It's that time of book again - who wants to die (in a book)??

Anders Theroux

I'd love to be a barman in one of your stories. It's a thing I include in all my short story roughs and the WIPs I have, since its my real life job (the one that actually pays me, anyway)

dough

Rachel Crescent. Getting my wisdom teeth out at 29 which is geriatric according to my oral surgeon. Also chose my last name when I got married for feminist reasons

Benjy is a great name for small boy or a large dog. Not as good for a grown-up who wants to be taken seriously. And what were my parents thinking, naming me that and then, when I was 5 years old, moving to the Philippines, where the language has no "j" sound? I retreated from the constant mockery by leaning into my expat identity, devouring comic books and VHS tapes of MTV shows sent by my well-meaning New Jersey relatives. But on annual visits back to the US I could feel myself fitting in a little less well each time. And so I, gradually and grudgingly, and despite my ingrained snobbery found myself first accepting and then immersing into Filipino culture, while never letting go of my American affectations. So now I'm one of those international people you see floating around places like London, Hong Kong, and Dubai: a little bit at home everywhere, but not completely at home anywhere.

Elsie Birnbaum is an eleven year old who has thankfully outgrown her weeb phase and now is solidly a trekkie (which is no less annoying to her parents who would rather she not keep talking about whatever her current obsession is). Last year, she was incredibly lucky to have gotten to visit her best friend who moved back to Japan after first grade, Misato (Millie) Kanahara. While in Fukuoka, she got to go to school with Millie for three days which of course meant she got wear a cute little seersucker sailor dress and tell people for years to come that she (briefly) went to school in Japan.

Jordan Bosch

Jordan Bosch. From Halifax, Nova Scotia. The son of a still-life painter and an amateur car thief, he is a former foosball coach turned high school drama teacher who in 2007 received rave reviews from the St. Josaphat Times for staging an all-mime production of Neil Simon’s Rumors at the end-of-term barbecue. The arrival of aliens shortly after caused for him an existential crisis, where he routinely professed a nihilistic philosophy to his students that ultimately got him put on a leave of absence. During this time, he found modest recognition as a volunteer spokesperson for the Conservative Party of Canada.

Erin

Ryoko Sato- the first name and last name of two different Japanese people I worked with. This is actually an abbreviated version of one of their stories. Sato-san (as you'd usually address her) is an Okinawan who fell in love with a Marine but the relationship fell apart as soon as he brought her back to the US. She spent 6 months here, said fuck this place, and returned to Japan but chose to live mainland. She's still technically married. She now works in an office and no one knows what she does in her free time. She's very secretive and quiet, until she goes to karaoke. Then she gets very dunk, belts all the US top 100s from the 80s, and usually falls asleep on one of the tables (true thing that happened, at least twice that I was there for).

Jaki King, a rambunctious librarian with a distaste for capitalism and a penchant for eating raw potatoes