When I began creative writing, Pepper Slyhart was the first hero to leap onto my page. Something about this half-dragon heroine gripped me—her stubborn courage, her wounded compassion, her struggle against rage, and her refusal to let the world tell her she was a monster.
Pepper has grown far beyond the flat character she was in my earliest draft of Blade of Dragons. Watching her develop has felt satisfying, humbling, and messy all the same. Each revision has stripped away something shallow, leaving a soulful impression in its place.
Fantasy Roots
Since childhood, swords, shields, magic staffs, magical beasts—almost everything fantasy captured my imagination. I also fell in love with several redheaded heroines, like Tika Waylan from Dragonlance, Lina Inverse from Slayers, and Amy Rose from Sonic the Hedgehog.
I loved them not just for their beauty, strength, and hotheaded grace, but for the archetypes they embodied.
I witnessed this fierce redhead heroine archetype emerge repeatedly over the years. I even attempted a few amateur art sketches. Those chicken-scratch sketches eventually grew into Pepper Slyhart, the half-dragon heroine of the Cosmic Dominion.
What Pepper Represents
Pepper is short-tempered, struggles with mercy and pride, and desperately wants to save her persecuted kind. She is the fire behind my writing, the creative grace gifted to me by God, and a mirror for my own inner struggles.
Full disclosure: I’ve struggled with pride and anger, even mercy sometimes. Who hasn’t? Pepper embodies that struggle that we all face.
Pepper is a reflection of those frustrations. Writing Pepper helped me put those emotions on paper for me to examine.
Over the years, Pepper developed her own voice and character arc. I saw her growing and decided that I wanted to explore this further.
The Early Days of a Half-dragon Heroine
One of my early designs of Pepper, long before she grew a tail and became the heroine she is now.
From Forum Roleplay to Fantasy Novel
Pepper began as a one-dimensional spitfire on an online forum. Other forum members and I would do fantasy roleplays, often of a fantasy-adventure nature. This resulted in obscenely long posts spanning hundreds of pages.
As a prototype throwaway character, Pepper bullied Tarie Beyworth around and had a very sloppy character arc (think an angry Amy Rose blended with Éowyn from LoTR).
Worse, I often wrote her through my anger, frustration, and immaturity. I used Pepper as a scapegoat for my emotions.
After I left the forum roleplays, I felt like I was missing something. I needed to continue the adventure. Somehow.
I returned to roleplaying, but this time with myself. It wasn’t long before I had a 250,000+ word monstrosity—unedited, of course—which now exists untouched on my PC as a separate document; sometimes I glance back at this document, cringing at my rough wordsmithing and petty characters.
After finishing this monstrous “roleplay”, it was then that it hit me. Pepper’s world had come farther than I ever imagined. I needed to sharpen it further.
Honing the Blade
Despite my ambition, I had limited money and more limited knowledge. I used what free resources I could from online websites to begin sharpening Pepper’s story and my craft. I delved into the business side of writing and built this website, the hub of Pepper’s legacy.
Countless late nights later, Blade of Dragons now awaits its tenth (twelfth?) revision after too many drafts to count.
Pepper has experienced several deaths and rebirths as a character concept. And as my experience grows, she continues to mature into a more organic, likable protagonist.
My hope is for readers to see Pepper as a heroine who fights a war both inside and out. She is wounded, tempted, and far from perfect, but she keeps reaching for courage, mercy, and virtue. She never gives up, and neither should we.
Where Pepper Goes Next
As I write this, Dawn of Dragons lies finished, and Whispers of Dragons awaits its completed first draft. With the two prologues completed, Blade of Dragons has a few revision passes before it’s ready for a development editor’s eyes—a day I am excited for!
Series Progression
Pepper’s story is far from finished. In Dawn of Dragons, she takes her first steps into courage. In Whispers of Dragons, she begins learning humility, restraint, and leadership. In Blade of Dragons, she will face the true cost of her vow, and the empire that would rather see her kind broken than free.
I know where Pepper’s journey is heading, at least broadly. But knowing the destination is not the same as walking the journey.
And with Pepper Slyhart, I suspect the journey will still surprise me.
Want to follow along on Pepper’s adventures from the beginning? Read Dawn of Dragons here, a story of courage, family, and identity. You can also read up about Pepper in the Cosmic Dominion Compendium.
