Elise Kova’s Letter to Librarians

In DRAGON CURSED, Elise Kova writes a powerful, action-packed story set in a vivid world filled with magic, dragons, high-stakes trials, and falling in love. In her letter to librarians, she shares how she hopes her stories can be a world for readers to escape into during difficult times, and recognizes how librarians put these stories into the hands of readers who need them.

---

Dear Librarian and Reader,

Allow me to start by saying: Thank you. In a time when books are being questioned, challenged, and banned, you stand as a guardian of stories, a steward of imagination, and a champion of information. I hope you know that the work you do matters and I am deeply grateful for the care you bring to your shelves and communities.

The question of who gets to decide what stories are told, who gets to tell them, and who gets to hear them was very much on my mind when I began writing DRAGON CURSED.

At its heart, this is a book filled with mysterious magic, deadly dragons, and the slow-burn romance of falling in love for the first time (because I am totally a sucker for slow-burn). It’s a love-letter to all the nerdy things I grew up loving and still love: anime, video games, and tabletop role playing games. It’s meant to be something that invites readers to lose themselves in another world when so many of us need that escape. But, at the same time, it’s also a story about power.

DRAGON CURSED follows Isola, a young woman in a city surrounded by a nature-destroying magic scourge and beset by the deadly dragons they believe perpetuate it. A city ruled by a vicar who claims to be its savior yet operates as a tyrant. As Isola is sequestered into a series of trials to uncover if she is a dragon hunter or cursed to transform into one of the deadly beasts, she discovers secrets about herself, and her world. She is desperate to protect those she loves, but the more answers she has, the less clear her path becomes.

That uncertainty of growing up in a world that doesn’t make sense, but trying your best anyway, is something that I think so many can relate to.

I wrote this book for the teen I once was, navigating difficult problems with a more questions than answers and a whole lot of “fake it till you make it” energy. But I also wrote this book for the adults who are still figuring things out. (Because who make up the lie that we have it “figured out” by an arbitrary age?) This is a book that I hope so many people will be able to find, and enjoy, both at the surface and for all the deeper meanings I tried to thread around the action, magic, and romance.

Having been an author for more than 10 years now, I know my books wouldn’t be possible without readers, booksellers, and librarians like you. I hope this book finds a place on your shelves and in the hands of the readers you serve. But, even if it doesn’t, I am thankful you took the time to consider it and grateful for all you do for the readers in your community.

Forever your author,
Elise Kova
Author of DRAGON CURSED