the DRAGON of CRIPPLE CREEK
W A N T E D
The
Dragon of Cripple Creek
by Troy Howell
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
G E T - I T- H E R E
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Chosen for the American Booksellers Association New Voices list of 2011
-
{ Mollie, me, & Ye }
It
———————————————-———began with an idea:
Put a dragon at the bottom of an actual gold mine in twenty-first-century America.
So I did. Twice I had visited the Mollie Kathleen Mine in Cripple Creek, Colorado—once, when I was between college and a job, the second time with my wife and one-year-old son. He wore moccasins made by local Native Americans. Both times, I took the tour, one thousand feet below ground. It was impressive. I remember asking myself the same questions Kat asks in the story: “How many tunnels?” “Have they all been explored?” “Are there dead ends?” “Are there drop-offs?” Then, “Where does this one go?” And the most intriguing one of all, “Does it have more gold?”
That was all I had, early on—an idea. Dragons hoard gold, so naturally there’d be a dragon inhabiting such a place. But, wait—wasn’t that cliché, stereotype? I try to avoid cliché like the … you know, so what was I doing writing about a dragon hoarding gold? Also, I thought the dragon trend was wearing thin. This was five years ago, too, before even more dragon books and movies had come out.
But I really liked the idea. And I liked the setting. I was determined to make it work without it being cliché. I had given myself that challenge.
Part of the task then, was to remove how most of literature depicts dragons. This dragon would not breathe fire, or if it did, it would do so against its will. And there absolutely had to be another reason it hoarded gold besides the common motive, greed. So, its character began to emerge.
I decided it was a he. I don’t remember why. It may have been that if this dragon was going to be shy, tame, nice, it would be less cliché if it were a he. Or it may have been when I decided the protagonist would be a girl. A girl with fortitude. A girl who would breathe fire if she could.
Every writer of fiction knows you must have conflict. Get him up a tree, throw stones at him, get him down. That’s essential.
What began forming under my pen was an ancient dragon in distress, with a modern-day maiden setting out to rescue him.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Genre. I wanted to create a blend of genres. Fantasy typically involves a make-believe world, Narnia or Middle Earth, for examples. But this would be fantasy only because there was a dragon. Everything else would be real-world, with contemporary settings and situations. Because of the setting, it would also be a western, but without the cowboys and romance. As the media headlines within the story itself call Kat’s calamitous affair: a “Western Fairy Tale” and “The New American Tall Tale.” But, as Kat explains,
“It is not a tall tale, such as Pecos Bill or Paul Bunyan. They grew out of yarn spinning that passed from jaw to jaw in barrooms or around campfires. My story’s all true—I swear it on Ye’s golden snout.”
Ye. That was going to be the dragon’s name, and his name came in serendipitously. But I’ll get to that.
Some of the best works are a departure from a specific genre to become either a blend or a new genre altogether. I should say, however, I believe it’s best to create with no genre in mind or you’ll lock yourself in (unless, of course, that’s exactly what you wish to do: be a romance writer, say, or a writer of westerns), though in the end it’s good marketing sense to have some definitive way of placing what you’ve done, so book sellers will know where to shelve it and readers will know where to look. Rarely do we have the power of influence to make a new niche. But when it happens, minds shift, eyes open, walls move. Think of examples in music, art, and literature: the bold, chaotic expressions of Igor Stravinsky; the color-dappled paintings of those who quickly became called the Impressionists; the stream-of-consciousness narratives of James Joyce.
I didn’t have lofty expectations with my novel, but I did strive to be entertainingly unique. I wanted the reader to get her money’s worth, and more. I wanted to write the kind of book I would enjoy spending an afternoon with. I wanted to create the kind of characters you’d be amused by, sympathetic to, or even angry with. And I admit, I wanted to be clever with concept, not for the pride of cleverness, but for the playful joy of it.
Another ploy on my part related to the original idea: I knew of no stories of dragons inhabiting America. It was time for one to appear. This was both a marketing decision and a creative one.
Then I set genre aside. I’d see where this evolving idea would take me.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Here’s an early page from one of my notebooks, when I had yet to decide who the protagonist would be: the girl or the dragon. (Click on image to enlarge.)
