My name is Joanna Marie Bartholomew, author of Knights of Talleraunt. I grew up as much in the United States as I did in Brasil, which I believe has helped to enrich my imagination as well as broaden my horizon. Right now my life is a bit of a mess but it’s a work-in-progress.

While majoring in Elementary Education at Appalachian Bible College in Beckley, W.V., I had an assignment to write a children’s story. Most of my fellow students wrote about something from their lives but I saw it as an opportunity to focus on one of the many story ideas that I had meant to create. After I brainstormed for days I found some old notes about a girl knight and a talking dragon. I have always believed that there should be more dragons in stories, especially in a positive light, and so I knew this would be the perfect choice. Inspired from my childhood fantasies and stories, like the Chronicles of Narnia, I typed up a rough draft that I submitted to my professor.

Because the assignment was to be an illustrate work, I enlisted the help of my talented friend, Sarah Becker. By the time I was able to send her the manuscript so that she could draw the illustrations I only had roughly two days. Nevertheless, Sarah proved that she was more than up to the task. Her astounding art work further kindled my desire to finish Knights of Talleraunt.

Now I am working to flesh the characters out and add more detail to the story as well as the world in which it takes place. What kind of cultures do they have have? How does the history of Talleraunt affect its present conflict? Lillyan and Rygel are fun to develope as well as the rest of the cast yet there is still much to them that I have to discover.