Dear readers, tonight with us is a man defending his planet from an alien invasion. He’s here to tell about his friends in this, and about being a half dragon.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

That’s a loaded question. I lost my mother when I was six in a fire. Talk about things that will fark you up. When Mim’Aza took me in, I did okay for a while. We lived in a run-down neighborhood just outside of the five Spines of Gullton. I had a huge crush on Jimey, her son, but it never went anywhere—we were basically brothers, so that would have been weird. *shudders* But soon enough I left and moved out on my own, finding a hidey-hole cavern under the city to make my own.

Did you have any favourite toys as a child? Any cherished memories?

I try not to think about that time too much. It reminds me of the fire. My mother… well, she was a drunk and her carelessness started the fire, but still… she was my mom. All right? And living with Mikm’Aza, we were always dirt poor. But there was this one thing. Lean in. Closer. It’s a secret. See, one time, out in Lander’s Field, I found this… well, not thing. More of a him. This little talking sphere who told me his name was Spin. I know. Weird, right? But on a thief’s honor, I swear it’s true. And now he’s one of my best friends. Does that count?

What do you do now?

Well… that’s also a bit sketchy to answer. Why are you asking so many questions? Are you with the city guard? You know you have to tell me if I ask, right? No? All right. So… yeah, I was a thief. For a long time. And I was really good at it. But then the whole steal-a-package and swallow-a-dragon thing happened, and everything changed. I guess I’m a dragon rider now? Or a world saver? That will really piss Silya off, even more than when Aik chose me over her. But I’m keeping my options open. Once a thief, always a thief. Right?

What can you tell us about your latest adventure?

Let’s catch you up. I swallowed a dragon. Silya became the Hencha Queen, and talks with the plants, or something like that. Aik… well, Aik found a gauntlet, and he’s been weird ever since. Oh and he kissed me (and more) but then I took off with a couple of dragons to Mountainhome – think of it as Dragnlandia. Only we call ‘em Verents around here. Then the world went sideways, these weird alien fireflies showed up, and Silya and I got caught up in the whole saving the world business. Only, neither of us knows what happened to Aik. I’m pretty sure he’s my soulmate, and I’ll do whatever I have to, to get him back. Even if it does mean saving the world from fungus-like alien invaders. So I have a lot on my plate.

What did you first think when you first encountered the alien fireflies?

The first time I ran into those weird little red fireflies, I thought maybe they were pissed off orinths, or cherry flies with an attitude. But those suckers sting! And then things started getting bad in the Highlands, and that big mountain Anghar Mor practically exploded with those things, and now we’re not sure what we’re dealing with.

What was the scariest thing in your adventures?

How would you feel if you innocently stole a package, and then something white and scaly inside burst out of its shell and forced its way down your throat? I mean… not my kind of deepthroating! And then the changes. Worse than puberty. Scaly arms, retractable claws, and all the while worried it was gonna affect my… down there. Don’t wanna be crass here. But how’s that going to affect my love life if… down there… isn’t quite… human anymore? And don’t give he that “There’s someone for everyone” load of aurshit.

What is the worst thing about being half dragon?

Well… okay, so you have to get naked every time you merge with your beast. Plus they’re in your head all the godscursed time. Even when you are… *whispers* having sex. They don’t know how to mind their own business.

What is the best thing about it?

The flying. Green skies and goose eggs, the flying. When Breeze and I are merged, soaring above the Highlands or the Heartland or the five spines of Gullton itself… there’s nothing like it.

Tell us a little about your friends.

Well, if you’d asked me a month ago, I would have said Aik and Spin. Aik and I have been friends for years, though things have been a bit rough since he joined the Guard. I mean, a thief and a guard, how’s that gonna work? Plus Aik has always had a crush on me, but I’d let him down easy. And then wham-boom-bang, everything changed that one night at Silya’s mother’s house.

And Spin—I call him my familiar. He prefers ay-eye, but that never made sense to me. Still, since I found him, he’s had my back, which is more than I can say about the rest of humanity.

And Silya? Too soon to tell. She hated my with a white-hot passion – maybe it was the whole stealing-her-man thing? But now she’s cooled down, and we kind-of sort-of don’t hate each other any more? Though I still find her a bit of a pompous ass at times…

Any romantic involvement?

I mean, it still makes me itchy as aur fur to think about it. But… obviously, Aik. It was only that one time – so far – but something changed. Now I think about him all the time, and wonder what happened to him…

Whom (or what) do you really hate?

Whatever’s destroying the Highlands. It’s… how would you feel if a beautiful place you loved was desecrated overnight?

What’s your favourite drink, colour, and relaxing pastime?

That’s easy. A cup of hot akka, the bitterer, the better. Wake you up out of a dead sleep, that will. Color? Black. Because I look good in black, and it’s perfect for hiding a thief at night… And pastime? Well, thieving, clearly, because I am really good at it. But lately? It has to be the flying.

What does the future hold for you?

Well, I haven’t gotten there yet, clearly. There’s still a world to save. But assuming I survive it? Aik and I have to figure things out. They made me a Councillor for Landfield… the first ever. Do I stay? Or go with Breeze and his kin back to Mountainhome? What about Aik? Would he be happy out in the backside of the world, even with me? And we’ve only explored a small part of our world. Imagine how far we could go a verentback…

Can you share a secret with us, which you’ve never told anyone else?

[the writer steps in] Raven doesn’t know this, but everything he and the other humans on Tharassas know about the destruction of Earth may be… well, I’ll just say it… wrong. We’ll see…

Scott lives with his husband Mark in a yellow bungalow in Sacramento. He was indoctrinated into fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine. He devoured her library, but as he grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were. He decided that if there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends. A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, Liminal Fiction and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality, and was the committee chair for the Indie Authors Committee at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for almost three years.

You can find Raven on the pages of The Death Bringer, book 4 in The Tharassas Cycle.

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