The Mythic Mic Podcast

S.2 Ep. 88: The Dragon Rider Romantasy With Forbidden Magic, Plot Twists, and a Kitten-Sized Dragon: Courtney Whims on Flames and Fallacies

• Season 2 • Episode 88

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0:00 | 34:47

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where dragon eggs hide in graves, forbidden bonds can get you killed, and love triangles are best when they hurt just a little.

This week, host Bethany Amanda is joined by Amara for a fiery conversation with author Courtney Whims about her debut romantasy, Flames and Fallacies, the first book in a dragon rider series filled with forbidden magic, elemental dragons, prophecy, found family, plot twists, cliffhangers, and one very messy love triangle.

Courtney shares how her love of dragons began with childhood favorites like Pokémon, Neopets, Eragon, and the dream of one day riding a dragon herself. She opens up about how reading Fourth Wing and Iron Flame sparked her desire for even more dragon rider stories, eventually inspiring her to write the exact book she wanted to read. What started as a “maybe five strangers will read this” dream has grown into a debut readers are discovering, recommending, and going feral over online.

The conversation also dives into Courtney’s creative process as both author and artist. Not only did she write Flames and Fallacies, but she also created her own covers, maps, character art, special editions, overlays, sprayed edges, and more, making the series feel completely and unmistakably hers.

🐉 What happens when dragons are illegal, dragon riders are dead, and one girl finds an egg buried in her father’s grave?
🔥 Can Kat protect a hatchling that could get her executed?
💔 And what happens when two very different men pull out completely different sides of her heart?

Whether you love dragon rider fantasy, elemental magic, dangerous kingdoms, plot twists, he-trains-her tension, found family, spicy romantasy, or love triangles that make you choose a team and suffer, this episode is packed with magic, chaos, and so many reasons to add Flames and Fallacies to your TBR.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Courtney’s journey from graphic designer and illustrator to self-published author.
✨ Writing the dragon rider book she wanted to read.
✨ Creating her own covers, maps, character art, overlays, and special editions.
✨ Self-publishing, imposter syndrome, and learning as she went.
✨ Why aspiring authors should write the book for themselves first.
✨ The kitten-sized dragon hatchling who changes everything.
✨ Elemental dragons, including fire, earth, air, and water dragons.
✨ The larger magic system and hierarchy that unfolds more deeply in books two and three.
✨ Plot twists, breadcrumbs, foreshadowing, and Courtney’s love of emotionally damaging cliffhangers.
✨ Book two teasers, including more dragons, more answers, and even more questions.
✨ Future special editions and the possibility of a completed-series set.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Amara – @Bored_Military_Wife
📚 Courtney Whims – @CourtneyWhims

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to the Mythic Mike Podcast, where myths, magic, and legendary stories come to life. Join your hosts, Bethany Amanda and Sarah Santillon, passionate authors, book collectors, and lovers of all things fantasy and romantic, as they dive into epic worlds, enchanting tropes, and the books that leave us breathless. The Mythic Mic is your getaway to the magic of fantasy fiction. So grab your favorite bookish beverage. Settle it, and let's step into the extraordinary. Now, here are your hosts.

SPEAKER_03

Hey everyone, welcome back to this episode of the Mythic Mike Podcast. We are so excited to be joined today by Courtney Wims, the author of Love Flames and Fallacies. Welcome, Courtney.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

SPEAKER_03

We are so excited for this conversation. I've read your book before, um, and I was excited to kind of re-dive back into it in light of this episode. And also joining me today is our lovely Jeff. And Amara, welcome, Amara. Yay, thank you for having me, per usual. Oh my goodness, of course. You guys, I joke that Amara is gonna take my job one day because she is so brilliant at all of the outreach to our authors. And so I just have to give her a shout out there. She is the reason we have Courtney today.

SPEAKER_01

Oh shucks. I just gotta get up to your level, Bethany.

SPEAKER_03

I see you've got him for my job, Amara. I see it. Well, Courtney, we would love to get to know you better before we dive into your books. So who are you? Where did you grow up? What do you love doing outside of writing?

