Guest Post - Rhett Metz (Co-author of Gypsy Knights)

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Rhett Metz to the blog, Rhett is one half of Two Brothers Metz, the sibling duo that penned the fantastic Gypsy Knights (Find my review here). I'll let Rhett introduce himself from here! Enjoy and please comment and show your respect to Rhett for taking time out of his busy schedule for me!

Buy the way - my advice? BUY THE BOOK!

Onto Rhett:

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First off, thanks so much to Jade for letting us share her blog for the day–we’re really excited to be here!

Lafe and I usually write our guest posts in a back-and-forth about an experience we had while writing Gypsy Knights. But – Lafe is in Idaho camping right now… so that leaves the guest post in my hands!

I thought it might be cool to do a top 3 list. Here are my top 3 favorite moments from Gypsy Knights, and a bit of background on them.

3. Casey rescues Duri.

The Scene: The story opens with our main character – Durriken Brishen “Duri” (14) – and his parents racing toward a hospital (Duri’s parents have been poisoned). A car crash ensues, and Duri’s parents drowned in the Weber River in Utah. Casey is the first female freight train engineer in the US (the story is set in the 1960’s). She is big and tough and an absolute teddy bear at heart. She stops her train when she sees the crash and rescues a nearly hypothermic Duri and his 6-toed cat, Nightshade. Casey ends up unofficially adopting Duri.

Background: When in doubt about naming a character, we always turn to baseball. The sport has a long history of amazing names. Casey Musial is named for Mighty Casey and Stan Musial. Her other character traits blossomed naturally.

Nightshade was inspired by a trip to the Hemmingway house in Key West. Those six-toed cats are totally awesome!

Trains – we love them. There’s something so romantic, so American, and so Romani (which is the correct term for the culture many insensitively refer to as “Gypsy”) about trains. How can you not love them?

2. The Mississippi Mud

The Scene: I don’t want to give away too much here. There are two main characters. They’re 14. Dilia, the girl, is Guatemalan/American and Duri, the boy, is Romani/American. Their relationship is…contentious. They are hopping box cars, criss-crossing America, searching for Duri’s lost Grandfather. Meanwhile, they’re being chased by a madman. There is quite a bit of tension. It builds to a rather romantic moment that takes place on the shores of the Mississippi River. 

Background: There are a number of fun things going on in this scene that only the close readers will pick up on. We have an earring theme, a chess theme, a travel theme, and a coming-of-age theme that are all at the forefront. Of course, as hopelessly pathetic as Lafe and I were at 14, Duri has some of our shortcomings but – unlike us at his age – he has some success too!

1. Lucile the Boiler

The Scene: Duri is piloting a train across the American Great Plains. He and Dilia have recently had a series of skirmishes with each other. When Duri jilts Dilia and embarrasses her in front of the freight train’s crew, she responds in shocking fashion. 

Background: Okay, yes, I wrote this scene. Perhaps I’m partial J When I finally came up with the action Dilia would take that was essentially the nuclear option, I was giddy to put it down on paper! You’ll have to check out the book to see what she does! 

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About the Authors: Two Brothers Metz (Rhett and Lafe) live in Pittsburgh. Gypsy Knights, Book One of the Gypsy Knights Saga, is their debut novel. We would love to hear from you, feel free to write to us at twobrothersmetz@gmail.com

Amazon Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Gypsy-Knights-Saga-ebook/dp/B0051VRLRS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311821709&sr=8-1

Barnes and Noble Nook:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gypsy-knights-two-brothers-metz/1031249018

GoodReads:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11558161-gypsy-knights

Twitter:

@twobrothersmetz