In both of the weekly serials, we have a lot of introspection and interaction between different characters, establishing roles that will carry through beyond both of these books.

Sand and Blood 28: The Offer

Throughout this novel, Tsubàyo embraced his anger. From Rutejìmo's point of view, he is turning evil. I originally planned on the novel to give the impression that the night clan was the reason for Tsubàyo's brutality but then Mikáryo ended up being a balance for that. There really is no true idea of good or evil in my world (all because of Reader's Digest). Tsubàyo might be a bully and an asshole but he ends up a good man in later books. He is rage-prone and aggressive, something that his book might show, but in this moment, he is a complete and utter asshole willing to sacrifice Rutejìmo to save his own ass.

This chapter also shows some of the influence I get from panels. In my first WisCon, I went to a panel about injury, death, and fantasy. Rutejìmo had a concussion in the previous chapter. However, he was semi-consciousness before he regained his senses, something that Tsubàyo complained about. I love those panels. :)

Read Sand and Blood 28: The Offer at https://fedran.com/sand-and-blood/chapter-28/.

Flight of the Scions 33: Being Alpha

I grew up with dogs. My mother bred a number of dogs and she made sure I had a good understanding of pack dynamics. I also grew up with a number of different breeds and personalities: Alaskan Malamute, Collie, Long-Haired Dachshund, English Springer Spaniel, Keeshond, Elkhound. There were the other breeds that friends and family also had, I remember a lot of them while I was growing up. Each one was very distinct but there were some commonalities that my mother taught me and I observed that helped me with raising my own dogs.

I like to think that pack dynamics is an integral part of Maris' life. How she plays ball, her loyalty and affections are all part of the dogs I grew up with. The way the pack interacted with each other (a cut scene, sadly) but also later scenes in this book at the mill are all closely tied into it.

This chapter is a curious chapter in this regard.

Maris tugged on Ruben's ear. The vomen groaned and flailed at her hand, but Maris just rested her wrist on his arm to hold him down. “With dog dalpre, we always know where we are compared to others. You are either above me or below me. The elders are usually above me and my daddy is the alpha at the mill, the one in charge. And if he says do something, I do it.” She took a deep breath. “And now, your daddy is my daddy's alpha. And so… I guess you are in charge of me,” she looked up at Kanéko with an anxious smile, “you're my alpha.”

Maris doesn't have Kanéko's intelligence, creativity, and self-control. This is despite her rather impressive powers (wind magic). Ruben has self-control but doesn't have passion. This is despite his powers of being “mounted” by spirits (an idea I got from voodoo actually).

Kanéko has no magic (and never will) but she has one thing that neither of these high-powered characters has: charisma. She is a leader. She will make mistakes, she struggles with her actions, but when push comes to shove, she moves. She makes decisions, leads by example, and drives herself to demonstrate exactly what she hopes others will do.

In other words, she's the alpha.

Read Flight of the Scions 33: Being Alpha https://fedran.com/flight-of-the-scions/chapter-33/ (subscribers)

Patrons

I got into an interesting discussion with my father about patrons. From his point of view, a lot folks get into it and then spam the link everywhere. I'm curious to see what other things about me mentioning it on the bottom of my weekly emails (but rarely anywhere else). I don't think I've mentioned it outside of this post on Twitter or Ello.

I give away the digital version of my books on my website. This is for you to read and enjoy them. If you like them, please consider supporting me by becoming a patron, review it, or just telling me you enjoyed it. You can contact me on many social networks networks.