Steel Dragon (Steel Dragons Series Book 1)

by Kevin McLaughlin

  Drew smiled awkwardly. “I’ve gotten to know one Hall. They’re cool. I don’t want to lose that.”

  “It’s not like I’ll vanish forever! You guys talk about me like I’m moving to another planet. We see Stonequest on the regular. I’ll be around.”

  Eye-rolls all around met this statement. Hernandez went so far as to snort in derision. “Yeah right, Red—maybe I should call you Steel now, though—like you’ve ever had any chill at all. I can’t exactly see you facing an existential threat to dragon kind and clocking out at five and stopping by for airsoft with us.” By the time she had stopped talking, the humor had drained from her voice.

  “Yeah…yeah, I guess you’re right,” she said. Suddenly, the air felt way colder than it had been. “Do you guys want to head inside?”

  “Aren’t you going to do tricks or something? Show us dragon moves?” Keith tried to joke but given the moment, it felt forced.

  “I can’t. My dad will kill me if I mess the grass up.”

  That earned some chuckles, at least. By the time they went in and removed their jackets, the awkwardness had passed. Until Butters burst in the front door with Beanpole trailing behind him.

  “Kristen! Come hug me before I get all covered in sauce.”

  He stumbled forward and threw his arms around her. She smelled alcohol on his breath. “Has he been drinking?” she asked Beanpole.

  The man shrugged, then nodded quickly. “He said he couldn’t say goodbye sober.”

  “And now I won’t have to,” the sniper said and crushed her tightly in his grip.

  “Dude, let go before she has to turn into steel,” Keith shouted from the kitchen.

  Butters released her and rubbed his eyes.

  “I want you to know that if Dragon SWAT gives you any trouble, you can count on us.”

  “Ha!” Hernandez laughed. “To do what, exactly?”

  “I saw that sniper lady. I’ll shoot holes in their wings. I’ll step on their tails, and I’ll…I’ll…”

  “Dinner is served!” Kristen’s mom shouted and Butters changed demeanor immediately.

  “I’ll have to fill my plate.” Kristen forgotten, he lumbered through to the kitchen. He led the charge, much to her mother’s delight, and stacked his plate high with pulled pork, chicken, pasta salad, coleslaw, and a couple of buns to cram it all inside of.

  The others followed, then Kristen. Brian arrived as they sat and complained loudly about the injustice of being sent for pickles only to find that they weren’t actually needed. Marty consoled her son by chopping them and putting them on his plate, which only made all the cops at the table laugh and pleased her son not at all.

  “A toast!” Frank Hall said, raised his half-finished can of beer, and waited for the swearing and storytelling to pause. “To Kristen. Your mother and I always knew you were something special. You might be the only person in the world whose parents weren’t surprised to find out you were actually a dragon. You’re amazing, Krissy, and now you’ve beat a dragon, and well, I’m so… That is…” He had been doing well but now, the tears began to run.

  Her mom tried to salvage the speech. “We’re proud of you, honey, and we’ll always be here for you.”

  “Even with them people breaking in here?” Jim asked. Obviously, he’d had a beer too many. That question was a little too rude for the normally perfect demeanor of the Wonderkid.

  “We’re not moving simply because some dickholes thought they could scare us, especially not now that my sister can turn full dragon.”

  Everyone laughed at Brian’s joke and Kristen finally felt like it would be okay. These people—her people—would be able to go on without her. They were strong, brave, and capable of things she needed dragon abilities to accomplish. She was proud to know them and knew that each of them in their own way defined who she was.

  The party went late into the night and her coworkers indulged so much that they crashed on the couch and slept over. Marty wouldn’t let anyone who’d so much as sipped a beer head home.

  In the morning, when Stonequest arrived in the falling snow to take Kristen to join Dragon SWAT, all the people she loved were there to say goodbye and wish her well.

  As she transformed into her dragon body—careful to do so in the street so as to not damage her dad’s precious grass—she thought of all they’d given her. Confidence. Courage. Strangely good reflexes when it came to playing fighting games. She might have still become a dragon without them, but she wouldn’t have been the person she’d become. Being the person they all, in turn, cheered for, insulted, looked up to, or came to trust was her favorite person to be.

  It was with a strange lightness in her heart that Kristen took flight with Stonequest and waved goodbye to the people she loved. She knew she’d see them again—to deny herself that would be like denying that she was a dragon and a failure to see the world as it was.

  “Will you be okay?” Stonequest asked over the wind. He’d no doubt sensed her aura.

  “Thanks to all those people down there, I think I will be.”

  The Steel Dragon and Stonequest flew off into an unknown future.