SPEAKER_02

No, my name's Courtney Wim. So um not only am I self-a self-published author, but I'm also um an illustrator. So I do all of my covers, my maps, my character art, so on and so forth. Um, I currently live in Los Angeles, California with my husband, and I have a three and a half-year-old, a cat, and a dog, and then I actually have my second kiddo on the way to the summer. Um aside from writing, honestly, I'm a pretty big reader. I haven't been able to read since writing, but um I'm also really into the arts. So I love, you know, drawing, painting, sculpting, that sort of stuff. I love being outdoors. Um, so whether that's camping, hiking, uh, things of that nature. And I love to travel. Um and so yeah, that's a little bit about me. I was actually born in Texas, but kind of moved around as a kid. Um, and I've lived in California about the last like eight years.

SPEAKER_03

That's amazing. I love travel as well. Um, I I have kind of like you, I've lived all over the country. Um weird, I was actually born in Florida and moved to California, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Kentucky, like all over the place whenever I was a kid. Yeah. So I love that. But we love to travel now too. And we do like um animal adventure travel. So like we went to like Manitoba, Canada to see the polar bears and like the African safaris, and I really want to go swim with the whale sharks and the Maldives next. So fingers crossed.

SPEAKER_02

That sounds amazing. That's exciting. I love that. And polar bears too. That's like a very unique experience. So I have to say, I'm a little bit jealous.

SPEAKER_03

It was incredible. One of them literally like reached up from under the grate on the bus and like played with my shoelaces.

SPEAKER_01

Not a that's crazy. I can't even go on a walk and like see a squirrel without freaking out. So I have always wondered this very next question. Like, what sparked what was that aha moment of I want to be a writer? Did you have like some sort of epiphany? I I always want like this grand like event that sparked it.

SPEAKER_02

Well, it's funny because I like I don't even have like this like really cool aha moment. Like, I kind of wrote stories since I was a kid, and it's really funny because last summer I found um in my garage this like old story I wrote about my dog in like the third grade. Um, and like I got it published in basically kind of like a hardback for lack of a better word. Um, and so I've always like wrote stories from since I was a kid all the way up to like college. Um and once I kind of got into college, I actually ended up getting my bachelor's degree in graphic design. And so I kind of fell away from like writing stories, from even reading. Um, and within the last few years, I started kind of reading, you know, again with romanticy, so like Avatar. And really, it's what happened was about two years ago, I read Fourth Wing because uh my my stepsister was like, you should read this. You would really love this book because she knows I like dragons. And so I read Fourth Wing, loved it, read Iron Flame. And after I read Iron Flame, I was like, man, I want to read like more Dragon Rider books. Um, and so I had this list of like things I wanted to read in a series. I was like, okay, Dragon Riders, like I would love, I love love triangles. Um and I just made this list of kind of tropes and was trying to like find something that would fit what I was looking for, and I wasn't finding anything. And somehow that snowballed from like an idea of what I wanted to read about into me writing it. And so here I am two years later, which is so wild. Like, if you had told me three years ago, Courtney, like you're gonna write a book, I probably would have laughed. I would have been like, you're you're crazy, you're out of your mind. So like I never envisioned myself being an author, like whatsoever. Like it came out like completely out of out of the blue. So it still amazes me every day that like people are like, oh my gosh, like I've read your book and I loved it and I saw it in this bookstore, and just um it just it always takes me by surprise because I never like envisioned being an author. I didn't think I had like the experience or the background for it.

SPEAKER_03

So that's incredible because you know, so many people, right, since their childhood, they want to write a book. And so you always hear like these long stories, right, that finally culminate. And I love for you, it was more inspired by like, I read this, I loved it, I want more of it, and there's nothing more out there, and so I'm gonna build the exact book that I want to read. I absolutely love that.

SPEAKER_02

Not a little delusional at first. I like told my husband, I was like, so I think I'm gonna write a book. And he's like, Okay, yeah, like write a book. And like, again, neither of us thought anything of it. I was like, cool, I'm gonna write a book, I'm gonna self-publish it. Like, maybe from the beginning, it's always been like, it'd be so cool if like five random strangers that like don't know me, they don't know a friend of a friend, like of me or anything. Like they read it and hopefully they like it, like that'd be really cool. And so, like, that's kind of always been like my hope of like five random strangers reading it. Um, and uh and ever since then, I've just like it's blown up and I've just been so taken aback and in absolute awe of like the path it's kind of taken me down.

SPEAKER_03

But that's incredible, and I love that you do your own graphic design and covers and everything. I have no artistic skills, so that to me, I am just like so in awe because I have to pay people to do that, and I'm so poor right now because of it.

