Hi everybody. My name is David Heiland from the novel, IN THE SHADOW OF THE DRAGON KING, and I’m here because Jenny, the person who wrote me into existence, asked me to be, though I haven’t quite figured out why. It’s not like I’m a rock star, but whatever. I have no clue what to talk about because I’m kind of a brooder, at least that’s what Charlotte calls me. Char’s my best friend, by the way, and she’s sitting here next to me, coaxing me to write stuff about myself. Bor-ing. She said to start with the stats cause everyone wants to know about those, so here are some tidbits about me that no one should be required to know.
I was born in Havendale, Tennessee, which might as well be Bristol for all it matters, cause I can literally walk twenty-five feet in my yard, and I’ll cross over the town line. Weird, you know, that the map line runs through my yard, but then again, I have a pretty big yard, as in acres upon acres of Cherokee National Forest big. But you know what would be even weirder? Living on the time zone line. Can you imagine? Clocks on one side of your house would read one time, and the clocks on the other side would read another. You’d walk through your own house and be like where am I? What a mind blow. You know what else would be crazy? Actually being able to travel through time. I mean, what if you didn’t just change time zones. What if you could actually step through time and change the things that effed up your life? Man, that kind of power would screw with your head.
But I kind of went off on a tangent there. Sorry. Charlotte’s nudging me to get back to the stats. Can you hear my eyes rolling?
So, stat facts. I’m sixteen. I’ve lived in Havendale all of my life, but I have a gazillion stamps in my passport. My godmother, Lily, insisted I see the world from the time I could walk, so twice a year, we go somewhere new. Next Christmas we’re supposed to go to Italy. I’m stoked, and if Charlotte behaves, we might take her with us, too. Yeah, you should hear her squeeling right now. Too funny. Anyway, I’m average in looks, nothing really to talk about. My hair is dark, like mud, and I have blue eyes. Char says they’re like someone captured the summer sky and then threw a prism into the mix. I think she’s nuts, but she’s a girl, so what do I know. Anyway, I’m pushing the 6’1″ mark. I’m on the Havendale High track team, and I’m a two-time state champion archer. Yep, I can shoot a tennis ball out of the sky, whoo hoo, not like that will ever land me a job or anything, but it’s kind of cool to say I can do it.
What do I do in my spare time? I like to play video games. Right now, I’m really into Borderlands, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and Tera, but I still like playing stuff like Burnout and The Legend of Zelda. Sometimes I fool around on my Taylor guitar, which I love. I also like to read, swim, water ski, that kind of stuff, but I haven’t had a chance to do any of those things lately because the alterer of my life decided to thrust me out of my comfort zone and into something I was totally unprepared for. I wish I could find a do over button, but I don’t think one exists, at least not in my present world.
One of Jenny’s friends, Deby, wanted to know what I see as my role in this crazy story that is now my life, and if that role interfered with my plans for my future. My role in THE SHADOW OF THE DRAGON KING, Miss Deby, is beyond insane. It’s twisted and I would never wish it on anyone. I hate being in the spotlight, yet here I am, right in the middle of it. Did it interfere with my plans for the future? Excuse my language, but hell yeah. I mean, I didn’t have anything set in stone, but whenever I envisioned my future, there were no dragons involved. Ever. Now I have two of them, and some other mind-blowing stuff I can’t even begin to explain. What has happened to me and Charlotte has made me question everything I believed in, everything and everyone I trusted. I’ve had to do some things I never, in a million years, ever thought I would do. I’ve been forced to look at who and what I am, and I still can’t wrap my head around what I’ve become. I mean, it’s hard enough being sixteen, but to have all this other shit, sorry, crap, thrown at me in such a short amount of time? There was no time to prepare. No training. It was just do or die. And to make things worse, the story isn’t even over yet. Ugh.
On the good side, I’ve experienced some crazy and bizarre things I never dreamed existed. For example, I came face to face with a real, live centaur. I’m not kidding. It was crazy. And then I met this bad-ass knight who’s scary as shit and as big as a freaking tank, but is really cool, if you can get past being scared of him. This road trip we’ve been on has taught me a lot, but one thing I’ve learned the most is to never say never. It’s amazing what you can find if you just open your mind and your eyes.
And, on that note, I’m going to call it quits. Charlotte will be here tomorrow to dazzle you with her charm. We’ve decided to switch off every other day, that way, if you want to ask us questions, we’ll have time to answer. I hope I didn’t bore you too much with my ramblings.
Later.
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Danielle E. Shipley’s first novelettes told the everyday misadventures of wacky kids like herself. …Or so she thought. Unbeknownst to them all, half of her characters were actually closeted elves, dwarves, fairies, or some combination thereof. When it all came to light, Danielle did the sensible thing: Packed up and moved to Fantasy Land, where daily rent is the low, low price of her heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, firstborn child, sanity, and words; lots of them. She’s also been known to spend short bursts of time in the real-life Chicago area with the parents who home schooled her and the two little sisters who keep her humble. When she’s not living the highs and lows of writing young adult novels, she’s probably blogging about it at 
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