R.J. Metcalf's Blog

Greetings!

It’s been a long time (forever) since y’all have heard from me. I promise I’m still alive and kicking! To be honest, the last two? three? years have been spent with keeping afloat (mostly) with kids and school stuff, but I promise my brain is still cogitating Terrene and possibly another story or two separate from Terrene!

I still aspire to get Scars of Time done within the next two years or less – not that I’ve been sitting on those edits since 2019 or anything… >_> The longer it’s been since I’ve picked up a pen to edit the more intimidating it feels! But oh, do I miss everyone in that world! I hope to get to them soon and at least finish that particular collection of stories. Maaaybe even get around to plotting out Phoenix – the backstory of Finn (or should I say Flint?) Ahhh, someday. Someday!

I won’t lie, my dear readers. Your reviews, your sharing of my series, your comments and your love, those really keep my embers of creativity glowing. Thank you! Hopefully I’ll have something new to share this year. No promises, but I definitely hope for it!

Until then, may the winds keep your sails full, and may the dragons remain friendly. ^_~

I don’t know about y’all, but I am constantly amazed with how time is flying by this year. Losing mom, school being busy, our family battling Covid, and back to school again…it’s been a full season that leaves me reeling. How we are already in November?

If anyone else is as panicked as I am about Christmas coming (let alone holidays in general), and you’re looking for a good gift for the reader in your life, I have a happy solution: Fayette Press is hosting an epic giveaway! A Kindle Fire pre-loaded with a wide range of books by the Fayette Press authors! Woo hoo!

And if you’re not interested in a free Kindle, then you can always check out the Fayette Press website and get 10% off signed paperbacks and hardcover books! Enter in the special discount code of CHRISTMAS2021 at the end of your shopping spree, and sit back knowing you did yourself a solid.

Happy reading!

Ahhh, Brandon.

The prince that started as a very vanilla character, in a friend’s words, and then morphed into more of a rocky road ice cream. There were so many ideas and possibilities for this guy. So many ways of which he could be (and was) tormented. So many ways of which he could grow (and did). So many ways that we’d considered guiding his relationships (but didn’t).

For a brief time, before I even wrote Renegade Skyfarer, there was discussion between Mike and I in regards to Queen Violet and if/when Everett died, should Brandon marry Violet to settle the allegiance between Doldra and Aerugo. It was the working plan for awhile, until I decided I didn’t want Violet to be pushed into another marriage, and Brandon wouldn’t want to re-marry after Sapphire either. Which would leave me the dilemna on how to reach a satisfactory truce between the two nations, but I dumped that on Weston to figure out, and that worked out quite splendidly. XD

It was interesting, figuring out Brandon after being under Jaxton’s mind-control for so long. Here I had this formerly polished and sincere prince who’d experienced the worst kind of trauma and betrayal and loss, and now he was free to make his own choices, but at what cost? How much would PTSD rule him? How much of it could he fight, what support would he have, and how could I show the struggle and brokenness inside in a way that readers would sympathesize with? (And how much story plot could I fill with this, without side-lining the true MCs, Ben and Jade?)

I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, but I’m pleased with how he’s developed. He’s still got demons to fight and shadows that haunt him, but he’s moving forward. He has more than just himself to live for, and he’s able to keep focused on that. And he’s had several opportunities that make his eternity-long years as Jaxton’s pet berserker somewhat redeemable. …though he still feels no remorse for how he ended that whale scum. (And nor do I!)

“Just because things could’ve been different doesn’t mean they’d be better.”

Finn has walked this entire journey with me from the very beginning. From the days of Betrayal by Blood, from the days before as Flint (and someday I promise to get around to writing that backstory! I just have to figure out how exactly that story will be best presented), he’s been through so much. Times of laughter and love. Loss and sorrow and tears. Battle and bloodshed and the hard call that no one should ever be in situation to have to make. Days of peace and sunshine and tea on the back porch. He’s seen it all. He’s lived it all. Twice, if rumor is to be believed…

It sounds funny, I’m sure, but I’m glad he has had all the years with Raine. What a lovely callback to the days when Connor was a lad, running about and getting into things. Yes, there were bittersweet times, how can there not be, when loss leaves a gaping hole in one’s heart? But over time that hole fills, heals, and while there will evermore be a scar to remember that time by, there are fresh memories and new loves to soothe that ache.

Raine to Finn is like summer showers to a drought-ridden desert. Life-giving, cooling, a welcome respite. Finn raised and protected his granddaughter with the love and fierceness of a man who’s seen it all and wants the best life possible for his family. And she kept him young and on his toes by being the indomitable spirit that she is. I love their trust in each other, and his steady assurances to support her in whatever she decides to do with her life. Not family by blood, but family by choice.

