As for Carlos in a similar vein, I'm not sure there's really a place for researchers as their own thing, independent of any larger organization that employs them. I guess maybe he could try to become a translator?

David would, of course, become a freelance web developer. Boom, done.

Jessie would have to make a decision about whether to try to become a freelance accountant, or try to make a new career in art. One looks dreadful to her, while the other looks terrifying. 2/4

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Finally, there's Margot. There isn't any place in the modern job market for freelance radiologists, is there? Honestly, I sort of wonder if she might try to become a private detective. She wouldn't have to tell her clients that she was using magic to help her track people and find lost things... 🤔 3/4

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Anyway, those are individually. If they're trying to start a single business, all five of them? *throws up hands in disbelief* I haven't the faintest clue. What the hell business could possibly make use of *that* weird assortment of skills? 4/4

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#WordWeavers day 25: If traumatic events happen, do your characters process it on page for longer than a chapter?

When traumatic events happen in real life, people rarely if ever get over them quickly. Sometimes they never finish processing it; it becomes something that haunts them for the rest of their lives. 1/3

That doesn't mean you need to make the rest of the story be about healing or recovering from the trauma, of course. You can have as much or as little of that as you like be shown on the page. 2/3

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I doubt I'd ever have an entire chapter be about trauma recovery, all in one chunk. But I think I'd be even less likely to gloss over any serious trauma in such a short time, overall. In fact, I can easily see it cropping up literal years later (in story time), perhaps in a completely separate book if I were doing a series. 3/3

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#WordWeavers day 26: What is your current project teaching you, craft-wise or personally?

How serious and large an undertaking writing an entire novel is. Holy shit.

I mean, I wasn't exactly taking it lightly; I didn't think it was going to be some teeny little thing I'd just dash off in a month or two. But damn, I really didn't expect it to be *this* big a project (especially considering how small a fraction of the way through it I am).

#WordWeavers day 27: Is it difficult for you if your partner or closest friends don’t enjoy books?

I truly can't say, because I'm pretty sure I've never had a partner who didn't like books, and if I've had a friend who didn't, it was so long ago that I can't remember (or they were so subtle about it that I never noticed, but I kind of doubt that).

#WordWeavers day 29: Have you ever written a pet into one of your stories?

Some of my characters do have pets, but I'm taking "written a pet into..." to mean "used a real-world pet as the template for one in a story". On that basis, no. My characters' pets are original, not based on any I've had or known in my life.

#WordWeavers day 30: If there were a party, would your MCs be the center of it or hiding in the corner?

It entirely depends on: the particular character; the party, including who else was there; and their mood.

#WordWeavers day 31: What are your MCs’ relationships with food like?

Generally pretty "normal", I think. None of them have disordered eating patterns, or are food-insecure, or anything like that. 🤷🏻

#WordWeavers day 1: Who is your most despicable character and how do you feel about them?

Well, my *second*-most-despicable character is a corrupt cop. It'd be hard to say much about the character who's even more despicable without giving away some things that I want to show up naturally in the book and give people the willies. But I will say that my feelings about this character are that they're a scary monster. Hiding behind a pretty face — as many of the scariest do, especially recently.

#WordWeavers day 2: Do you enjoy writing "good", "bad" or morally grey characters more? Why?

Honestly, I think my biggest enjoyment seems to come from writing characters who are having a good time, enjoying what they're doing. Whether that's good, bad, or neutral (just having fun and not hurting anyone) seems to be irrelevant.

#WordWeavers day 3: Share a vivid sensory description from your story. What was writing it like?

Here's Kevin Wingard experiencing a magical warding charm plucked from one of three guards Margot Chu has just knocked out, in chapter 2. Writing this was fun and interesting, as I tried to imagine: If I were a magician, and suddenly had a charm like this handed to me, what *would* that feel like, anyway?

#WordWeavers day 4: Look back at the first thing you wrote. What did you do right?

A few things! I did a good job (IMO) of describing a numinous experience; I think I gave a pair of characters distinct and relatable voices, and I also, serendipitously, happened to be able to throw in some fun symbolism.

#WordWeavers day 5: If you found out that someone had to live one of your MCs' lives (like in the "Stranger Than Fiction" movie), would you change the story?

Huh? 😕 But someone *does* have to live their lives: they each do. They're people. How are they not people? Of course they have to live their lives! What‽

#WordWeavers day 6: Share an important or fun lesson you've learned as a writer.

I've learned that pantsing ("discovery writing", "gardening", whatever) is really hard for me. I'm still trying to decide whether that means I just need to outline the hell out of things, or whether I should practice and get better at pantsing. I'm leaning toward the latter... but it ain't easy!

#WordWeavers day 7: What's the most rewarding thing about writing?

Getting to create an entire world and people, and even sometimes see them having fun in it.

#WordWeavers day 8: What's the most frustrating thing about writing?

How incredibly long it takes to get even a little bit done.

#WordWeavers day 9: Have you ever talked to a reader of your story? How did it go?

To me, this phrasing implies something other than "I handed someone a piece of my writing and asked them what they thought." More of a chance encounter with a stranger who'd read my stuff. So in that case, no, I haven't published anything yet, so I haven't yet had the opportunity for this to happen.

#WordWeavers day 10: Have you ever dedicated your work to someone?

I'm not yet at the point where I have enough to be worth dedicating to anyone.

#WordWeavers day 12: What would you tell a fellow writer who was struggling with self-doubt?

