And now I’m imagine The Tagalong Pantheon flailing their arms around like Kermit the Frog :)

Edit:

Out of curiosity, what drew you to Irish Folklore and the Tuatha De Danaan as central themes for the first 75% of your story?

Full disclosure: I’m a white guy who’s writing and revising a novel featuring an Asian-American protagonist (inspired very heavily by a certain co-worker who likes to talk like a grizzled Gumshoe). As a writer drawing on elements of a culture and heritage not his own, it’s doubly important for me to avoid stereotyping, seriously engage with perspectives of Thai-American folk, and above all, make "Cold Iron Crossing" a damn good yarn.

I also want to give a big shout-out to some of the many talented Asian  authors out there, pumping out out brilliant fantasy stories that blow mine out of the water!

–JY Yang, the Tensorate Series: https://jyyang.com/the-tensorate-series/

–Benjanun Sriduangkaew, "Scalebright" and "Winterglass": https://beekian.wordpress.com

–Ken Liu, "The Dandelion Dynasty" series: https://kenliu.name

–Fonda Lee, "Jade City" and "Zero Boxer: http://fondalee.comhttp://fondalee.com

–RF Kuang, "The Poppy War": https://rfkuang.com/books/

–S.P Somtow, "Vampire Junction": http://www.somtow.com

–Jamie, Legapsi, "Moonflowers": https://www.inkshares.com/books/moonflowers

If you like Cold Iron Crossing, you’ll definitively love these works!

You also raised a very good point about how the "Harry Potter" concept of magical people hiding themselves from the ’mundane world’ is a false narrative––that in fact, practitioners all across the world play a public, productive role in their cultures and communities.

Your story could go in any direction depending on how your characters act, think and evolve over time. But I can’t resist asking: how do you think the Philippines will change when Alima brings the magic back?

On a related note, have you ever read this Philippine urban fantasy comic series?

http://tresekomix.blogspot.com

Out of curiosity, what exactly drove Filipino magic out of the world of your story? The Spanish conquest?

...and then I realized I’d heard about "Moonflowers" before on Tv Tropes! I’d thought the tale of humans, faeries, primal gods and cunning folk sounded awesome. Reading it in person, I’m blown away by the tight prose, dialogue and engaging characters!

I find it interesting that you try to minimize world building and planning out the plot of "Moonflowers" ahead of time: it lends the narrative a spontaneous, realistic air and focuses the plot more on character agency. What inspired you to write "Moonflowers" in that specific way, if I might ask?