I’m at 11730, which is just past day 7’s goal of 11666. It took four 15 minute word wars to get there! My hands are sore; not sure if it’s from the cold of the house or a touch of arthritis.

There’s a lot I could talk about when it comes to my books but I thought I might discuss something I need to research some more: fire drakes!

I know I mentioned fire drakes in a previous post. They are reptilian in nature and I’m basing them on our reptiles mostly, with a few traditional dragons thrown in for good measure. The one that Lucanthea and her fellows of the Covenant (the continent’s elite school for science and the arts) are studying is snake-like, with a bony, webbed ridge down its back. It’s hard to conceive of a world without any reference to reptiles because our world has so many. It’s hard to write the science behind discovering an entirely new class of animal because I have to come up with the questions a group of scientists would ask–scientists at a much lower level of understanding and technology than we have today. (Though, as I’ve been writing just this little bit, I see I have missed a possible link my scientists would explore: is this a fish?) So my research into reptiles is going to have to be pretty comprehensive. Just yesterday, I found there’s such a thing as a marine iguana. It would be so much fun to use it as a fire drake!  I have a lot to choose from!

I envisioned one of the named fire drakes to look very much like a giant salamander. Yes, I know a salamander is actually an amphibian but the look is what I’m aiming for. However, I could easily make it look like a Komodo dragon, which would probably be more frightening. That’s the beauty of writing; as long as it’s not yet published, I can change things up the way I want them!

Fire dragons are also telepathic, to a certain extent. So far, they have not learned any of the languages of the continent they are attacking. By the end of the novel I’m writing now, one will have done so. At this point, their telepathic powers are limited to transmitting pain; Lucanthea and her fellows are going to find out more as they research prior encounters with the fire drakes. Little by little they’ll uncover what these creatures are in hopes of finding a way to stop them. And that’s where it gets fun!