SPEAKER_02

I know I have a lot of author friends that are like, oh my gosh, like if if you guys could see how much I spend on my character art, and I'm like, oh man, like I can only imagine. Like, I I will say it keeps me busy though. Like, if I'm not writing, I'm probably working on like the next cover, or I'm working on character art, or I'm working on you know something. And I'm really lucky because I have a PA now who helps me with like social media graphics, but um, yeah, it's fun to be able to say, like, hey, I not only did I like write this, but I also like did all the artwork and the cover and the maps and stuff like that. So that way, like, you know, like the book you're getting is like basically a hundred percent like me, you know, me and my doing. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I did not realize you also did the maps. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. So it's uh yeah, it definitely keeps me busy, but um, I love being able to say it's like 100% me. And I don't use like AI or anything, so it's all done uh done by hand. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03

You're my new hero. Um, whenever we had see, we we had Gretchen Pal Fox on this show early on, and that was I love Gretchen, right? She's incredible, and that was my downfall for character art because I didn't know about it till her, and now to me, it's like that mean girls meme where it's like, you know, Catty Heron wore XYZ, so now I wore XYZ. Like Gretchen bought character art, so now I bought character art.

SPEAKER_02

Oh my gosh. Well, when I was saying like I talked to other authors that have talked, like, you know, talk to me about like how much like character art they end up commissioning. She is one of the authors I was thinking of because I know that girl's got all so much like beautiful. She can open up her own gallery at this point of just like character art for her books, and it's all gorgeous. I'm like, whoo, man.

SPEAKER_03

It is. I literally just go to her, well, go to her ID and I'm like, who did that? Okay, let me click. Let me see your commissions open. I need that.

SPEAKER_04

There you go, there you go.

SPEAKER_02

Man, I don't know if I have like any one answer for this. I've actually just been obsessed with dragons since I was a kid. I like if I have to think about like pinpoint where it comes from, I feel like if I would have to say maybe playing Pokemon when I was a like really, like really young, like Charizard was one of my favorite Pokemon. And if you know Charizard, he's like a fire, you know, he's a dragon. And so yeah, so I feel like ever since then, like I've loved dragons, whether it's you know, in like they're in movies or TV series. I read Aragon as a kid growing up and loved that series. Um, so dragons have always kind of been like near and dear to my heart. Um, and I also played, if anybody's familiar with Neopets, um I played Neo Pets. I played Neopets growing up, and one of like the rare pets to get are are called drakes, and they're basically dragons. And so that further, I think, fueled my obsession with dragons. And so ever since then, I've just it's just always been about dragons, just like the thought of like being able to like bond a dragon and you know, rot like ride. I always thought like dragon riding would be really cool. I know some people are like, yeah, that probably wouldn't be for me, but uh it's definitely something that would be interesting to me. I mean, I love roller coasters, adrenaline, you know, any sort of like adrenaline rush. I've gone skydiving, so I'm like, I feel like I have a little bit of experience that maybe I could do dragon riding, but we all say that until we actually like imagine ourselves. Like, look, I will I will tell you it all. So I'm like, I'm glad you're you're you're understanding what I'm saying. I mean, like, I feel like most people know Pokemon, but Neopets, I'm like, kind of gotta test the waters and see like I think you just became like one of the coolest authors.

SPEAKER_01

Like we're talking about Pokemon Neopets, like that's just like my childhood right there.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I mean, like I remember like when I would be driving like on a road trip with my family, I'd look out the window and like pretend like I would just be like riding out like in the desert, like on a dragon, just like alongside the car. Like, I don't know, I don't even know where that came from, but they just followed me wherever I went, I guess.

SPEAKER_01

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the first book you publish, right?

SPEAKER_02

Yes, so it is. Um first book I published. Uh, it's kind of funny because I always thought I was gonna write a children's book first. So this always kind of like took me a little bit by surprise. Uh, but a Flames and Fallacies is my debut. So yeah, I've learned a lot with that. Um, self-publishing is definitely has a lot of steps and and things live of that nature.

SPEAKER_01

But yeah, it's my debut. I love that. And there's been such amazing response for it. Like, I actually I'm I'm not gonna name names, I'm not gonna be, you know, that person, but a really big influencer was like, you need to read this book. And I was influenced and I got your freaking book. And there's been such amazing hype around it. How how we're like, how are you feeling about that?