  Kevin’s Author Notes

  October 20, 2019

  Wow, this book was a long time coming! Michael Anderle and I have talked about doing some sort of work together for ages. Finally, late last year, we realized the only way we were going to properly brainstorm ideas for a new series was if we got together in person and sat down to do the work.

  Cue one airplane flight for me from my Boston home to Las Vegas! On Spirit, no less.

  That actually turned out better than I’d feared. I upgraded my seat to their “extra space”, which put me in the front of the plane. It was, believe it or not, one of the more comfortable flying experiences I’ve had. A pleasant surprise, since I’d heard a lot of negative things about Spirit before.

  Ah, Vegas. I’ve been out that way for author events before, but never just to meet and hang out with one person like this. Vegas can be pretty fun, it turns out, even if you have precisely zero interest in gambling. (My math skills are too good for gambling to be that much fun.) It’s a cool place. I was able to experience much more of it than I had before, thanks to Michael touring me around a bit.

  Mike and I spent several days powering through a bunch of different story ideas, working them over to see which ones we both liked. I think there were concepts for at least three other series which were tabled — at least for now. Someday those other ideas might see the light of day, too.

  But by day two we were already pretty set on Kristen’s story: The Steel Dragon. It hit all the right notes for both of us. We had a strong protagonist who’s a ‘fish out of water’, exploring a world that is wildly unfamiliar to her. Over the course of my visit Mike and I blocked out no less than fifteen potential storylines for the Steel Dragon series.

  You’ve got three of them in your hands now.

  Once we had the rough idea down, it was time to spin out the beats for the book. That part was my job; plotting is one of my strong points, and I had a lot of fun figuring out all the trials and tribulations our hero was going to face. Once I finished the beats for each tale they went over to Michael, who sent back a draft.

  Then I went over the draft and tweaked it here and there, adding a few scenes, expanding on others… The usual stuff. If I did my job right you’ll never be able to tell which scenes I wrote and which ones were straight Michael Anderle. You’ll have to let me know!

  The LMBPN beta reader team was absolutely instrumental in making these stories the best they could possibly be. With their help we refined and enhances Kristen’s tale in ways that the two of us could never have done alone. I want to shout out to those readers with a VERY special ‘thank you!’

  Oh, did I mention that there’s more where this came from? Yes — volume two is coming down the pipe as soon as the LMBPN hamsters (kidding, they use guinea pigs now) have it ready. Kristen’s adventures are only just beginning.

  Thank
s for taking the voyage with us!

  Michael’s Author Notes

  October 21, 2019

  Thank you for reading this story, and perusing these author notes at the end of the book!

  I’m presently flying back from Frankfurt (went there for the 2019 Frankfurt Book Fair) back to the USA. I’m somewhere over the Atlantic I’m guessing. All I can see are the white clouds below us (someone up in the cockpit mentioned we are cruising at 32,000 feet) so I have no idea where we are.

  This publishing business is so vast, it is sometimes hard to comprehend all of it, but I am trying.

  A little bit about my collaborator, Kevin McLaughlin.

  If I was asked to name ‘one thing’ that I find unique about Kevin, it is that he has worked as a nurse and knows his stuff when it comes to medicine. This was evident one time at a convention when an author’s daughter was ill. I heard about the story in the morning (it happened the night before) and when I was getting the story I found out Kevin had visited their room and helped the child.

  Since I hadn’t really associated Nursing with Kevin before (it was a factoid, but not something which was front and center for me) I remember being confused for a moment. The person I was speaking to MUST have noticed the confusion on my face and mentioned he was a nurse.

  That was when it snapped into place. Of course he would know how to help!

  If you get a chance to meet him, his desire to help people damn near oozes out of him.

  While I want to help people, I admit I have a huge aversion to blood. Not necessarily my own (I asked for a mirror at 10 years old to watch the doctor sew up my lip that had a tree trunk slammed into it.)

  But he deals with it professionally and yet retains his compassion.

  Kevin was in the Army (I’m assuming for one four-year stint? I don’t know and now I’m scratching my cheek trying to figure out how come I never asked.) We used some of that knowledge creating the Steel Dragon Universe.

  Now for some Behind the Fiction Dirt.

  Kevin and I enjoy talking shop and stories, so it seemed like working together would be a fantastic next step. Both of us love the Indie publishing scene, great books, and telling stories so why would it be a challenge?

  But, it was.

  We had met a few times in person (at various 20Booksto50k events and Boston Fantasy-Fest. Plus, he and Liz took Judith and I to dinner in Boston one night as well. He’s outgoing, fun, smart and likes to laugh.

  And damned opinionated.

