A Q&A Interview with Jenny Moore

Dragon Girl and the Awakened Flames is the first in an sparkling new magic-filled adventure series that manages to be often funny, and also properly exciting, putting its characters in real jeopardy and cleverly revealing their secrets to them – and we readers – at just the right pace. With a television series in development, author by Jenny Moore answered our questions about the series.

How did the idea for Dragon Girl come about?

I was looking for a new idea for a book series while on holiday in Wales a few years ago, and it’s hard to avoid thinking about dragons in Wales! I knew of lots of children’s dragon books – books about battling dragons, befriending dragons, riding dragons – but I hadn’t come across any books about being a dragon (or half dragon in Emba’s case), so that seemed like an interesting place to begin. I remember visiting a wonderful old castle on that holiday too, which helped set the scene for Emba’s world, and once I had the first line in place – a line which comes back in a number of variations throughout the series – that gave me the voice and tone for the whole book. I knew then I was going to have a lot of fun with Emba’s adventures.

What is it about dragons that makes them such wonderful subjects for children’s books?

I think dragons bring drama and excitement to any story, transporting readers out of the everyday world into a place of wonder. The mere sight of a dragon on the cover of a book tells you that there’s a memorable adventure waiting inside. But even though there are some set characteristics we associate with Western dragons, such as flight and fire-breathing, they can come in any shape or size. They can also be good or bad, tamed or wild, friend or foe, taking on any number of roles in a story, which is part of their magic.

There’s a gentle emphasis in the book on the nature of heroism. Why is this important to you and how do fantasy quest stories allow you to explore it?

Just like dragons, heroes can come in any shape or size, and fantasy quest stories offer the perfect opportunity for them to prove their worth. The Tome of Terrible Tomorrows (the book of prophecies at the heart of the Dragon Girl series) foretells ‘a hero forged in fiercest flame’ who’ll heal the kingdom with their blood, which could apply just as easily to Emba as to Odolf, although Odolf is convinced it’s a prophecy about him. His daily hero training is all about preparing for this world-changing destiny, but he comes to realise that there’s more to bravery and heroism than weapon skills and battle cries. I wanted to show that true courage isn’t always about defeating evil enemies and saving the day – sometimes fighting your own fears requires just as much inner strength as battling a necromancer. We see Emba grow in courage and determination through the series too and I really enjoyed exploring her inner journey as well as her outward quest.

Without any spoilers, there are some thoroughly wicked and nasty characters in the story. How much fun is it to write baddies?

So much fun! Much as I love my heroes, I’ve got a sneaky soft spot for my dastardly villains too. My baddies tend to command centre stage in any scene they’re in and their speeches are naturally big and bold, with plenty of potential for shock and humour. I hope readers will have just as much fun with them as I did.

What do you enjoy most about setting books in other worlds, what are the challenges of world-building?

I love the freedom of other world settings and the scope for playfulness when it comes to dreaming up strange plants and weird and wonderful creatures. Even familiar settings borrowed from our own world can be imbued with hidden danger or magic, like a seemingly normal pool of water that reflects your one true desire or your one true fear. Trying to visualise how all the different places in the book linked up together was a bit of a challenge, though – geography’s not my strongest point even in the real world! Luckily Dragon Girl and the Awakened Flames comes with a handy map of the main locations in the series for readers, which helps me see how all the different parts of Emba’s world join up too!

There are further adventures to come for Emba. How much plotting do you do, do you ever find yourself surprised by the twists the story will take?

I’m much more of a plotter than I used to be and had an agreed outline for each of the books in the series before I started writing it… having said that, I didn’t always stick to it! Sometimes the characters had other ideas and sometimes entirely new characters turned up unexpectedly! I think that’s a nice way to work – it’s good to know where you’re headed in a story, but a few surprises along the way help keep it fresh and fun.

Can you tell us anything about what is in store for Emba and her friends?

Emba’s dragon powers will get progressively stronger, with exciting new dragon attributes appearing over the course of the series. There’ll be some important new characters appearing in Dragon Girl and the Graveyard of Doom and the surprise return of some old friends from Book 1 (if you can call them ‘friends’!) in Dragon Girl and the Reckless Rescue. There’ll be more perilous journeys with even higher stakes, more magic, more dragons, more tests of bravery and friendship, and more run-ins with the main villain of the series, building up to an epic showdown in the final book, Dragon Girl and the End of Everything, and some truly life-changing choices for Emba.

Dragon Girl is in development as a TV series. Can you tell us anything about that?

My publisher recently launched their own TV production company (Maverick Pictures Ltd) and Dragon Girl is one of their first projects, currently in development for a live action TV series. It can be a long process, but we got to work with BAFTA-winning screenwriter Debbie Moon on the sample script and pitch which was exciting and I love what she’s done with the characters and story. I think all writers dream about seeing their books on the screen and I’m looking forward to seeing where Emba’s journey takes her next.

Dragon Girl and the Awakened Flames by Jenny Moore is published by Maverick, 978-1835110836, £8.99 pbk.