Category Archives: Steel

The Sorceress’s Apprentice – A Novel

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The Sorceress’s Apprentice is the second novel in the Steel Dragon trilogy. It takes place three years after the events in The Steel Dragon. Here is a blurb…

A COLONY IN A DISTANT AND STRANGE LAND

Three years have passed and Port Dechantagne is now a thriving colony. Senta Bly, now twelve years old, is the apprentice of the mysterious sorceress Zurfina and is known throughout Birmisia as the Drache Girl. Can she uncover the mysteries of magic and protect the
colony without Zurfina’s help?

Join Senta and the others.

Saba Colbshallow: The child of a servant in the Dechantagne household and now a police constable, unraveling the mystery of the lizardmen’s strange behavior.

Yuah Korlann: Now a wife and mother, caught between two worlds– her ethnic minority status and her new position as a member of the most elite colonial family.

Radley Staff: Returning in triumph to Birmisia to search for new wealth and to see the woman he left so long ago.

Graham Dokkins: The jammiest boy in town knows he’s quite special, and not just because his girlfriend is the world’s most powerful preteen magic user.

And Bessemer, the steel dragon.

The Sorceress’s Apprentice is book two in The Steel Dragon trilogy. It is a novel of adventure and excitement, of prejudice and pain, of growing up, and of friendship in a world not quite like our own Victorian era.

The Steel Dragon – The Setting

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The Steel Dragon is the story of a world not too different than our own Victorian/Edwardian age of Colonial Imperialism. This world however is different because in the past, mythic creatures like dragons were common. Magic is still present. In an age of steam power and rifles, wizards are sought after for service in the army and navy. In this world, the continent of Sumir is the place of origin and primary home of humanity. The people of Sumir have begun to colonize the rest of the world, which up until now, was dominated by non-human creatures.

I began creating this world, by imagining a world larger than our own, with more land as compared to ocean. I cut out a shape that I imagined as this world’s Pangia, then tore it to pieces and moved them around to simulate continental drift. When I was done, I set another piece of paper over them, and traced the outlines of the landmasses. Then I made several more drawings, attempting to make each of them more true to life. It helped that as a child, I liked to sit and look at the atlas.

The Steel Dragon

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When I finished self-publishing Princess of Amathar, I suddenly felt like I could write another novel. I had an idea for a fantasy setting and a plot that I outlined. It was a story in three parts, and as I began writing it, I didn’t know if it was going to be one very long three part novel, or three novels in a trilogy. I began writing and wrote almost daily for fifteen months. It seemed that the story just came out. It was great. I made copies for ten teachers and other staff members at school who wanted to read it and give me feedback for revision. The drawback to this is that they have had the book the entire summer, and I’ve only yet gotten a bit of feedback by email from one. But, I return to work next week. In the meantime, I’ve already begun sending out queries to literary agents. I decided that I am going to send it to every literary agent and book publisher who deals with this genre. I’m already getting rejection letters. More about that later.