Ask the Author: Donita K. Paul

Dragons in the Valley, the
children’s book The Dragon and the Turtle, and the change-of-pace
Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball. The following questions were
submitted through Facebook.com/FamilyFiction.

“How did you come up with
Amara, and the races, and
different kinds of dragons
and their abilities? And how
many more books will you
be writing?”—Hannah Blessing Breckenridge

I’ll answer the last question first. I
will continue writing as long as God
gives me ideas and a clear brain to
process them into stories.
A lot of the process involves “what
if?” One minute my mind is kind of
drifting through a treasure trove of
unrelated entities, then boom—several
cluster together and become
the germ of a novel. Something
strikes me as interesting and I add or
subtract from it.

The kid getting on the school bus
is cute. Behind her a taller, older
student has to give her a boost
up to the first step.

(What if I added a snapping dog
to this scene? What if I took
away the helpful kid? What if the
little girl is from a small race of
people? What if they are getting
on a boat instead of a bus? What
if instead of a snappy dog, there
is a warrior type snapping orders
at the children?)

Her name should be simple. The
boy’s should be something that
changes according to the time of
day—in the morning he is Ohimeo,
at noon he is Himeo, at night he is
Oemiho. It has to do with his with his
worship of the sun.

“How would you answer
critics who say Christians
should not read science
fiction books? Is there a
scriptural inspiration for
each of your books?”—Teri-Lynn Hook

I usually don’t answer those critics.
It depends on his or her tone of
voice. Some of them reveal they only
asked the question so they can enter
a debate and “prove” their case.
If the questioner is legit, I will
probably ask on what they base their
views. Then I can usually say that I
look at it differently and am confident
God has blessed my ministry.

“Have you always had an
interest in dragons?”— Kimberli Campbell

Not at all. I was more interested in
fairies as a little girl. We had a hollyhock
stand in the backyard. My
Grandma and I would pick hollyhocks
and make them into fairy
dolls. I don’t like nasty, sharptoothed,
destructive dragons at all.
But I do like dragons representing
the different gifts that God gives
people.

“How difficult is it to mix in
the faith that is real (of our
world) with the fantasy
worlds you create in your
novels, and make the
perfect blend of truth amid
fantasy?”— Deena Ward Peterson

I started teaching Sunday school
when I was 13, so
I have had a lot of
practice in taking
bits of doctrine
down to the simplest
terms for young people to
understand. The funny thing is that
when a teacher has to crystallize a
concept to present it, that concept is
deeply learned by the teacher.
I like to tell stories, so the Bible beliefs
integrated themselves into the
fantasy tales. I sometimes have
someone check a concept to make
sure I didn’t miss the mark. Usually a
pastor or Bible class leader. I’d hate
to put a faulty twist on something
that is meant to bless the reader and
therefore confuse him or her.

“I heard once you
wanted to write a
time travel book. Any plans for that
soon?”— CJ Darlington

It sits very comfortably
on the shelf in a
half-done status. To tell
you the truth, I don’t
have time right now. I
am busy being the dragon lady. Perhaps
when I am making a living at
writing I’ll feel more comfortable
writing something just because I
want to write it. Don’t get me
wrong—I love my dragon stories.
But last year after I finished The
Vanishing Sculptor, I took six weeks
off and just wrote what I wanted.
That turned out to be Two Tickets to
a Christmas Ball, a Christmas fantasy
novella. FF