Biography

I wrote this for my first book release back in 2002.  I've since updated it, but decided to leave it in 3rd Person.

Darragh Metzger, daughter of well-known Alaskan aviators Warren and Marian Metzger, was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska.  The middle of three children, she entered the world via her parents' house.  Her mother walked into the hospital carrying the infant 45 minutes after Darragh was born, so Darragh knew from a tender age that she had a legacy of hardiness to live up to. 

A brief childhood period spent in Washington introduced her to horses, heretofore creatures of fantasy to her.  Two special individuals made a lasting impact and helped change the course of her life: Tony, a cunning, obstinate, and loyal Shetland pony, and Rusty, a Tennessee Walking Horse who shared the next 29 years with her and conquered show arenas all over Washington and Alaska until they both got bored with it.

Spending her college junior year in Salzburg, Austria, and various other points around Europe, she started entertaining fellow students and travelers with tales of high fantasy and adventure inspired by her travels, which she scrawled in a series of wire-bound notebooks.  Back in the states, while attempting to make her living in the world's two lowest-paying professions -- acting and writing -- she appeared (briefly) in a number of commercials and films, including "Sleepless in Seattle" and "The Vanishing."  She toured with dinner theater companies and spent years performing in theater productions around the northwest. 

She considered moving to California and trying to break into the big time, but faced two major obstacles.  For one thing, she couldn't see a way to support her now-aged friend, Rusty, while hustling auditions and waiting tables at the California cost of living.  For another, she bought into the fiction (popular at that time) that Seattle was going to be the next Hollywood, and if she just hung on, fame and fortune would come to her.  By the time she was thoroughly disabused of this notion, Rusty had passed away at the age of 31, and she had begun to realize that she got more satisfaction, if no more money, out of writing than acting.  She decided to turn her energies in that direction and keep acting as a hobby, wrote several plays for local community theater groups, murder mysteries for the Spirit of Washington dinner train, and began entering writers workshops at Science Fiction and Fantasy conventions.  Eventually, she was offered the chance to join the Fairwood Writer's group, and jumped in with both feet.

During this time, she played several roles for a fledgling jousting and armored stage combat theatrical troupe known as The Seattle Knights, started and directed by artist/horse trainer/stage combatant, Dameon Willich.  Dameon enlisted Darragh's help in turning the group of enthusiastic and talented amateurs into polished, professional performers, and eventually the two married.  From there came something of a career switch, as Darragh learned to joust, fight in armor, wield a sword and shield with conviction, and lance helpless lettuce heads from a galloping horse, all in the name of entertainment.   Dameon sweetened the deal by breaking Darragh's horseless streak with Magic, a flashy, handsome, bay Morgan retired show horse with a history of abuse, neglect, and difficult behavior.  Darragh was smitten.  A new team was born.

In 1997, Darragh and Dameon worked for 5 months as stunt riders and horseback extras on the film, The Postman, he on Magic, riding with the bad guys, she on his Leopard Appaloosa, Shannar, riding with the good guys -- an experience worthy of a book all its own.  With Magic's death in 2002, she announced her retirement from the Seattle Knights, but it didn't stick.

Darragh continues to stay involved by directing shows for the Seattle Knight Players, a sub-group of the Seattle Knights dedicated to more theatrical performances.  She plays non-fighting roles and acts as MC at Seattle Knights shows on a regular basis.  And, yes, she still jousts when needed, resurrecting the character of Rowan whenever the occasion demands.  Her essays, articles, and interviews, have been published in trade journals and small press magazines, and several of her plays continue to be performed around the northwest.  An amateur musician, she sings, arranges music, and writes songs for two music groups, A Little Knight Music and The Badb.  She remains a member of the Fairwood Writers Group, and frequently assists in running the writing workshops at conventions in Seattle.  She's still an avid horsewoman, gives occasional riding lessons, and loves trail riding in her rare and mostly stolen moments of free time. 

Ironwolfe: Book One of the Triads of Tir Na n’Og, and Tales from Opa, are the first novels of two related series inspired by, and loosely based on, the background and some of the characters used in Seattle Knights shows.  The second, third, and fourth novels in the Triads of Tir Na n'Og series, The Triads, The Red Triad, and The Green Triad come out in 2011; the fifth book, The Blue Triad, will be out in 2012.  

For more information about the Seattle Knights and a calendar of upcoming events, visit www.seattleknights.com