#WordWeavers day 12: Your MC has 2½ days of spare time, time to…

Angel: Maybe Jake and I could do a quick staycation? Check into like the Kabuki Hotel or that one out by Sutro Heights...

David: Maybe do a little hacking on that personal coding project I've been thinking about.

Jessie: Honestly, *all* my time lately is "spare", and I should really be using it to try to find a job instead of fucking around with painting. 1/2

Carlos: That's not nearly enough time to research that biographical stuff about Thomas Aquinas like I've been meaning to, but maybe I could at least get a start on it and take some good notes.

Margot: Oh heck, let's see if Al and the girls and I could do a quick road trip! Just down to like Monterey or something. 2/2

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#WordWeavers day 13: Does your MC have a particular scent they love or hate due to their past?

When Angel goes to visit with Margot's parents, Margot's mother makes _zhīmahú_, Cantonese black sesame soup, for dessert. It was Margot's favorite as a girl, and she still loves it. At one point, after a burst of the sound of a blender comes from the kitchen, she tells Angel, "That sound, after the smell of roasting sesame seeds, always told me it was going to be time for black sesame soup soon."

#WordWeavers day 14: Do your MCs tend to run more optimistic or pessimistic about life?

Overall, more optimistic. They may complain, they may observe that there are significant and even systemic roadblocks to effecting change, but at the bottom of it all, they _do_ believe that change for the better is possible, and that they can (help) bring it about.

Which is part of what makes them my MCs, and heroes in general.

#WordWeavers day 15: Are your antagonists more optimistic or pessimistic? Why?

That's a really good question. In some ways, the Big Bad's plan could be seen as ultimately stemming from a lack, or loss, of hope that people are decent. He thinks he has to fix a broken situation. (OTOH, he thinks he *can* fix it... is that optimism?)

#WordWeavers day 16: If your MCs lived in our world, would they have good financial credit?

They do live in our world! And most of them have reasonably good credit. Nothing to write home about, but generally doing okay. The main exception is Jessie, who's having some cash-flow problems and general financial worries.

#WordWeavers day 17: How far beyond the local home of your MCs does your story extend?

The story is almost completely confined in the 7×7 square miles of San Francisco. At one point, Angel drives across the Bay to visit someone in Oakland. Someone else might leave the City's boundaries at some point, or might not.

#WordWeavers day 18: If your antagonists had to learn a musical instrument, what would they pick and why?

Derek Devereaux says he used to want to learn to play the organ, just so he could play the Wurlitzer organ at the Castro Theatre, but since they took it away, he might as well just play the kazoo.

#WordWeavers day 19: If your SC were going on a trip, would they pack light or take too much?

Vivian Quinlan, the leader of a high-concept party-throwing magical group (generally known as "Queen Viv" to other members of the group and even to many urban shamans outside her group) would absolutely overpack. Granted, city wizards don't often go out of town, but if she did, she'd pack so heavily, someone would only half-jokingly suggest she just hire a moving truck.

#WordWeavers day 20: What are your MCs' relationships to preparing and obtaining food?

Fairly standard for middle-class people in San Francisco these days, I think. There's a mix of buying groceries from the supermarket or Instacart and its ilk and then cooking them at home, getting lunch from places near the office on days that aren't work-from-home, some in-home meal delivery, and some eating out. (It'd be a shame not to do that; San Francisco is... 1/2

...very well-supplied with excellent restaurants of nearly every type of cuisine and at nearly every price point.) 2/2

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#WordWeavers day 21: Does the change of seasons affect your writing at all? If so, how?

I write better after dark. OTOH, I have more energy when the days are longer. So those two things kind of balance each other out; there's no real net change in my output. (Also no change in content or tone; those things are controlled by the needs of the story, not my mood or the environment around me.)

#WordWeavers day 22: What would your antagonists be willing to die for?

Derrick would be willing to die to save his husband, Ashton. Donna would likewise be willing to die to save her husband, Larry or her son, Brandon.

