Wattpad brings you a guest post from David Alastair Hayden, writer of the fantasy fiction “The Storm Dragon’s Heart”:
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I’m the sort of person who likes to know the story behind the story. I can’t help but dig deeper, take the cover off and poke around inside. When I stumble across a bit of esoteric knowledge, the best kind of knowledge, or even just read an interesting factoid in the news, I research it. Like I said, I can’t help it. My curiosity refuses to let me do anything else until it is satisfied.
So when Wattpad asked me to write this guest post, I decide to write something that I would want to read if it were me on the other side of the screen: the story behind the Storm Phase saga.
Book 2 in the series, Lair of the Deadly Twelve, just hit the virtual shelves, but Turesobei’s story didn’t actually start in The Storm Dragon’s Heart. It started twelve years ago in my first novel, a monster-sized adult fantasy epic of 220,000 words titled Legacy of the Lost Gods. While my agent was shopping it around, YA became the next big thing and an editor asked if I would consider writing a lead-in series of books for young adults. I had hinted at quite a dramatic (and tragic!) history for one of the main characters, a wizard named Chonda Turesobei. So I decided that his childhood would make a great prequel to my existing adult novel.
As luck would have it, my agent and I split up before she found a home for Turesobei, the younger or the elder. A few years and a few other projects passed, and then I discovered the exciting new world of indie publishing and other modern opportunities such as the wonderful community here on Wattpad. I dusted off The Storm Dragon’s Heart, added most people’s favorite character, simplified the setting, added a whole new subplot, and sent it out into the world. Can you believe that good old Lu Bei, the diary that turns into a winged-daemon, didn’t even exist in the first version of The Storm Dragon’s Heart?! I know I can’t.
Thanks to the warm welcome the novel received here on Wattpad and elsewhere, I decided it was time to write the sequel. I’ve written six novels now, but Lair of the Deadly Twelve is my first ever sequel.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Lair of the Deadly Twelve was probably the most fun I’ve had writing a book, simply because I already knew the characters. Plus, having written 500,000 words in Okoro, the setting now feels like home. But it was also a challenge because it’s both a sequel and a prequel at the same time. I knew where the story had to start and where, thanks to my first novel, eventually the series has to end. But just like you, I’m discovering the middle along the way.
I’m really pleased with the result and I hope you will be too.
If you’re wondering if you’ll ever get a chance to read that first novel, Legacy of the Lost Gods, the answer is yes. Eventually, I will update it. If you enjoy reading Turesobei’s adventures, then you have plenty to look forward to.
So if you haven’t read The Storm Dragon’s Heart, now on Wattpad in its entirety, please do! When you’re finished, you can read the first few chapters of Lair of the Deadly Twelve here as well some of my other books. You can buy both novels in ebook form from Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and iBooks. You can buy The Storm Dragon’s Heart in print. Lair of the Deadly Twelve isn’t out in print yet.
To keep up with news about my fiction, you can visit my website dahayden.com or sign up for my newsletter attinyletter.com/dahayden.
Read “The Storm Dragon’s Heart” on Wattpad!
STORM PHASE
A teenage wizard burdened with a mysterious destiny, a cat-girl ninja he can’t help but fall for, and a bat-winged daemon that doubles as a diary embark on a journey of self-discovery in a world teeming with monsters and magic.
Perfect for fans of Percy Jackson and Avatar: the Last Airbender, this enchanting Asian-inspired fantasy series delivers fast-paced adventure for readers young and old.
BOOK 1: THE STORM DRAGON’S HEART
Turesobei dreams of adventure and a chance to prove he’s no longer a child. Wizards should be careful what they wish for.
Destined to become his clan’s next and perhaps greatest ever high wizard, Turesobei feels smothered under everyone’s expectations. And he’s fed up with people treating him like he’s still a child, especially his grandfather, the current high wizard. After foiling an assassination attempt on his treasure-hunting dad, his grandfather sends Turesobei on his father’s expedition to find a powerful artifact known as the Storm Dragon’s Heart. He’s supposed to blow off some steam and get a dose of real world experience.
But disaster strikes, and their quest becomes a race for survival.
Aided by a sassy ninja cat-girl and a mysterious diary that transforms into a bat-winged familiar, Turesobei battles sinister cultists, vengeful spirits, and a mad wizard from a rival clan who’s determined to use the artifact to destroy Turesobei’s homeland.
To fail is to lose everyone he loves, but success carries a terrible price.