My Favorite Things with Richard A. Knaak

They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Richard A. Knaak, whose next book, Black City Dragon, was released by Pyr on March 26th!

What does Richard love when he’s not writing about saints, dragons, werewolves, and bootleggers? Spoiler alert: saints, dragons, werewolves, and bootleggers! Trust me on this one, and read on to learn more!

They say you should write what you know, but how many of us have fought dragons, shapeshifted, or time traveled, to name a few? Okay, I see some hands, but I’m referring to the majority of us. What you really need to do is write what you like. The question is, exactly what?

The answer is ANYTHING.

Got an interest in subjects the opposite end of the spectrum from one another, or maybe just so different that you cannot see the two together? Do it anyway. The link between them is your interest in each and that’s all you need to get started.

Case in point, my Black City Saint series. Here’s some of my favorite things that came together to create Nick Medea’s world:

Dragons: I love dragons. Possibly the only creature on par would be a gryphon. Werewolves are cool, also, but more about them later. The point is, I love dragons. I’ve read countless books featuring them and I’ve written fifty novels or so, plus some two dozen shorter pieces, the vast majority of which naturally have dragons. Big ones, small ones, good ones, bad ones, indifferent ones, smart ones, savage ones…well, you get the point.

There’s a lot of people who love dragons, obviously. No shock that they show up in novels in a variety of ways. Can’t go wrong with dragons. Not only did my first published novel, The Legend of Huma for Dragonlance, feature some epic dragon scenes and characters, but the writing sample I showed the editor and which I later sold to another publisher was called Firedrake and became the first part of my own long-running Dragonrealm saga. Dragons helped me launch my career and have been with me throughout it. I’ve tried hard to make the dragons in each setting unique in some way from the others, too, with past works from other writers or historical sources often influencing the direction. The dragon in the Black City Saint series has his specific influences, however, with Smaug from The Hobbit being one of the foremost due to his overwhelming presence and dark cunning. And while not a dragon, the serpent in the Garden of Eden from the Book of Genesis in the Bible is another, for isn’t the dragon always whispering to Nick, trying to manipulate him? Both scaly influences, definitely.

The Roaring Twenties: With a spillover into the 30s, this is my favorite historical time period. I grew up in Chicagoland and so I often heard or read about the stories involving Al Capone, Bugs Moran, Hymie Weiss, and more, plus, of course, the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. I read old novels from the time period and savored the classic cars, clothing, and architecture. Beyond the bootleggers and pictures of flappers was a world going through major change while it struggle to recover from the most dramatic war up to that point. I’d always wanted to write a novel set in the decade, but assumed it would be a mystery. Silly me. In many ways, the Roaring Twenties was bigger than life, in that sense lending itself perfectly to a fantasy novel.

Werewolves: Okay, you might be able to put a werewolf with a dragon, although it’s not been done too often, as far as I know. So, even combining those two would make for an unusual story, I think. In terms of the supernatural, werewolves always have my vote. The original Wolfman, with Lon Chaney, Jr., remains one of my all-time favorite monster movies. I see them as more tragic, more human…well, unless they’re Fetch. Fetch is essentially a werewolf from Feirie. Not human, not quite elf, but still a shapeshifter of the lupine/canine variety. Trouble is, exiled to the mortal realm, he can’t change to his true form. He can’t even talk unless near Nick or a few select others. Of course, while my sympathies are with werewolves, they’re also dangerous and Fetch, despite some humorous moments, proves that he is, too.

The Fighting Saints: Growing up, the legend of St. George always appealed to me. Yes, there was a dragon, but there was also a very earthly saint who was fighter, a defender of those in need. His faith was so strong, he refused to denounce it even though it cost him his life.

While I’ve already mentioned the dragon aspect, fitting St. George into a fantasy novel taking place in Prohibition Chicago seemed hardly anymore likely than adding the dragon himself. Still, if the dragon was going to be included, then I was finally going to get St. George in somehow. In fact, considering just how also brought up the question of exactly how he still survived after 1600 years and an execution.

St George & The Dragon by Paolo Uccello

The other saint in whom I had interest was Michael, the archangel. Always an imposing figure in church, I could never help connecting him with St. George despite one being mortal and the other not. Both were warriors on the side of God. If I was going to include a human saint, why not include the archangel as well? I could also then show the contrast between them.

Saints, dragons, werewolves, and bootleggers. Some with connections to one another, but not likely to see a story together. I’d grown up with an interest in all of them. It took years, but finally they and other incongruous elements combined successfully…and some of my favorite things became the Black City Saint series.

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