The spark of inspiration for the entire series came from my son who is an autistic savant: everything he sees he remembers.
Light – the lead character – is a savant. I wondered what it would be like for a vampire to live over the centuries and to remember all the wonders and horrors with the clarity of a photograph. Would it be a blessing – or a curse..?
The theme of memory is at its core: identity. As well as what it means to be an individual: the book is for everyone who has ever felt different or alone.
And that? Is everyone on the planet…
Blood Dragons is set in a divided, paranormal London. My dad’s a Londoner, and I wanted my first series to show the ‘dark and glory‘ of London.
I love complex anti-heroes, struggling on thrilling redemptive journeys: cue Light. British male vampires played the role of villain, love interest or sidekick; my British vampire would be the anti-hero telling his own story, in his own words.
Dark, intelligent and subversive. These are the books I love to read and the series I set out to write.
Blood Dragons is close to my heart for so many reasons: it’s an intensely personal novel.
Why is it important to you?
April 3, 2017 at 4:48 am
so who won?
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April 3, 2017 at 9:55 am
Hi Barbara! I won the Silver Award. Gold Award in fiction went to Waking the Merrow by Heather Rigney
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