And most of them would be willing to die to stop a threat to the City itself. Adrian is kind of on the fence about that.

(If you're wondering about Travis' wife, or Adrian's wife or son... no, I already listed the things people would be willing to die for.)

#WordWeavers day 23: What would your MCs be willing to die for?

As per the villains (yesterday), all of them have family members they'd be willing to die for. I'm not going to list them all; that might get long. But note that even though Jessie's relationship with her mother is very strained, she'd still die for her if it became necessary.

Also, any of them would die to save the City from a threat... and they very much include Travis Winter and his plans in that category.

#WordWeavers day 24: Do your characters have any "tells" when they are lying?

Probably; poker players will tell you that everyone has a tell. But they'll also admit that most of them are pretty subtle. I haven't bothered to come up with specific ones. Except that Carmen Lockhart fiddles with a lock of her hair when she's nervous... but she hardly ever lies. She just gets nervous in social situations sometimes.

#WordWeavers day 26: How "high maintenance" are your MCs?

I'm not entirely sure what qualifies, TBPH. I mostly hear it used as a way to criticize people (usually women) for having needs or desires that the criticizer (usually male) doesn't want to meet. I'm positive that's not what's meant here... but I'm not sure what *is*.

I guess about average amounts of maintenance?

#WordWeavers day 28: Do you use flowers at all in your story?

The California poppy, the state flower of California, is used as a magical ingredient in at least one spell.

#WordWeavers day 29: Can you describe your current WIP in three words?

San Francisco urban fantasy (counting "San Francisco" as one word... just one that happens to have a space in it).

#WordWeavers May 1: How long have you been working on your WIP?

I started writing the first draft on April 18th, 2025. I'd been doing pre-work for a while before then, though. I think it went from "I idly kick around this idea of 'what if I were to write a story about living, magical cities sometime?'" to "Okay, I'm gonna write this thing" sometime in late 2022.

#WordWeavers May 2: How much longer do you think it’ll take you to finish your WIP?

That question has been weighing on my mind for quite some time now. If I extrapolate my progress so far, it looks like I might finish the first draft in early 2028. Then my thoughts for how to revise are ones that might involve complete rewrites, so...

Honestly, thinking about it is pretty upsetting.

#WordWeavers May 3: Tell us one thing you love about your story.

That (I think) I'm making the City a definite character in its own right. Not just "a setting that has a major effect on the story", but really *a character*.

#WordWeavers May 4: What’s your MC’s critical flaw?

Carlos: He'd say it's his hEDS. I'm more inclined to think it's his refusal to tell his wife that magic is real.

Angel: As with Carlos, their terror of opening up about magic to their boyfriend is major. Also their insecurity and desire for their parents' approval.

Jessie: Her abysmal self-image, which at least partly stems from yet another thing that I want to keep secret for now. 1/2

David: As with Jessie, I want to keep his problems under wraps for now, and see if I can surface them appropriately in the text.

Margot: I'm not sure she has one, really. She's fairly self-actualized, having done the hard work of overcoming flaws before the story starts. 2/2

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#WordWeavers May 5: Is your MC aware of their flaw?

Carlos: Is very aware of both flaws, but doesn't see any way of overcoming either of them.

Angel: Much like Carlos, except for insecurity. They don't realize how insecure they are.

Jessie and David: Both nope, at least at the beginning of the book. Jessie thinks her self-image is accurate, though she starts to learn otherwise as the story progresses. David also starts learning about his own flaw as events unfold.

Margot: N/A?

#WordWeavers May 6: What writing-related challenges have you encountered recently?

For one, the increasing awareness of just how long it's going to take me to be done with this. And the awful feeling of how much that's going to make it "a story about the past" instead of "a story about the present day", like I really wanted.

Also having been very busy with other stuff for the whole month of April, which mostly kept me from writing.

#WordWeavers May 7: Do your antagonists have any redeeming qualities?

All of them have at least a few redeeming qualities. Donna truly wants to make the City a better place, and many of the ballot propositions she's helped promote have done good things.