SPEAKER_02

Oh man, anytime I see it's so funny. Like, if I'll go on social media and I'll scroll on like my FYP, if I see somebody like, again, like I'm not even like connected to, and starts like talking about my book and like holds up my cover, it's such a weird, I don't know, it's very like a surreal feeling because I just again I went into this like not thinking anything of it. I was like, cool, I'm gonna write a book, I'm gonna publish it, and then like, you know, that'll be that. Like, I never thought like this would become a career for me. I never thought like as many people would like read it and love it as, you know, and maybe that's like my imposter syndrome speaking there, but like I just so like being able to see like bigger influencers pick it up and like really love it and recommend it has been just so I'm like, I don't even have a word for it. It just makes me speechless. And and it's just been so amazing to see. Again, if you told me like two or three years ago that I would have written a book and so many people would have like read it, I probably wouldn't have believed you. So um, but I am really like grateful and thankful and just like really awestruck with how many people have decided to like pick it up and like give it a chance. So yeah, exactly. I'm like it's funny because again, like before I even like actually self-published it too, I was like, I don't have the experience, I don't have the education, like I have a bachelor's degree, but it's nothing, nothing in writing or anything like that. And like totally gonna wrap myself out here, but I still don't 100% know where a comma goes, so thank goodness for my editors. But like I so I I just kept thinking, like, who am I to write a book and then publish it? And so I mean, if anybody's listening to this today and is like, hey, uh, you know, you're thinking about writing a book, like you just gotta do it. Like, I mean, if I can do it, you can definitely do it, honestly.

SPEAKER_01

But any moment been like, you know, I may not have as much experience as other authors or other people, and you know, this is my first book, and blah, blah, blah. There are so many different things, obstacles that could have stopped you, but you're like, no, and now look at where you're at.

SPEAKER_03

I love that. You know, I love that, Courtney, because we do have a lot of aspiring authors who are listening to this show. So if you could give them one piece of advice, what would it be?

SPEAKER_02

Oh man, just one. Um, okay, I would probably say more than one is totally fine too. I would say probably the most important is to kind of just, I would say like write the book for you. Um, I think that's really important. And even as like, I feel like even some authors, like as their books start to get a lot more traction, sometimes there's a little bit of pressure to like write the next book or, you know, whether it's in the series or not in the series, like a certain way and have certain things happen, you know. Um, and I think it's kind of important to like write the book for you first and foremost, and like the rest will kind of like fall into place. Um, that helps kind of like keep pressure off of yourself if you know you're writing it for yourself. And then additionally, I feel like readers can tell if you're not passionate about like the story and the characters you're trying to tell um to like fit somebody else's idea of what it should read like. Um, so yeah, I guess my number one piece of advice would just to be write the book yourself or write the book yourself. Hopefully write the book yourself, but write it for yourself, and the rest will just kind of fall into place.

SPEAKER_03

So I love that a lot. Um, you know, we've we've heard similar advice from other authors too, where they've said, you know, kind of almost before you even like put your first book out there, like at least outline or have the second book, you know, outlined, right, or done for the first draft, because otherwise you're gonna get so much external influence that it morphs into something that's not yours.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, exactly. And I think it's just kind of really important to stay true to like yourself and like the story that you're wanting to tell, and then also like the characters, too. So um, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I love that. Okay, Amara, I think we're ready to dive into this book. I'm gonna let you kick it off.

SPEAKER_01

I am ready to dive into this. I too am a big dragon fan ever since Dragon Heart that I watched when I was a kid. Huge fan.

SPEAKER_03

I love that. So good. So good. I love it for all the wrong reasons, too. Like I was obsessed with the evil prince as a kid.

SPEAKER_04

It was bad. It was bad. Starting morally gray, really young, huh?

SPEAKER_01

Yes. All right, give it to us. Uh, Flames and Fallacies. What is it about? Who are the main characters and what is at stake?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so a Flames and Fallacies follows Katarina Blackwind. Um, so she lives in a world where all of the dragon riders have been executed by the king, and any sort of association with dragons is punishable by death. And so she finds a dragon egg buried in her father's grave. Um, and that egg hatches to Deja, who turns out turns out to be this really cute, bouncy little dragon hatchling, kind of about the size of a kitten. Um, and so the series is essentially about uh Kat and Deja and their bond. Um, and uh what's at stake for them is essentially their lives and their relationship throughout the series, because they kind of have to go up against the king and these laws that have been around for generations that uh dragons are bad and any sort of association with dragons is again punishable by death. And so um they're essentially our main characters, of course, there's uh we've got our main male characters, Cole Ashborne and Darien Raventhorne, who are two completely opposite sides of the same coin, uh so to speak. Uh, but we've got a love triangle as well, and then tons of fun side characters too.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, I love that. So who most will like this book? Like if you like FYZ book, you'll love this book.

