A Goodreads user asked Mike Mehalek:

Why did you choose to write about dragons for your first book?

Mike Mehalek That's an curious question, Heidi, at least to me. (By the end of this you will understand why I think that).

I've always read fantasy books and enjoyed the fantasy genre in movies, in art, in video games, etc..., and I've mixed fantasy and horror elements in some of my shorter stories, but I've never really considered myself a fantasy writer.

And then one day, many years ago, I was on a message board (remember those) and following a thread about where inspiration comes for a story. Someone said inspiration comes from questions, specifically "what-if" questions. I liked this concept, and immediately, off of the top of my head, started rattling off what-if questions.

I can't remember what board this came from or what questions I started with, but for no particular reason I asked, "What would it be like if a dragon were forced to live its life as a human?"

The question resonated with me, and it led to a series of questions about dragons, and humans, and living in a diminished fashion, and what it meant to be a human.

I was fascinated. What a great way to explore questions of humanity and self and life, through the eyes of a "higher" being--a dragon! The results of those questions became Only Human.

I still don't know if I qualify as a fantasy writer. Fantasy writers have a creative mind, and while I've been told I'm creative, my creativity arises from my curious mind. I'll use whatever trope or genre I have at my disposal to set literary experiments into motion and use those to try to find the answers to those questions.

So why did I choose to write about dragons for my first book?
It makes me wonder....What would my life look like if I hadn't written that book?

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