Interview with the genius behind the thought-provoking title 'A Dance to Wake a Dragon'

Today’s blog post promises to be an exciting journey as we delve into the remarkable  work of Richard Pratt, a gifted author whose book, "A Dance to Wake a Dragon," not only showcases Pratt's storytelling prowess but also invites readers to reflect on the deeper  connections between our choices and the world around us. As you immerse yourself in  this phenomenal tale, you'll discover how the themes of compassion and environmental  awareness are intricately woven into the fabric of the story, making it a must-read for  anyone interested in literature that inspires change.  

Join us as we celebrate this extraordinary book and the thought-provoking ideas it  presents by engaging with the genius who brought it to life!  

Hello Richard, and a big welcome to the blog!  

First of all, your writing talent is truly impressive! Do you believe this skill is something innate or has it developed over time? 

I am flattered and delighted by your opinion, for which: thank you. If what you say is true,  then I suspect it follows from two things: having always been a reader; and also, having come to writing later in life. I think, maybe, that one has to hear a huge number of voices before one can find one’s own. Also, I have always read very widely and not in any particular genre. Although I have written a book that is broadly classified as ‘fantasy’, I don’t really read a lot of books that are generally considered to be in that category. I think that maybe that has helped to build a broad range of influences. And I was never in  a hurry to be a writer so, by the time I finally got round to doing something, I had built up a deeper reservoir of influences than I would have had if I had started when I was younger. And in addition, I love poetry. I read a lot of poetry, and I think that doing so is vital if one wants to use language for any purpose, least of all, storytelling. 

Wow, what a beautifully crafted response! And now your own contributions are certain to be a major influence on many as well!

Speaking of your contributions, how did you come up with the idea for your book "The Dance to Wake a Dragon" and what was the inspiration behind its captivating plot?

It actually came from a course I was working on with students in the school where I was  teaching at the time. The group I was with were developing individual projects, and one  expressed an interest in writing a fantasy genre story, and it just sounded like something  fun to try so I said that I would have a go as well. These were Year 10 students and I had  the idea that I wanted to write a story that they would remember fondly from a couple of  years earlier so I set the target at 12 to 14 years old and started with younger versions of them as an idea for the audience. But I had no idea how to begin so I consulted the I  Ching, with which you may be familiar. In deciding to begin at the beginning, I chose the  opening line which translates loosely as ‘The Dragon Lies Beneath’ and that set me off  with the idea of a sleeping dragon who needed to be awoken. The rest sort of wrote  itself, and new ideas would come to me as I was going along, which meant that occasionally, I would have to go back and rewrite a whole bunch to wrap in whatever I  had just thought of.  

How incredible! We’re grateful for you sharing that origin story with us; it’s very inspiring. Now, could you share a little about your journey through the writing process? What were the challenges and joys you encountered? 

I began by working alongside the students as they worked on their projects, and then, as  the school term ended, finished it off over a summer vacation. And then filed it and left  it with a view to go back to it one day but, also, feeling rather inhibited about doing  anything with it. One day, during COVID, like many of us, having a bit more time on my  hands than I was used to, I pulled it out and went through it and rewrote a lot. And then did nothing until, to my great good fortune, I met Graham Earnshaw, and with his support, prepared it for publication. The main challenge, I would say, was my own inhibition. Getting over that barrier was a journey.  

Well, we are so pleased you overcame that barrier because your work is a gift to admire! Diving deeper into your book now, it illustrates a complex culture; what influenced you to develop such an  interesting cultural dimension and where did your inspiration come from? 

There are , of course, a mix of elements. I was living in the city of Hangzhou at the time,  and was familiar with the bamboo forests in that part of China. I have an interest in  Chinese philosophy and culture and of course these are significant inspirations. The  depiction of the dragon, clearly, is much more of an Asian style than a European one,  and the colours and names of the dragons are drawn from a Chinese tradition. However,  my home is in the city of York, and I am fond of the steampunk style, so as the  landscape shifts from the forest to the city, I think you can see that transition also.  Important for me was to dodge fantasy stereotypes, so there are no dwarves, or swords  and sorcery type things, but I needed to create constraints in the society so this is a  world where the ability to harness electricity for power has not yet been discovered. This  helped me to keep the steampunk technology, which I enjoy. Gunpowder is not invented  until the second book so we don’t yet have guns. Often, ideas just come from  something I see or hear, and then I decide that I want to include it.  

Absolutely, and without a doubt, this originality is a defining attribute that distinguishes it, much like the unique characters you have developed!

We’d love to know, among them all, which character do you consider your favourite, and what qualities make them special to you?

Of course, it is Shengli. She is vulnerable, but brave, and loyal. She messes up  sometimes but digs deep to put things right. She has known great sadness, and she  experiences it again in the story, but she grows in strength from these experiences, and  finds joy in her friendships, and in music and dance. 

