On Creating Believable Magic Systems
Issue 5, March 2026 ~ Length: 829 words
Writing Progress
1883 Milwaukee, YA Historical Horror. One of my favorite things to write in any of my speculative projects is the moment when readers get to see the magic actually happen for the first time. While this novel has all the horror elements, my character Annie is a medium with a very specific magical gift. I’m just about at the midpoint of this rewrite, and my MC Luce has secretly witnessed Annie’s magic. Poor Luce, all her sensibilities have been challenged by this haunted hotel!
I’ve really evolved Annie since the original version, but the more intricate the magic gets, the more I have to pay attention to the details. I’m the reader who always asks why, so I have to make sure everything is connected in a way that feels naturally believable to my readers. It takes many tries, but draft by draft, detail by detail, it comes together.
Three things I found the most helpful for leveling up my magic systems: educational/craft classes on this topic, lots of practice with a willingness to experiment, and reading books in my genre (and genre-adjacent) with magic systems.
1890 Philadelphia, YA Historical Fantasy. The main focus of this revision is overhauling Etta’s arc. She’s one of my dual MCs, and I’ve been embroiled in a lot of character work with her. There are some things that just haven’t been clicking for me, and I realized I have to go back to the basics and completely sketch out the magic system/lore since I’m changing some of it. (It’s “Philadelphia’s oldest secret.”) That will inform my new inciting incident. I also realized today that I will have to rewrite the first act completely, but it’s going be really exciting to see all the new material unfold.
I’ll be returning to Philadelphia this summer and I’m over the moon! When I was there three years ago, I was in the middle of drafting the first version. Now I’ll be there on the tail end of this revision, with the story all set in place. I’m staying in Old City, which is where Etta lives, and I am so ready for all the detail mining.
Glowing Bookshelf Recommendation
This month, I want to shout out Nafiza Azad’s YA fantasy, The Wild Ones, since my writing progress has focused on magic systems. My wheelhouse is YA contemporary, so I had to start from scratch when learning how to craft magic systems. As I was learning how to level mine up, my reading stack was full of masterfully crafted examples. The Wild Ones has a magic system that’s stayed with me for years, but so have the characters. And the writing is absolutely gorgeous!
Check out Nafiza’s website (and her other books, too!)
March’s Curios
(Micro-reads swapped out every month!)
Today I Learned, Historical Fiction Author Edition
The Victorians were obsessed with celery. It was considered to be a luxury vegetable because it was hard to grow, and raw celery was often presented as its own course at fancy dinners! (It was also commonly served with olives, pickles, and radishes.) But there were actual celery vases for dinner tables, and their only purpose was to display upright, raw celery stalks.
I have a scene in 1883 Milwaukee book where Luce gets a bowl of cream of celery soup from the hotel kitchen. It was considered a fashionable and respectable soup, also commonly served at fancy dinners. In 2026, the only time I have that soup is when the canned Campbell’s form is part of a casserole. Lol.
Check out “Celery was the Avocado Toast of the Victorian Era.”
Ephemera Spotlight: Calendar Trade Cards
One of the details I’ve had to remember is adding calendars or clocks around for my 19th-century characters. Since everything is on my cell phone, it’s so far removed from my daily routines to consult a wall calendar. I wanted to share this lovely trade card from my collection, and I’m stitching it into my 1890 Philadelphia book for Etta. It will be hanging somewhere in the dress shop.
Pet Corner: Our Sweet Doves
I am no stranger to unusual pets, one of my current residents is an axolotl. A couple of years ago, we added two pet doves to our household. I had never met anyone else who had pet doves until last week, when a writer friend shared hers! We even discovered we had both adopted from the same breeder.
Our two doves are the sweetest, a white ringneck and a silver frosty. As a special treat, they enjoy shredded cheddar cheese. I wanted to share because so many people are surprised that doves can be pets.
Writing Trinkets posts on the first day of every month where I share author updates, glowing bookshelf recommendations, and rotating curios. Thank you so much for stopping to read! Please feel free to also connect on Instagram at PerhapsKatyJ
All photos/images are from my personal collection/taken by me. Alt text on images.
When we visited the Driehaus museum in Chicago (late 1800s, so just around the time of Newhall!), we noticed that celery was prominently listed as the first vegetable side on the sample menu.