Satima Flavell presents - The Dagger of Dresnia

Satima Flavell is an author, editor and reviewer of high fantasy living in Perth, Western Australia. She can often be found on panels at SF conventions, and when she's not engaged in SF activities she's probably in a dance class somewhere, either as student or teacher. She also spends too much time on Facebook. Today she drops in at Promote-Me-Please to answer five curly questions about her new book, Dagger of Dresnia.

Q.1.  Your title, "Dagger of Dresnia", does a nice line in alliteration. Was that happy coincidence or was it intentional?

A. It was intentional, or at least semi-intentional. It just leapt to mind along with its sequel titles as soon as I realised I was writing about three talismans. The other books in the series will be similarly titled: 
The Cloak of Challiver is book 2 (due for release mid-next year) and 
The Seer of Syland is book three, which should be released in 2016.

Q.2. If you were recommending The Dagger of Dresnia to a reader who knew nothing about it, how would you explain it in one sentence?

A. It's about Queen Ellyria, elvish widow of a mortal king, who tries to 
ensure peace among her argumentative triplet sons by entering into a 
pact with a dark spirit - and of course all hell breaks loose!

Q.3. If you were recommending The Dagger of Dresnia to a reader who knew nothing about it, what other books would you suggest as comparisons in tone and style?

A. I was utterly chuffed when the reviewer for Scoop magazine compared The Dagger of Dresnia to the works of Guy Gavriel Kay and Marion Zimmer Bradley, and a kind reader mentioned it in the same breath as George RR Martin! Those are writers I admire and try to emulate, so perhaps in some small way my work might be a pale reflection of theirs.

Q.4. How much input (if any) did you have in the cover art?

A. The cover art was created by the very gifted Marieke Ormsby of Satalyte Publishing. She sent me her first draft of the pic and I was thrilled to see how well the mountains depicted the scenery of my imagined northern Dresnia, and how the poppy field served as a metaphor for battle. Marieke was going to put Beverak, one of the sons of my MC, Queen Ellyria, on the cover. She'd used her own son as a model, but I thought the boy (who is only 12) looked more like Ellyria herself, so I suggested she give him plaits, which she did. I hope he didn't mind! :-)

Q.5. Where to now? What is your next project?

A. Book two, The Cloak of Challiver, is well underway (just the dreaded 
battle scene left to write!) and I'm gradually piecing together ideas 
for book three, The Seer of Syland. I haven't got the main character's 
story down pat as yet, and I might just have to start writing to find 
out what happens!

Thanks, Satima for answering my peculiar questions. Be sure to check out http://satalyte.com.au/ for Dagger of Dresnia and for some more great books.