If you’ve made it this far in Tears of the Dragon, I hope you’ll stick with us. The action really picks up, and things start paying off.

The story is already written and is one I’ve been working on for a decade, so it’s too late for me to toss in an approved trope or two.

I’m telling the story I want to tell, and I’m confident there are enough twists, turns, and fun moments that readers are going to enjoy it.

Hope you’re one of them.

As you’re already in that general area I suggest including one or more of the following tragic-opera-approved plot devices.

* Main character accidentally marries / kills a close relative.
* Main character cursed and/or turned mad by the gods.
* A dreadful prophecy that comes about despite / because of the efforts made to avoid it.
* Everybody dies in a huge fire / flood.

But otherwise, yes, you would have been correct.

“Man, right?”

“No, don’t be silly. It’s the dolphin.”