SPEAKER_02

Um, I'd definitely say like Fourth Wing fans will enjoy this book. I will also say kind of Aragon and How to Train Your Dragon, it has those kind of similar vibes, but of course, like a little bit more adult. Um, it does have this series does have spice in it.

SPEAKER_01

Um yeah, yeah, again, all centered around dragons and dragon riders, but I feel when you have that kind of like uh I don't want to say tension, but epic adventure, there's always gotta be a little bit of spice, you know. There's a they got all that adrenaline going on.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. And I mean, again, like the stakes are pretty high, tensions are high. Um, and even just the relationship dynamics between Kat, like our female main character, and then the two main male characters, Cole and Darien, um, are pretty tense in their own ways and for their own reasons. If you know you know. So um, so yeah, I'll leave it at that.

SPEAKER_01

Speaking of love triangle, we love our tropes. What are some other tropes that we can expect when we read the book?

SPEAKER_02

Um, so I'm personally a big sucker for plot twists. Even like as a reader, I love to be like bamboozled with things. And I especially love reading or watching something and like getting little breadcrumbs of like foreshadowing. And you're you might not be able to like piece it all together in the moment, but like once that plot twist happened, you're like, oh, that's that's what that's all been there for. Like, this has been in front of my face the whole time. Um, so I definitely say, aside from Love Triangle, like plot twists, um, we've also got Found Family, He Trains Her. Um, we've got a prophecy as well. Um, and a little bit of, I don't even know if this is considered like an actual trope, but instead of an enemies to lovers, I like to say hate to question mark, question mark, question mark.

SPEAKER_03

Um, yeah. I love that. You know, it's it's so funny because I was I was thinking through the tropes from my books. My first baby book will come out next year, hopefully. And I was like, it's like yeah, it's like lovers to enemies to almost lovers again, to oh no, now we're mortal. And like low linear line here.

SPEAKER_02

But I like it like that, just because I feel like relationships in real life are not, they're not just you know, some upwards trajectory. Sometimes you're you know up and down and all around and stuff like that. So I like that. I'm I'm very interested though.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, and I'm so curious because you mentioned that you loved love triangles before, and obviously there's a love triangle here. So what draws you to those? Is it just like I don't know, because I'm trying to think of what draws me to them because I like them as well. And I don't know if it's just like I don't know, because I'm I'm slightly like dark and twisted, right? So I don't know if it's just like I want to see somebody get their heart ripped out, right? And like you lose, right? Or I don't know what it is because I I cannot generally read why choose. And I'm trying to dig deep in that. So I'm like, okay, other people who like love triangles, why? Like make me less demented.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I love love triangles just because like I love the tension of it, and I especially love love triangles where like the the two people competing for the female main character are like completely opposite. Um, because I think when you have two completely opposite characters that are vying for the same person, they tend to pull out different sides of that character's personality. So like you'll come to probably witness Kat is kind of a different person with Cole than she is with Darien. And they both pull out different sides of her personality. And so I love being able to see that in a love triangle, but also like the the ending of like who they're gonna end up with. Um, I like a little bit of drama. I like a little bit of mess if you've read any of my books. Like I like a little bit of mess, a little bit of drama, a little bit of tension. Um and so I think that's why I like love triangles. And I like a love triangle where you're like, well, I could see Argolian for either guy. So um, and for my book specifically, you won't know. She's gonna choose and end up until the third and final book. So I kind of make you wait a little bit. Um, but I love that waiting game of like seeing the interactions and trying to figure out like who you think she's gonna best, you know, who she's gonna end up with and who's the best pick for her.

SPEAKER_03

So yes, but Courtney, do you know who she's ending up with? Like, is there always an end game for you that's a hundred percent there?

SPEAKER_02

Yes, yes, I do. So I knew who she was gonna end up with before I um had even finished the first draft of book one. So I know how the third and final book ends. Um, yeah, and so I've kind of see see I knew that for mine.

SPEAKER_03

I knew it for mine, and then it changed, and I'm like, I was so shocked. It changed. I 100% knew for so long. And then this other character is like, I'm coming in here and I'm gonna be super sassy through this whole. I'm like, God dang it. They really take you by surprise. I tell, I'll tell you that.

