Yes, I very much enjoy her works. My favourites were always the Chrestomanci series, and The Homeward Bounders. Jones, Joan Aiken, Lloyd Alexander, and John Bellairs, all whimsical in their ways, I think, were my very favourite children’s authors when I was younger.
It’s funny you should mention that particular passage with the jinn. I based that sequence on a bunch of research I did on Persian customs in the 1800s and very early 1900s and the Edwardian responses to them (and to some degree, Iranian cultural and language customs of today) with of course the same overly-colourful spin I’m trying to use with the entire work.
If I were going to quote a Jonesian influence in this, it would have been some of the characters who work in the bakery. Castle in the Air and its predecessor weren’t particular favourites of mine because I found several of the characters in them quite exasperating. It’s interesting to hear that her tone has crept into other sequences as well. I hope it’s in a good way, not a too-similar one!
I was also just thinking of posting an ‘in-progress’ update even though I’ve no playable sections to add to the alpha just yet. So, here it is:
I’ve written another 25,000 words or so, but I’m in the middle of coding a big sequence that hangs together. I decided to let characters pick their work experience and hobbies on the employment questionnaire, and belatedly realized coding appropriate amounts of work experience for ages sixteen to sixty-six takes a long, long time. Not to mention the research on chandlery in the Edwardian Era, or particular aspects of titles for the peerage, or all the other little details I’ve wanted to capture properly. So I’m working away steadily in order to get to my daffodil-robot, but it’s a slow process.
And I’ll share a new picture too from Flitted’s artist, E. Lewis Martel. This is the possible head-of-bakery, Pedr Widden. He’ll be key in the first few chapters, except for MCs who are themselves the head bakers. He’s a plentyn newid, a changeling.