The Dragon Sonnets began in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, almost 20 years before the book was published. I’d injured my shoulder in a fall the previous day and stayed behind while my family skied in a snowstorm that left cars looking like ghosts in four feet of new snow. Maybe it’s no accident that Glyss, my dragon main character, was found an orphan on a snowy mountaintop in the very first sonnet I wrote that day.

Originally, the plan was to write 27 sonnets. Then the story veered off in unexpected directions and reached the finish line at 154. Along the way, my son, Tamlin, lured me into completing the book. When my enthusiasm for 14-line rhyming puzzles was flagging, he propelled me forward: “Mom, I think the punitive approach would work best for you.” He set deadlines for me to write the next four sonnets, with a penalty of $25 a sonnet if I didn’t finish on time.

When the first draft of the words was finally complete, I remembered an artist whose amazing work I’d seen years ago in an SCBWI portfolio showcase. Miraculously, I’d saved the scrap of paper with her name scribbled on it and emailed K.A.K. Lecky to see if she might be interested in designing the cover for The Dragon Sonnets. Our collaboration took off from there and evolved into the front and back covers, a different dragon border illustration for every chapter, and a wonderful friendship. Her art truly brings the words to visual life!

Katherine Link