Oooh, that’s a difficult question. The short answer? Since fourth grade. I wrote a Jetsons-inspired short story (complete with crayon illustrations!) that won a local University contest for elementary school kids. It might even still be in the U of A library! But I didn’t get serious about it until my junior year of high school, and even then, I burned out pretty fast after a rash of rejections.
I came back to it in my early forties, and published my first story – The Bear at the Bar (a gay magical realism Freaky Friday tale) in 2014. As they say, the rest is history. J
Is there romance in your stories?
I got my start in MM romance – mostly because that’s where the opportunities were. I published a number of romance tales, mostly with something extra – sci-fi, fantasy, magical realism – though I have a few that are straight-uo (or gay-up?) contemporary romance. I’ve moved over more into diverse speculative fiction, writing almost all the flavors of the LGBTQ+ rainbow, as well as characters who are deaf, who have OCD, and others outside the vanilla “mainstream.” Still, many of my stories have a romantic subplot, and the Tharassas Cycle (of which The Dragon Eater is book one) has several.
What inspired you to write this particular book?
Just before the pandemic hit, I’d finished two trilogies and the start of a third – Dropnauts – which had done fairly well but had struck out on the agent query circuit. I wanted to do something different, something a little more fantasy, and had these two short works – The Last Run and The Emp Test, both set on this sci-fantasy world of Tharassas. Sci-fantasy because, although it’s a colonized world in my Liminal Fiction universe, it has much more of a fantasy feel… medieval, full of what could be seen as magic, and even dragons. The book was my second attempt at getting an agent (also unsuccessful), but I am thrilled with how it turned out.
Tell us something no one knows about this book.
Well… a few people know this, but not many. I intended for The Dragon Eater to be adult fantasy, the first of three books in the series. But my editor came back to me and told me it was actually books 1 and 2 of a YA trilogy – young characters coming of age and facing trials – and I just needed to write part three. I took his advice and split the book in two. I wrote book three, but it was so long that it became a third and fourth title. I jokingly call this my four-book trilogy. But as a result, I haven’t had a major release for almost two years, something I am not eager to repeat. But the good news? All four books are done, so you’re guaranteed to get the whole series (barring a comet slamming into the Earth and ending life as we know it).
What are you working on now?
I’m spending my weekends writing short stories and my week days writing my long awaited “middle” trilogy – the story of the generation ship Forever” after the Ariadne Cycle trilogy and before the Oberon Cycle trilogy. I’ve also completed three shorts since the new year – Airlock Justice, a “Marsish” tale about a trial on the Red Planet, The Summer Lands, a story about life in a climate-changed world, and The Fallen Angel, which details the origins of the ce’faine on Tharassas and will appear in the prequel collection Tales from Tharassas, which I’m giving away free with proof of purchase of The Dragon Eater. Just email me your receipt at scott@jscottcoatsworth.com. I hope you enjoy both books!
Raven’s a thief who just swallowed a dragon. A small one, sure, but now his arms are growing scales, the local wildlife is acting up, and his snarky AI familiar is no help whatsoever.
Raven’s best friend Aik is a guardsman carrying a torch for the thief. A pickpocket and a guard? Never going to happen. And Aik’s ex-fiancé Silya, an initiate priestess in the midst of a magical crisis, hates Raven with the heat of a thousand suns.
This unlikely team must work together to face strange beasts, alien artifacts, and a world-altering threat. If they don’t figure out what to do soon, it might just be the end of everything.
Things are about to get messy.
About the Series:
The Tharassas Cycle is a four book sci-fantasy series set on the recently colonized world of Tharassas. When humans first arrived on planet, they thought they were alone until the hencha mind made itself known. But now a new threat has arisen to challenge both humankind and their new allies on this alien world.
Order and Get the Prequel Free:
I’m giving away the prequel, Tales From Tharassas, with all orders – it contains The Last Run, The Emp Test, and a brand new short story the Fallen Angel. Just order the book and email me a proof of purchase at scott@jscottcoatsworth.com, and I’ll send you the eBook.
Amazon
Scott is giving away a $20 book gift card with this reveal – your choice of Amazon, B&N, Kobo or Smashwords. Enter for a chance to win:
“Shush,” Raven whispered to his familiar.
He needed to concentrate. Cheek and jowl against the smooth cobblestones, he held his breath and prayed to the gods that no one had seen him duck under the sea master’s ornate carriage. The setting sun cast long shadows from a pair of boots so close to his face that the dust and leather made him want to sneeze. Their owner was deep in conversation with the sea master, the hem of her fine mur silk trousers barely visible. The two women’s voices were hushed, and he could only make out the occasional word.
Raven rubbed the old burn scar on his cheek absently, wishing they would go away.
“Seriously, boss. I’m not from this world, and even I know it’s a bad idea to steal from the sea master.”
Though only he could hear Spin’s voice, Raven wished the little silver ay-eye would just shut up.
The hencha cloth-wrapped package in the carriage above was calling to him. He’d wanted it since he’d first seen it through the open door. No, needed it. Like he needed air, even though he had no idea what was inside. He scratched the back of his hand hard to distract himself from its disturbing pull.
An inthym popped its head out of the sewer grate in front of him, sniffing the air. Raven glared at the little white rodent, willing it to go away. Instead, the cursed thing nibbled at his nose.
Raven sneezed, then covered his mouth. He held his breath, staring at the boots. Don’t let them hear me.
A shiny silver feeler poked out of his shirt pocket, emitting a golden glow that illuminated the cobblestones underneath him. “Boss, you all right?” Spin’s whisper had that sarcastic edge he often used when he was annoyed. “Your heart rate is elevated.”
“Be. Quiet.” Raven gritted his teeth. Spin had the worst sense of timing.
The woman — one of the guard, maybe? — and the sea master stepped away, their voices fading into the distance.
Raven said a quick prayer of thanks to Jor’Oss, the goddess of wild luck, and flicked the inthym back into the sewer. “Shoo!”
He popped his head out from under the carriage to take a quick look around. There was no one between him and the squat gray Sea Guild headquarters. It was time. Grab it and go.
He reached into the luxurious carriage — a host of mur beetles must have spent years spinning all the red silk that lined the interior — and snagged the package. He hoped it was the treasury payment for the week. If so, it should hold enough coin to feed an orphanage for a month, and he knew just the one. “Got it.”
“Good. Now get us out of here.”
A strange tingling surged through his hand. Raven frowned.
Must have pinched a nerve or something.
Ignoring it, he stuck the package under his arm, slipped around the carriage, and set off down Gullton’s main thoroughfare. He walked as casually as he could, hoping no one would notice the missing package until he was long gone.
“We clear?”
Spin’s feeler blinked red. “No. Run! They’ve seen you.”
Raven ran.
He decided that if there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.
A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality, and is the committee chair for the Indie Authors Committee at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
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