Author Interview: Jendia Gammon on The Vale of Seven Dragons

Hey bookworm friends. Today I’m bringing you something so exciting and completely new for my blog: an interview! I had the absolute pleasure of reading The Vale of Seven Dragons which came out at the start of April and I had a blast with it. The author is so lovely and we set up an interview to talk about her new book and about herself as an author. First I’ll fill you in on the book’s premise and if it sparks your interest, keep reading to meet Jendia Gammon and her dragons 🐲.

About The Vale of Seven Dragons

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Blurb

This is the tale of a rebellious princess and a loyalist prince, seven lost dragons, and the beginning of the end of their world as they know it.

The 16-year-old Princess Githilien (Thilly) of Vickery wants nothing to do with the Crown. She wants either to become a knight, which is forbidden, or join her mother’s secretive mystical practices in the north. Whereas 18-year-old Prince Beaumain of Catellaith is of age to be knighted, and he frowns upon any deviation from his royal birthright. By tradition, the two teens should be betrothed from Thilly’s birth, but her mother insisted on raising an independent daughter who might choose her own destiny.

But when monsters invade the lands of the south, Thilly and Beaumain must unite and fight for the future of their lands, and try to find the missing Seven Dragons of myth…if they even existed at all.

Interview

Welcome Jendia, and congratulations on the release of The Vale of Seven Dragons! Could you please introduce yourself to the readers?

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Now that we know a bit about you, let’s introduce your latest book: which three words would you use to describe The Vale of 7 Dragons?

Epic, immersive, heroic.

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Where does your love of fantasy in general, and dragons in particular, come from?

I’ve loved fantasy and dragons for most of my life. I don’t remember a time in which I did not. I think that being a child during the 80s led me to be steeped in fantasy movies and books, and so it was natural that I would begin to write in that genre.

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V7D (I’m calling it that for short now ) has a really fun cast of characters—some feisty, some loyal, some stoic, some pragmatic but all of them compelling. If you could pull one character out of the book to hang out with for one day who would you choose and why?

Evgrent, because I get him. He doesn’t like to answer to anyone, but he does have a code, and he absolutely understands the road of grief.

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Personally, I was a huge fan of the animal companion, Blinky the talking wood parrot. She made me laugh aloud several times! Can you please tell me a bit about your inspiration for Blinky?

Blinky is also one of my favorites! I’ve had small parrots from time to time in my life, and they are absolutely little clowns, very smart, feisty, loyal, and great fun. So, Blinky was inspired by some of them.

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Do you ever wish you could ride a dragon? In this world, a dragon chooses their rider but if you could choose a dragon to ride which dragon’s personality do you think would mesh best with yours?

I would absolutely love to ride a dragon. To have the mutual trust of such a magnificent animal would be transcendent. I sort of think Antares has a strong will, so I’d identify with him. But if I was having a wild or bad day, maybe Sunder!!!

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Music plays a pretty big role in the plot, especially in connection to the magic. Can you tell us why you decided to weave music as such a vital part of the story? Is music important to you in your own life? And if so what kind of music speaks most to your soul?

I am a musical person. I think in music sometimes. I only ever played one instrument, but I love to dance and sing. I love jazz and rock best, and some classical.

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Now, let’s talk a bit about that glorious book cover! It’s so colourful and unique and I enjoyed taking in all the details after reading and knowing exactly who was who! I’d love it if you could shout-out the artist to give them their well-deserved flowers too!

Chris Panatier made the wonderful cover art for The Vale of Seven Dragons. He has a keen eye for characterization in the fantasy and horror spaces, and he’s a wonderful writer also.

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In terms of your writing routine, do you have a favourite place to write?

I write when and where I can, but I cannot have music on. I tend to prefer quiet solitude for writing.

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And when you’re not writing, how do you love to spend your free time? What are some of your other hobbies?

I am also an artist, so I make many mixed media pieces as well as illustrations. I also enjoy birdwatching (no surprise there; and we do have many parrot species in Los Angeles!), walking, baking, and streaming shows.

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I am a big fan of indie books and always try to support indie authors as much as I can! What are some of your favourite indie books that you want more people to read? 

If you mean small press, I like KC Grifant’s Monster Gunslinger series; they’re published by Brigid’s Gate, which has many fun titles. Encyclopocalypse (who published my book Doomflower), Dark Matter, Shortwave, Android Press (who published my Amethyst Lantern books), and of course Sley House Publishing (who published this book, as well as Atacama and my upcoming Appalachian weird horror novella, Godfestation) have so many great titles by wonderful authors. JournalStone has a huge slate of horror and some sci-fi titles that are tremendous too. As for indie authors, I recommend books by Azzurra Nox, Mya Duong, Denise Tapscott, and Alan K. Dell, to name a few!

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Before you go, is there anything aside from V7D that you want to promote or shine a light on? Now’s your moment! 

I have an actual Choose Your Own Adventure book that just came out, Dungeon Crawl at the Haunted Mall, that is my middle grade debut!

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And lastly, where can readers buy your book? 

Order online from your favorite bookseller!

Thank you so much, Jendia for your time and for your fascinating answers!