Rick Williams Sr. is the author, with his grandsons, Brady and Caleb Williams, of the Dragon & Dinosaur Chronicles middle grade series, which includes Star Life Keepers and Orion Fire Storm.
Q: What inspired you to write Star Life Keepers?
A: Thirty years ago, I met a fellow entrepreneur, Ted Savas, in Silicon Valley. Ted was a lawyer but had established a publishing business to focus on his passion: Civil War books that preserved the legacy of firsthand accounts. I was interested in writing books, and Ted encouraged me to find some aspect of the war that had not been fully addressed.
I began collecting Civil War letters and diaries, mostly from common soldiers and lower-level officers. Serendipitously, I acquired the personal collection from Captain Patrick H. White, an uneducated Irish immigrant who had become captain of the elite Chicago Mercantile Battery. White and five of his artillerists had received the Medal of Honor for bravery during the Vicksburg Campaign in May 1863.
Edwin Bearss, the Chief Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service, took me under his wing and taught me how to research and write a book on this unknown military unit. I wrapped creative, narrative nonfiction around letters and diaries. Ted Savas supported us and published Chicago’s Battery Boys in 2005.
My next book featured my journals of a Prussian engineer, mapmaker, and artist whose great-grandson was Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. Jim’s family assisted me, including introducing me to Jim’s mother.
During our two interviews, she told me stories about how Jim’s grandmother (her mother) had taught him to read classical literature and to paint. Using his grandmother’s training in the visual arts, Jim created Kermit the Frog at the age of 19.
Those stories inspired me to engage hands-on with my seven grandchildren, which led to the formation of Dragon & Dinosaur Chronicles.
I later spent a decade studying how to write thrillers, attending seven annual meetings of the International Thriller Writers, where bestselling authors taught fledgling authors how to craft suspense novels.
In 2018, I was almost done with my first international thriller when my oldest grandson, 8-year-old Brady, was inspired by my writing and proposed that we develop a book together.
Q: How did you and your grandson collaborate on the project?
A: In Stephen King’s landmark book On Writing, he postulates that authors are often like archaeologists who “uncover the bones of a story.” In my case, I needed to find out what kind of book Brady wanted to write.
After exploring his initial vision, I discovered that Brady wanted to leapfrog grade levels and write a middle-grade epic fantasy book based on his concept of Dragons & Dinosaurs. He developed his protagonists—Jason, Amanda, and Elisa—while I analyzed the careers of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis to find out how they wrote their books.
I was a Lord of the Rings fan but had never read The Hobbit. Nor had I ever read the Chronicles of Narnia books.
After studying them, I moved on to the Game of Thrones series and began an in-depth evaluation of Brandon Sanderson’s work, listening to the first 16 years of his Writing Excuses how-to podcast. I worked my way through The Way of the Kings and Mistborn to Evil Librarians, the latter becoming an inspiration for our journey.
On January 8, 2021, at 8:57 p.m., I received the following text from Brady: “I finished the 1st book of Evil Librarians!!! I am so happy ”
Brady and I deconstructed the Evil Librarians series and followed Brandon Sanderson’s foundational principle—something familiar but something different—as we conceived our first book, Star Life Keepers.
Like Sanderson, we decided to provide frequent illustrations so young readers could better visualize what they were reading as they moved from chapter books to novels. I hired Prayan Animated Studios in India to create original artwork of creatures Brady invented, including the Dragon Girl, a Tiger Man, and a Flying Velociraptor.
Q: How did you create the world in which the story is set?
A: First, I had to find out what kind of book Brady wanted to create as a fourth grader. His mother, Megan, was my “champion” for this writing collaboration. She gave me Magic Tree House chapter books as examples of fast-paced fantasy stories for kids.
I went to our local public library and the woman in charge of the children’s section gave me a guided tour. She agreed with Megan that the Magic Tree House books could serve as a prototype for our writing adventure.
Brady had other ideas.
I took Brady out to lunch, and we visited a local Barnes & Noble. A kind shopkeeper took us on a tour of the bookshelves and elicited from Brady what he wanted to write about—and what he didn’t want to write about. She helped him to select books to read during this exploratory period. I thought John Flanagan’s Ranger Apprentice series would be a great model for us…but was overruled.
We went on to study movies and TV shows, which I used to teach Brady about the Hero’s Journey, high stakes, conflict, plot twists, etc.
Since this was a joint effort, I decided early on that we would negotiate and compromise as we built our story. Brady and I finally opted for a middle-grade fantasy book—with a splash of science fiction—that would be a mash-up of Narnia & Lord of the Rings combined with Eragon & Jurassic Park, plus Evil Librarians-style artwork.
After I had a better understanding of what Brady wanted to write about, I bought him dragon and dinosaur action figures. His “inspiration piece” was a purple, five-headed dragon that later became part of the book’s back cover and website.
To build scenes, we had playtime using action figures, cardboard boxes for buildings, and crumpled blankets for terrain. We also went to construction sites and climbed dirt hills, shot bows and arrows, and threw stick spears. A key to the process was to have fun: Brady often told me that having fun while making up stories was one of his favorite parts of our storymaking process.
I also used Google and Pinterest images to find dinosaur crossbreeds and humanized hybrids for Brady to choose from. Sometimes he made sketches for me. I also used a variety of imagineering concepts to build the world with Brady. In my arts & crafts room, we took a multimedia approach to make scenes and maps: from drawing and painting to writing on blackboards and whiteboards to using my iPad.
