The Great Texas Dragon Race: A Journey Through Lone Star Skies

The Great Texas Dragon Race: A Journey Through Lone Star Skies

Unless you’re from Texas or have spent a lot of time in it like I have, it’s hard to truly comprehend its vast and varied landscape. You can drive—or fly on the back of a dragon—for hours and find yourself in a completely different geography. From mountains to beaches, we really do have it all. 

But when most people think of Texas, they either think of a scorching desert filled with cowboys and Saguaro cacti (which we don’t actually have here) or recall old episodes of Friday Night Lights. They imagine flat, sweeping grasslands filled with cattle and Texas flags on everything. And sure, that is a lot of what’s in Texas—but it’s not the complete picture. 

I’ve lived all across the Lone Star State, and along the way, I became a Texan by choice. In every place I’ve lived, I’ve found that many people embody the “cowboy spirit” in their approach to life. Before my family relocated to Longhorn Country, I really thought that people wore cowboy hats and cowboy boots and rode horses to school. (Kids actually asked me if we had to ride horses when I announced my move in sixth grade.) And honestly, until I landed in Texas, I couldn’t have told you whether we would or not. 

Sadly, I never got to ride a horse to school. And sure, I could imagine myself riding one to the pharmacy or the grocery store. But if you’re going to dream, why not dream big? Really big. Like, ten tons, massive wings, and covered in scales big.

What if I could ride a dragon?

When people ask me if I’ve watched X, Y, or Z television show, my response is always the same: “Does it have dragons in it?“ That’s how I assess my level of interest. If there are dragons, I’m in. If there are vampires, I’m probably into that as well. But if there are no mythical creatures, we might have a problem… Unless it’s set in space. That’s who I am. I love the fantastical, I love the weird, and I love creatures.

Especially dragons. 

Texas‘s state lizard is the horny toad. Which, in case you haven’t noticed, it’s basically a mini dragon. With so many environments to choose from, it was easy to imagine Texas as a place where dragons large and small could hide in every nook and cranny. 

Many fantasies about dragons are often jam-packed with other magical elements and supernatural beings. But as I imagined the concept for The Great Texas Dragon Race, I made a conscious decision to build a modern-day world where dragons are simply a fact of life. They aren’t magical, but they are amazing—and they’re incredible to watch in a deadly race. As I wrote what became a classic competition story, I tried to include a middle grade reader’s view into the political, financial, and social dynamics that might be at play in a United States filled with dragons.

The concept really took off (pun intended) when I decided the best person to advocate for dragons was a feisty young cowgirl with a passion for dragon racing. I envisioned my thirteen-year-old MC, Cassidy Drake, flying across the wide West Texas sky on the back of a beautiful underdog dragon. The trope of a young woman being saved from an evil dragon is so familiar, and I wanted to turn that on its head. Maybe dragons actually need to be saved by the girl. 

Like many kids, I grew up surrounded by stacks of National Geographic magazines and was obsessed with the World Wildlife Fund. Cassidy is the same sort of kid, but she grew up in a home filled with dragon conservation magazines and field guides. To this day, I love rescue animals—I just can’t help but bring in that old stray cat—and Cassidy feels exactly the same way about dragons. She’s also been raised by strong women on a dragon ranch which has been passed down for generations. As I drafted Cassidy’s story, her character evolved into a stubborn, fiercely independent conservationist desperate to save dragons and preserve her family’s legacy.

And what better way for a dragon rider to defend their legacy than by entering a dangerous race across the state of Texas?

The Great Texas Dragon Race is about exactly what the title says it is: dragons, racing, and Texas. During Cassidy’s thrilling journey to win, she faces dangerous dragons of all varieties, as well as a diverse group of characters with competing skills and agendas. But like every author I admire and esteem to one day be, I hope it’s about more than a young girl entering a high-stakes race to save her family’s dragon ranch. I hope it’s about what it means to be a Texan and to care about something so badly you’d give your life to protect it…

Even if that something is a winged, fire-breathing creature that could kill you in an instant.

—

Kacy Ritter is a fantasy geek who has lived all across the Lone Star State. She holds degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of North Texas, and currently resides in Houston with her partner and their daughter. She daylights as a healthcare professional, and loves writing at the intersection of fantasy and Texas Americana.

The Great Texas Dragon Race

Wings of Fire meets The Hunger Games in this debut contemporary middle grade fantasy stand-alone about thirteen-year-old Cassidy Drake, who enters the dangerous Great Texas Dragon Race to save her family’s dragon sanctuary.

Thirteen-year-old Cassidy Drake wants nothing more than to race with her best dragon, Ranga, in the annual Great Texas Dragon Race. Her mother was a racing legacy, and growing up on her family’s dragon sanctuary ranch, Cassidy lives and breathes dragons. She knows she could win against the exploitative FireCorp team that cares more about corporate greed than caring for the dragons.

Cassidy is so determined to race that she sneaks out of her house against her father’s wishes and enters the competition. Soon, Cassidy takes to the skies with Ranga across her glorious Lone Star State. But with five grueling tasks ahead of her, dangerous dragon challenges waiting at each one, and more enemies than allies on the course, Cassidy will need to know more than just dragons to survive.

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