We chat with author Meredith R. Lyons about A Dagger of Lightning, which is a romantic sci-fi fantasy that is ultimately a coming-of-age tale for its forty-five-year-old protagonist Imogen and balances high-intensity battles with witty banter and a slow-burn romance.
Hi, Meredith! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Absolutely! I was raised in New Orleans, froze in Chicago for seventeen years, and now live in between temperatures in Nashville with my husband and two panther-sized cats. I’m a former actor and competitive fighter. I own four swords and countless knives, but I keep all swashbuckling to the page these days. My favorite things are running at dawn and coffee and writing sessions with friends.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
Like a lot of writers, I started writing as a kid. I wrote my first novel when I was thirteen. Unfortunately, it was handwritten on that gray recycled paper they had in the ‘90s and some parts of it aren’t so legible now, but I still have it. It was six hundred and thirty-six pages. Obviously things have escalated.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss with the Berenstain Bears Bears in the Night as a close second. My sister and I used to like to act out books dramatically as we read them so it took about an hour. I’m sure our parents were thrilled.
- The one that made you want to become an author: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. This is why I wrote the book when I was thirteen. “If she can write a book at sixteen, I can do it at thirteen.” Obviously I lacked a bit of the follow through at thirteen.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Ooof, this changes weekly. Right now Quicksilver by Callie Hart, but largely because the MMC infuriates me. Fingers crossed he’ll redeem himself somehow, but he’s making it really tough.
Your latest novel, A Dagger of Lightning, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Romantasy with spaceships on top.
What can readers expect?
Readers can expect huge helpings of banter, sprinklings of pop culture references, a slow-burn, forbidden love romance, swashbuckling fantasy sword fights as well as a scifi space battle, found family, a middle-aged FMC who takes no shit and stands up for herself, a MMC you’ll fall in love with, a strong female friendship, and of course, a couple of misogynists that will stoke your rage. I had a blast writing this book and readers should expect to have fun reading it.
Where did the inspiration for A Dagger of Lightning come from?
I was experiencing my first major injury of my forties (Achilles tendonitis if you’re curious), realizing that this might ‘twinge’ for the rest of my life, and drowning myself in escapism fantasy to ignore my pain and frustration. I came up for air after immersing myself in a particularly vibrant world and was pissed when I couldn’t just summon my water glass into my hand. I had no magic. No super healing. Nothing. “Why can’t I get kidnapped by the fae and turned immortal?” I asked myself. “You’re too old, for one,” was my first response. And then I wondered what that would be like. A middle-aged main character who was already experiencing the throes of mortality, and was much less malleable than a twenty-something, gets yanked away from Earth and turned immortal. I wrote the first draft in twenty-eight days.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Imogen was fun the whole way through, she’s such a goofball, but she stands up for herself throughout. I get frustrated when I’m reading a book and screaming at the FMC, “Why are you letting him talk to you that way?” Perversely, writing Al’s character was really fun, because everyone out there has run into an ultra-privileged guy who gets away with whatever he wants and is sincerely convinced that he knows best and the rest of the world will fall in line. And that made writing Wells fun too. When he and Imogen were onstage, the dialogue wrote itself. And I wanted a MMC that truly had the FMC’s best interests in mind the entire time. They don’t all have to be bad boys. And the fight scenes. I love writing fight scenes.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Initially, Imogen was too chill about being kidnapped from Earth and everything she knew. I believe I was projecting a bit because I was so ready to volunteer to exit the planet. I also wrote Imogen as much more settled in her Earth life in the first draft. I had her happily married with a job, etc. My goal was to give her a lot to lose, but my betas pointed out that they wanted to be able to root for her eventual new relationship, and having her still grieving her amazing husband got in the way emotionally. I decided Imogen experienced enough loss getting yanked away from everything she’d ever known and downgraded her husband to a best-friend-turned-age-pact-fiance, then wrote in a unique way of processing her emotions. I didn’t want her crying over her old life the entire time, but it needed to affect her.
What’s next for you?
I’ve submitted Dagger’s sequel, currently titled A Horn of Onyx, to the publisher and I should be hearing back on that any day now. I have a few short stories slated to come out in anthologies this spring and summer, and I’m on submission with another fantasy and in the middle of drafting yet another one.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
I have been burning through books this year and have read so many good ones. I’ve been going on recommendations and next up are A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden, Lady of Steel and Straw by Erica Ivy Rodgers, Heartless Hunter by Kristin Ciccarelli, I’m sure there are more. I grab books when they come to me.
A Dagger of Lightning is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Powells, and Parnassus Books.