Because he understands how fragile life is, and how quickly it passes away. And that’s not a gift he will take for granted ever again.

It’s hard for me to fathom this, but in one week, the final book will be out. Blood Bond shall be released into the wild, and the series shall be complete. Craziness! Excitement! All the sweet relief!

Have you recently read (or re-read) Traitor’s Crown? Are you ready to dive back into Terrene and experience dragons and airships and magic again?

Are you prepared with your snack of preference for when you learn what darling old Victor has been up to?…

If you prefer e-books to paperbacks, don’t forget to pre-order Blood bond here so you have it the moment it’s out! If you prefer paperback, then order here for a signed copy. If you’re on Goodreads, put Blood Bond on your to-read list and review it when you’re done. And if you haven’t read book one, Renegade Skyfarer, there’s a giveaway on Goodreads right now that you can jump in on!

I’m super excited to hear y’all’s thoughts on the end of the adventure!

~*~

Speaking of adventure, Laura Salisbury’s newest book, Discernment, is out! And if you’re here because of her absolutely epic blog tour, your word is 4. One! Check out Cathrine Bonham’s blog tomorrow for the next part!

Christopher.

**deep sigh**

One of the characters that I knew from the very beginning that wasn’t going to have a happy storyline. How can he? Passed through the Void as a child when the plane he’d been on crashed. Adopted by a loving family who was then brutally murdered by the Elphen army. Brainwashed and used by Lord Sephirn. So many friends, killed.

To say he hasn’t had an easy life would be the understatement of the century.

His storyline hurt. And yet…there was also quiet comfort, even peaceful contentment, as I walked in his boots. How?

Because he got to the point that he could understand what happened to him and the other Void Born, and that he was no longer a slave to the will of others. That he realized for himself what he needed and wanted to do to rectify his wrongs. That he could make tomorrow a safer, better place for his sister and not only those like her, but for the innocent children he’d seen through his travels. He made friends and allies. He made decisions that were his own. He had freedom to live his life as he decided to.

There are so many other things I want to say, but with Blood Bond not yet out, I dare not, for fear of massive spoilers. But oh, how I wish to discuss all of Christopher freely!

Geist. Oh, Geist.

Did you know? This guy was originally supposed to be a bit of a villain in Renegade Skyfarer? I had no intentions whatsoever of him becoming anything major in the series. I was definitely not expecting him to befriend Ben, nor was I expecting Ben and him to actually become buddies. Let alone go to the Hollows together. Or travel north. Or any of that.

Some characters look at the original plan the Author has for them, and they laugh maniacally while they trample all over it.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I love Geist. I love his adrenaline-junkie thirst for adventure. I love how his respect for Slate (*sniff, sniff, Slaaate) made Geist change his gambling ways. I love how he looked prejudice in the face and rolled his eyes at it, choosing to not treat Ben or Raine any differently.

He used to have a small crush on Krista (see if you catch that next time you read Renegade Skyfarer), but he respected her and her choice of Briar, and so he never pushed or creeped. For being a guy who would shamelessly hurl himself toward danger and jump at life-threatening situations, he had boundaries that he respected and I love him for it.

I also love his constant razzing at Ben. What are friends for, if not to constantly poke and tease in good humor? Perhaps I’ll write a drabble based off a dream I had a few weeks ago. Picture, if you will, Ben and Geist road-tripping across America, with very different tastes in music and very different ideas on what constitutes as break from driving. (Kerlee and Raine had started with them, and quickly decided that they didn’t have the sanity to continue with them)

Any headcanons to add to that idea? Who knows, maybe I’ll actually write that someday. XD

Confession time: When I first met Weston, I hated his guts.

Like, I wanted to string out his entrails in the sunlight and let him roast in the Aerugan sun while dactyls feasted on his flesh and he felt every little poke and prick and rip.

And now I adore him and #MustProtect and he’s grown so much, and he’s not at like his father anymore, and I couldn’t be prouder of him and he’s become a man that I’d actually trust (which is saying something, considering his origins!)

I genuinely aspire to get Scars of Time out and in y’all’s hands by this time next year, and then the wonders of Andre’s good influence can be shared in full, so I’ll try to keep some of my line-of-thought here as spoiler free as possible.

I’ll start simply: Lord Everett Windsor is the scum of the earth and I loathe him. I also celebrated (literally, I made cake and had a little feast and cackled like a hyeana on coffee) when the time came for the curtain to close on him. So to have Everett be a father figure? To have Everett influence his only child, and a son, at that? Violet did the best she could, but when up against an abusive, gaslighting, foul creature like that guy?…it’s really no surprise that Weston exhibited some of those same traits in his younger years, when Everett had sunk those claws in so deep.

