Wayward Son (Simon Snow, #2)

by Rainbow Rowell

Hi, this is Rainbow Rowell, the author of the Simon Snow Trilogy. With the third book – Any Way the Wind Blows – coming out this summer, I’m feeling very sentimental about Simon and Baz. I thought I’d leave some behind-the-scenes notes here in Wayward Son… I’ve always loved middle stories. (The Empire Strikes Back and The Two Towers are my two favorite films.) Wayward Son is very much a middle story. A between story. It starts with an epilogue and ends with a prologue -- and in the middle, Simon and his friends find themselves between adventures, wandering in the wilderness (also known as America). In Carry On, they realized that everything they trusted about the world might be wrong. In Wayward Son, they wonder whether everything they know about themselves might be wrong, too. I hope you enjoy this middle book and all of my middling notes. Thank you for reading!

I took the title of Carry On from two places – the “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters that were very popular when I was writing, and the lyric from the song “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which is used as a spell in that book. In Wayward Son, the characters were headed to America, so I thought it would be fun to turn to an extremely American song – “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas. Also, I love the word “wayward” and loved that “wayward son” described both Simon and Baz. In the next book, the characters are back in England, so I return to Queen -- Any Way the Wind Blows.

I’ve loved him through worse. I’ve loved him hopelessly.… So what’s a little less hope?

Baz really steps forward in Wayward Son. In a way, it’s more his book than Simon’s – because Simon is receding and retreating. He’s depressed. Meanwhile, Baz is reaching out. He’s telling us how he feels. He’s telling us what he’s worried about Baz’s voice has a nervous, melodramatic energy. He vacillates between very cutting remarks and heartbreaking vulnerability. He’s my favorite character to write. And I think because of that, he gets some of the saddest lines. It’s very easy for me to feel Baz’s feelings.

There is no end. Bad things happen, and then they stop, but they keep on wreaking havoc inside of people.

As I wrote this book, I was thinking a lot about resilience. About how sometimes we get through a bad thing, and we feel so strong and durable -- and then years later, we find ourselves reeling from the damage. Wayward Son, for me, was a way to push back on the concept of a happy ending. I’m glad that Simon beat the Mage. I’m glad that he found Baz. But it isn’t over for him, and it won’t be easy. The happiest ending – for Simon, or anyone – is just getting to move forward, I think. To keep healing and growing. So Wayward Son sort of deconstructs Carry On’s happy ending and shows us what a mess Simon is. But hopefully it also shows him moving. Literally moving, through this new country, and emotionally moving, through his own grief.

“Thanks, but I’ve just got out of a cult. I’m not looking for a rebound cult.”

I was extremely reluctant to include Agatha in this book, because she isn’t much like me, and I initially found her very hard to write. But she’s always been my literary agent’s favorite, and he wouldn’t hear of me leaving her out. I can remember writing this chapter and thinking, “Oh no, somehow Agatha became the funniest character – how did that happen?"

He’s lovely. A bit of a sad mess. Dull and pale and rough round the edges. But still so lovely.

They just love each other so much 😭 😭 😭

“A Unicorn Frappuccino.” He frowns. “Why’s it called that—does it taste like lavender?” “It tastes like strawberry Dip Dab,” I say. Penny’s grimacing at Baz. “For heaven’s snakes, Basil, I can’t believe you know what unicorns taste like.” “Shut up, Bunce, it was sustainably farmed.” “Unicorns can talk!” “They’re only capable of small talk; it’s not like eating a dolphin.” Baz takes my Frappuccino and sucks down a huge gulp. “Disgusting.” He hands it back to me. “Not like unicorn at all.”

Normally I don’t like to make references to things that are extremely trendy and transient. But this is my favorite joke in the book. I laugh every time at “sustainably farmed.”

Simon Snow, it hurts to look at you when you’re this happy. And it hurts to look at you when you’re depressed. There’s no safe time for me to see you, nothing about you that doesn’t tear my heart from my chest and leave it breakable outside my body.

😭 😭 😭

“Please don’t choke to death, Bunce. Imagine the humiliation of dying at The Cheesecake Factory.”

I thoroughly enjoyed thinking about what aspects of American culture would give young Brits culture shock. To do so, I sort of reverse-engineered my trips to the United Kingdom. If I was shocked by how great British sandwiches are, then Simon and Baz must be disgusted with ours. The Internet and television have done a lot to bring our cultures closer. Even between Carry On and Wayward Son, there were Americanisms that became popular or dominant in the UK. After this book was released, I realized that readers in other countries assumed I invented the Cheesecake Factory. I assure you, it’s real! And you can visit this one in Des Moines, Iowa, on your Wayward Son tour of America.

So what if I do? I usually am right. It’s just good sense to go through life assuming that I am. It’s the law of averages. Better to assume I’m always right and occasionally be wrong than to fiddle about doubting myself all the time, saying to everyone, “Yes, but what do you think?”

