Michael T. Hare

Before diving in today, I hope you’ll all accept my belated Happy New Year! Wow, it’s been quite a while since I’ve updated the blog.

But let’s cut to the chase….

What is this picture all about? Three dragon books? Michael R. Miller, Philip C. Quaintrell, and… Michael T. Hare? Yep, you read it right! Among these dragon fantasy books I got for Christmas was one of my own, given to me by my brothers, who used Barnes and Noble to produce a personal hardcover version of one of my early projects! The book tops at 299 pages, and I must say, it’s pretty wild. Thank you so much, guys; I’ve got the best brothers in the world!

You probably recognize the title from an earlier blog post (link found here), and yes, this is that same story. I conceived the book Dragons at the age of fourteen during the 2020 Comet NEOWISE sighting. After pulling over in a rural Idahoan area to view the comet, my family and I drove home in the dark, listening to country songs—among them, ‘Every Little Thing’ by Russell Dickerson, which served as an early conception for Levi and Camille’s love story. During this song—one of my favorites—I pre-wrote a scene in my head. Though it didn’t make it into the manuscript, something about it just seems so fun and sweet:

Levi and Camille are eating dragon fruits outside the village. Levi was going to bite into one and accidentally spray Camille in the face with juice—an event that made them both laugh. It was the first time in my life I’d ever stepped into the playfulness of romance, and something just felt so right about it. Isn’t it curious how a small dragon fruit can contribute to something so beautiful?

Yet, even this wasn’t enough to fully develop the story. As we pulled back into our driveway, Tim McGraw’s ‘Don’t Take The Girl’ came on. And… wow! It broke my heart. When he sang the final chorus, I felt as though my chest was caving in on itself. Johnny’s wife dies from childbirth, and the ending hit me so hard, so suddenly, that I was mesmerized. How could such a beautiful story end that way? Hence, Elijah and Zipporah’s story bloomed in my mind: a husband who loses his wife to childbirth and blames the child for her death.

I can honestly say this is one of my best works. Dragons speaks about romance in the way I saw it, and the way I still see it. Some think romance is just that beautiful flower you gave as a gift, yet it is not. A true love story is what lies behind it—its meaning, the intimate friendship between two people, the reason for the gift. A true love story is laughter, a desire to be with someone through the fight, a desire to teach someone to freefall, a desire to challenge someone so that they may reach their full potential. Dragons highlights the beating heart of a love story, especially through Camille and Levi, and so, to that fourteen-year-old boy, I say,

Well done.