And here we are on Day 21 of the 21 Days of Storytelling featuring The Dragon Collector, book one of the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga.

The story snippet of the day is chapter 18, The First Dragon Collector.

Now I’m gonna warn you: this is not a chapter filled with action and adventure. I almost didn’t include this and the next few chapters because I just wanted to get on with the action, but the practical me realized that Javan needed to know the geography of the land and background info of his heritage.

Could I have helped him learn it in a more exciting way? Probably. But this was the best I could do with the experience I had at the time of writing it, and although I did edit this section to break the chapters into smaller chunks, I chose to leave the way I told this part of the story when revising it later on. Why? Because no story is perfect. There are always ways to improve. I wanted to remind myself that it’s okay not to be perfect. I wanted to be content with doing my best with who I am and the writing skills I have at the time of writing any given story.

My mission is to get better with every book, to deliver a better story with each story I write. And when I wrote this section of the story, I had a map that an artist friend of mine drew for me. I referred to the map as I wrote, and that helped me picture it.

I wish I could share a picture of that posterboard-sized map on the blog, but my friend took it with her to create a digital version of the map. Then she moved, and we lost touch.

I’ll work on recreating it with my less than stellar artistic skills and having that for you on the blog. To be notified when it gets posted, be sure to join the Insiders email list at authordkdrake.com/insiders. You’ll also get access to the DK Drake Starter Library when you become an insider, and a digital version of The Dragon Collector is included in that starter library through today.

Today is also the last day for the rest of the year to apply for one of the three available slots of the Personalized Writing Workshops with me. If you want a writing mentor to help you write your story, be sure to apply today at authordkdrake.com/writingworkshops.

Enough preamble. Let’s get to the story, a story that includes a fantastical explanation for the Bermuda Triangle.

Apply here for a Personalized Writing Workshop with Author DK Drake.

Get Your Free DK Drake Starter Library that includes a digital manuscript of The Dragon Collector through November 10 here.

Snag one or all of the Dragon Stalker books here.

Join the Help! My Kid Wants to Write a Book Community here.