I knew Bucket the activist gnome was going to be an important character.

I didn’t expect him to turn up so early (Chapter 2) or so naturally, though. And I especially didn’t expect him to be so easy to write.

His dialogue just writes itself. I could write him for hours. Some characters turn up and they’re wax dummies. They won’t say anything. But you can’t shut Bucket up.

Berry, my viewpoint character (the ex-apprentice shaman with the post-traumatic stress), liked him instantly, and so did I. It’s probably a bit early to sign up as a Berry-Bucket shipper, but the option’s on the table.

He’s a frood who really knows where his towel is, too.

Welcome, Mr Bucket.

Mike Reeves-McMillan

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Mike Reeves-McMillan lives in Auckland, New Zealand, the setting of his Auckland Allies contemporary urban fantasy series; and also in his head, where the weather is more reliable, and there are a lot more wizards. He also writes the Gryphon Clerks series (steampunk/magepunk), the Hand of the Trickster series (sword-and-sorcery heist capers), and short stories which have appeared in venues such as Compelling Science Fiction and Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores.