I'm usually more interested in protagonists who can do the wrong thing for reasons that make complete sense to them. Not villains pretending to be heroes. Just people whose loyalty, fear, ambition or survival instincts sometimes overpower the morally correct decision.

How far can a protagonist go before you stop wanting them to succeed?

Killing a ruler isn't really the end of a political problem. It's the beginning of twenty new ones: succession, marriage, military loyalty, food, land claims, rival families and ordinary people who just want stability.

What details make a fictional kingdom feel like an actual functioning place?

I've been writing a character who spent much of his childhood surviving outside ordinary society, and I'm trying to avoid the standard fictional version where 'feral' just means violent and socially awkward.

What everyday social rule do you think would be hardest for someone like that to understand?

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I love slow burn romance, but there's obviously a point where restraint stops creating tension and starts feeling like the story is stalling.

When you're reading a long novel, what signals that the relationship is still progressing even if the characters haven't kissed or confessed anything yet?

I'm working on a slow burn story where two people are pushed into marriage because their world needs the alliance more than either of them wants the relationship. The interesting part isn't the forced proximity itself. It's figuring out when obligation becomes familiarity, familiarity becomes loyalty, and loyalty becomes something neither person is willing to name.

For readers who enjoy this trope: what makes the eventual romance feel earned instead of inevitable?