Hannah Pennington: Why I wrote a story about Dragons in Arizona, Modern Heroes & Classic Villains

Meet this young mom with 3 kids - and self-publishing a trilogy!

So imagine trying to raise a dragon in secret—yeah, feeding it, hiding it, making sure nobody finds out—only for that dragon to suck you into an entirely different world where a villain’s been hunting it the whole time.

That’s what Hannah Pennington explores in her portal fantasy series, inspired by Narnia and How to Train Your Dragon. Hannah takes us through her writing journey, from first publishing mistakes to figuring out the self-publishing world the hard way—like realizing too late that maybe professional editing was a good idea.

We also get into the struggles of marketing books in an industry obsessed with certain trends (ahem romantasy everywhere), why she’s pushing back with old-school hero stories, and how she balances writing with being a mom of three. If you love dragons, deep themes, and stories with actual good vs. evil stakes, this one’s for you