The Sun Dragon by Annabelle Jay is the 1st novel in the The Sun Dragon quintet of YA urban fantasy with f/f and f/m romantic elements, free for a limited time courtesy of LGBT specialty publisher Dreamspinner Press' Harmony Ink imprint for teen readers.

This is a special giveaway to help promote the author's newly released YA science fiction novel about cloning, Jesse 2.0. The series takes place in a variant version of our modern world, where current technology and pop culture exist, alongside an centuries-past line of kings who banished dragons not by killing, but transforming them, unleashing the dragons again in the present day.

This installment sets up the storyline as a high school student discovers that her newly manifested powers may be the key to saving her best friend from the evil king's scheme, as well as struggling between the obligatory attractions to the (male) representative of a secret council of wizards and a beautiful (female) magical forest-dweller.

Offered worldwide through July 24th until midnight Eastern Time, available DRM-free directly from the publisher.

No Really.

I mean for heaven’s sake, people, let’s think rationally about this. They’re reptiles. Scaly, cold-blooded. Certainly not cute and fuzzy. And they might be smart but they’re conniving as hell (like in Le Guin’s Earthsea cycle), right? And as destructive as an Armageddon (Like Smaug in Tolkien’s The Hobbit. And what about those dragons George R. R. Martin set loose?

Seriously, Puny humans hardly stand a chance against them, but there’s always a Saint George in every crowd, or else someone to befriend the beasts like Eragon with Saphira, or Merlin with The Great Dragon and later poor, sickly little Aithusa (who can still kick human butt).

I’m not being at all critical—I love dragons too. I just don’t know why. So you tell me: what is you love about dragons? And which is your favorite ever? And what about rainbow friendly YA books with dragons? Can you make some recommendations? I can think of Annabelle Jay’s The Sun Dragon Series and Sulayman X’s Tears of a Dragon—both available at Harmony Ink Press. There must be more?

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May as well mention there are dragons in The Sun Child Chronicles. The brave and beautiful warrior/uncle extraordinaire, Han Shieth, has to fight them at times. But he’s also descended from them, which is not as gross as it sounds and is a story that will be told someday. Meanwhile, here he is in Wraith Queen’s Veil meeting a very distant ancestor, who doesn’t seem to fit the mold at all.

“What about you, Warrior? What do you want?”

Han sputtered in the violet pool, taken off guard. Before he could recover, the lizard-like creature crawled out of the pool and climbed down to him. As she passed through the colored pools, her scales shimmered through the hues, ever so briefly matching each precisely.

“What’s the matter, Wizard’s Shield? Never seen a dragon before?”

“Big ones,” Han said, and immediately felt stupid.

“Green? Gold? Oh yes, the red are in your bloodline. I remember, yes—that’s why I know your name. Well, Warrior, I think you should know that I am the mother of them all.”

“But you’re small.” Duh.

“I am always, only, ever, as big as I need to be.” She flipped her tail at Han—possibly on purpose—as she turned to ascend once again. “So let’s make a deal, eh?” Having reached the uppermost pool, she pivoted suddenly, fixing her impossible-to-ignore dragon eyes on Han, forked tongue hanging out lasciviously.

“Umm—”

“Speak when spoken to, young man.”

By Annabelle Jay

In one of the recent reviews of my new novel, The Sun Dragon, a reader pointed out that the book was not a romance. There are romantic elements—Allanah, the main character, is a bisexual girl who ends up with two love interests that she must pick between—but the novel is solidly a fantasy story. There are witches, dragons, and epic battles to save the magical universe. Such is the case with most of my books, whether young adult fantasy or otherwise.

It got me thinking, why does the question of romance come up over and over again in reviews of my books?

The answer lies in my books’ classification. When readers see LGBTQ+, they assume that the story will center on the main character’s sexual identity or a romance of some kind. In all fairness, many LGBTQ+ stories do this. But not mine.

In The Sun Dragon, Allanah’s biggest conflict is not with herself, but with a corrupt wizard named King Roland who secretly turned dragons into humans and bred himself a powerful army. Allanah’s best friend, Victoria, was one such dragon, so it’s fortunate that Allanah figures out she has magical power that can keep her friend a human—at least for a while.

Between creating the world’s first light dragon and trying to save the entire wizarding world from King Roland, Allanah does develop two crushes. Dena, a member of the native forest-dwelling Igreefee camp, and Cormac, a wizard, represent not only two different the two genders Allanah is attracted to, as well as her larger internal struggle to choose between the Igreefee and the Council. However, she is a witch with special powers who just happens to be bisexual, not the other way around.

In fact, none of the relationships in Allanah’s life, from her friendship with Victoria to her interest in Dena and Cormac, take center stage during the book—and why should they? Why do stories about girls need to focus on their relationships with other people, instead of the crazy adventures they lead on their own? Allanah fights her own battles, and though she might ask for help along the way, she doesn’t need it.

In my opinion, having a strong lead character who also happens to be a woman or a bad-guy-battling witch who also happen to be LGBTQ+ is the best thing an author trying to diversify the genre can do. I’ve gone to a lot of schools and nonprofits to talk to young adult LGBTQ+ students, and the number one thing I hear is that they do not feel represented in mainstream literature. They cannot just walk in Barnes & Nobles and pick up a book with an LGBTQ+ character, especially one that is not about that character’s sexuality but instead just a plain old story that happens to have an LGBTQ+ character in the starring role.

However, not every reader is on board.

It’s a fantasy! I tell people when they ask about my new book.

Awesome!

And there’s dragons and witches in it! I continue.

Great!

And the main character is a bisexual girl!

Oh… Then the person slowly walks away, hoping I won’t follow them and make the situation even more awkward.

I truly believe that this reaction is changing, and that in the future, books will not need LGBTQ+ labels. Those labels will not be sexualized, and readers will not assume that an LGBTQ+ book is only for LGBTQ+ people. Books with female protagonists will not center on a man who fights her battles for her, but on the female protagonist herself. The Sun Dragon and the next four books in the series will just be a few fantasy novels among many, and Allanah will just be one character among many characters that accurately represent our diverse population.

Annabelle Jay believes with all her heart that there is no such thing as too many dragons in a book. As a fantasy writer with few other hobbies, she spends every day following her imagination wherever it leads her. A hippie born in the wrong decade, Annabelle has a peace sign tattoo and a penchant for hugging trees. She often gets confused for a student, though she is actually a young professor; when this stops happening, she will probably be very sad.