-
I looked at a few works I admire, such as The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, where the unicorn plays the lead role, and Mary Pope Osborne’s Adaline Falling Star, a gem of a middle grade novel she wrote before moving on to her Magic Tree House series. Here the girl, Adaline, is the lead and narrates the story. I considered the plot that was forming in my mind and in my random notes. I settled on the girl for several reasons: I wanted to make an easy connection with the reader through her eyes, though I hadn’t yet decided whether to take a first-person narrative approach or a third-person one. I wanted to keep the dragon mysterious, and felt he would lose much of that if the reader were with him every step of the way. I discovered, too, that as the plot began to unfold the dragon had to be absent for a time.
For every lead character there is an objective, a desire she has—that is how we function as humans; it is at the core of life. It is true too, that with our attempts at fulfilling a desire there is conflict, something that challenges us or prevents fulfillment. Eventually, the girl’s objective would clash with that of the dragon, and consequently the objectives of both would clash with those of other characters. The conflicts would build throughout the book until the crescendo and climax at the end. Much of this is unplanned from the outset, but becomes clearer as the plot develops during the writing process. And the plot develops as the main character becomes dimensional, for it is the protagonist who determines the plot.
The story’s point of view, then, or POV, would be my protagonist’s, Kat. You would see the world through her eyes. You would meet the dragon when she does, and hopefully be sympathetic toward him as she is, and be sympathetic toward Kat, as she digs herself deeper and deeper into a plot that results from her own pursuits and choices. I knew I wanted to stage a modern gold rush in the book, and I knew Kat was becoming just the kind of girl who could trigger it.
It was settled: first-person narration. But considering that first-person narration is always personal and selective—that is, the information the narrator gives is filtered by her range of focus and understanding—the author must provide the reader with additional information that the narrator may be missing, and do so by subtle means, so you can read between the lines and make conclusions or at least guesses without having the narrative dream broken.
This all has to do with voice. I believe voice refers to several things that are woven together: the author’s word choice and sentence construction; the narrator’s telling of the tale, whether it’s in first person or third, broad omniscience or limited; and the resulting harmonics. These create a work that may be as lyrical as Ursula K. LeGuin’s, or as matter of fact as Hemingway’s. Voice is almost entirely conscious choice on the author’s part, but sympathetic tones also occur within the work, and this is a part that cannot be taught; it’s a phenomenon akin to the psychoacoustic tones that hover beyond the combined notes of an a cappella group.
So, Kat would be the teller of the tale, and it would be her very own tale, in which her character—that is, her personality and nature—would dictate to me the twists and turns of the plot, as it wove through the lives of a cast of characters. The cast was assembling—I could hear murmurs from the hoards of gold seekers waiting to be let in.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
As an aside, here are several sketches I drew in anticipation of seeing the finished book. I do this to keep my vision alive. (Click on images to enlarge.)
From the beginning, I wanted the words dragon and Cripple Creek to be in the title, though there was a time when the publisher suggested totally different titles, and I came up with 20 or so as options. My original intent was to have something clunky and whimsical, the way Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court has such an effect. I’m quite pleased with the final title choice.
The idea here is a torn Wild West poster effect. As to the sinograph, the dragon is a Chinese immigrant, and I thought it may be useful to have this at some point, since the plan was for me to illustrate the book.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
As a novelist, I don’t choose names for my characters randomly. I choose names with a lot of care and often after a fair amount of research. Sometimes I’ve made a long list of names for just one character before settling on the right one.
The reasons behind the naming process are varied. It may be the sound of the name. It may be a literary connection. It may be the meaning. Symbolism. Wordplay. We usually associate a name with something or someone we’re familiar with. The name Abe, for example can convey a particular personality and even physical traits. Some names are chosen to enhance a theme. Other reasons have to do with the time period and culture, including trends, that the individual comes from. Some names have a stigma attached to them, such as Judas.
Here are some names from The Dragon of Cripple Creek, and the reasons I chose them.
Katlin “Kat” Graham -Being the main character, Kat’s name is loaded. She’s curious by nature; her brother reminds her that “curiosity killed the cat.” She’s independent, yet domestic. She’s quiet, but she can caterwaul when cornered. Her full name, Katlin, has a Western ring to it, as in George Catlin, painter of the Old West and native Americans. Her last name, Graham, is an echo from two references: Katharine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post, since journalism and the media play a big part in Kat’s catastrophes, and Kenneth Grahame, author of dreamy childhood depictions and The Reluctant Dragon. So there’s symbolism, representative of her nature or personality; name association; theme; and in one part of the story, the dragon Ye tells us the meaning of her name—pure heart—again, reflecting her nature.
