Robert Wilson's "The Poison of Thorns: The Dragon's Back #1"

Title: “THE POISON OF THORNS: The Dragon’s Back #1”
Cover blurb:  "The Poison of Thorns [The Dragon's Back #1]" unfolds as an intriguing and action-packed Christian Fantasy with bards, dragons, swords, and mysterious black-robed villains lurking in the shadows.

Ten long years after the mysterious murder of their parents, two brothers have just been freed from incarceration in a prison-like orphanage. Against their wills they are torn apart and launched into separate quests against conflicting and dangerous forces. Independently they struggle to learn the truth and to resolve the unanswered cries for vengeance that have long consumed their lives with the poisoned thorns of unresolved bitterness. Finding themselves pitted against a strange and hostile world, overwhelmed with many questions; it becomes their individual obsessions to find the answers and rescue each other.

Why were they locked away in that out-of-the way orphanage for ten long years, when they had living kin who would gladly have claimed them? Who are the sinister black-robed “Dragonmen” and what is their hidden agenda. And why are these blackrobes so interested in the two teenaged brothers that they would mobilize all of their considerable resources to possess them?

What is the significance of the shape of their isolated continent? Is it true that it appears to be a gigantic Dragon floating above the endless depths? What about the rumors that man-sized, almost invisible dragons are stalking their nights?

And finally, who are the mysterious followers of the mythical Gryphon? Why do they alone, of all the diverse peoples of Dragonsback, have the ability to swim in the dark bottomless waters that surround their land? And most importantly, is the mysterious Swimmer who took part in the deaths of the boys' parents still available… for retribution?

1) How did this story come to you?
The story arose from a very dark time in the life of my family, when a supposed “Christian Leader” destroyed a fledgling ministry that we had thought was God’s will for our lives. Many months of depression and bitterness followed this event, until a wise Christian lady led each member of my family though Dr. Neil Anderson’s “The Bondage Breaker”. She showed us the destructive spiritual warfare nature of bitterness in the lives of believers and we each gained victory. The concept behind the story [a thorn-wielding society living on the back of a land shaped like a dragon] actually was given to me after that by my eldest son, Joshua. He and I then brain-stormed to flesh out the rules for this fantasy land and I began writing.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
I had been to multiple Christian Writers’ Conferences [winning some awards] and submitted manuscripts to multiple agents and publishers, without any favorable response. I actually started writing decades ago and was sitting on two completed novels, each in a different series. “The Poison of Thorns” is actually the second novel that I have self-published: the prior one I had published less than a month before is an apocalyptic Sci-Fi novel dealing with intense Spiritual Warfare subjects. I had thought I had a Christian publisher all lined up for that first novel, when they suddenly backed out. I am the proud owner of a Nook e-reader and I received at that time an email from B&N telling me that they had opened up e-publishing though their online Pubit! service. I also found out that Amazon’s CreateSpace would allow me to create POD paperbacks. So I contacted a Christian artist I had met online about doing my covers and quickly formatted and submitted first the Sci-Fi novel, then, less than two weeks later, “The Poison of Thorns”.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
a) I telecommute as a programmer from my home in FL for an international company located in CA.
b) I am a singer-songwriter who has written around 100 songs [mostly Scripture songs].
c) I am an accomplished scroll saw artist, specializing in elaborate and life-like 3-D wooden artwork.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I am working on the final edit of the second novel in the Dragonsback Trilogy and hope to have it published within the next month. Once that is done, I will step back and decide if I want to finish the Trilogy or switch back to my “Earth – The Arena” Sci-Fi series [Book 1, “THE PLAYERS” is already published and the second book in the series is about 1/3 done.]

5) Parting comments?
Thank you, Dawn, for all you do to promote good Christian writing!

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
My Web Page: http://www.robtdwilson.com/  [under the “Novels” tab]
My Blog: http://robtdwilson.wordpress.com/
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/RobertDennisWilson