First Look at Snow Dragon
Details on my upcoming serialized horror tale
The readers of Strange New Worlds have spoken.
Snow Dragon prevailed in the reader’s choice poll I conducted last week and will be my next serialized story featured in this newsletter. The results caught me by surprise. Snow Dragon won with a commanding margin, garnering 50% of the total votes. The Ghost Diaries finished second with 31%. Tales from Lathos took third with 13%. Fire at Will came in fourth with 6%.
I’m excited for the chance to explore the fictional world I introduced in Pandora Reborn in greater detail. The history of Deer Falls is filled with supernatural lore and Snow Dragon will bring another one of those stories to light.
Snow Dragon takes place three years before the events of Pandora Reborn and is set in Deer Falls — a fictional small town in Colorado. The story will center on an ancient subterranean reptilian monster who awakens following an earthquake and starts feeding on residents of Deer Falls. It’s a horror tale embodying the spirit of a classic Universal Pictures monster movie or a 1950s creature feature.
The narrative will alternate between the point of view of three specific characters — Evan Duggan, Marie Duggan, and their son Casey Duggan. Evan is a wildlife biologist who is brought on to help find a way to draw out and destroy the monster. Marie hosts a podcast centered on supernatural events in the Rocky Mountains. Casey is a freshman at Deer Falls High and is a crossover character from Pandora Reborn where he was a key supporting character in that story.
My tentative plan is to serialize 8 to 13 episodes depending how the story develops. Snow Dragon will be a limited series. I have no intention of expanding the narrative beyond the 8-to-13 episodes I’ve planned. Look for the first episode to drop later this summer. I’ll announce an official release date once I’ve completed most or all of the episodes.
I want to reiterate that Snow Dragon will be available exclusively to paid subscribers of this newsletter. Why will this story reside behind a paywall?
Crafting Snow Dragon will be a time-intensive project lasting several weeks. It will require many hours for me to write and edit each weekly episode. With that in mind, it isn’t in my best interest to offer Snow Dragon for free while dedicating considerable time and energy to bringing the story to life.
I used to give annual guest lectures on freelance writing at the University of Utah a few years ago. Each year, I told students knowing your worth as a writer is essential to being successful in that career. Writing well is a skill. You should never settle for giving your writing away for free or at a severely reduced rate. I advised the students to walk away from freelance clients who refused to offer fair compensation for their time and their skills.
I apply a similar philosophy to writing fiction. Quality skillful storytelling deserves fair compensation. That’s one reason why I never price my books as free on Amazon or any other retailer.
I do make an exception for flash fiction and single poems I share in this newsletter since these works only require a fraction of the time invested into longer works. These smaller pieces are also free on Strange New Worlds (and will stay free for at least one year unless selected for a future collection or anthology) as a token of my appreciation to my loyal readers and fans.
I’m grateful for your continued support of this newsletter and I’m excited to present what I hope will be a captivating and terrifying monster story later this summer.
Sounds awesome 👏 Looking forward to it, John!