Q&A With Steffanie Costigan 

Mickey Mikkelson was kind enough to connect me with author & journalist Steffanie Costigan. Steffanie’s debut novel Land Of The Dragon is available now. 

Q: Steffanie, would you please give a brief description of your debut novel Land Of The Dragon?

A: Land Of The Dragon is a riveting story containing the best fantasy and of historical fiction taking place during World War II. The main character and her siblings are transported to an alternate world filled with dragons, werewolves, elves, and unicorns.

Eleanor Kuhn is the female protagonist and finds secrets within her family which ends up leading her and her siblings to fleeing the country, but even the best plans never work, they end up being washed up on an island that turns out to be an alternate world. 

It is terrifying as it is beautiful, but it does not matter what world you are in there is still war, power, corruption, and fear. While there are numerous unexpected twists and turns throughout the book, it all comes down to one central theme… power corrupts, and people can always be turned to violence as a way to keep control. 

Q: In the press release Mickey provided, the love between the two protagonists in Land Of The Dragon, was inspired by you and your husbands love story. I think that’s very romantic! So, am I correct in assuming that the female & male characters are based off of you two & are there similarities with your own love story?

A: Yes and no, it was kind of an accident. I’ve been writing Land Of The Dragon since I was 12 years old. I didn’t expect to find a husband that was very close in personality to my male protagonist Andrew. But it happened and when it happened, it gave me a deeper understanding of love at first sight therefore I was able to go into more detail of the emotions behind the romance of Eleanor and Andrew. My husband I have to say is very close to Andrew’s personality. I did not write Andrew after my husband, I just happened to find a great man that was like Andrew in my book. I think every author puts a piece of themselves within their characters even if it’s not on purpose; there are some treats of Eleanor I can relate to but some I haven’t first hand experienced. 

Q: What lessons do you hope readers learn after reading Land Of The Dragon?

A: I hope people are able to recognize patterns from the history of World War II and apply an understanding in their own lives. What I mean by that is if we are not able to see the patterns of destruction in history then we won’t be able to recognize and stand for truths in our current society. It’s better to learn from history than to have to repeat it. 

Q: Are you currently writing a sequel to Land Of The Dragon or is the next book a standalone novel?

A: I am currently doing a re-write on Land Of The Dragon #2. If I wanted to, Land Of The Dragon could easily be a five to seven book series. I have the series well planned out. There are other different stories as well I have in the works. 

Q: How do you juggle writing books and journalism? Would it be fair to say that your journalism career helped when it came to writing your book?

A: Well, it’s not easy that is for sure. Sometimes my book writing gets neglected, other times I get inspiration for my books from my experiences with journalism and the stories I cover. To be honest I have been writing books a lot longer than I have been in journalism, but it has helped me to not over complicate my details in my book writing. Journalism is a very simple writing style where the information is given simply not as much detail is required as is within a novel.