Beautiful People: March with Bennett

Beautiful People is a monthly character interview hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In. It’s been ages since I’ve done a Beautiful People (let’s be honest, okay, I’ve only done two ever) but here’s to starting again! *clinks glasses of sparkling cider*

I wasn’t entirely sure who to do for this one, but after some talking, I decided that I would do it with Charles Bennett, a young politician and somehow both a minor and major character in the epic sci-fi. How does that work out? Who knows.

Anyway, he goes by Bennett (honestly, calling him Charles is the weirdest thing) and I introduced him in the most recent update of the Enhanced field guide: Enhanced: The Complete Field Guide, Part Two (Characters). Now, for the questions!

Oh! Also I decided to follow the example of some bloggers and ask Bennett the questions directly instead of answering for him. My comments are in [italicized brackets].

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• What’s your favourite book/movie/play/etc.?

[Pride and Prejudice, obviously.]

Um, no. *says something in Latin* It’s a play (and a movie) about life and death, revenge, pain, unrequited love, and heroism.

[Way to answer without actually answering what it is. It’s basically warmed-over Shakespeare without the cool language.]

• Is there anything you regret doing?

I regret my naive view on life when I was younger–my belief that, somehow, I could make a difference to these people when they have never wanted to change.

• If you were sick or wounded, who would take care of you and how?

[*cough* That’s a spoiler.]

What?

[I mean, you haven’t met her yet, so…]

*ignores Lana* To actually answer the question…no one?

[Come on, there has to be someone who would help you if you were near death.]

*frowns* There isn’t anyone.

[That’s almost sad.]

• Is there an object you can’t bear to part with and why?

Yes, lots of things. Old books, papers, letters, computer documents, journals…I keep them in a special place.

[You “forgot” to say why.]

I can’t stand to look at them…but I can’t leave them behind either. I need to know that I have something to remember them by.

• What are 5 ways to win your heart (or friendship)?

1. Don’t fawn over me. [*raises eyebrows*] Okay, don’t be obsessed with me.

2. Be intriguing and interesting.

3. Be intelligent and able to carry on a knowledgeable conversation.

I can’t think of any more.

[You know, maybe you could put something like “kind” on there, because right now those three are sounding a whole lot like all of your politician “friends” and nothing real.]

Fine, I guess you’re right.

4. Believe in me.

5. Be willing to stick with me even when you disagree, even when times get rough, even when I tell you to leave. Just always be there for me.

• Describe a typical outfit for you from top to bottom.

Nicely-styled hair, fashionable suit, polished shoes. Oh, and a smile, of course.

• What’s your favorite type of weather?

Sunshine…when the world is warm and the trees are budding into spring, and there’s a tiny breeze [not enough to mess up your hair, of course], and everything just feels so alive and peaceful.

• What’s the worst fight you’ve ever been in?

What if I don’t want to answer a question? *folds arms* People are allowed not to answer questions that reporters ask them.

[Just answer the question.]

Fine. It was when I was thirteen or fourteen…we were being stupid…and one of us walked off with a broken nose and the other walked off with a broken arm.

 

• What names or nicknames have you been called throughout your life?

Bennett is obviously a sort of nickname. People began calling me that when I started attending political functions–lots of people are referred to by their last name. A couple of people call me Ben, but not many. When I was growing up, I went by Charles, and my family called me Charlie.

[Charlie Bennett…hehehe.]

Stop laughing.

• What makes your heart feel alive?

Changing someone’s mind. Showing them what is the right way to think and view a problem, showing them the solution and convincing them that it is right. Disputing their opinions until they believe like me.

[Come on, Bennett, actually answer the question.]

…The time I’ve felt the most alive is the time I’ve spent making a difference in other people’s lives. That time I spent in the Outer Regions…those smiles I got in return…they were some of the happiest moments I’ve ever had.

[And you still came back.]

Of course I did.

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How do you like Bennett? Very mysterious, is he not? Indeed, he tries to avoid all of the questions…or lie about them…he’s pretty good at that. (Oh, stop glaring at me, Charlie.) Thoughts on [my brackets]? Annoying or amusing? What do you want to know about Bennett? I can probably force him into answering in the comments…

As always, thanks for reading!

 

Enhanced: The Complete Field Guide, Part Two (Characters)

I fully expect this to be the longest of the three parts of the Enhanced Field Guide (places, characters, and plots). If you missed the first part–Places in Enhanced, you can find that here: Enhanced: The Complete Field Guide, Part One (Places).

Why will this be the longest one? Because I have a whole bunch of characters, both major and minor, and I fully expect that the more I write, the more characters will come up. So when this field guide is officially posted on its own page, I’ll update it with new characters when I start talking about them. For right now, though, all of the characters in this post should appear or be mentioned somewhere in the first book, Enhanced.

Oh, and Kellyn Roth @ Reveries was the first one to guess which character this hairstyle belonged to: Meryn. Despite the fact that the hairstyle does indeed look like a boy’s, it is her hair. (Of course, Kell did just list all of the main female characters after I said it was a girl, so I don’t know how much effort it took.) You’ll get a full sketch of Meryn later on in the post–yay!–and she’ll look much less like a boy then.

