here<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe sequel is called The Dragon Swan Princess<\/em>. Like The Witch’s Tower<\/em>, this book is a different take on one of my favorite fairytales. I used a few details from the story of Swan Lake, which is a story I’ve always loved, and added my own spin. The most obvious change I made was to make my heroine, Odette, a dragon shifter. She was an amazing character to write, as I’ve never written about a dragon as a lead. Dragons really do have a lot of fun. Her love interest is a dark elf named Drekken, who has a troubled past. He has to get over his own demons throughout the course of the book.<\/p>\nThe book starts with Odette getting captured by a dragon lord named Xaldain Von Rothbart, who wants to use her magic in a spell that will keep him alive. Here’s a sneak peek of what’s to come!<\/p>\n
~From Chapter One of The Dragon Swan Princes, Book Two of Twisted Ever After<\/em>~<\/strong><\/p>\nThe silhouette of a large man appeared inside the shadow of the gateway behind the two witches, Gwynna and Neleia. My heart stopped as he walked onto the bridge.
\nNo. It couldn\u2019t be.
\n\u201cXaldain,\u201d I whispered, my voice drowned out by the wind.
\n\u201cHello, Odette,\u201d he said, his voice deep and gravelly, a sound that sent shivers down my spine. His bulky frame moved stiffly, as if he weren\u2019t used to taking his human form. He wore black leather armor that hugged his meaty frame. His golden eyes shone like two burning coals, smoldering with insatiable hate. A wave of memories washed over me.
\nI remembered the first time he\u2019d entered my homeland. My parents had left our hut on the seashore to go speak with him, but when they returned, I remembered the fear I saw in their eyes. They\u2019d warned me of him, they\u2019d warned everyone, but no one listened. Not until it was too late.
\n\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d I demanded.
\n\u201cI came for you. Why else?\u201d
\nMy insides twisted with fear. \u201cFor me?\u201d
\n\u201cYes, my love. We\u2019re the last of our kind, a dying breed. I bargained my most prized possession to get you back.\u201d
\nMy mouth went dry. \u201cNo.\u201d
\nGwynna spoke up. \u201cHe traded the egg of a phoenix for you. For you! Ha! A bargain, for sure.\u201d
\n\u201cYou can\u2019t do this. I won\u2019t go. I refuse.\u201d
\n\u201cYou\u2019ve got no choice,\u201d Neleia said. \u201cYou belong to him now. What he does with you is none of our concern. Our contract is fulfilled.\u201d
\n\u201cBut\u2026 he tried to kill you!\u201d
\n\u201cMany years ago, yes. But we don\u2019t hold grudges.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s a lie. You only wanted the egg.\u201d
\n\u201cDid we?\u201d The two sisters turned away from me, walking back the way they\u2019d come, leaving me alone with Xaldain Von Rothbart\u2014murderer and tyrant, the butcher of my people. I balled my fists as I faced him.
\n\u201cWhat do you want with me?\u201d
\n\u201cWant with you? I want nothing but your companionship.\u201d He stepped closer to me, then placed his hand on my shoulder close to my neck, tucking his fingers beneath my cloak to touch my skin. His fleshed burned with searing heat. I cried out, but his iron grip held me in place. Pain lanced through me, radiating through my neck and shoulder.
\nWhen he released me, I stumbled back. Burning pain radiated through my flesh. I moved my cloak aside to look at the wound. A red imprint of his hand marred my skin. Large white blisters formed.
\n\u201cWhat did you do to me?\u201d
\n\u201cThat mark is your brand. It denotes you as my property. I freed you. You\u2019re no longer under the witches\u2019 spell. You will now be able to transform from elf to dragon whenever you please.\u201d He held up a finger. \u201cThat is, as long as I allow it. Unfortunately, I can\u2019t allow you to unleash such power in your dragon\u2019s form, not until you\u2019re properly trained.\u201d
\n\u201cTrained? I\u2019m not an animal.\u201d
\n\u201cNo? Perhaps not. But soon, you will be something much closer to me.\u201d He smiled, a leering grin, revealing his canine teeth that ended in sharp points. My stomach churned. I backed away, but he grabbed my arm in an iron grip. He stood close, his stale, warm breath on my face.
\n\u201cYou, Odette, will soon be my bride.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s with much relief and elation that I announce Book Baby #13 is finished! I wrote “The End” on Saturday, which also happened to be my daughter’s birthday. Weird fact: I’ve finished several of my books on important dates. Dreamthief, was published on Sept. 1, my niece’s birthday. I also started writing my first book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[259,227,1],"tags":[24,263,262,264,260,261],"class_list":["post-2366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amwriting","category-author-life","category-uncategorized","tag-amwriting","tag-fairytale-retellings","tag-fairytales","tag-swan-lake","tag-the-dragon-swan-princess","tag-twisted-ever-after"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamaragrantham.com\/StagingSite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamaragrantham.com\/StagingSite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamaragrantham.com\/StagingSite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamaragrantham.com\/StagingSite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamaragrantham.com\/StagingSite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2366"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tamaragrantham.com\/StagingSite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2370,"href":"https:\/\/tamaragrantham.com\/StagingSite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2366\/revisions\/2370"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamaragrantham.com\/StagingSite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamaragrantham.com\/StagingSite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamaragrantham.com\/StagingSite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamaragrantham.com\/StagingSite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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It’s with much relief and elation that I announce Book Baby #13 is finished! I wrote “The End” on Saturday, which also happened to be my daughter’s birthday.<\/p>\n