Yet there was still love and respect in Weston for his mother, despite Everett’s attempts to nullify that. There was still some openness and innocence in his heart, that knowledge that something wasn’t right.

Heh. Clever Violet, bringing in Andre to provide guidance to her wayward son. (Ahh, Violet. I really must write more short stories about her. She reminds me strongly of two ladies I know, who emulate such grace and pressure and through such trying circumstances. Backbones of steel, and wiles to match)

But to see Weston grow from a self-absorbed prick to an awkward young man, to a confident, respectful leader? Whales, I’m so proud of him. Grace abounds, and his redemption arc is easily one of my favorite threads in the entire series.

As for miss Abigail…I wasn’t anticipating her, honestly. She just showed up in my manuscript with a firm, “I’m here now. Deal with it.” and that was that. It’s easy to say she grew on me pretty quickly.

I’m glad she showed up, as sages aren’t rare, and I’d yet to have a female sage step into the light of the pages. Given her background as part Elph, she was a wonderful example of how the societies could mix and work together–and an example of justice and personal growth.

I love how both Weston and Abigail learned and grew into themselves through the books. Will they end up together in the end? I don’t know. Maybe. If nothing else, they have a solid foundation for a friendship to span the years. And if the snarks and sparks ever grow into something more, well, that’s an alliance that both kingdoms should be well pleased by.

Oh, how I love these two.

Fun fact: In the original draft, Briar was supposed to die at the end of Renegade Skyfarer (and Jade was supposed to lose her entire arm). But I couldn’t kill Briar. He’d become too important to me. He was the patient insight to Jade’s emotional volatility, and he was the sweetness to Krista’s spice. How could I kill my Briar?

Spoiler: I couldn’t.

He still went through the wringer, but he lived. And I utterly adore his gentle soul. He can fight when provoked, but he’d much rather be in the kitchen, or gardening, or wooing Krista.

And Krista…sweet sassafrass. I didn’t intend to model her off anyone in real life, but there are so many Krista-isms that are inadvertant echoes to firecrackers I know and love (and yes, they sometimes scare me as much as Krista scared Weston in Void Born). How can her personality not reach the heights of the sky, when having grown up on an airship where the sky is the literal limit? When her passion and job is working with hot and dangerous elements in an engine room, and making them work for her?

Much like some of my IRL friends, Krista (and Briar) can speak gentle truths to a hurting heart…and also whack some sense into the thick-skulled when needed (and then soothe that ache with a cookie after). Which actually reminds me. I don’t remember if I’ve ever shared Briar’s cinnamon spice cookie recipe here. I should remedy that soon.

**struggles to find words amidst all the feels**

Ok, weird author moment: Half the time when I think of Raine, my brain flashes back to baby Raine, when Connor and Maria first found her as a baby, having just passed through the Void after a car accident on Earth. They had no idea where she was from. No idea who she was. But they saw a sweet baby in need of a family, and so they adopted her (which was great and all, until a young doctor Jaxton in the Doldra palace tried to hunt down Finn and that ended poorly, but I digress)… The rest of the time I think of Raine, my mind immediately pulls up the moment that she’s cutting through bandits and Ben’s in her wake, in utter awe of this terrifyingly amazing swordswoman.

Ugh, I love Raine so much.

I love her relationship with Finn, how they’ve grown into a tight family, them against the world…and yet them for the world. How she protects him, and he protects her. How she’s her own woman, and she cares for others. How she’s strong on her own, and also (eventually) opens up to teaming with others, not just her Papa. She goes through hard stuff. Growing up on the move because of her origins, which means not really having friends at all. Living under the shadow that one wrong move could endanger herself and her Papa. Having the friendships she’s made be torn away, not just once, but twice.

And yet she endures.

How many women (and men) are like her? Fighting one battle after another? Believing it’s them alone to face the dark? Facing their shadows with a selected few by their side–only to have something happen that means they’re alone again? Having one’s dignity and agency stripped away?

It’s hard. It’s lonely. And scary.

There is far more of me in Raine than I’d planned for (no, I’ve never been in the Hollows or a served time in a prison, thanks). But there are several story threads of her arc that surprised me, and which I actually fought against most vehemently, because I don’t want to face that right now, kthanksbye. (Haaa, joke’s on me. What best serves the story–not the author–is what gets to happen) But you know what? That’s OK. That’s good. I’ve actually gotten a few messages about Raine, how her arc was an encouragement to the reader. That they felt seen. Understood. That their honor is theirs.

Family is a choice. Honor cannot be stolen. Trust is a gift.