  The opinionated part had never been a real problem in our many previous conversations, so I didn’t think anything of it. Not until we tried to hammer out this story did this aspect become challenging. We tried a few times to work out the story concepts over video calls but it just wasn’t jelling for us.

  So, I pitched him coming out to Vegas in (December?) of 2018 and he took a flight and we setup in a conference room and hashed out this series. It was hard, damned hard. He would come up with something and it didn’t work for me. I would come up with an idea, but it wouldn’t work for him.

  By hashed out, we beat each other up with ideas and counter ideas. It was like watching a tennis match.

  All day we went back and forth and I was wrung out creatively by the end of day one. Fortunately, I think we got somewhere on the big picture for Steel Dragon the last hour of the day, so that I went into day two with a bit of positivity. By the end of hours and hours of work, we had the story that is coming to your hands now.

  I can say that with assurance because I know damned well Kevin wouldn’t settle. There is no give in that man at all.

  ;-)

  If you get a chance to talk with him, do it. He is a uniquely qualified author that brings so much knowledge of the industry (including being a part of it since he was like…10 I think?)

  However, out of all of the aspects I’d talk about if asked - I would point to him and say, ‘He is one of the most compassionate guys I know.’

  The rest is just dressing.

  Obsidian Detective

  Pre-order now to have the book arrive on your Kindle November 1st.

  Two Rebels whose Worlds Collide on a Planetary Level.

  On the fringes of human space, a murder will light a fuse and send two different people colliding together.

  She lives on Earth, where peace among the population is a given. He is on the fringe of society where authority is how much firepower you wield.

  She is from the powerful, the elite. He is with the military.

  Both want the truth – but is revealing the truth good for society?

  ---

  Two years ago, a small moon in a far off system was set to be the location of the first intergalactic war between humans and an alien race.

  It never happened. However, something was found many are willing to kill to keep a secret.

  Now, they have killed the wrong people.

  How many will need to die to keep the truth hidden?

  As many as is needed.

  He will have vengeance no matter the cost. She will dig for the truth. No matter how risky the truth is to reveal.

  Coming November 1st from Amazon and other Digital Book Stores

  Books By Kevin McLaughlin

  Adventures of the Starship Satori (Space Opera blended with military SF)

  Finding Satori - prequel short story, available only to email list fans!

  Book 1 - Ad Astra: Book 2 - Stellar Legacy

  Book 3 - Deep Waters

  Book 4 - No Plan Survives Contact

  Book 5 - Liberty

  Book 6 - Satori’s Destiny

  Book 7 - Ashes of War

  Book 8 - Embers of War

  Book 9 - Dust and Iron

  Book 10 - Clad in Steel

  Book 11 - Brave New Worlds (2019)

  Book 12 - Warrior’s Marque (2020)

  The Ragnarok Saga (Military SF)

  Accord of Fire - Free prequel short story, available only to email list fans!

  Book 1 - Accord of Honor

  Book 2 - Accord of Mars

  Book 3 - Accord of Valor

  Book 4 - Ghost Wing

  Book 5 - Ghost Squadron

  Book 6 - Ghost Fleet (2019)

  Valhalla Online Series (A Ragnarok Saga Story)

  Book 1 - Valhalla Online

  Book 2 - Raiding Jotunheim

  Book 3 - Vengeance Over Vanaheim

  Book 4 - Hel Hath No Fury

  Blackwell Magic Series (Urban Fantasy)

  Book 1 - By Darkness Revealed

  Book 2 - Ashes Ascendant

  Book 3 - Dead In Winter

  Book 4 - Claws That Catch

  Book 5 - Darkness Awakes

  Book 6 - Spellbinding Entanglements

  By A Whisker (short story)

  The Raven and the Rose - Free novelette for email list fans!

  Dead Brittania Series:

  Dead Brittania (short prequel story)

  Book 1 - King of the Dead

  Book 2 - Queen of Demons

  Raven’s Heart Series (Urban Fantasy)

  Book 1 - Stolen Light

  Book 2 - Webs in the Dark

  Book 3 - Shades of Moonlight

  Other Titles:

  Over the Moon (SF romance)

  Midnight Visitors (Steampunk Cat short story)

  Demon Ex Machina (Steampunk Cat short story)

  The Coffee Break Novelist (help for writers!)

  You Must Write (Heinlein’s rules for writers)

  Books By Michael Anderle

  For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit:

  www.lmbpn.com/ma-books/

  All LMBPN Audiobooks are Available at Audible.com and iTunes

  To see all LMBPN audiobooks, including those written by Michael Anderle please visit:

  www.lmbpn.com/audible

  Connect with The Authors

  Connect with Michael Anderle and sign up for his email list here:

  Website: http://lmbpn.com

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