The Invisible Dragon- A Guest Post from Peter Maxian

A guest post from Peter Maxian, author of The Invisible Dragon Adventures, who interviewed me about my 'starring' role in the stories about Christina BraveStar.  I'm posting this on my blog at his request.

Peter: Hi Christina. I wrote the Christina BraveStar adventures on a whim, after reading some of your writing and your tweets. How does it feel to be immortalized in a fairytale character?

Christina: Awesome! Surreal! Like I've stepped into an alternate reality or parallel universe!

Peter: I'm glad to hear that, the stories are meant to inspire those sorts of feelings. Does the "fairytale you" inspire the "real you" somehow?

Christina: That's kind of hard to say. I'd describe it more as looking through a mirror where you see things the way someone else sees you. I'm not entirely certain if I'm making sense. Of course, the Christina BraveStar stories are based a mixture of my daydreams and real life experiences. What I find fascinating is what is apparently interesting to a third party - in this case, you. When I tweet or blog my random thoughts and experiences, I see them from a completely different perspective than the Invisible Dragon does. Stuff that I may throw out there because it's running through my head, that I regard as rather mundane, becomes quite captivating when incorporated into an Invisible Dragon adventure. I suppose it'd be accurate to say that Invisible Dragon stories bring to light some of the splendor of my everyday life and daydreams that I'd miss otherwise. In essence, the common becomes beautiful. On a related note, however, it is most certainly inspiring that a fairy tale version of me exists, and the nickname of Christina BraveStar couldn't possible be better. I love it!

Peter: Writing the stories does something similar for me - they help me see the world through the eyes of the Invisible Dragon. Have you got any ideas for your own BraveStar stories?

Christina: This is kind of a tough question to answer. The best way I know how to answer it is with a cooking analogy, so here goes. You could ask me if I have ideas for baking a cake. I'd say, "Sure." And if I were to go to the kitchen I would come out with a delicious chocolate cake, with homemade frosting. It might have bananas mixed into it to make it super moist. I'd love eating it.

However, if I told you that I sure was in the mood for a chocolate cake, and you went to the kitchen and came back with one, it might have cream cheese filling and an icing of dark chocolate was poured onto the cake when it was still hot.  The frosting would have permeated all the levels of the cake, but from the outside, it looked just like a chocolate cake. Then, when I took a bite, I'd have an explosion of flavor, and it'd be amazing because I had no idea the frosting went down into the cake and wasn't just on the top. Nor would I know that it had filling, until it was in my mouth. The combination of the surprise of the awesome filling and frosting would make it a more dynamic experience than if I made my own cake.

You see, I could tell you exactly what I'd like to see myself do in an Invisible Dragon adventure, but then part of the surprise would be lost. I'm a writer, and I could write my daydreams, most certainly. I write magic into the characters of my books each time I write. But there I'm the magician, not the recipient of the magic. If I were to say what I wanted to see in an Invisible Dragon adventure, the "secret ingredients" so to speak, would become known to me. Some of the "magic" that I experience when I read the stories the Invisible Dragon creates would be gone. When my hodgepodge of thoughts are filtered through the Invisible Dragon into a unique story, they become magical, not just for others, but for me as well.

...At this point in the interview the real Invisible Dragon offered a comment... ;-)

Invisible Dragon: All that talk about chocolate cake got me so hungry, I couldn't concentrate enough to figure out what you were trying to say Christina.

Christina: OK. I was trying to make the point that when you (Peter) write them, they are magical. And since I’m in the 'audience' so to speak, as the reader of the story, I get to enjoy the magic.  If I told you what I wanted to read, it’d no longer be as true for me.  A magician creates magic for others, not for himself.  When I write, I create 'magic' for my readers, but I’m the magician in that scenario, so I’m ‘in’ on the secrets.  I can't surprise myself. Am I making any sense?

Peter: Actually what you are saying gets to the heart of why I write down the adventures of the good Invisible Dragon. I write them as gifts, a special kind of gift. And now I'm recording some as audiobooks. Speaking of which, does the bad American accent in the audiobooks make you giggle?

Christina: The whole thing makes me giggle, from the stories to the song. And the giggling has nothing to do with any accent.

...Following the interview, the Invisible Dragon would not stop talking about chocolate cake, until Peter went out and got him some as an afternoon snack...