Thank you! I’m really glad that part of it came through.
Yes, the story was inspired by someone very close to me. The dedication is for my grandmother, Frankie Sue Pond. She taught me to love videogames when I was young, and she also loved fishing.
What eventually became Angler’s Wake started from thinking about her and about the strange way people stay with us after they’re gone. I didn’t want to make something purely sad, though. I wanted it to be more about gratitude for having had that person in your life, even when you wish you could have one more conversation with them.
That’s where the idea of fishing for spirits really clicked for me, spending one quiet night getting these brief pieces of people’s lives, while hoping that maybe the person you came looking for will be among them.
Thank you for noticing the dedication and asking about it. It means a lot that the story connected with you.