A, N, O, P, F or any of the fanfic asks you feel like answering! 🥰🥰🥰
A: How did you come up with the title to [insert fic]?
All the fics in the Marauders' Map universe are named for the locations where they occur. They also have secondary meanings (except Costa del Sol):
Hepburn Avenue: the Hepburns are an ancient noble family in Scotland (and the north of England). Over the centuries, they changed the course of both English and Scottish history; for good and for bad. Felt prescient for the start of the saga.
Caraway Street: Caraway seeds have a number of symbolic meanings. They're an ingredient in old love potions. They can be used for both protection and banishment.
Highgate Mews: this is named after Highgate Cemetery in London, which is chock full of notable graves. Artists, writers, scientists, spies, academics, playwrights, criminals, and many more. It's proved inspirational more than once.
N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?
I want to dictate the rest of Celandine to someone. I just can't write it at the moment 😂
O: How do you begin a story–with the plot, or the characters?
Honestly, I start with a vibe 😂 I end up thinking about how I want things to feel, and things go from there.
P: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an “architect” or a “gardener”? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?)
It sort of depends?
For in-universe fics like A Great Many Things or In Love and Death, I can generally just let it do what it wants and follow the breadcrumbs as they're laid. I'll have a vague idea of where they're going but that can change.
Fics like Caraway, Celandine, and Coming, Evans?, where there's a lot of universe building, I tend to architect much more. Celandine, in particular, has a lot of "architecture". I have to have a glossary of that fic to remember everything from the names of cigarettes to the name of Orion Black's business partner.
The whole Marauders' Map universe needed a lot of plotting, but it's Muggle AU so the actual writing of it is quite easy, I am just lazy.
F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.
This, from Caraway, because it always feels like I managed to do them justice: