Sneak-Peek: World Building and Grand Theft Sorcery (Patreon)

Hi all!

First quick note: Audible tells me they may have the audiobook for NO MAN’S LAND available as soon as mid-March! No date is set in stone yet, but they let me know that's their current projection. It’s much sooner than I expected. HOT RESTART in audio is also on the way! I’ll keep you posted!

As usual, I’m still full steam ahead on GRAND THEFT SORCERY. Writing this in Los Angeles brings a lot of hometown vibes for me, but it has also been nearly 20 years since I lived there. I’m doing lots of research, lots of imagining, and lots of world-building.

This book is in the Good Intentions setting, so of course many elements are already established. Every city will have its differences and its particulars, though—and there’s always the possibility that our familiar Seattle crew misunderstands or just doesn’t know something.

When I’m developing a large setting, sometimes I take a step back and work up elements I may or may not need in the story just to give myself some immersion. This gives me an important head start, because coming up with names and identities in the middle of a scene is often a roadblock. It’s nice to have a list of pre-developed ideas to pull from. I did this with the fleet scenes in the Poor Man’s Fight books, working up an Excel spreadsheet of spaceship names and classes and such; many of them have yet to appear on the page.

I’ve done this for Los Angeles in Grand Theft Sorcery, specifically for Practitioner (sorcerer) circles. We surely won’t see all of these circles in the text, and in fact probably not even half of them. But they’re around, and part of the setting, and I think the list gives an idea of tone and possibility.

The Greater LA area is huge. You can put lots of boundaries to it, but one measure I found on Wikipedia (because I’m being lazy) notes that the contiguous urban area is 2281 square miles, and holds a population of 18.5 million. It’s also one of the most diverse areas in the US.

I note all that because pretty much any ethnic, religious, or other identity could show up in LA, and therefore could show up as the predominant identity of a circle. While practices define a circle more than ethnicity and such, those things are still major social factors, and that carries into who people associate with and learn from. This is also to say that my list is by no means exhaustive. And many, many Practitioners keep their profiles as low as possible.

This list is partly just notes for myself, and partly in-world commentary from Omar. He’s a jinn of Sunday’s acquaintance that readers will meet later in GTS. In concept, this list is really a list of who Omar can name and his impressions. :)

Take a look if you’re interested, and meanwhile, I’ll get back to work!

Omar’s List:

"I know of nine. There are likely more."

Whispers of Ascension (Circle), the inner circle within Universalis Community. Omar says, “Universalis is exactly the prestige cult scam that it appears to be, but there is real magic at the top. The Whispers are five or six actual Practitioners and a few dozen cult types who might genuinely believe in magic but don’t know anything. Couple C-list celebrities are involved. Financial shenanigans, weird orgies, prescription drugs.”

Ravens: Aging Goths. Big on talismans, potions, and guidance from ghosts and spirits. They flexed more in the ‘90s, but a couple of them settled down with family and one died in a dispute with the jinn.

Inglewood holds a circle with no name and few ambitions beyond taking care of friends, family, and neighbors. Predominantly Black and Latino, entirely friendship-based. Few relations with other circles or supernaturals, but they do keep Inglewood clear of vampires.

Alhambra has a quartet of young, aspiring Practitioners under the mentorship of a jinn. Omar says, “We call them… well, I don’t want to name names, but we call them our cousin’s ‘project.’ They’re nice kids. Sort of an Indian-American YA novel come to life.”

The Topanga Hippies. Omar says, “Not druids. Not shamans. Hippies. The name comes from outside observers.” Almost irrelevant in Practitioner relations, but they’re a group of decent size and their holdings include a local occult bookstore.

Another, more serious group meets in Angeles National Forest, also claiming no name. They are nature-oriented, crossing ethnic and generational lines.

New Money is a group of young hermetics with a tendency toward organized crime and dirty work. Five or six men in their twenties and thirties, tend to dress well. They show signs of support or mentorship, but any patronage is unknown.

Diecisiete operates somewhere in Huntington Park/East LA. Largely if not exclusively Latino. The group has been around since the ’70s. Omar says, “I don’t think there are seventeen of them. It’s probably a street or date reference. I don’t know. They don’t like to talk.”

The Orange Curtain—Orange County fascists, because of course there’s a circle of OC fascists. Hermetic sorcery, several generational members, decently funded, and always hoping to recruit. Entirely white, but of course they claim that’s not by design. Omar says, “If it makes you feel better, they're not the only circle in OC, and they keep getting pushed further south. They aren’t tolerated in even half of OC anymore.”

And... The Cat Lady of Culver City: literally cat allies and cat magic. “She’s very nice. Don’t mess with her. Also, DO NOT hurt a cat in LA. She will hear about it. They avenge.” (Omar shudders and speaks no more of it.)

Defunct or dead:

Televangelist cult in OC summoned a demon who ate them and then wore their skins for a bit. Shit happens, y’know?