Travis and Adrian both have excellent taste in food, and Adrian used to throw wonderful parties. (He's had to stop since getting married.)

Derrick is an accomplished drag queen.

Van has focus, drive, and determination.

#WordWeavers May 8: MC POV: Describe your neighborhood.

David Hartmann says: The Lower Haight is a completely wonderful neighborhood. Lots of cafés, restaurants, bars, a record store... nice parks, good public transit, but also quiet enough. On a warm spring or summer evening, the main few blocks of Haight are alive with possibility and community. It's a joy just to walk around here.

#WordWeavers May 9: Are there any unusual societal norms in your world?

No, it's basically our world. The city magicians grow up in our society and don't awaken until, generally, sometime in their mid-twenties, so they take their norms from the over-arching, non-magical society.

#WordWeavers May 10: What are the beauty standards like in your world and do they impact any of your characters?

They're just like our world, and they impact various characters in various ways. Margot, for example, has to deal with fatphobia every day. OTOH, Adrian and Travis, two of the villains, are quite handsome, and they use that to their advantage.

#WordWeavers May 11: Antagonist POV: Tell us about a fun time you recently had.

Adrian Hardesty says: Ah-ah, I don't think I can tell you what I was up to last night. It might get back to the wrong people.

#WordWeavers May 12: What role does romantic love play in your story?

It's fairly peripheral to the main plot, although there is a romance-story subplot. (At least at the moment, there is. I may have to sacrifice it for length and complexity.) However, it play a major role in the lives of 3 of my 5 MCs, who each have romantic/life partners who are very important to them.

#WordWeavers May 13: What role does non-romantic love play in your story?

A fairly large one. Nearly all of the major characters (protagonists and villains) are motivated to greater or lesser degrees by their love for San Francisco and their desire to shape a better future for it — though what they each think would qualify varies, sometimes wildly.

The sibling-ly love that grows between Jessie and David also plays a role.

#WordWeavers May 14: Which of all the characters you’ve ever written are you most proud of?

I don't think I could possibly pick just one. That's like trying to decide if sushi, Eggs Benedict, or a hot fudge sundae is the most delicious. They're *all* delicious, just in very different ways.

#WordWeavers May 15: What type of writing (novels, shorts, poetry, etc) comes more naturally for you?

Absolutely novels. I've written poetry before, and I should really get back to it. Short stories... I suck at keeping things short. I may try to do short stories someday, but I know it's going to be a major challenge.

#WordWeavers May 16: Would your WIP still work if you changed the gender of your MC?

I have 5 MCs, one of whom is agender. All of them have at least a few personality characteristics that are tied to their gender (as most people do). Swapping everyone's gender would mean some of those traits would now mismatch their owners, or have to change in some ways. 1/2

(And what gender do I change Angel to? I guess from agender to genderfluid?)

But the basic storyline would still work; it doesn't require that any of the MCs be any particular gender. 2/2

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#WordWeavers May 17: How would your MCs react to being handed a kitten?

Presuming it wasn't a bad time to be handed one, I think they'd all react positively: smile, make happy noises, pet it, etc.

#WordWeavers May 18: If your antagonists had to arrange a contest they knew they could win, what would it be?

For Travis Winter, the answer is probably, "Sue them. If necessary, just drag the case out and exhaust their money supply." Ditto for Adrian Hardesty; since they're both quite rich, that works for them. 1/2

Van Martinez would opt for hand-to-hand combat in most cases; unless an opponent has a huge size/strength/weight advantage over her, or is extremely skilled, she can be confident of victory. She's worked hard for that. 2/2

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#WordWeavers May 19: What % of your typical day involves writing/writing-adjacent activities (including thinking about it, lol).

If I include just thinking about it, rather than restricting it to only time that I spend actually doing writing, researching, or outlining, then it's probably up above 2 hours a day on average. Given that I only seem to be awake for roughly 15 hours a day, not 16, that makes about 13.33% of my waking hours.