Meredith Lyons: Five Things I Learned Writing A Dagger of Lightning

Forty-five-year-old Imogen has always struggled to fit in, never finding her passion in life. And while that may include having cold feet in her impending nuptials, that doesn’t mean she’s ready to ditch planet Earth—and her entire life—completely.

When Imogen is kidnapped by an alien prince in disguise, there’s nothing she can do to stop him. He’s sidhe—a being with powerful abilities—and he’s grown up used to getting what he wants. The prince is convinced Imogen will fall in love with him, and that her new powers, once she’s turned sidhe, will help his country win a centuries-old feud.

With the help of the prince’s much more tolerable brother, Imogen starts to get her feet back under her, but even he can’t protect her from those who would use her for her powers. If Imogen can’t find a way to fight for herself, she’ll become a pawn in a world that has already decided what she’s going to be.

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As cool as it might seem, getting abducted from Earth isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

I did an ARC giveaway for A Dagger of Lightning recently. To enter, you had to answer one question, “Would you like to be kidnapped from Earth?” The overwhelming response was, “Yes, get me out of here.” However, my protagonist, Imogen can tell you, it’s anything but fun. Her autonomy is completely stripped, for one. She doesn’t get to say goodbye, her entire family likely assumes the worst, and the alien prince who kidnapped her keeps blithely reassuring her that she’ll get over it. Not to mention, the country he’s at odds with keeps trying to abduct her for their own purposes. Fortunately, his more empathetic brother is around to help her get her footing.

People are actually really interested in a middle-aged “chosen one.”

When I first got the idea for Dagger, I was concerned that no one would be interested in an older protagonist, but I couldn’t stop writing it. I finally showed the first few pages to a friend, eliciting promises of honesty if this concept was a waste of time. “It’s not stupid. I think you should write it,” she said. I wrote the first draft in twenty-eight days, which is insane and has never happened again. Of course, there were a lot of beta reads and rewrites over the years before it sold. One thing remained consistent, however, people loved a fierce, fully-adult woman main character. The early reviews have also been overwhelmingly positive in this regard.

Coming of age stories don’t have an age limit.

Not one aspect of a person freezes the moment they turn twenty-one. At least it shouldn’t. Personal growth should be continuous. I have reinvented myself professionally at least four times during my life, and I’ve experienced my share of internal growth spurts as well. Creating Imogen as she learns to fight for what she wants while slowly allowing herself to become emotionally vulnerable was one of the best parts of writing this book.

Sometimes not getting what you want is the best thing for you.

In the beginning, all Imogen wants is to get back to her life on Earth. Although change is foisted upon her in the worst way possible, she finds something worth fighting for in her new life and grows in ways she never would have on Earth. Likewise, A Dagger of Lightning grew in spite of my frustration—I wanted the book to sell right away—I continued to rewrite Dagger after each failed pitch. The book that comes into the world on April 1st is the same at its core, but it is so much more vibrant and nuanced than the original inception. Just as Imogen fails to get what she initially wanted so desperately; each rejection pushed me to make this book the best version of itself.

It’s okay to have fun.

Coming off my first book, Ghost Tamer—where, yes, there is humor, but it’s inserted intentionally to offset the exploration of grief, loss, and moving on—writing A Dagger of Lightning was honestly a joy. When I started writing, my intention was merely to explore what it would be like to be yanked from mortality and a normal life at middle age, I didn’t have any intentions to go deeper. The comments on misogyny, friendship, self-growth and so on emerged on their own. Mostly, I just wanted to have a good time and I think readers want that, too. But we can have a good time while raging against misogyny and the abuse of privilege. Part of the reader’s catharsis is watching Imogen establish a sense of self while fighting against a system that wants to use her and force her submission. Just like in life, the fight isn’t over with the final pages, there’s always room to grow and more battles to win.

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Meredith grew up in New Orleans, collecting two degrees from Louisiana State University before running away to Chicago to be an actor. In between plays, she got her black belt and made martial arts and yoga her full-time day job. She fought in the Chicago Golden Gloves, ran the Chicago Marathon, and competed for team USA in the Savate World Championships in Paris. In spite of doing each of these things twice, she couldn’t stay warm and relocated to Nashville. She owns several swords, but lives a non-violent life, saving all swashbuckling for the page, knitting scarves, gardening, visiting coffee shops, and cuddling with her husband and two panther-sized cats. Her first novel Ghost Tamer is an Amazon Editor’s Pick for Best SciFi Fantasy, an IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Winner for Best SciFi Fantasy, an IPPY Award Winner for Best First Book, and a Silver Falchion Winner for Best Book of 2023 and Best Supernatural. A Dagger of Lighting releases April 1, 2025, both with CamCat Books.

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A Dagger of Lightning: Bookshop.org | Camcat Books