It would depend heavily on what it was they were doubting: their ability to complete their book? Whether their work was any good? Whether they'd ever be able to sell it, or make a career out of writing? 1/3

And it would also depend on what they said when I asked the question I've learned is crucial if you want to help someone: "Would you like some advice? Or would you prefer sympathy?" N.b.: It's critical that you *mean it*, that you be willing to provide either, and not look down on sympathy as being "lesser" than advice. Maybe remember a time in your own life when you've wanted sympathy, not advice. 2/3

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Alternatively, "I'm sorry, I don't have any advice, but I can offer sympathy" is a very valid thing to say! 3/3

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#WordWeavers day 14: Who do your antagonists care about?

Travis Winter: Himself and his wife, Holly McQueen. (She kept her surname; she already had a very successful career before meeting Travis.)

Derrick Devereaux: Himself, his husband Ashton, his friend-group in general, and also the San Francisco drag community and gay community. 1/2

Van Martinez: Herself, her siblings in blue on the San Francisco police force, and also a couple of friends outside the force.

Donna Kuang: Herself, her husband Larry and son Brandon, and the people of San Francisco. Not just the voters, all of them!

Adrian Hardesty: Himself. 2/2

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#WordWeavers day 15: Describe your MCs' eyes.

Four of them have brown eyes, with David Hartmann being the lone blue-eyed one. And I will *not* be describing either Margot Chu's or Jessie Nakamura's eyes as "slanted", "almond-shaped", or having epicanthic folds at any point in the book. That's completely unnecessary; I'm positive my readers will be able to figure it out. (Their surnames help a lot in this regard.)

#WordWeavers day 16: If your MCs had statues put up in their honor, what would it be for?

I've thought about this a bunch since the question came out, and honestly... I don't like to just outright reject the question, but in this case, I really don't they ever would have statues in their honor. They try very hard to work behind the scenes. 1/2

Theoretically, if Jessie made a career of art and then became wildly successful, or if Angel became a famous architect, they might get statues for those things. (Unlikely, though.) The other three? I don't think anyone's making statues for librarians, MRI techs, or web developers, no matter how cool, interesting, or dedicated they are. 2/2

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#WordWeavers day 17: Would you still write if you had to use a typewriter or pen and paper?

Pen and paper? Absolutely not. My hand just won't handle writing for long periods of time without cramping. (If I'd been born in a time before typewriters? I don't know. I might have developed the stamina for it.)

[Edited to add: the last sentence of https://social.lol/@alkaid/116085664170057754 applies to me beautifully, as well.] 1/2

Typewriter? Ugh. I don't know. I don't think so. The thought of retyping so much stuff every time I edited anything? I can't abide redoing work I've already done. 2/2

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#WordWeavers day 18: Can your MCs carry a tune?

I think David and Angel both can, although not at anything like a professional level. Not sure about Jessie and Carlos; I can see cases to be made in favor of both yes and no. And I suspect Margot can hit the notes very precisely, in terms of pitch, but the timbre of her voice isn't very smooth. I suspect.

#WordWeavers day 19: Do your antagonists believe in the supernatural?

My antagonists, as well as my main characters, *are* supernatural. Or at least, agents of it; the living spirit of San Francisco itself has taught them all magic and given them the power to cast it. Not believing in the supernatural, for any of them, would be like not believing that people can see colors, or not believing in their own right hand, or something like that.

#WordWeavers day 20: What tropes are in your current project?

Oh, so many of them! An incomplete list, as per https://tvtropes.org/ titles:

Action Girl (multiple ones, in fact)
Affably Evil
Badass Longcoat
Bi the Way
The City (in a big way!)
Ensemble Cast
Family of Choice
Five-Man Band
Magical Society (a bunch of them!)
Paranormal Mundane Item
Portal Door
Utility Magic

#WordWeavers day 21: What part of editing is hardest for you?

I haven't done much of it yet; I'm trying real hard to just finish writing my first draft and then deal with editing. But I strongly suspect it'll turn out the answer is "cutting enough material to get down to a reasonable size".

#WordWeavers day 22: Have you ever created a character that you really didn't enjoy writing?

I don't *think* so. There's one of my antagonists who I don't enjoy having to do as much research as I need to do for her background (the political fixer, in case you were wondering), but when I actually _write_ from her perspective, it's usually rather fun.

#WordWeavers day 23: What word/phrase do you use too much? Has it changed over time?

I haven't checked to be sure, but probably any/all of really, actually, mostly, and probably.

(Yes, I did that on purpose.)

#WordWeavers day 24: Tell us something about your MC that seems unimportant but really is crucial.

The fact that Angel Castillo did slam poetry in their high school and early college days seems like just an interesting curiosity about them. But it's also a sign of the punk heart that still beats under their stylish, suit-wearing exterior now that they're in their thirties.

(And the experience also comes in handy for improvising orations when casting spells.)

#WordWeavers day 25: How is light created in your book? Candles, electricity, magic, or what?

Mostly by electricity; it's set in San Francisco in 2024. But an interesting piece of trivia that may become a teeny plot point: Back when San Francisco first started training urban wizards, during the Gold Rush, there was a standard spell to create light. It was still reasonably common up until roughly a dozen years ago, because it could... 1/2

...take the place of carrying a flashlight. Now that everyone has cell phones, it's mostly fallen by the wayside... but it *does* still exist — and it can be really useful for proving to someone that magic is real. 2/2

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