Ye - Besides the play on words when Kat first meets him— “You are Ye?” —Ye is a Chinese name, meaning light, bright and in some regions, leaf. Though I keep it vague, I imply that Ye originated from East Asia. Also, it is simple and monosyllabic, as names of mythological and fantastical beings tend to be, such as Ra, Thor, Zeus, Smaug.
Rex Havick- A rough-and-tumble private eye, Rex claims he “keeps the law, minus the order.” His name conveys his character. Though his namesake phrase, wreaks havoc is pronounced a tad differently, it’s close enough. He is also somewhat of a human Tyrannosaurus rex—antique and fiercely carnivorous.
Rose Robbins- An aggressive if not slightly abusive journalist, Rose is pretty, ambitious, and has thorns. For Rose, everything’s red, literally—red lips, red clothes, red car, and she’s caught red-handed after having read Kat’s journal.
There are references to literary and musical works. The names Moth and Robin are from A Midsummer Nights Dream. In addition to describing the man’s birdlike stature, the name Crane is from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Cotton-Eyed Joe is taken from a James Taylor song, Baby Buffalo, which describes someone breathing their last, or out of touch with reality perhaps, as Kat’s mom is. Listen to some of the lyrics: “Are you there? Can you hear me? …hold you so close…never let go. What’s become of old Cotton-Eyed Joe?” Also, this character, who appears as a skeleton in the story, symbolizes the blinding effect of greed.
Speaking of greed, the name Lucas sounds like lucre, as in “filthy lucre.” Lucas is the son of a wealthy woman, and identifies with the greed theme of the story.
And on and on it goes, the naming game.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Here’s a recent Q & A session with Wild Girls Mother-Daughter Book Club of Books Inc. in San Francisco . Independent editor and store manager, Summer Dawn Laurie, chose The Dragon of Cripple Creek to be their September read.
WG Does Mom wake up?
TH Whether Mom wakes or not depends on the reader; that is why I left it open ended. I believe we all live by hope—hope for something or someone, something better, a dream to come true, some promise yet to be fulfilled. How much hope do you have?
WG Did you introduce any magic into the pearl that would wake up Mom?
TH In Chinese lore, pearls are symbolic of both life and death. They are also associated with dragons. Since a pearl would give eternal life to a dragon, I realize there may be some life-restoring effect when one is placed in Pearl’s palm, especially one that’s been in the possession of a dragon. Who knows whether Ye added his own touch of magic?
WG Did you mean for the dragon to be a stand-in for, or rather to
represent, the mother? Or what about dinosaurs?
TH Yes, Ye and Mom are symbolic parallels. Regarding dinosaurs, I believe dragons were a form of dinosaur. The book of Job mentions the fire-breathing leviathan, which is, to me, obviously a dragon or dinosaur. It’s noteworthy that God is the one who mentions it to Job.
WG What happened to the Warrens? We’d hoped to have them come back
into the story.
TH Some characters win your heart, like the Warrens did mine, yet they also serve a function. (All characters, both minor and major, serve a function.) The Warrens served their function, and as happens in reality, they become a good memory. How often do we meet the dearest people, only to lose them in the scurry of life?
WG Who was your inspiration for Dillon?
TH As I said earlier, every character serves a function or purpose. When I first created Kat, I felt she needed someone within her own age range to relate with outside the adult realm. There had to be someone who would eventually be involved in helping her balance her thoughts and actions. That person had to be a sibling, since she was not taking a friend on this trip. A sister would have posed the risk of being competitive, so an older brother was the answer. Hence Dillon. His name came naturally to me; it sounded right and had a Western touch to it. I also listened to a lot of early Bob Dylan while writing The Dragon of Cripple Creek—it provided background and mood—and Dylan has a way with words, as does Dillon. I suppose, too, Dillon is a teen version of myself.
WG What was your inspiration for Rex’s room? We love his zany decor!
