Q: What is mate madness?

A: If a shifter doesn’t find a mate, they are in danger of falling into mate madness — a condition where they will permanently turn into their shift. It makes being a shifter a double-edged sword and gives shifters (including male shifters) a biological clock.

Q: Isn’t this a deus ex machina random thing you pulled out of your butt?

A: Nope! I think it was first mentioned in Beauty And The Billionaire Beast as the cause for the hero’s father running into the woods to be a bear forever, upon becoming a widower. I have not made it the focus of other stories because it is something that is more serious than my standard shifter content.

Q: Why are so many shifters naked when they shift back into their human form?

A: My shifters literally turn from their human form into their animal form within seconds. That means that if a shift is big or oddly shaped, it could rip their clothes. This is a historical trope from older werewolf fiction that appears in some modern werewolf fiction. This is part of the ‘normal’ part of the ‘paranormal.’

Q: Why aren’t the reindeer shifters naked when they turn back into their human form?

A: Because the reindeer shifts are magical. That’s part of their magic.

Q: Why don’t elementals or other highly magical beings lose their clothes when they shift into their animal form, and why aren’t they naked when they change back into their human forms?

A: Because they’re highly magical beings. Not only do they have control over various kinds of magic, but they can do some simple magic regarding their shift (if they have a shift at all — for instance, Avery and Befana aren’t shifters, so their magic obviously doesn’t apply to ‘their’ shifts, as there are no shifts to begin with.) That includes making sure their clothing is still intact when they shift back into their human forms.

Shifters are not considered to be highly magical beings in my world. Their powers extend to shifting in and out of their animal forms and human forms, and, they have mate marks. That’s pretty much it. Remember — everyone in my world knows shifters exist, but, they don’t know about the existence of other magical beings. Shifters are openly shifters and aren’t hiding that fact from non-shifters. They’re not super common, but there would probably be at least a few dozen shifters in a good-sized town.

Q: Why do shifters have mate marks at all?

A: The mate mark seals their shift into their body. They basically get two mate marks — one when they get their shift (usually at eighteen), one when they claim (or reclaim!) their mate. The first mate mark they get is a temporary seal that keeps their shift at bay. If they do not find a mate, the seal will not get strengthened by fate, and they’ll be in danger of becoming a beast forever — mate madness. Having a beast form is a double-edged sword — the power to shift comes with the chance to lose one’s self to the bestial nature entirely.

Q: What’s the deal with reclaiming a mate?

A: If a shifter isn’t in proximity of their mate for some time, the claim on their mate will fade. If the claim fades, the mark slowly returns to normal. Shifters can have multiple mates.

Q: Are shifters magic or not?

A: It depends on who you ask. To humans, yes. To other magical beings, no, because they are so common, and because their magic is highly physical (they do not shoot laser beams out of their eyes or something).

Q: Why weren’t shifter paw marks mentioned more?

A: Most people cannot recognize animal prints on sight, and I think that wouldn’t change in a world of shifters because most people don’t know shit about shit.

Q: Why does Clan Marron have a deal with Santana Claus?

A: My theory is that Jasper Jackson, as a young buck, summoned Krampus when trying to summon a demon, and that got him on The Naughty List, and it kickstarted the whole thing. I don’t think I wrote a formal explanation of this down. There could also be a link via Jasper Dixon, but I don’t think so.

Q: Will we read more stories involving Clan Marron? Or stories set in Nuthusk?

A: Maybe. I don’t know yet. I think there would be an expectation that those stories would feature Christmas magic, so I do not know if I would have to set another Christmas series there or what.

Q: Why is Clan Marron different than the other shifter groups we’ve read about?

A: This is not a writing inconsistency. I try to make every shifter group ‘feel’ different, whether it’s a family-based group, a species-based group, a hobby or lifestyle-based group like the herds we read about in Fated Mate Speed Date’s The Rapunzel Rodeo.

Clan Marron basically founded Nuthusk, and the members are either married in, joined by choice (a shifter family moving to town), or were born into it. I would say at least three-quarters of Nuthusk is part of Clan Marron, which is basically a single Clan town, whereas Port Jameson is bigger and has a bevy of Clans.

Clan Marron is in the smaller town of Nuthusk which is nestled in the woods, away from the world, but that might change if some tourism comes to Nuthusk…

They’re not a fancy Clan or a rich one, but they care about community a lot.

Q: Are there non-bears and non-shifters in Clan Marron?

A: Yes, but most members are bear shifters. If you marry someone in Clan Marron, you can join that way, if you want. You don’t have to. Same goes for kids. They can participate by having parents in the Clan (parents in any sense, including adoption, it’s not just biological kin) or also opt not to. Nobody is forced to be in it.

Q: Why don’t the heroes want to leave the Clan?

A: The Clan is like a big family. It’s like leaving a family.

Q: What would happen if the heroes were kicked out of the Clan?

A: They cannot go to Clan events or use the benefits of being in the Clan, like using the Clan Lodge as an event space, getting discounts at businesses, being socially recognized by the Clan. They wouldn’t be the Clan’s responsibility any more if they fell into mate madness. They would be clanless due to having been kicked out, which is a social detriment. Nobody is burning down anyone’s house over it.