Inspiring Miss Georgiana and the Dragon
I’ve been hard at work on the next book, working title: Miss Georgiana and the Dragon. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of new dragons in the book. Eight so far, no make that nine, and I”m only halfway through, so I’m pretty sure there will be more.
Since the best writing, even in fantasy, is grounded in reality, I often use real creatures, especially reptiles and birds, to serve a inspiration for my dragons. These are three of the inspirations for the latest book.
The golden tail gecko has such a unique look to it, between the speckled beaded coloring and the red eyes, it’s pretty eye catching. They are native to Australia and can produce a spray of foul-smelling liquid from its tail as a defense mechanism.
The crested or eyelash gecko is native to New Caledonia. The have semiprehensile tails and are able to climb smooth surfaces like glass. Once thought extinct, they were rediscovered in 1994. The protection status is still be assessed.
The blue crested lizard is native to China, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. During most of the year, they are drab green, but during mating season they develop the bright blue coloration, and some even develop bright red pigments.
I’ve stared at a lot of pictures of these little guys and some real characters have popped up. I don’t want to give too much away, but I can tell you, one of them is a real troublemaker and another is a good friend.
I love your characters’ inspiration. I particularly like the red eyed gecko. I think that is your friendly character. The blue one must be your troublemaker since it must be vain, being so beautifully colored.
I can’t wait for the new book, so please hurry it up!
I agree with thrust that the blue one is the trouble maker. I think that I said yesterday when I emailed you. Sticking to my choice!
I just went down a rabbit hole of Crested Gecko images, so thanks for that adventure. 🙂 They might be one of my new favorites. I love the eyelash look and the crests/ridges that go down their back. I found a pic of one labeled “blood orange brindle” that was amazing– its colors/pattern looked like flames. 🙂 I hope that the crested will be the friendly one, but I can happily imagine it in multiple roles. (I actually thought the Golden Tail looked like a likely bad-guy, but with his defense mechanism, he’d certainly be good to have as an ally, if possible.)
It all sounds delightful!
The Golden Tail Gecko looks like a prankster not to sure about the others. Either way, I can’t wait to read about these guys in your next book.
Please bring back Anne and Wentworth. Also, don’t forget that one of the Dashwood girls was mentioned in a previous book. I love the way you weave these characters from various Austen novels into P&P variations. I can’t wait to read about these characters in the future.