email: dragonshadowed@shaw.ca
C. A. Bathgate has been a fantasy role-playing referee since the earliest days of Dungeons and Dragons. His writing reflects his world and gaming style: interactive and realistic, original and inventive rather than rules-intensive. What began as a life-long interest in history and the fantasy genre has produced a burgeoning saga. He lives with a very supportive wife and two affectionate cats in Edmonton, Alberta.
As a writer and author, I’m often asked about ‘the inspiration and direction’ of the Dragonshadowed book series. The original concept came from a series of role playing adventures for which I was the referee. That group of players disbanded, but graciously permitted me to use their original characters as grist for their continuing adventures.
At about the same time, I became disillusioned when reading some lesser-known high fantasy novels. I resolved to write stories I’d like, received encouragement from a host of others, and ultimately published the novels of this series.
As of this writing, the original concepts and world view were established about twenty years ago. This expanded into a three hundred page outline of the overall plot, supplemented by a host of related background materials. Writer’s block and ideas are never a problem—rather it’s hard to compress what’s been plotted into each volume. I’ve used about twenty pages of that outline as the basis of the first four novels. It’s unlikely that I’ll live long enough to turn all the
remaining pages into stories. I can confirm that a shorter story arc exists to bring this series to a satisfying conclusion for those readers desirous to stay with me.
With gratitude, C. A. Bathgate
He loves to hear from readers. He may be contacted at:
dragonshadowed@shaw.ca