Okay I'm simply gonna do this for ALL 3 WIPs in hopes I don't run out of facts, bc I am much better at doing this when it involves actual questions

Anyway 1 like = 1 fact about either

#GroundskeeperWIP
#ChosenGrandmaWIP
#HungryGirlsWIP

whichever I have a fact for!

1) Simply bc this is a question everyone asks about #ChosenGrandmaWIP: yes, I got the idea from That Post

2) Not *exactly* a fact about the WIP, but I've since connected with @Writer_Carrie, the person behind @broodingYAhero, for unrelated reasons!

P sure we connected over our mutual love of Les Mis, & then she found out about my story & I found out she's the reason it exists!

3) Edna is named Edna bc I was looking for a lil old lady name "like Edna" that's so old-fashioned that it's probably never been in style and is also short on cute nicknames

ENTER THE NAME SEARCH

but by the time I had a list of old lady names, I was super attached to "Edna"

4) The church that burns down in #ChosenGrandmaWIP is a real church I used to actually attend in my hometown

There's no commentary here or anything, it's a lovely church and we had several good priests and a nice community

But it burns down in the story anyway, oops

5) The festival where they find the Sword of Destiny in #ChosenGrandmaWIP is also based on a real festival in my hometown!

Irl it's the Marine City Maritime Days Festival & takes place in August.

In the story it's the Maritime Magic Festival & takes place in July.

6) Edna's last name is Fisher, which is also my paternal grandmother's maiden name bc it is My Brand™ to simply steal names from my own family

7) I wrote #ChosenGrandmaWIP as part of a Last Man Standing contest in which we had to write a minimum of 1,000 words/week to stay in

The contest lasted 72 weeks before finally ending (with 2 winners bc the poor creator couldn't knock us out even with a lightning round)

8) For the first 66 weeks, I had to write 1,000 words/week but averaged around 1,500 words/week

Then...COMMENCE THE LIGHTNING ROUND

The goals were:

week 67: 1,500 words
week 68: 3,000 words
week 69: 5,000 words
week 70: 8,000 words
week 71: 12,000 words
week 72: 20,000 words

9) How many words did I *actually* write that 72nd week of the contest?

32,301

Which was a good 12k over the goal for the week, but I was SO PAINFULLY CLOSE to the end of #ChosenGrandmaWIP that I kept going until I had a) reached the end of the story & b) melted into puddle

10) My first draft came in at just under 160,000 words, even though my goal for it was 100,000 words

It was and still is the longest first draft I've ever written, 2x longer than the longest first draft I'd ever written to that point

(Now I do come in at more like 100k)

11) #ChosenGrandmaWIP has mundane magic. Everyone *has* magic, but if you haven't studied it, your natural magic manifests in mundane ways.

For example, Edna can always find a handkerchief when she needs one.

She pulls a different handkerchief out of her handbag in every scene.

12) Kiernan is an elf, and his people have luck magic. It's basically just a ridiculous excess of good luck, but they can specifically draw on it in moments when they *need* luck.

If your draw on it too often, however, it'll give out - usually at the worst possible moment.

13) In early drafts, there was a line where Edna said carefully, "It wouldn't be the first time I killed a man!"

I am the only person who knows whether or not she was joking, bc I categorically refuse to tell anyone whether or not it's true.

13) #ChosenGrandmaWIP has several explicit Princess Bride references bc Princess Bride was Clem's sister's favorite movie.

14) #GroundskeeperWIP also has a Princess Bride reference bc I guess that's part of My Brand™ now

15) Some of the most common (read: overused, lol) body language in #ChosenGrandmaWIP includes

scowling
looking/not looking
physical comfort

And Kiernan needs to go to the doctor and the dentist, bc ya boy can't stop clenching his stomach or grinding his teeth

16) Some of the most common (again read: overused) body language in #HungryGirlsWIP includes

scowling, again, bc I love scowly folks who can still be Soft
looking/not looking, again, bc how else does one even emote
wrapping one's arms around one's self bc a n x i e t y

17) Some of the most common (again again read: overused) body language in #GroundskeeperWIP includes

running one's hands through one's hair
rubbing the back of one's neck
anything physically related to panic attacks
looking/not looking bc it's literally my fave

#GroundskeeperWIP is surprisingly low on scowls

although I guess Samira scowls fairly frequently, but she's more mischievous and adventuresome than ANNOYED

18) In the first draft and a half of #ChosenGrandmaWIP, Edna had a cat named Mittens

He got cut bc I am notoriously bad at keeping track of characters' pets

Bby kept getting left in hot cars and whatnot bc I'd forget he was there

19) Clem gets a lowkey bi-ace romance w/a half-fae girl named Jada!

It's not fully developed bc a) the bby is awkward & b) a different queer romance in #ChosenGrandmaWIP gets more attention, but the Disaster Bi is strong with this one

Clem may be scowly, but she's also CUTE

The character art up there is by my friend Rinnah, whose art may need it's own fact tweet bc I have so much of it from her for this story <3

20) #ChosenGrandmaWIP starts with Edna waiting to go to the cemetery bc it's July 11, her son's birthday.

(She doesn't know when he died, so she goes then.)

July 11 is also the anniversary of my grandpa's death

21) Jumping off that last comment and photo, Edna and the groundskeeper are lowkey based on my grandparents in terms of physical appearance

like if you ignore how fancily my grandparents are dressed in that photo

it's not a one-to-one description, BUT <3

22) Sort of an all-WIPs fact, but:

It's hard for me to talk about my ~writing process~ bc it's wildly different for every WIP! It's included

pantsing, plantsing, & planning
drafts completed anywhere between 5 & 18 months
revisions immediate or delayed

And many more!

23) #ChosenGrandmaWIP was my longest first draft in both time and word count: 18 months and 160,000 words

#GroundskeeperWIP promises to be my shortest first draft in terms of time, but we'll see when we get there

24) I have always written in third-person and I tend toward omniscient narration (rip me querying lolsob)

BUT

I'm planning to revise #HungryGirlsWIP in first-person present! I lowkey knew it needed to be FPP when I started it, but I Resisted bc I'm a third-person girl

25) Maybe this doesn't count bc everyone knows, but: #ChosenGrandmaWIP got angstier with every draft

I SWEAR TO GOD it really is a very funny story

and it's got v sweet found family <3

but also there's abuse and dead family and unresolved trauma

it's not DARK but it is SAD

26) Edna wasn't meant to have a romance in #ChosenGrandmaWIP, but she wound up with a lowkey romance with a soft, kindly old carpet-enchanter

I didn't mean for this to happen, but Amir appeared on the page and Edna was like "yes"

I don't blame her <3

27) On that note, Amir is absolutely one of my favorite characters in all of #ChosenGrandmaWIP and I long for the day when some reader or another will also declare him their favorite

He is a Soft Old Man and he deserves everyone's love