Rhett: The Two Brothers Metz are thrilled to be back on Jagged Edge (home of our first author interview) for a guest post.
Lafe: Thanks for having us back, Kati! You rock!
Rhett: Full disclosure, we’re writing this in a google doc, and Lafe used “cat’s pajamas” and “bee’s knees” before erasing them and writing “you rock.” What a nerd!
Lafe: Ah man! Don’t make me attach a photo of you playing cello on the “very cool” ninth grade orchestra trip.
Rhett: Hey - we went to Toronto and saw Phantom of the Opera - we were Legen... wait for it... DARY!
Lafe: In your own imaginations, maybe. But there was one legendary night - at least to us - that Kati’s readers might want to hear about.
Rhett: Too right. We like to use guest posts to tell a story from one of our experiences while writing Gypsy Knights... turns out we’re kinda, well, crazy. So, the crazy night in question involves a Pirates game (before they were good and the city jumped on the band wagon) and a Union Pacific deadhead of coal cars.
Lafe: There’s this John Steinbeck hobo romance quality to trains that we’ve always loved. And Durriken - the main character of Gypsy Knights - grows up on a freight train. So after the Buccos game, we were walking back to the Post Office parking lot where we always parked illegally right up to the point where Rhett got his truck towed - how much was that ticket, anyway?
Rhett: Ugh... I had almost forgotten that - it was 125 plumpaliscious simoleons.
Lafe: Man, that hurts. Anyway, the walk back to the truck led under a train trestle. We’d spent the game in the cheap seats in right field talking about Gypsy Knights and as we walked under the trestle, a coal train rumbled by.
Rhett: I don’t even remember if we talked about it. Durriken was running through our veins. We both just sort of wandered over to the fence and started scouting for the shortest drop to the rail bed.
Lafe: I’m sure everyone who has a brother or sister - or a really tight best friend - knows the feeling. Sometimes you just know you’re thinking the same thing and no words are necessary. You just do it.
Rhett: Next thing we know we’re running flat out beside the train. I can tell you one thing: it ain’t as easy as it looks in the movies! The rocks are big and you need your eyes to guide your feet so you don’t fall. So you look down, and then you realize you’ll kill yourself if you don’t watch where you’re going. It only takes a few seconds, but grabbing onto that ladder and pulling yourself up feels like an eternity.
Lafe: The train hisses and groans and shifts and rocks and it’s loud as hell. You whoop for joy when you climb to the top and look around to make sure your brother is on board.
Rhett: So we manage to get our fat sausage-eating selves on board this big gorgeous train and what does the train do?
Lafe: Starts hauling ass.
Rhett: Man, it’s flying! There’s no getting off. It started as a lark, and quickly became a serious undertaking. We couldn’t just hold onto the ladders forever. There was no choice but to slide on down into the coal car’s guts.
Lafe: They’re enormous! It’s like 15 feet down. We were filthy - smeared with coal dust and no clue when we’d get off or where we’d be. We figured maybe Cincinnati or somewhere on down the Ohio (we started in Pittsburgh).
Rhett: So naturally, it starts raining... really hard.
Lafe: There were donkeys and warthogs beside the usual the cats and dogs. Really coming down.
Rhett: So we sat back and enjoyed the ride. Brighton Heights rolled by. Then Bellevue. Avalon. Emsworth. Haysville. Sewickley. Leetsdale. Finally the train started slowing down outside of Ambridge. Anxious to get off, we hazarded a trip down the ladder. I watched as Lafe executed a double back flip half gainer and landed like some sort of ballerina-swan.
Lafe: May have been a triple.
Rhett: Okay, that’s enough. Meanwhile, I dangled my shaking legs off the end of the ladder and - I swear it to this day - that old engineer opened the throttle as wide as he could. In a moment of panic I had to rethink my dismount. The quadruple was out - too bad. I was just considering where the last twist would land me when my hands slipped...
Lafe: What he’s trying to say is that he fell flat on his face attempting to get off a train moving about six miles an hour. I watched in horror as he stumbled head long toward the 100-ton train, already composing the eulogy - and my apology to our Mom - in my head.
Rhett: The details are unimportant. Fact is, I took a little spill getting off (and probably nearly killed myself). Really, you should not ever try to get on board a moving train. Nothing could be dumber or more dangerous.
Lafe: Or more awesome.
Rhett: Well, it was pretty awesome.
Lafe: Like our book. Oh yeah, marketing segue!
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Gypsy-Knights-Saga-ebook/dp/B0051VRLRS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311122215&sr=8-1
B&N Nook:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gypsy-knights-two-brothers-metz/1031249018?ean=2940012599803&itm=1&usri=gypsy%2bknights
Googlebooks:
http://books.google.com/books/about/Gypsy_Knights.html?id=TbGK3OUOYrgC
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Two-Brothers-Metz/212578882096369
Twitter Handle:
@TwoBrothersMetz
Lafe: Thanks for having us back, Kati! You rock!
