Lessons my heroine taught me.... ~ LOST AND FOUND by C.M. Sage

Lost and Found (The Chronicles of Antecede, #1)
by: C.M. Sage
Series: The Chronicles of Antecede
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Release Date: July 12, 2022

Sometimes things are lost for a very long time...and then they are found.

Take Gracie for example, a woman who lost everything, her life, her family, even her name, but now she is a Cathalian warrior of Antecede blessed with powers, which aren't yet fully realized. Her elder and nemesis, Donavan, finally granted the former professor an opportunity to train a new warrior. Her joy turns to shock when she meets her great, great, great, great grandson, Henry, accompanied by his wisecracking best friend, Milo. Henry recognizes his long dead ancestor right away, and it doesn't take the Cathalians long to realize that this meeting was no accident.

Gracie and the warriors of Antecede soon discover that they aren't the only ones laying a claim on their new charges. Menacing enemies from the South and their hired mercenary assassin, Revilan, the Bowman, have also taken an interest. Come along with Gracie, Donavan, and their fellow warriors on a perilous quest to protect all that is good and right from the evil that threatens it, and along the way discover what else was lost.

Lessons I learned from my heroine, Gracie.

The biggest lesson I learned as I was developing and writing Gracie was that the trajectory of a life isn’t perfect. Everyone stumbles a bit on the journey and carries prejudices that are gathered along the way, whether in childhood or as we go through life.

It takes Gracie a very long time to get to a place of confidence, to the realization that she is good enough to be a Cathalian when the truth is…how do they say it? She had the power all along. Still even after she comes to a place where she knows she belongs, there is a point in Lost and Found where she finds out how wrong she has been about her fellow warriors and how she misjudged them.

The warriors were gracious and laughed off her misconceptions, but Gracie knew immediately how much harboring those thoughts cost her in terms of friendships she could have had. I think writing her brought out the idea that I subconsciously knew was true.

Judging either yourself or others harshly without understanding why and without serious soul-searching causes pain and serves no good purpose. Gracie’s journey and never-ending struggle of trying to be that best version of herself and to always improve resonates with me.

Gracie came to me at a time of great sorrow and loss. Writing her story, which is filled with endings and beginnings, losses and wins, allowed me to take back the hope that circumstances took from me and defiantly throw it on the page. She made me laugh and remember all the good that can break through and crush the darkness. I like her very much. In fact I love her like a sister.

Donovan came back into the room and shut the door with enough force that the frame made an ominous cracking noise and startled an already jittery Gracie. He returned to his spot near the window without acknowledging her and didn’t speak for several minutes. Just when her mind began to wander back over the events of the day, Donovan turned abruptly and studied Gracie like she was a specimen under a microscope.

Blasted man or whatever he is. He is so...well, just so. Dammit, she thought bracing herself for the incoming onslaught.

She opened her mouth to get it over with and speak first, but he held up his hand to stop her. In- stead, he waved her forward, and a reluctant Gracie moved towards him. It was rather like approaching a cobra and mesmerized she moved forward, coming closer and closer, but still, he didn’t motion her to stop. Her steps became slower and smaller as she got uncomfortably close to Donovan. He became a powerful mountain directly in front of her, and she felt his breath on the top of her head, lifting her hair. Gracie decided to risk it and stopped.

Donovan looked her up and down with an expression that might have been disdain, but more intense and personal. His examination puzzled her, but again being singled out by him wasn’t unusual. He said nothing at all for quite some time. It took all of Gracie’s strength not to fidget under his stare. At last the force that was Donovan burst wide open, and his fire rained down on her head.

“How dare you act without any care for yourself or your brothers and sisters-in-arms and needlessly put yourself in harm’s way? Everything went exactly according to plan before you put yourself within that monster’s reach. Why? Do you realize how close his arrow came to you? And how close he came to breaking your neck? Do you have a death wish? You want to spend eternity on that bow? Join Emmie and Shinto? Is that your desire? You are still the same senseless, selfish woman who stepped onto the pier the day I met you. You have learned nothing.” Donovan closed the gap between them and was now yelling an inch from her face. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her like a rag doll, but Gracie was no longer his whipping girl.

She wrenched herself out of his grasp and slapped him hard across the face. She held nothing back, and the stinging blow left a small but mighty handprint on his cheek. The entire world grew quiet, as if holding its breath, waiting for something dire to happen. Her seven protectors, who had remained close to their mistress during the battle, surrounded her, growling, ready to come to her defense if her elder so much as touched her again.

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Lost and Found is author C.M. Sage’s first book in the Chronicles of Antecede fantasy adventure trilogy. She loves writing, reading, and traveling. Most of all she loves spending time with her beloved family and friends...and yes, that includes her furry friends. Life would have been much less sunny without them.

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