Switch Spoilers of themes, gems, and darlings....

1. The chapter titles were just place holders while writing, and intended to be removed.
2. The final two chapters, bow and ribbon, are references to my wife who insists that any good movie must be tied with a ribbon at the end with a blue bow to answer all open questions.
3. Both Switch and Tab thump when they live/die and tie them together.
4. For her parents, Switch calls her Mom, but calls him father to denote family issues.
5. The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite books and has small notes referencing the book. It’s also an allegory for the next story.
6. I LOVE puzzle boxes and secret rooms, so they get a place in the story with Swtich’s hidden computer.
7. “It’d call that a win” is repeated at Two key points; as well as as “I knew the return would be nada” to tie pieces together.
8. Some character names have symbolic meaning:
   Avery - Ruling with Elf Wisdom
   Mara - Bitter/Sorrow
   Tabitha/Tab - Raised from the dead
   Mauvaise - bad (French)
9. General Data Protection Regulation of 2018, yep that’s real.
10. Acoustic Physics at São Paulo, yep that’s real.
11. All of the locations are real places in the Huntsville area, with just a little name change here and there.
12. The slogan of Jardin’s office is a toss back to my first website, e-webby: Making the Impossible Slightly Less Than Improbable
13. Painstaking effort was done to remove pronouns that would identify Switch’s gender until the end of the story. At the time writing this was much publicly and politically about gender assumptions and I wanted to touch on that bias.
14. However, there are several subtle hints that Switch is a woman before Avery says she’s her wife. When Switch says that Avery is a better business woman. When Flat Nose says ‘even woman’. One more?

Twelve Repeating Themes, Eggs, and Tuckerizations

1. Tuckerization... the action of using a person’s name or characteristic in a story as a nod or reference
1. The Panda nightlight is a nod to Jimmy Liang from JordanCon
2. When Philip’s mom stomps around the house, and calls out for him so all the neighbors could here, this is a nod to my own mother. We lovingly called her ‘Lead Foot’ and ‘Big Fella’ because she walked on her heels and shook the house, and could call me and my brother in for dinner from 10 houses away. Miss you mom.
3. When Phillip says “Ask for her manager, it’s either Leslie or Rina”, that’s two of my friends, who when I first started coming to JordanCon, would literally mix them up.
4. The reference to Phillip’s teacher “Professor Dauro” is either a reference to Jay or Sarah, who were the people that got Heather and I engaged in JordanCon and have been friends for a darn long time… I’ll let them decide which of them I’m really referring to.
5. The phrase “I passed the street performer who played the fife” is a nod to the editor of the anthology, a prolific member of the JordanCon staff, and a friend, who constantly entertains all of us.
6. The reference to “Uncle Doug” is actually a reference to my nephew who is the kindest and most generous “shirt off my back” person I know.
7. The poker player that Philip goes up against in the end is named “Wendy” after one of my best friends and who was instrumental in helping me get the right terms and phrases for the game of Texas Hold’em correct. So if you find any errors, I have no problem throwing her under the bus.
2. Wheel of Time References
1. “Every swinging Thom who could spin a tale” is a reference to Thom Marilyn who is a Gleeman in the Wheel of Time series.
2. The bar where Phillip goes to meet Eddie is called “The Stag and Lion” and this is one of the MANY taverns and inns listed in the Wheel of Time.
3. When Phillip leaves his house to go to the The Stag and Lion on the ‘L’ he cross “Two Rivers”, which is another Wheel of Time reference as the home of Edmond’s Fielders before they too leave and go to The Stag and Lion.
3. JordanCon References
1. The first chapter in ‘present time’ is April 22nd, 20022. The first day of the JordanCon 2022 convention.
2. Mom’s comment about Nana’s garden and “I just can’t believe it’s April already” is a nod to JordanCon and the phrase “Is it April yet?” that is usually said the day after the Con is over, and every day after, as people wait anxiously for the next one.
4. The number 12. It repeats in multiples places throughout the book
1. All times in section titles are a factor of 12; 0, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60.
2. Flip gets his power on his 12th birthday at 12 minutes after midnight.
3. The queen is the 12th card in the deck
4. Twelve stacks of black in poker chips
5. Flip plays games for 12 days to earn back the money
6. Flip goes back in time 12 times to try and win back the money to pay off the debt
5. Little Darlings and other Easter Eggs
1. Several characters make references to time and the volatility of it, the most obvious is Eddie telling Flip he should 'make time now', but there is the subtle hint of managing time travel throughout.
2. When Philip decides he needs to “work on getting more time”, the next chapter opens with “Phillip, you’re going to be late!” I was quite impressed with myself making this corollary, but I think I’m the only one who catches it.
3. The chapter for September 16th is my birthday… but I was not born in 2015.
4. Not so much an Easter Egg, but the mom’s confusion about the neighbor’s reference to Dr. Livingstone getting lost in the azaleas was a fun little reference to the famous explorer.
5. When I submitted the story in August 30th, 2021, I wanted a reference to a popular computer game that would be coming out in April 2022. After much research, and hoping developers stay on schedule, time will tell if Elden Ring makes my story prognostic.
6. I hated Econ. So does Philip. That is all.
7. The reference to “and Philip, brush your teeth” is a reference to my own wife kissing the kids goodnight and our struggles with their hygeine. Teenage boys are gross.
8. The reference to the T-Shirt that says “This is the shirt I wear when I just don’t care” is an actual one in my closet that is normal rotation of pandemic PJ attire.
9. All of the streets and locations in Chicago are real, even the color of the lines for the ‘L’. Google Maps was my resource so I tried to pick close to actual places, but it’s been decades since I was in Chicago so things may not match up exactly.
10. I worked at weaving in references to gambling songs in the story, hopefully making them fit even if you didn’t know them. The songs were:
1. The Gambler by Kenny Rogers
2. Shape of My Heart by Sting
3. Queen of Hearts by Juice Newton
4. A Crazy Game of Poker by O.A.R.
11. In my stories there is often a little political commentary. One of the common themes in writing circles is the discussion that there are not a lot of minority characters, so I wanted to make Philip African America. However, I also didn’t want to be over the top with direct references that came off as ‘agenda’, or showing my ass trying to write AAVE (African American Vernacular English) or code-switching (I have some books but still a lot to learn). The only indications is how Philip refers to his family and the reference to him being named after A. Philip Randolph, a civil rights activist and labor organizer.
1. Personal note. Philip’s father is not in the story because of a divorce and this could be considered playing into the stereotype of “The absent black father”. The simple reason he’s not there is it is a short story, and I didn’t have time to develop and weave in another character to play off Philip and the situation. I spoke to a few and requested a sensitivity read. The consensus was there was no steretype because the father’s absence is not a driving force in the main character’s behavior/situation. However, you can read into any story and there is perspective I likely missed, so please know the work was written from a place of good intentions to raise voices and create main characters of minorities.
12. One little darling that didn’t make the final cut was the final sentence of the story where I tried to put too much into one sentence repeating themes and song references, and my editor, Robyn Huss, rightfully cut the heck out of it. The original line was “Maybe the twelfth time playing with the Queen of Hearts would reveal the hidden law of a probable outcome.”