Rhett: Full disclosure, we’re writing this in a google doc, and Lafe used “cat’s pajamas” and “bee’s knees” before erasing them and writing “you rock.” What a nerd!
Lafe: Ah man! Don’t make me attach a photo of you playing cello on the “very cool” ninth grade orchestra trip.
Rhett: Hey - we went to Toronto and saw Phantom of the Opera - we were Legen... wait for it... DARY!
Lafe: In your own imaginations, maybe. But there was one legendary night - at least to us - that Kati’s readers might want to hear about.
Rhett: Too right. We like to use guest posts to tell a story from one of our experiences while writing Gypsy Knights... turns out we’re kinda, well, crazy. So, the crazy night in question involves a Pirates game (before they were good and the city jumped on the band wagon) and a Union Pacific deadhead of coal cars.
Lafe: There’s this John Steinbeck hobo romance quality to trains that we’ve always loved. And Durriken - the main character of Gypsy Knights - grows up on a freight train. So after the Buccos game, we were walking back to the Post Office parking lot where we always parked illegally right up to the point where Rhett got his truck towed - how much was that ticket, anyway?
Rhett: Ugh... I had almost forgotten that - it was 125 plumpaliscious simoleons.
Lafe: Man, that hurts. Anyway, the walk back to the truck led under a train trestle. We’d spent the game in the cheap seats in right field talking about Gypsy Knights and as we walked under the trestle, a coal train rumbled by.
Rhett: I don’t even remember if we talked about it. Durriken was running through our veins. We both just sort of wandered over to the fence and started scouting for the shortest drop to the rail bed.
Lafe: I’m sure everyone who has a brother or sister - or a really tight best friend - knows the feeling. Sometimes you just know you’re thinking the same thing and no words are necessary. You just do it.
Rhett: Next thing we know we’re running flat out beside the train. I can tell you one thing: it ain’t as easy as it looks in the movies! The rocks are big and you need your eyes to guide your feet so you don’t fall. So you look down, and then you realize you’ll kill yourself if you don’t watch where you’re going. It only takes a few seconds, but grabbing onto that ladder and pulling yourself up feels like an eternity.
Lafe: The train hisses and groans and shifts and rocks and it’s loud as hell. You whoop for joy when you climb to the top and look around to make sure your brother is on board.
Rhett: So we manage to get our fat sausage-eating selves on board this big gorgeous train and what does the train do?
Lafe: Starts hauling ass.
Rhett: Man, it’s flying! There’s no getting off. It started as a lark, and quickly became a serious undertaking. We couldn’t just hold onto the ladders forever. There was no choice but to slide on down into the coal car’s guts.
Lafe: They’re enormous! It’s like 15 feet down. We were filthy - smeared with coal dust and no clue when we’d get off or where we’d be. We figured maybe Cincinnati or somewhere on down the Ohio (we started in Pittsburgh).
Rhett: So naturally, it starts raining... really hard.
Lafe: There were donkeys and warthogs beside the usual the cats and dogs. Really coming down.
Rhett: So we sat back and enjoyed the ride. Brighton Heights rolled by. Then Bellevue. Avalon. Emsworth. Haysville. Sewickley. Leetsdale. Finally the train started slowing down outside of Ambridge. Anxious to get off, we hazarded a trip down the ladder. I watched as Lafe executed a double back flip half gainer and landed like some sort of ballerina-swan.
Lafe: May have been a triple.
Rhett: Okay, that’s enough. Meanwhile, I dangled my shaking legs off the end of the ladder and - I swear it to this day - that old engineer opened the throttle as wide as he could. In a moment of panic I had to rethink my dismount. The quadruple was out - too bad. I was just considering where the last twist would land me when my hands slipped...
Lafe: What he’s trying to say is that he fell flat on his face attempting to get off a train moving about six miles an hour. I watched in horror as he stumbled head long toward the 100-ton train, already composing the eulogy - and my apology to our Mom - in my head.
Rhett: The details are unimportant. Fact is, I took a little spill getting off (and probably nearly killed myself). Really, you should not ever try to get on board a moving train. Nothing could be dumber or more dangerous.
Lafe: Or more awesome.
Rhett: Well, it was pretty awesome.
Lafe: Like our book. Oh yeah, marketing segue!
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Gypsy-Knights-Saga-ebook/dp/B0051VRLRS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311122215&sr=8-1
B&N Nook:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gypsy-knights-two-brothers-metz/1031249018?ean=2940012599803&itm=1&usri=gypsy%2bknights
Googlebooks:
http://books.google.com/books/about/Gypsy_Knights.html?id=TbGK3OUOYrgC
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Two-Brothers-Metz/212578882096369
Twitter Handle:
@TwoBrothersMetz
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