Why Dragons?

And what it means for me as a writer to be on Substack.

For those who don’t know me

My name is Kevin Potter and I’ve made a name for myself among certain circles as the “Dragon Guy.” I made it a point from the very beginning of my publishing career to take a different approach to writing fantasy and dragons in particular.

I’m an award-winning author of 7 independently published fantasy books with one supernatural suspense novel that I’m working on finding a traditional publisher for.

First, Why Substack?

This is the big question for this publication. At one point I had an email newsletter with a decently rising readership and solid engagement. But then life happened and I disappeared for about 4 years. There’s a lot of history there (that I’ve talked about in other places), but the short version is life happened. I’ve been on Substack as a reader for a bit now and I’ve been wanting to get started on the creator side. And thanks in large part to Russell Nohelty and Monica Leonelle, I’m finally back in the writing space and ready to take on Substack. I see this being the long-term home for my words.

What am I hoping to build here?

Over the course of my publishing career, I have tried several ways to build a community of people who love fantasy and dragons as much as I do; people that I can nerd out with over the things I’m passionate about. But in other spaces it has never worked out. I suspect that’s because as an introvert and an autistic (though fairly mild on the spectrum), I’m not great at engagement. My deepest hope is that this can turn into a space where we have amazing conversations from myriad perspectives about all things fantasy and supernatural. That’s what I really want out of this.

Expectations

So let me clarify what I intend to bring to the table here. As long as I continue to have something to say, my current goal is to post something here weekly (apart from fiction. I’ll be starting the process of getting my fiction on here very soon). My one ask on this is based on the reality that I am not (at present) a full-time author. I do have a day job and a family, so please be understanding if I sometimes fall short of that posting schedule.

Free subscribers will have access to all my regular newsletters. These will always be free for anyone to read. Also, my short “bonus stories” will also always be free to subscribers.

The main benefit of upgrading to a paid subscription are:

• My own private subscription service (think similar to Kindle Unlimited) where you’ll have access to the entirety of my published works (again, as soon as I can get it all posted here).

• Ability to start chats with the community

  And if you joint my Dragon Lords tier you’ll also become a collaborator on future novels! You’ll work with me one-on-one to craft a character in each book I write, and if you wish it you’ll be credited in the acknowledgements of the book.

  

And now to get the the point…

I started this post with a clear question that cuts right to the heart of everything I do. In short it is, “Why Dragons?”

I honestly get asked this question a lot, and usually my answer is something along the lines of a rather pithy, “Why NOT dragons?”

See, I’ve always been fascinated by dragons. They are probably 2/3 of my interest in fantasy as a whole, and very nearly all of what got me interested in it as a child.

I mean, who can argue that dragons are amazing?
Powerful, brilliant, magical, unknowable. What’s not to love?

A major fascination for me is that they are one of a very select few mythical (maybe) creatures that virtually every culture on Earth has a myth for. Not to mention that, for my fellow Christian believers, it is hard to argue the position that the Leviathan of Job 41 is a dragon! (“Any hope of overcoming his is false…With his terrible teeth all around…His rows of scales are his pride…One is so near another that no air can come between them…His sneezings flash forth lightning. Out of his mouth go burning lights…Smoke goes out of his nostrils…Though the sword reaches him, it cannot avail; Nor does spear, dart, or javelin.” The list goes on.)

Now, depending on exactly which culture you’re talking about, they are generally ascribed a level of intelligence far beyond what humans are capable of. They can be benevolent or malign, much as humans can. They are generally described as being immense and winged, incredibly powerful, and (in many ways) larger than life.

Oh, and let’s not forget immortal. Or damn close to it, in any event.

Does my interest in dragons border on (or even cross into) obsession? Well, possibly. They have always held a powerful place in my imagination, ever since I first saw the animated "The Hobbit" when I was about 5 or so.

But to answer the question of why I chose to write about them. Well, that answer actually goes back a long way. The first time I wrote about dragons in any official capacity was when I was 14. In English class we were assigned an essay to write, but it could be on any topic we chose so long as we could show sources for our information.

What did I choose?

You betcha! Of course I chose to write a school essay about dragons!

But what were my sources for that essay, you ask? Well, I had a book on European mythology that I (sadly) don’t recall the title of. That was one. And another was … wait for it … (feel free to laugh) … the second edition AD&D Monster Manual!

As I recall, I think I got a B+ on the essay. So not a total loss, certainly.

As an adult, however, my reasons are a bit different than they were as a child. It’s grown into more than just simple fascination and/or obsession.

I’ve been consistently reading every fantasy book I could get my hands on since I was introduced to Dragonlance when I was 13 and….

Honestly, I’ve noticed there is a decided deficiency in most fantasy fiction. Any other dragon fanatics out there should have an idea of where I’m going with this.

When you see dragons in fiction, what is their role, generally speaking?

Villain ✅

Unknowable side character ✅

Alien creature of unknown intent ✅

Unknowable mentor ✅

Inexplicable setback/benefactor ✅

Beast of burden/mount ✅
(This is the one that really gets me)

But how often do you see a dragon as a main character in a story? Even more, how often are they a point of view character? Someone whose thoughts you get to see? Whose emotions you get to experience first-hand? Whose motivations and history you get to live for however many pages the book lasts?

Well, I can’t think of very many either. There are a handful of instances, sure. Pern and Eragon come to mind. But even in those, the dragons are somehow subservient to and reliant on the human character. Dragonlance did it a little bit, but no dragon was ever a main character (except for the book, The Dragons, which will forever be one of my all-time favorites!). And of course the incredible Richard A. Knaack did it in World of Warcraft: Dawn of the Aspects, which is a phenomenal book in most respects.

So, when I started writing I made a conscious decision to change that. I wanted to be the one to finally fully explore the alien psyche of not one but many dragons. I wanted to show them as not the stereotypical one’s-as-good-as-another creatures that we all grew up with (those who played Dungeons and Dragons, at least), but as individuals as deep and varied and conflicted as any human character can be.

Not that I don’t believe in some kind of unity among dragons of the same breed/color. I do. I think there are characteristics that they have in common. In much the same way that there is a typical (at least when viewed from the outside) for, say, New Yorkers, or Angelinos, or Texans. There are certain traits that at least a fair portion would share, but not all would. And even within that sameness, there is an incredible amount of diversity.

And that’s the thing I wanted to portray. To give dragons the level of complexity of a real, natural creature. Of an intelligent species that can’t be defined by who its ancestors were or where it was born or how it grew up. In a word, I wanted them to have Individuality.

Or.
In short.
My answer to "WHY DRAGONS" is quite simply that I was tired of seeing almost all fiction treat individual dragons as stereotypes rather than the complex, diverse, intelligent beings they should be.

So now it’s over to you, dear reader. What do YOU love about dragons? Is there anything I’ve missed? Anything you’d like to see authors address in their fiction in the future? Let us know in the comments.

If you enjoyed my view on dragons, feel free to subscribe to make sure you get all my future posts.