L.B. Graham — author of the series "The Binding Of The Blade"

This week, the blog tour featuring each of the Motiv8 authors turns to Donita K. Paul, aka, the "dragon lady." Donita and I first met in 2005, at the Christy Award dinner that year. Along with Karen Hancock's The Shadow Within, Donita's Dragonspell and my Beyond the Summerland were finalists for the 2005 Christy in the Visionary category. Neither Donita or I won, but being nominated was an honor and I'm sure she'd agree with me that it was a great way to kick off our respective series.

Here's a brief introduction to Donita, taken from her website, which you can access through the link in my sidebar if you'd like to learn more after reading this post.

Donita K. Paul retired early from teaching school, but soon got bored! The result: a determination to start a new career. Now she is an award-winning novelist writing Christian Romance and Fantasy. She says, “I feel blessed to be doing what I like best.”

She mentors all ages, teaching teenagers and weekly adult writing workshops.

“God must have imprinted 'teacher' on me clear down to the bone. I taught in public school, then home schooled my children, and worked in private schools. Now my writing week isn’t very productive unless I include some time with kids.”

Her two grown children make her proud, and her two grandsons make her laugh.

Now let's move to the interview exclusive that Mrs. Paul granted lbgraham.com. Here we go!

LBG: You tell the story of turning to writing as a bit of a diversion – and so your mother wouldn’t kill you for singing around the house – but when and how did interest in or love for writing come about in your life?

Donita: I think as soon as I began reading, I wanted to be creating books. I loved being read to, I loved reading, and I often snuck off to read instead of doing chores. There was a good place to hide in the basement. I dabbled in writing all my life. In elementary school, I wrote poems. At thirteen, my friends and I created a writing club. As a young mom, I took the Institute of Children’s Literature correspondence course. When my 13 year old daughter told me she wanted to read a grown-up love story, I cringed, and wrote her a “grown-up” love story that I approved of. I guess God was reinforcing my love of writing all along the way until the day came that I could invest my life in this calling.

LBG: You and I both feature dragons in our completed series, although they’re not quite as prominent in mine, and we’ve both made dragons “good guys,” which is a twist on the long tradition of dragons as forces of evil. I’ve posted elsewhere about my own thoughts on that, I’d be curious about your journey toward becoming “the dragon lady” and your use of dragons as forces for good instead of evil.

Donita: I think this came out of ignorance. I didn’t realize many people think of dragons as being the bad guys. I didn’t read much fantasy, and the Dennis Quaid/Sean Connery movie Dragonheart was the most recent exposure I had had with dragons. When I began writing fantasy, my well-educated son told me that my fairies, dwarves, and elves did not match up with accepted tradition. So I made up my own races. When it came to dragons, I balked and used the term to identify my unorthodox creatures. (My son studies medieval English literature, so he is very familiar with the standard concept of mythology and folklore. He’s a bit like JRR Tolkien, in that regard.)

LBG: After being unable to join the original Fantasy Fiction Tour in 2007 because of health reasons, were you excited to join the Tour in ’08? What were your thoughts or expectations going in?

Donita: Yes, I was very excited, and when at the very end, it looked like I might not be able to go, I was crushed. However, everything worked out, my teammates bent over backwards to make it possible for me to go, and I twisted my doctor’s arm to get him to back down on his objections. I have to admit I was a little nervous about “holding up” for the eight days. But God is good and gave me times to rest.

The thing that excited me the most was seeing in person readers who had communicated with me through the fan forum, the chat room, and email. The second thing would be “promoting positive literature.” I can get out my soapbox and get a bit loud and obnoxious about the older generations’ responsibility to provide opportunities for the younger generations to explore uplifting media (books, TV, films, etc.). And the young people need to take responsibility, as well, to choose good mind food just as they would determine to eat right and not abuse their bodies with drugs and junk food.

Putting soapbox away.

LBG: What memories/experiences from the Tour are still vivid in your mind, six or seven weeks later, and what do you think will stay with you from the experience?

Donita: The girls at the high school who had signs they held up for DragonSpell.
The lady in a wheelchair that I prayed with at one of the booksignings.
The Barnes and Noble booksigning where a customers question led to a half-hour, very natural, session of testimony and witnessing by the authors.
The sword fights between Christopher Hopper and Wayne Thomas Batson.
Eric Reinhold’s tale of his heart surgery and the way God brought him closer.
Establishing a closer friendship with all the Motiv8 authors and Gregg Wooding.
Listening to Christopher and his wife, Jenny, lead the worship on Friday night.
Okay, I’m tearing up now, so I’m finished.
I’d like to add a thank-you to the team and God for taking me on this journey.

Many thanks to Mrs. Paul for taking time out of her busy writing schedule to answer my questions and visit with me. If you haven't checked out her books, visit her site and read all about them.