Penny becomes more of a main character in Wayward Son and gets to have plot and development outside of Simon. I ended up giving her lots of my own qualities and weaknesses. (Pretty sure I said this entire paragraph out loud in high school.) I remember wondering if I should hand this very real part of me to Penny -- and then I thought, “What am I saving it for?”

“What do people eat in Nebraska?!” Snow asks. “Their dreams!” I shout at him.

Wayward Son may have been born the moment someone said to me, “Too bad Simon and Baz will never visit Omaha.” It was a joke -- because all my other books take place in Omaha. But I’m extremely contrary, by nature, so my immediate thought was, “Oh, yeah? I could get them to Omaha… ROAD TRIP!” Carry On observes and comments on Chosen One stories but doesn’t have much to say about UK culture. With Wayward Son, I felt much more qualified to talk about America. I especially enjoyed writing about the Midwest through these three English kids.

“What is this place?” I murmur. The person in front of us is dressed as a Viking. There’s also a genie, a pirate, and three women dressed like Disney princesses. “Is it fancy dress?” “Five dollars off for cosplay,” the ticket seller says to Simon. “You, too,” she says to me. I look down at myself. “This is a very expensive shirt.”

I had more fun writing this Renaissance Faire scene than anything else, ever. Especially getting to toggle between Simon and Baz’s perspectives. Beyond the high-jinx (which were very fun for me), there’s also this tender thing happening between Simon and Baz. They’re starting to relax and warm up and flirt again. They both want that warmth so much -- but they’re afraid to be vulnerable.

I’ll be damned and drawn and fucking quartered before I watch some devil-eyed goat feel up my boyfriend right in front of me.

Angry Simon is very impressive.

I was supposed to charm her. Some people do find me charming, believe it or not. When I was 18, I got a creek dryad to tell me her life story. She gave me mulberry cakes and dandelion wine. It’s the first time I ever got drunk.

This book is going to have a character from Omaha, damn it. And he’s going to be great. My earliest notes for Shepard were “Han Solo/Fox Mulder” -- someone’s who’s curious about everything, has been everywhere, and has gotten himself in and out of some tight spots. As he evolved, I started to think of Shep as the protagonist in every fairy tale. Like, what if the same guy met Rumpelstiltskin and also the Billy Goats Gruff? And now he’s meeting Simon Snow? I knew Shepard was going to be a Normal. And I knew he was going to drive Penny crazy.

A jackalope broke it down for me once: “It’s like—we’re all technically magicians, right? We’ve all got magic. But they took it for their name. Imagine acting like you’re the only species who drinks water! Or breathes air! ‘Look at us! We’re the air-breathers!’”

At this point in the writing process, I was realizing how much fun I could have with Shepard and how useful he would be as a character – because he can provide all of this context about the magickal world beyond the World of Mages. And he can also give us an outsider’s view of Simon, Baz, and Penny. And because he’s a magickal adventurer, I can make up absolutely ridiculous stories about his past. Jackalopes! Giants! River spirits!

I’d give him all that I am. I’d give him all that I was. I’d open up a vein. I’d tie our hearts together, chamber by chamber.

I find that I often move very quickly between characters when emotions are intense, because I want to know what each of them are thinking and feeling in the moment. (I got used to doing this in Eleanor & Park.) This chapter reminds me of Chapter 61, in Carry On, where Simon and Baz first kiss. Simon doesn’t reach out to Baz very often in Wayward Son, but I think you see here how much he loves him. And how helpless he feels about it. Like – “I love you, but what am I supposed to do with that fact?”

Baz is standing in front of a full-length mirror, wearing—I swear to Merlin—a flowered suit.

This was the first line that I shared with readers online, and the reaction was delightful. There were four years between Carry On and Wayward Son, and no one was really expecting a sequel. It was so much fun to announce this book and celebrate it with readers who missed Simon and Baz. I missed them, too!

How have I lived through so many happy endings without ever learning how to save the day?

Agatha ❤️

I’m getting up. So I can go down with a fight.

This is the ultimate Simon chapter for me. The doggedness. The absolute resoluteness. The loyalty and love. All other Simon chapters boil down to this one.

Go ahead and shoot me. This isn’t my favourite shirt.

ACTION HERO BAZ.

Penelope sighs, leaning over the seat, and Baz holds his wand to her mouth. “Kiss it better!” “Basil, that’s a family spell!” “Hush,” he says, kissing her cheek. He wipes the blood from her mouth with his sleeve. His arm is shaking. “You okay?”

I’m a Penelope/Baz friendship shipper.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you again for reading Wayward Son. I hope you’ll follow these characters back to Watford for the conclusion of the Simon Snow Trilogy – Any Way the Wind Blows. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52190991-any-way-the-wind-blows