(caden)

[seas_open]

Since being caught by half the town walking out of the ocean in half-siren form, April has taken care to get her morning swimming done before there's much of a crowd on the beach. She's not ashamed necessarily, she's just still not sure how a siren like her fits into this town, how she's supposed to follow the rules. Before Siren Cove, she's never been part of a group of sirens, she's never had a matriarch and if she's honest, she's mostly been trying to avoid the situation.

It just makes things easier.

She's long since finished her swim this morning and she's dressed again, wandering the beach as she dries her hair on her towel. There are plenty of houses that line the beach and there's a part of her that still wonders if she can't give up the nice apartment she has to find a place closer to the water. Being out here, being in the ocean, it's as close to home as she's ever had.

But at the same time, she still doesn't have a job in Siren Cove and she knows moving into a house she shouldn't be able to afford will bring up questions. And given what she's been warned about when it comes to following the rules, she's not sure that admitting she's conned a good number of people out of a fair bit of a money over the past five years is going to go over particularly well. So she stays where she is, but she spends a lot of time on the beach anyway and she checks out the houses as she goes.

There's one home in particular she's looking at today. It looks like someone is moving in and April wanders closer curiously, her towel draped over her shoulder as she catches sight of the man who looks like he might be renting the place.

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[writtenby_caden]

That's still so weird, to think that he has fans. It's not something he thinks he'll ever get used to, but at least he's a little better at dealing with it now. He bites his lip at her question and reaches up to scratch the back of his neck as he sips from his coffee.

"Supernatural mysteries," he tells her. His last two books made the New York Times' Best Seller list, and he's really proud of that, but he's never figured out a way to tell people that doesn't sound braggy. "You know how the monster - " he does air quotes around the word - "is usually the bad guy? I like to turn that trope on its head, and make them the hero. Sure, there are bad werewolves or whatever out there, but there are bad humans too, right? It's always the big bad wolf, but maybe he's got a family, his own problems, you know? Maybe those three little pigs were dicks."

He realizes that he's rambling and cuts himself off with a quiet chuckle, rolling his eyes at himself. He ducks down to grab a book from the box, looking down at the glossy black cover. It's titled Big Bad and that takes up most of the cover in large white font, and under a pair of glowing golden eyes is his own name. He can't help the rush he feels when he sees that, even still.

"Here," he says, thrusting it out at her. "This is my newest one. It's about a werewolf who has to figure out who murdered his sister's fiance."

[seas_open]

April listens, a smile curving her lips and a huff of soft, surprised laughter when he says maybe the three little pigs were dicks. There's something about the way he's talking, though, something about the idea that maybe even the monsters aren't all bad that appeals to her in a way. She's been described as a monster before, between the scales, the way her teeth sharpen to points, the blown pupils of her eyes when she's in her siren form. Even here, in a town with an apparently huge siren population, she's gotten the distinct feeling some people aren't very comfortable around her and while she knows she isn't one of the good guys, it's not such a terrible thing to think she might not be one of the bad guys either.

She takes the book -- and she hasn't even had to influence him to give it to her -- and turns it over, looking at the cover before she sets it on the rail of the deck beside her coffee. "I'll let you know what I think," she says and she means it. She'll find the time to read it, which she doesn't imagine will be too difficult, not in Siren Cove. Everything moves at a slower pace here. She has more free time than she expected.

"So how many books have you written?" she asks. "Oh, do people write fanfiction based on your characters? That's when you know you've really made it or so I've been told."

[writtenby_caden]

"This is my sixth," Caden informs her. That means that he's put out a book a year since his first, along with doing signings and appearances. There's even a plan in motion to turn one of his books into a film, which still completely blows his mind. "My editor heavily suggested that I take my time with the next one, which is kind of why I'm here."

When she mentions fanfiction, he cracks up and flushes deeply, laughing a bit. "Yeah, actually. In the book before my last one, the female protagonist had these two male friends, one a werewolf and one a wood nymph. They apparently have quite the following."

He's never read any of the fanfic, but he was pretty obvious with the subtext so he isn't exactly shocked. He knows it exists for all of his books, but that's the most popular pairing. "It's flattering, I guess, that people saw something in my characters that they want to expand on."