SPEAKER_01

I feel like it's very much an OG trope, like it gives very much, you know, like Edward and Jacob vibes, and it gets us all talking, you know, not just about the book, but like who will she choose? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I was gonna say, like, Twilight, yeah, with Edward and Jacob. Um, one of my favorite like God fear series is gonna be uh like the clockwork uh Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare. So that's like Clockwork Prince, clockwork princess, clockwork angel. Um that love triangle is just like oh so good. And it just like can be so gut-wrenching and like stab you in the heart, but it's just it's so good.

SPEAKER_04

We just need a little less stab in the yes.

SPEAKER_01

I love it, I love it so much, and I love so much that we're also kind of getting into a dragon era, and I've been loving seeing all of these various different types of dragon books. I would love to know what kind of differentiates your dragons to others.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so the dragons in this uh realm specifically are all based on elemental magic. So there's fire dragons, there's earth dragons, air dragons, and water dragons. Um, and each, you know, individual category has like different powers. So, you know, for example, um fire dragons, like a majority of them can like breathe fire fire, but others can like um essentially like levitate like rocks and earthly matter. They can basically create like earthquakes and things like that. Um, so I would say that's kind of like the the majority of the differentiator between my dragons and maybe another series is that it's all elemental uh elemental dragons. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I love that. You know, because because you know, I think some people worry, right, that we're gonna have like dragon burnout, but there's so many different ways to make it creative, just like you said.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that's why I love dragons. Like there's so many different, you know, Fourth Wing has like all based off of um you know their tales and stuff like that, and they all have like their own different powers. Um and so yeah, it's always really fun because I think you can do so much with like magic and and dragons, like you can really take it down whatever avenue you'd like.

SPEAKER_03

So Oh, absolutely. And I think too, like the world that you've built is so creative, right? Not only right are there dragons, but there's so many other really unique elements in it. Can you tell us more about the world that you've built?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, definitely. So with book one, you kind of don't see as much because you're learning alongside Kat, and she's kind of grown up again in a kingdom where like any sort of like knowledge about dragons or even magic is kind of forbidden. So you really don't see any of the world and the magic systems until like the second book. Um, but I love I've really tried to incorporate a lot of different um laws and systems for magic specifically. So while dragons are part of that magic system, there are other elements. I'm trying to keep this super, super vague. Um, but there are other elements that there's kind of like a magical hierarchy in this realm. Um, and so of course that comes into play even with the characters in the plot, um, whether it's dragon-related or like magic related. And so you'll see a lot of that in the second and the third book. But yeah, I think that would probably be my favorite part of the world building, is just how dragons play into the magic system.

SPEAKER_03

And I'm curious too, like which character surprised you the most while you were drafting? And do you have one that you feel like particularly protective over or one that's your favorite?

SPEAKER_02

I would definitely say Darien. Many more has read Darien, everybody knows Darion is a uh he he's a fun character. Um, for me specifically, he's been kind of the most um stubborn to write. I uh will sometimes have this plan of like, okay, here's what's gonna happen, here's what you're gonna say, here's what you're gonna do. And he consistently fights against me. So Darion is definitely the character that's surprised me the most as I've been writing. I mean, even as I'm writing like the third book right now, I'm just like, he's always catching me by surprise. Um but the one I'm most respective of is definitely probably I probably say Cole, just because I feel like um, you know, of course, Love Triangle people are gonna have their favorites between like Darien and Cole. Um, but I've had a lot of people like message me some some things about Cole and like some opinions about Cole. And I'm like, he's just feel really protective about Cole because he uh you know, he makes decisions um and he comes from I'm like over here trying to trying to be vague again, but he comes from he comes from he makes decisions that he does um based off of his past experiences, almost like trauma. So um I would say I'm pretty protective of Cole. Uh but I do love, I love all of my characters, honestly. Like they all have a motivation for why they do things the way they do or why they are, like like who they are. So um I think that's always like really important that like your characters, like even my bad guys, my villains, have reasons for why they are the way they are. So um sounds weird, but I do love all of my characters.

SPEAKER_01

And I know this is gonna be hard because you don't want to give too much away, but what what information can you give us about book two? Where I know for the readers who are interested in wanting to continue on, but also don't want too much information. What do you think you could what kind of snippets do you think you could share?

SPEAKER_02

I will say um book two has a lot more dragons. Um, so that's really fun to see. A lot more dragons. I will also say you'll get a lot more answers around things, but you also might get more questions by the time you're done with book two.