TH Rex’s room is as random as Rex himself. Much of it reflects Wonderland—the Mad Tea Party in particular. It is the Mad Tea Party. There’s a door for a table, with a mouse hole (the Dormouse); a bat chasing stars on his computer screen (Twinkle-twinkle, little bat); Rex drinks syrupy tea (tea and treacle); he has a hat collection… In fact, Rex is the Mad Hatter. He says when the Grahams enter, “There’s hardly no room…” Which is a distorted echo of what Alice is told when she arrives at the Hatter’s: “No room! No room!”
WG Could this story work in any other location than Colorado?
TH No. Though there are other gold mines with tours, I don’t know of any as rich with detail and setting as the Mollie Kathleen Mine. Speaking of Mollie Kathleen, she’s as much a strong female character as any in the story (Kat, Pearl, Rose Robbins, Miranda Bates), and the mine represents her pursuit of a dream—a dream come true. Cripple Creek is a gambling town, which is critical to carrying the theme of greed. Pikes Peak connects us to the grand and glorious, besides representing idyllic America.
WG Are there plans for this to become a movie?
TH I wish, I hope! My agent, Sara Crowe, is good at selling movie rights, but it also takes a buyer. Incidentally, I pictured Kat’s story as a movie the entire way through as I wrote. I see cinematically as I write.
WG Do you have a list of all the “Alice in Wonderland” references? Some of us started lists but then got taken up by the story and we’re
sure we missed a bunch.
TH After skimming the novel, I came up with about 50 references to “Alice.” Some are wordplay, some are description, some are character and name, some are event, some are theme. The main themes are dreaming and falling into fantasy. Besides the dream theme, the first reference is to the walrus, p 6. Also on 6 is the Duchess. (By the way, there are many typos in the book having to do with capitalization and proper nouns; one of them is Duchess.) I introduce the keyhole on p 10, which appears later in Rex’s place, the keyhole through which is a garden (on his roof). Kat uses forms of the word “curious.” She takes a fall like Alice, and speaks of things “Alice” herself. In Ye’s chamber is a chessboard with the pawn waiting to be made queen (pgs 45 & 262—an event that prematurely and calamitously occurs when Kat is standing—grown tall—above the tumult in the hotel lobby, p 169. Max is the White Rabbit, and his last name is the habitat of rabbits. While at the Warrens, Kat sees herself in the looking glass, and there’s a red heart stitched onto the robe she wears. Several other references are: Harold is the herald (the Messenger, Haigha) in “Through the Looking Glass;” the man who allegedly stole the gold from Kat’s room is holding a cushion like Tweedledee and Tweedledee as he fights with Rex; playing cards (queen, king, jack, etc.); the maid sees words “Take Me” on the nugget (”Drink Me” “Eat Me”); Jabberwock, p 44; Carpenter, p 195; Dinah, unicorn, p 204; large mushroom, p 209; Sad Willie is Father William; clock face stuck on 6 o’clock (Mad Tea Party time), p 222; drummed out of town (Lion and Unicorn), p 235; soup tureen, fire poker, p 238; soup of the evening, p 246; stray croquet ball, p 283; haddock, p 289; “all the king’s horses…” p 294; pearls come from oysters … and on it goes.
WG We are always interested in how book covers are conceived and created. We know you created the art, but how did that particular image come about?
TH The best way to answer this is to have you go to my Facebook page, The Dragon of Cripple Creek, where you’ll find an album called “the jacket art: from concept to creation.” I had little say about the jacket once the original art left my hands. It was an editorial and marketing decision to delete Kat from the picture, probably to make it more accessible to potential boy readers. But how Ye ended up being green is beyond me. Kat herself says, “But the dragon’s not gr—” p220.
-
WG What is your next inspiration?
TH I have several, but the project I’m currently on is another middle grade novel called “Hans Andersen’s Ghost,” in which a day-dreaming boy named Skim meets Andersen’s restless ghost in the Copenhagen Cemetery, and is sent to Andersen’s storybook world when he dons his mysterious top hat, only to discover a world more real than his own unpleasant life, and in fact, terrifying. But he manages to prevent the girl with the red shoes from having her feet chopped off, resulting in Andersen’s tale to be rewritten, and the ghost finally finding rest.
WG What were some of your favorite books to read when you were in
middle school?
TH I read everything by Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Tolkien, also Peter S. Beagle’s “The Last Unicorn” and “A Fine and Private Place.”
Thanks Summer and Wild Girls, for choosing my book to share.
Summer Troy, I’m simply blown away by your thoughtful and inspiring responses.