dragons breath 02 - dancing with flames (42 page)
Read dragons breath 02 - dancing with flames Online
Authors: susan illene
Tags: #Urban Fantasy/New Adult/Post-apocalyptic
Bitkal:
Ritual which decides who will become the next pendragon.
Camrium:
Leather or suede-like clothing worn by shifters and the humans living with them that is fireproof and spelled with magic for protection.
Cryas:
Soul.
Fushka (pl.- fushkan):
Fool, idiot.
Jakhal:
The clan seat of power—their capital.
Kederrawien:
Dimension the dragons lived in for the past thousand years.
Petroes:
Dragonflies (not the ones native to earth) who only come for a short period each summer. They can breathe tiny flames that will harm humans much like being sunburned.
Shifitt:
Dragon curse word similar to damn or shit.
Shiggara:
Stasis or limbo (an invisible place for dragons to store a small amount of supplies).
Stinguise:
A foul smelling juice that can temporarily cover up other scents.
Sude camria:
Black Camria, the plant used to manufacture the garments worn by dragon shifters while in human form. The end result can have a leather or suede-like appearance, depending on the process used to weave the cloth together.
Toriq (pl.- toriqan):
Clan/Tribe.
Zaphiriam
: A fire-proof metal with qualities similar to steel that dragons use to forge weaponry. It is black with red veins running through it.
Zishkat:
Dragon dung.
Zorya:
The dragon goddess.
Dragon Clan Names
Shape-shifter clans
:
Taugud
- Clan in mid-western U.S. (southeast Oklahoma) that Aidan belongs to.
Straegud
- Clan in eastern U.S.
Craegud
- Clan in western U.S.
Faegud
- Clan in north/northeast Texas with a mixture of pure and shape-shifter dragons.
Pure dragon clans
:
Shadowan
- Dragon clan in Oklahoma that holds the
northeast
part of the state, as well as parts of Arkansas and Kansas.
Thamaran
- Dragon clan in Oklahoma that holds the
west
side of the state and the Texas panhandle.
Ghastanan
- Dragon clan in Texas that holds the central portion, including Dallas.
About Susan Illene
Instead of making the traditional post high school move and attending college, Susan joined the U.S. Army. She spent her eighteenth birthday in the gas chamber — an experience she is sure is best left for criminals. For eleven years she served first as a human resources specialist and later as an Arabic linguist (mostly in Airborne units). Though all her duty assignments were stateside, she did make two deployments to Iraq where her language skills were put to regular use.
After leaving the service in 2009, Susan returned to school to study history with a focus on the Middle East at the University of Oklahoma. She no longer finds many opportunities to test her fighting abilities in real life, unless her husband is demanding she cook him a real meal (macaroni and cheese apparently doesn’t count), but she’s found a new outlet in writing urban fantasy heroines who can.
For more information visit:
www.susanillene.com
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Acknowledgments
As always, I have a lot of people to thank. My family has been a huge support this time around. I spent many weekends at my father’s house writing, and he helped read over chapters, providing a quick second opinion when I needed it. My Aunt Connie and Uncle Jerry also graciously allowed me to write at their house when I needed a quiet place to go (I’ve gotten tired of writing at home and needed to change my venues up to keep me motivated). They fed me many great dinners while I was over there on weekdays and they gave me a hard time if I wasn’t working on the book enough. Though I told them to do that, it was nice that they really stuck to it! This book might have been late if not for all my family pushing me to get it done.
My husband has also been great about making sure I have everything I need (often running to the store so I am stocked up on energy drinks) and he is a semi-willing listener to my story ideas. For all that I harass him about his lack of help, he truly is there for me when I need him.
Special thanks to my editor, Angela, and to all my beta readers. This book would have all sorts of issues without the helpful input and edits I’ve gotten from you all. Thanks to my cousin-in-law, Caleb, for continuing to hound me for so long about having a garrote for a weapon in one of my books. I know it felt like I’ve been ignoring you for a couple of years now about that, but you finally got your wish once I had a good use for it! Also, to Crystal Shannon, who won the contest for picking the name of a new shifter character (Lorcan) in Dancing with Flames.
A huge thanks to my cover artists. The list is long for how many people it takes to produce the Dragon’s Breath Series covers, but it includes: Claudia at Phat Puppy Art, Catie (the Font Diva), Teresa Yeh (photographer), Isabella Capri (Model), and last but not least Jeff Brown for the beautiful background on the cover. Also to my design brain storming team- Rachel, Kristy, Sarah, and Heather. They help give me great concept ideas and feedback for my covers and track down the best places to get the model’s wardrobe.
For research on the book, I have to thank the folks over at the Moore-Lindsey Historical House Museum for helping me with research material. Various businesses and/or their employees in the downtown Norman area were kind enough to answer as many of my questions as they could about the buildings there. Thanks to Trevor at 107.7 radio for stepping away from a broadcast he was doing at Homeland grocery store so that I could ask him how his station transmits from various locations around town and how complicated it could be in an apocalyptic situation. He was kind enough to not look at me like I was too crazy.
The list goes on and I can’t possibly thank (or remember) everyone who has contributed in some way. There are so many of you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your help. And last but not least, thanks to all my readers. Your motivation and love for my books are what helps keep me going.
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