SPEAKER_03

So I love that. I love that a lot, actually. Um, and you did mention that you're working on writing book three. So we we won't ask you for spoilers or the ultimate love interest because you know, we'll we'll talk about that offline because you know, Mara and I have to know. But um, if how would you describe book three in three words so far?

SPEAKER_02

Three words so far. Um, I would say uh enlightening, chaotic, and emotional.

SPEAKER_03

Emotional, like I need to grab the tissues emotional. Like I gotta be prepared here.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I yeah, probably. Um, I'll tell you.

SPEAKER_04

I'm having a lot of fun writing it.

SPEAKER_01

I get very emotional. I I I get really into stories, and so like I'm just wondering if it's gonna be more of those like happy tears, or I'm gonna throw the third book across the room, kind of maybe a little bit of both.

SPEAKER_02

You might be crying because there's some funny, oh man, Deja, Deja in the third book. I'm like it seems like every chapter she's got something to say. So you might be crying, laughing, you might be crying uh because you're frustrated, you might be crying because you're happy, and you might be crying because you might be a little sad, but you know, it'll it'll be it'll be a fun, like well-rounded experience.

SPEAKER_01

I love it. I can't wait. And you know, speaking of all of the books, Inquiring Minds, aka me would like to know, are there any special editions possibly for the future for this series?

SPEAKER_02

So I do have um my own kind of like personal uh, I call them like author's special editions. Um, and they are on sale right now, but I have like a limited quantity. I'm hoping to do more special editions in the future, like maybe in 2027. Um, like I think even just like paperback like sprayed edges with like gold foiling, I think are really fun. Um, or just like more special editions in general. I just don't have a plan for them right now, but I'd love to bring them back in like 2027 and beyond. So uh, because I love special editions. Like, give me a sprayed edge and I'm in. For anything, gold foiling, I'm in.

SPEAKER_01

And do all of the drawings too, so that'll save you money. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, like, and again, it's fun, I it's fun to be able to. I'm like, you can probably see up there, those are like my current special editions that I have. Um, and again, I've done everything from like the hard case, the dust jackets, the foiling, the sprayed edges, uh end pages, page overlays, all sorts of fun stuff like that. So it's it's a fun project. So I might do that. I'm depending on when I have the third and final book done, I might introduce a new special edition set since the whole series would be completed. So to be continued.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, so Courtney, I know we're almost out of time, so let's end with some fun rapid fire questions. Um if you had to choose another creature besides dragons that you would feature in your books, what would it be?

SPEAKER_02

Ooh, I'd say wolf, I think.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I like that. If your main character read your book, what would they be most offended by?

SPEAKER_02

Ooh, Kat would probably be offended that um the main character is full of so much self-doubt. Like she's she's fine with other, like she's good at like hyping other people up, but she's not good at hyping herself up. So I think that's I love that.

SPEAKER_03

If you had your own dragon, what would it look like?

SPEAKER_02

Ooh, I'd definitely say Deja, so a black dragon. Um, because she's also like mirrored after my own personal black lab. So I'd say a black dragon.

SPEAKER_03

I love that. And then if readers texted you at 2 a.m. after finishing your book, what would their messages be saying?

SPEAKER_02

Um, when's the next book? Please tell me it's out soon. How can you leave us like that on a cliffhanger like that? Sorry.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're getting lots of love for that cliffhanger.

SPEAKER_02

If you know me, you know I like my plot twists and my cliffhanger.

SPEAKER_03

So we should expect more of that in book two, I'm sure. Till the ending.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I love it. Courtney, this has been such a blast having you on the show today. We have loved it. Amara, you have been an incredible co-host today. So thank you both so much.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you so much for having me. This has been such a blast, and I appreciate you guys having me. So thank you. It's been amazing. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03

Of course. And to all of our listeners out there, please pick up Courtney's books. This is an incredible series of Flames and Fallacies. And as she mentioned, there's some special editions on her website. So please go and support her. And we hope to see you at our next episode. Thanks, everyone.

SPEAKER_00

That's it for this chapter of the Mythic Mike Podcast. But the adventure doesn't end here. Subscribe, leave a review, and follow us on social media at Mythic Mike Pod for updates, giveaways, and all the bookish and writing fun. Want more? Join our newsletter at mythicmike.com for bonus tips, other insights, and behind the scenes magic. Until next time, stay mythical.