Notices by Kagan MacTane (kagan@wandering.shop), page 2

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: Hollywood is filming one of your works. Which actors are playing the main roles?

I think Sara Ramírez might be a really good choice for Ángel Castillo. Not sure about the others.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: How do you format a flashback so the reader knows what's going on?

I'm not sure yet, and it's something I'll *need* to do for the opening few pages of chapter 5, as it's going to go back to the end of chapter 2 and pick up on that moment from a different character's POV, moving quickly forward to meet up with the way things stand at the end of chapter 4. (That sounds awkward and confusing here, but I think it'll make sense and work well in the actual book.) 1/2

My plan right now is to write that flashbacky part in the past perfect tense until it catches up to the main action's simple past tense. I hope that'll work; if not, I'll have to try something else. 2/2

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: Describe the saddest moment you’ve written. Share an excerpt.

This is a little weird, because # WordWeavers this month has asked about the scene I'm proudest of, and the hardest one to write, and I answered both of those with *the only* scene I've written so far — by default, it *must* be "the most" anything.

But that scene isn't remotely sad, so I can't use it for this prompt. I haven't written anything sad yet.

Yet. I have some plans for some sad things in my WIP.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 31: Where do you write?

Mostly at home in a nice, comfy chair. Sometimes in bars, or occasionally at the nearby Center for Fiction.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: What genre(s) are not your thing (without insulting other club members)?

I've never been a fan of Westerns or sports stories.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 1: Intro: Tell us about yourself, WIP, etc.

I'm Kagan, a web developer working on my 1st novel: an ensemble (multi-MC and -villain) #UrbanFantasy set in #SanFrancisco, about people who can talk to the City. It teaches them to do magic, and they're trying to change the world for the better. But different people have different ideas about what "better" means.

I'm still working on background (magic system, character backgrounds, etc.) and hope to start "real" writing soon.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: Do you agree with Jodi Picoult who says you should finish writing a book even if you think it might be garbage?

Yes, for 2 reasons:

1) You might be being too hard on yourself.

2) Like Mr. Rogers says at https://wandering.shop/@sarahijackson/110601308851114103, "It feels good to *have made* something" (emphasis added). Even if it does turn out to be garbage, you'll have *fully* accomplished a written book🏆🏅, not "well, I wrote half a book once but stopped midway through.🙁😞"

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3: What skills/qualities do you look for in an editor?

Someone who will work with a writer to make the piece be the best it can be. But that's the best that *it* can be; not some other piece. I.e., not turn it into some other work. But someone who has suggestions can be good.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 5: Can you feel the emotions of your characters when you write them?

More than just their emotions; I need to inhabit their mind and their thoughts, and often even their bodies, in order to write what they're thinking, feeling, and saying in that moment.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 4: What software do you use to write?

Mostly VS Code, and a Git repository. I keep some tables of stuff in Google Sheets.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 6: If you were to write a sequel centred on one of your SCs, which would you pick?

Jake Mansour and Meredith Romer are two very strong contenders. Alternatively, I think Hazel Kovalenko could make a nice anchor for a series of cozy shorts.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 7: Complete this phrase: I write because…

…this seems to be the time in my life when the writing urge in my has finally surfaced, after lying dormant for so long.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: How do you deal with describing specific character ethnicities?

I'm still pondering how to do this best. I have the advantage that, since my work is set in present-day San Francisco, I *can* simply describe people as "a Japanese-American woman", "a Palestinian-American man", "a European-American guy", etc. It's not like, say, Earthsea or Middle-Earth. But I'm not sure if it's the *best* way to do it, or if it's what I'll finally settle on.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: Which words do you overuse? Be honest.

I suspect "really", "honestly", and "seriously" will be my overuse bugaboos, but honestly, I can't really tell yet. Get back to me once I start seriously writing.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: What do you say to people who tell you they're frustrated writers?

I understand. I'm a frustrated musician. I love music, I used to want to be a musician, but I honestly don't have the talent for it. Sometimes, what you *want* to do and what you *can* do well enough to satisfy yourself just aren't the same. And it hurts. I understand.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 11: Are some genres taken more seriously than others? How does this make you feel?

Obviously! Nobody could claim with a straight face that "literary" fiction (which, yes, is a genre) or even biography isn't taken more seriously than romances. (Hell, I think at this point even sci-fi and fantasy may be taken more seriously than romances.)

It's stupid and unfair, and makes me annoyed.

#WritersCoffeeClub Day 12: Share your personal grammar/typography style, if you have one.

I'm really not sure what this even means. I'm pretty sure the typography will be set by the publisher, and my "grammar style" is: follow English grammar. (But not the bizarre dictates of hypercorrective prescriptivists; starting sentences with conjunctions and ending them with prepositions are both fine.) 1/2

I do maintain that em and en dashes should be set off with spaces on either side, and the first one should be a non-breaking space, so the dash can never be the first thing on a new line. Is that a "personal typography style"? 2/2

@JenniferdeGuzman That is so weird to me! I find unspaced em dashes much harder to read and parse.

Like, this here — is a thing that's easy to spot. But your editor really wanted—to have it set like that?

Any chance the editor wanted the spaces taken out of the document so they could put in their own as part of the layout process, and they didn't want to have to worry about accidental extras? If not, I think I'd be annoyed by reading books published by that editor/company.