Of the other characters, though, I have a soft spot for the King who has only a small part  in this book but I enjoyed writing him so much that he features rather more in the next  story.

Amazing news!…Shifting to a part of the narrative that may not have been as enjoyable for you to compose...there is a particularly devastating part of the story that made many of our evaluators cry. How did you find the experience of writing this scene?

Without risking spoilers, I’m fairly sure I know the passage you refer to, and I remember  writing and rewriting it, and thinking so carefully about how to get it right. And doing  careful research into the reality of the situation so that my description is based on real world experiences. But I don’t want to give too much away. I think the impact of that  scene depends a little on shock value. 

Agreed. No spoilers here! The story also mentions several times the concept of eating locally grown food, especially  in season. What is your take on this? Do you grow any of your own produce? 

I was fortunate to grow up in a home with a large garden, where my father grew  vegetables, and we had home made jams, and chutneys ,and pickles, and beer ,and  fruit wines, and so on. Some that memory certainly feeds into the book. Living in central  Beijing, now, I don’t do any of these things, but even in the centre of a large city, Chinese  society is still very in touch with cycle of seasonal foods, and the availability of fresh  produce. It is a quality that is under some threat from the advance of processed  foodstuffs, and the absurdly misnamed ‘convenience meals’, but I place great trust in  the good sense of Chinese people and the resilience of their culinary culture to ensure  that we will still have proper vegetable markets in our cities for a long time to come. And  hopefully long enough for us to turn the tide on the growth of these more harmful food  practices. 

Wonderfully put, and your book even touches on many ecological themes in a meaningful way. In your opinion, what is the best action we can take to improve our planet? 

I don’t think my opinion is going to be very original, and in the context of this award, is  fairly predictable. As individuals, adopting what we all now identify as a vegan lifestyle is  the single most effective step you can take. That needs to be mindful, of course. We can  all equally be junk-food vegans. But one of the qualities I appreciate about our  community is that we do think about these questions a little more than is normal, so  mindful veganism is more the norm, I believe.  

More generally, we need to really need to learn to break the spell of ‘economic growth’  as an end in itself. But something like that can seem so abstract and overwhelming that  it has the effect of disabling people. 

Indeed, and once more articulated with such great clarity! Building upon that response...you do an excellent job of portraying animals as companions of the planet, rather than  a food source, which is something we feel very strongly about here at VCA! Can you  provide further details on this viewpoint? What was the origin of this realisation, and  what inspired you to engage in dialogue about it and strive to foster change? 

There are so many elements to that question that it is hard to pick out a single one, but I  think it is true that we all have the capacity to become numb to cruelty and injustice, if  we allow it to happen, or are in a situation where we develop that numbness as a form of  self-defence, and so it takes an active mind to prevent that from happening. In my own  case, after a number of years of being vegan, there were some changes in my life when I  lost my way and reverted to carnism. Of course I regret that now, and have found my  way again, but I know how easy it is to lose that intelligence. I think that keeping the  conversation alive is one way to keep that mindfulness working at least in yourself. I  know people complain when vegans talk about being vegan, and I, for one, try not to be  like that because I don’t want to conform to that negative stereotype, but if we don’t  keep exercising our minds and hearts, somehow, we can lose our way. Or, at least, I can.  So putting my ideas into a story is my way of engaging in dialogue, in finding out who I  am, in terms of what I believe, and then expressing that in a way that I hope can  entertain, and encourage, but not annoy. 

So accurate! You provide such wisdom through your words!...Before we bring this to a close, what are your plans for future literary projects? Is there anything new on the horizon  that you can share? 

A follow-up to this story, provisionally entitled ‘A Dance for a Lost Dragon’, is currently  with the publisher, enjoying the attention of an editor, and preparing for what I hope will  be a release date later this year, but that timing is out of my hands. I also have a book due out next year that is an introduction to traditional Chinese poetry for non-specialist readers and that is of rather a different character to these novels. But in some ways it is, actually, linked in some respects and I hope and believe that it will appeal to people  who have enjoyed the ideas and character of the ‘Dance’ books. And if it turns out that there are readers for these books well, I would love to keep writing. But that is probably  thinking far enough ahead for now. 

That is brilliant news, and on behalf of all of us at VCA, we are excited to witness your accomplishments unfold!

Finally, and most importantly, where can our audience secure a copy of this impressive work?  

It should be available through any good bookshop as the publisher, Earnshaw Books, is  served by an international distributor but if it isn’t, yet, prominently displayed in your local retailer, then you can find it through Amazon, for Kindle or in paperback.  Alternatively, it can be bought directly from the publisher at www.earnshawbooks.com

If you haven't had the opportunity to read the book yet, we strongly recommend that you do. The insights and answers he shared during this conversation are merely a small preview of the depth and brilliance that await you in its pages!

Don't forget to explore the links below, and thank you for reading, friends!

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