Writing Captured by a Dragon-Shifter books in Oxford.
As an author, I believe all books need research of some kind. If I was always writing what I know, then 100 books later you’d still be reading about a girl and her computer living in the midwest trying to make it in the big bad world of publishing. Or not. Probably not.
The secret isn’t just to “write what you know” but to go learn stuff so you know more.
For the Captured by the Dragon-Shifter series, the dragons are coming to Earth because their population has stopped producing women. Men need women. We’re awesome. Oh, and then there is that whole survival of the shifter people thing.
These portals show up in various locations around the world, and are only open approximately once every year to the same place. And, to make it harder, they only open for a few hours. So basically, these guys have to travel to a new world, convince women to fall in love with them, tell the women they’re alien dragon-shifters (who used to live on Earth before the Medieval zealots ran them off), and return home to live happily-ever-after. Easy, right?
Mischievous Prince and Headstrong Prince in Oxford, MS.
Books five and six of the series take place in Oxford, MS. All the sites mentioned are real or are based off real places.
If you have not read books 5 & 6 STOP READING THERE MAY BE SPOILERS!
I spent a lot of time downtown in The Square while writing these two books. Our two princes enter next to a door with a skull on it inside Faulkner Alley, an actual alleyway that I’m told William Faulkner used to walk down to go to a drug store.
The black door with a skull is a little famous in the Oxford underground. It really is a secret grilled cheese speakeasy. I have not yet had the pleasure to go. But I will. Someday.
In book 6, we see Prince Ivar alone on Earth trying to cope. He can’t really talk about his concerns for his home world with humans. (He’s not sure how “I’m a stranded alien dragon-shifter prince come to find women” will play with the locals.) For this reason, he’s taken to talking to himself via a statue. On his first night, he finds himself by good ole bronze William Faulkner, and the two of them become instant friends. Just look at Will, posed to invite conversation.
If you’ve ever been to Oxford, you are sure to recognize several other hints of the town. If you haven’t, maybe it will inspire you to travel.
I hope you enjoyed this peek into my book research. For now I’ll leave you all with a HOTTY TODDY!
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