Without guidance from my friend, Steve Tamayo, I probably wouldn’t have pursued writing a novel with Brady. Steve had earned his master’s degree from Oxford and became an expert on Lewis and Tolkien. He encouraged me to move ahead and agreed to help formulate Star Life Keepers.
Steve also had written a book on ethnicity and harmonious relationships. We decided to teach kids about multicultural teamwork by having human, elf, and shapeshifting dragon characters cooperate to defeat the invading dinosaurs. Steve was writing a novel, too, so we focused on the basic fiction strategy: show the kids diverse collaborations without telling them.
I had spent a decade in China, including setting up a genomics company, and was interested in weaving Chinese history and astronomy into Star Life Keepers. With three Chinese cousins, Brady agreed to let me create a family from Tiantan, our version of ancient China.
My college degree was in speech and hearing science, and my close friend was 90 percent deaf. So, Brady supported my idea that Jason would have a hearing problem and wrestle with the challenge of dealing with hidden hearing aids in the fantasy world…while his batteries only lasted a month.
Following Brady’s principle of always having fun, I created Bukania as the main country in our world based on his middle name, Buchanan.
Brady’s younger brother, Caleb, played a pivotal role in building our Star Life Keepers world and helped me develop the sequel, Orion Fire Storm. In honor of Caleb’s help, we called the parallel universe Belacamber—which is Caleb’s name spelled backward!
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: I knew how Brady wanted the Dragon & Dinosaur Chronicles series to end but I must collaborate with grandchildren and Story Advisors to develop captivating endings for each novel. Since our books are family-oriented, Brady wanted an ending for Star Life Keepers that tied to Jason’s missing father.
We’ve gone from a trilogy to a five-book series based on how Tui Sutherland structured Wings of Fire. Having a strong ending for each book, and a satisfying end to the series, is challenging, but we keep writing one step at a time.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Brady and Caleb have grown up, so I am now working with external Story Advisors to develop Book 3, Young Dragonriders. Morgan is the 15-year-old daughter of a doctor friend. We’ve worked together for almost two years, communicating through her mother and Zoom.
Morgan started out editing Orion Fire Storm and our Story Writing workbook. For Young Dragonriders, she has moved into Story Development, adding some amazing plots and creating an archivist/illustrator young woman who has become more prominent in the story.
My other Story Advisor is the 15-year-old son of my Native American friend in Montana. I wanted “Montana Caleb” to critique how I have developed ideas about Native American tribes, as Tolkien did with his elves.
For example, the first elf tribe that readers encounter is the Evergreen Nation. They are like Native Americans in the Northeast USA, plus I drew from the Lewis & Clark journals regarding the Mandan tribe. For Orion Fire Storm, I created the Red Cliff Nation in honor of the many years that Montana Caleb and his family spent working in Arizona’s Navajo Nation.
He agrees that I have been appropriately honoring his Native American heritage, and we have developed a new Northfront tribe, the Kingdom of Silvermere, for Young Dragonriders. I’m now helping him to write his own fantasy book.
I have been collaborating with my adopted Chinese granddaughter to create a crossover series called Constellation Isles, which is the source of dark magic. One of my fondest memories of this storymaking journey was when I took her and Caleb to a restaurant where they had their own booth, ordered from the menu themselves, and together critiqued our first workbook.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I retired early from being a biotech CEO so my family and I could do our small part to enhance childhood literacy and creativity, as reflected in our saying: Read our stories…Create your own.
We have already completed a number of projects to support students and families:
Two novels: Star Life Keepers and Orion Fire Storm
Orion Dragons’ Holiday Tale short story: origin story about how the Royal Dragons received gifts from the Alnitak star in Orion’s Belt
Dragons & Betrayals short story/novelette: The War of the Dragons & Dinosaurs
Story Writing: A Workbook of Creative Writing Prompts for Kids 8-12
Spark’s Storymaking Kit: a step-by-step guide to get started creating stories
Creative Writing Lab: a free collection of roadmaps and self-guided resources for Young Creators who want to make their own stories (available on www.thestorymakinghub.com)
My daughter-in-law, Megan Williams, has championed this writing-with-kids journey as I’ve collaborated with Brady and Caleb. She summarized the positive effect that this intergenerational, storymaking journey has had on her children:
“Our boys were given a safe space to share ideas, build a world, and be active participants in the production of a story. Which is a priceless experience that I truly believe has shaped a lot of their confidence in their teen years.”
I’m grateful that The Children’s Book Review is helping to introduce our storymaking-and-engagement model to the parenting and education community—as we all work together to give children an opportunity to share their unique “heart voices” while making stories.
For parents and educators who have questions about our family’s storymaking experience—such as what worked and what didn’t work—feel free to contact me directly: rick@rickwilliamsbooks.com
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. This Q&A was conducted in partnership with Rick Williams Sr. Readers who follow along on this virtual book tour will have the chance to win an out-of-this-world prize pack! Three winners will each receive signed hardcover copies of Star Life Keepers, Orion Fire Storm, and Story Writing: A Workbook of Creative Writing Prompts for Kids 8–12. One grand prize winner will receive all of the above plus an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids—perfect for diving into even more adventures.
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