Sending out a novel in newsletter form (Tiny Letter) and via blog installments does mean it is difficult for a reader to flip back to check where a character was last seen or some detail dropped several chapters ago. The further along we go, the more of a problem this is likely to be. So as I can, I’ll add reference notes. They’ll be as much for me as for you. I wish I could have one of those walls that they have in crime dramas with photos and notes pinned and connected with yarn in various colors. My apologies for where the story lines get tangled. In the meantime, here are our characters. (Notes will change as need dictates.)

Hannah Robinson — our sixteen-year-old protagonist
Nate — one of Hannah’s friends who came to break into the Asylum with her
Clem — another one of Hannah’s friends who came to the Asylum. They all end up separated from each other. He is found by truck driver Hasher Mansfield
Nurse Meredith Stillmark — the head nurse and only nurse we meet in the story (probably)
the old woman — I dropped her name early on, but I may change it before all is said and done. She’s a patient, but the only patient who Hannah gets involved with
George — the doorman
the boy — the first child we see taken away by black birds
Odelia Roe — the second child carried away
Hasher Mansfield — delivery truck driver who finds Clem knocked unconscious and tries to help
Gerald Robinson — Hannah’s father (as of this moment, not yet in the story but will be)

a number of patients — I don’t want the story to become confusing with too many characters to keep track of, especially given this format, but each patient represents a particular fairy tale. I might share a list of fairy tales later. The main idea way back when I started this tale was what would happen if a person actually said their brothers were turned into swans. In the world of my story, they end up in the Asylum, where they aren’t helped. They’re contained.

a few townspeople — mostly these folks are like extras on a film set and there to give another perspective on the Asylum

security — not your usual security and so far indistinguishable from one another, which is what they want