Guest Blog Wednesday with Melissa Petreshock

It's getting kind of hot on the ol' Ramblin' Blog. I need my smellin' salts. /S.

A WORLD ON FIRE: EXPANDING BEYOND FOSAD

"When the stars are the only things we share, Will you be there? I've got a plan. I've got an atlas in my hands." - "Atlas Hands" by Benjamin Francis Leftwich 

FIRE OF STARS AND DRAGONS is the first book in the Stars and Souls Trilogy. Now, I'm probably telling you something you already know. A quick glance on Amazon, my website, or most any of my social media will tell you that. The news has been out for a while that BLOOD OF STARS AND GODS (Book #2) is coming, and the publication date has finally been set for May 2015. (Title and publication date on book #3 are TBA.)



Oh, and then there's the whole audio book deal with ListenUp Audiobooks, who is producing a multi-narrator audio version of FOSAD now and will release the second book in audio as well. Pretty freaking cool, right? Multi-narrator... I heard that and was all like:

Except just in my head, because I'm totally uncoordinated and would hurt myself trying to do a FOR REAL cartwheel.

But that's just part of what's happening in this world I've created.

Last month, I released a short story titled "Fallen Son, Darkest Night" on Wattpad. It's a freebie to anyone interested in the expanding Stars and Souls world, and tells backstory on a few characters you first meet in FIRE OF STARS AND DRAGONS. The story centers around Dante, with Theo playing a critical role, but introduces the history of another relationship from FOSAD as well. (FYI: No romance in this one.)

Coming next month (if all goes according to plan) is a fun novella with Claaron Graywyne as the main character.  Claaron is a character readers have come to love in FOSAD, and my beta readers were thrilled to find out he became a POV character in BLOOD OF STARS AND GODS. He's snarky, mischievously charming, painfully honest, and unwavering in his loyalty.

Claaron's also really hot. Like...

Hmm... Is it getting hot in here? Oh, sorry. Must be the Claaron-Hiddles double whammy. Let's all just take a moment, shall we?

Now, where was I?

Following  the Claaron story/novella, I don't currently have any additional short stories or additional novellas planned for release before BLOOD OF STARS AND GODS comes out in May, but if you follow the Dragon Blog, you'll catch our #TeaserTuesday posts weekly.

Whereas many authors simply tease with quotes and excerpts from their books, these weekly blog posts are often opportunities to get to know the characters better, learn more about the reasons behind the songs on the playlist, or find out behind-the-scenes stuff regarding the books.

Between FOSAD, the short stories, the #TeaserTuesday blog posts, and general fun on Twitter (You do follow the dragons on Twitter, don't you?), before the second book even comes out, you should have a pretty good idea how to answer this question:

And that's just scratching the surface of the dragon population, with a mere 1.5% of them. I haven't even gotten into the other important (and hot) characters, such as ancient vampire, King Corrin:

Or really into the powerful demigod Dante:

But it's not just about the hot guys. No really... it's not.

It's about the entire world created. What began as an idea about the mythology behind shapeshifting dragons became a greater destiny for a young woman and those surrounding her. A romance blossomed within it all. Ideas wove themselves throughout the process, and characters developed beyond the boundaries of what I expected.

What I thought would be a single book developed into a series, a trilogy. What I thought would be a simple trilogy began shooting off ideas that will be future standalone novels featuring various secondary characters from the trilogy as their main characters. What I thought would be simply a collection of novels sprouted concepts for short stories and novellas.

Yeah... So I guess it is an ordeal now. But I've fallen in love with the characters you meet in FIRE OF STARS AND DRAGONS, as have my beta readers and the majority of readers so far. Most readers I know don't want the book version of a one night stand anyway. They like long-term relationships, commitments from the authors to their characters because, as readers, they're willing to commit to those characters and invest in them and their world.

What does this all boil down to?

Buying and reading FIRE OF STARS AND DRAGONS isn't about reading a book. It's about opening the door to a world and all the fascinating people/beings inside. This world isn't going away anytime soon. There's much more to come. If you read it and love it, tell a friend. Tell lots of friends. I'm writing to build readers a world. It's up to readers to come together, share the experience, and build a fandom...