Brothersong: The Beginning of the End
First things first: if you’re here and you haven’t read Wolfsong, Ravensong, and Heartsong, there are spoilers ahead. I’d click away if I were you, but before you go, a parting gift!
Up until the release of Brothersong, I’ve reduced the price for the rest of the series on Amazon only.
Wolfsong is $2.99, Ravensong $3.99 and Heartsong is $4.99. Pretty fuckin good deal if you ask me. Click on the link below to get the sale. Thanks!
Now, let’s begin.
Once upon a time, I wanted to tell a story about two boys growing up together. They came from different worlds, and their road would be rocky and hard-fought. There was nothing paranormal about it. It was going to be an angsty contemporary that followed a group of people as they grew up, as the lost each other and found their way back together where they belong.
It would’ve been a good story, I think. I’d already told a sort of generational saga with the Bear, Otter and the Kid books, but I wanted to push this further.
Longtime followers know what happened next. There I was, writing a story about a boy named Ox and all of a sudden, my brain broke free and shouted, “Okay, but what if they were werewolves?!?!”
My stupid, weird brain.
I ignored it, at first, but it wouldn’t go away. It wouldn’t be like other werewolf stories, my brain said. It’d be different. It’d be cooler. It’d be darker. And absolutely no butt babies!
(One of my favorite things is hearing from people who read the description of Wolfsong, saw the word Omega, and assumed it was going to be leaking butts and mpreg. Nothing wrong with that, just not my jam. Then those same people were reassured that it wasn’t like that at all. Ah, memories.)
So I said, what the fuck, what the hell, fine.
And I changed the entire outline, and almost immediately knew it’d be called Wolfsong.
What followed was a bigger story than I’d first anticipated. Much bigger. It’s absolutely not for everyone, but even I wasn’t expecting for it to reach as far as it did. To date, it’s my biggest series, just above Tales From Verania in terms of sales. Thanks for that. It’s appreciated.
Once I knew I was going to continue the story, I sat down and did something I’d only done once before: I plotted out all three of the remaining books I knew would be in the series. I did something similar with the last three Verania books, given they tell one cohesive story.
Green Creek was a little different, though. Instead of following one character (Sam), we’d have three additional points of view: Gordo in Ravensong, Robbie in Heartsong and Carter in Brothersong. I was excited, but nervous. Comedy is easy for me. And though the Verania books got a little more serious, they were still, at the beating heart, comedies. Ridiculous, over the top comedies.
Green Creek isn’t like that. There is humor, yes, but it’s not the point. And I knew if I’d wanted to make this easier on myself, I could have just told the story from Joe’s perspective. Then Mark’s. Then Kelly’s, and finally Carter’s. Keep it all in the family. It’d make sense, right?
But I didn’t want to do that. I’ve always had a soft spot for outsiders coming in and making a home for themselves, which is why Ox was the jumping off point. Gordo had a long history with the Bennett Pack, but by the time we meet up with him, he’s broken those bonds, and never wants to have anything to do with the wolves. Robbie comes from elsewhere. Twice.
So why didn’t I tell the story from the perspective of the timber wolf for the last book?
Because I always knew it was going to be Carter. The final book isn’t just meant to tie all the story threads together. It’s meant to come full circle with Wolfsong, about a boy who becomes a man that many might underestimate. And I knew I had to tell at least one story about the Bennetts, and who better to tell that than Carter?
Carter, who’s always there with a quick quip. Carter, who loves his brothers more than anything. Carter, who is more than a little dumb, but that’s just a surface look of him. Going deeper with him showed me sides I always knew where there but had only hinted at before. He is lovely and brave, loyal and more than a little ridiculous, and there couldn’t be a better character to end this series on.
Because, as you know, this is the end. You’ll want more, I know this. You’ll want me to write more and more books about them, but you know as well as I do that it can’t be forever. To me, the mark of a competent writer is to know when it’s time to end things. Maybe you don’t agree with that, and that’s okay. It’s how I feel, though, and how I knew this was going to be the end.
I’d been thinking about this ending for a long time, and not for reasons that you might think. When I first started Green Creek (and figured out it would be about wolves), I always thought the overarching narrative would come back to Ox, no matter whose story was being told. And in a way, it does. Ox, the quiet boy who grew up into a powerful man, will have his ending.
But the more I got into it—specifically with Ravensong and Gordo’s journey with a trio of lost boys—I started to realize that it wasn’t about Ox. Or, at least, not just about him. The books changed on me because it hit me that the books were always going to be about three brothers, two princes, and one who would be king. Oh, there were others—looking at you, former Team Human—who would join them on their journey, and Ox would always be there. But it was Joe and Kelly and Carter I kept coming back to, those three who wore crowns from the moment they were born, whether they wanted them or not.
This ending was going to not only be a culmination of all that came before, but it would finally shine the brightest light on the Bennett brothers: all they’ve lost, all they’ve fought for, all they’ve loved with ever fiber of their beings. Finally, they would step into the light, the shadows being chased away, for better or worse.
Brothersong is the story of Carter, yes. It’s the story of how far he’ll go to find the man he’s only known as a timber wolf, and the relationship that forms between them. But at its core, it’s about these three brothers, the choices they’ve made and have been made around/for them, and the repercussions that come from those choices. It’s about them facing their legacy, atoning—many times unfairly so—for the sins of the fathers: Abel Bennett. Thomas Bennett. Robert Livingstone. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
But it’s also about family and the importance of self worth and packpackpack. This group of people have been through the trenches. They’ve been knocked down again and again. But, thanks to each other, they’ve been able to pick themselves back up, dust themselves off, and get ready to go again.
I will miss them terribly. I’ve had far longer to say my goodbyes, seeing as how I wrote this story all the way back in 2018. It should’ve already been out by now, as you all have let me know. Repeatedly. Fervently. Dare I say crazily?
(Yes. Yes, I do.)
But I’ve known this day was coming, and I’ve prepared myself for it. It’s easier, now, because I’m proud of them and what they’ve become. I know I’ve left them exactly where they’re supposed to be. You may not agree with all the choices I’ve made in this final book—in fact, there’s one thing I’m thinking of specifically that’s going to make more than a few of you a little pissed off—and that’s okay. So much is made of endings, and I think we sometimes forget the journey that takes us there.
You’ve been with Ox since he was a child. In this last book, he’s in his thirties. How fucking nuts is that?
If you’re reading this on the date its posted (September 14) you’ll be twenty-nine days out from Brothersong. One month until you can see what I’ve saved for last.
I can’t wait to show you what that story looks like.
thanks for reading,
tj
Pre-order Brothersong:
Amazon
Other Sellers
Audio with Tantor Performed by Kirt Graves
(Fun Fact! I almost switched the titles of the last two books: Heartsong and Brothersong. The titles could work quite easily for either story, especially if I’d called Carter’s story Heartsong for reasons that will soon become clear. But then I said fuck it and kept it as is. And that, dear readers, is called being an author.)