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POV CHARACTERS

BRIE ELLINGS

I just made up her last name right now. So it’s subject to change…but I kind of like it, so who knows?

Brie is my smol, emotional cinnamon roll who is thrown into this world with no experience and wants nothing more than to save her brother, Seth (see Plots–Rescue Seth and Characters–Seth). She has way too much hair and loves music and singing. She loves deeply and is extremely empathetic.

And because I know you want it, here’s my little chibi drawing of her:

Isn’t she so adorable? I love her and so should you.

WILL ASHA

Will is extremely computer-savvy, and therefore the Reapers’ hacker. It might be weird to say that he feels some sort of emotional connection with computers, but he does–when he was part of the Delorem Program (see Places–The Delorem Program), computers were really the only thing that he could hold on to.

He also makes horrible jokes and puns that no one laughs at, and he likes cats. Going deeper than that, though, he feels responsible for his cousin, Taira (see Characters–Taira) and worries about her (and other people) a lot.

Fun Fact: In the original draft, Will and Brie were going to be a ship. Now, they’re not, but they do develop a sort of sibling-like relationship throughout the first book because Will likes to take care of people and Brie needs taking care of.

LILIAN SHAZI (also referred to as LIL)

Lil is the only POV character who is an adult, and she is definitely a mother figure to lots of people, but especially Will (see Characters–Will). Because of some time spent in the Enhancement Facility (see Places–The Enhancement Facility), she can’t feel physical pain. However, she has a very sad backstory (which I may someday write a novella about…) and her life is filled with emotional pain that just grows worse as the book goes on.

She always cares about people deeply and grows very attached to them. She notices the lonely soul and gives cookies to those with hurting hearts. And she’s so friendly and warm and inviting that you can’t help but be friends with her and want her love.

Fun Fact: She wears ribbons in her braids in her hair. I seriously use this for every fun fact I’ve done with her. But hey, if you have a good one, do you have to find a new one?

KAI WHITLOW

Kai is the hero. Not necessarily the hero of the story but just a hero in that he sticks to what he believes in, which is awesome. I adore characters like that. Despite being heroic, he’s also a little confused and a little lost about everything. He’s trying to grow up and figure everything out, and without a father, that’s especially hard. (His father died when he was young.)

He also has this desire to be strong and to show that he’s just like everyone else or better…which leads to lots of flirting with girls. (I don’t know whether to facepalm or headdesk.) But he just struggles and it’s awesome.

Fun Fact: In the first draft, Kai was totally honest. Like, he could only remember telling one lie in his life. *claps for Kai* So that’s part of what inspired me to have him be the hero, but yeah, no, he fails as much as the rest of us, don’t worry. He makes mistakes, too, but it’s just that in the end, good triumphs over evil.

MERYN …

Meryn who also doesn’t have a last name, oops. She’s the hairstyle up above, remember? She’s lived in the city (see Places–The City) her entire life, and she is a little spoiled (read: very spoiled). She goes on dates and flirts with guys and loves fashion designing. She fights with her sister Aislynn and also has some loving conversations with her at times as well.

And because I have nothing else to say at the moment, here is a full picture of her:

She’s actually a little shorter than in that picture, but yeah, that’s a pretty good representation. And yes, she puts pockets in all of her dress designs because she understands the painnn.

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MAJOR CHARACTERS (NON-POV)

TAIRA …

She actually has a last name, but I can’t remember it…I’d have to look at the first draft to find it. Anyway, Taira is very blunt and generally rude to everyone except for Will, her cousin (see Characters–Will). She’s rude to him, too, just not as much. And she glares at everyone because other people should not exist she has bad headaches the more she’s around people.

Mainly, she just chooses to stay away from people as much as possible. And she has some good reasons for it, but some would say that they aren’t really excuses. So yeah, she has problems and is very enjoyable to think about.

Fun Fact: Taira was one of the main characters in the first draft. Then, she was just going to be one of the POV characters in Enhanced, and then Brie decided she was more important and took over her spot. But she’s definitely going to show up as a POV in the second book, Cryonic, where you’ll get to see some of her internal thoughts, which will be fun.

SETH ELLINGS

As you may have figured out by now, Seth is Brie’s (see Characters–Brie) older brother. He’s adventurous and always looking for some new thing to do. He might possibly be an adrenaline junkie if he lived in our day. And he loves other people, but he kind of loves nature more. He loves to be outside and exploring the great outdoors, and that’s where he gets the most joy.

Fun Fact: He also has curly hair like Brie’s, but his is a bit more under control. Actually, he’s *coughs* kind of good-looking. I mean, according to the pinterest picture I found.

AISLYNN …

Aislynn is Meryn’s (see Characters–Meryn) younger sister. She’s very analytical and ordered and structured about things, which kind of clashes with Meryn’s very creative way of thinking. Hence fights. Also, Aislynn steals Meryn’s stuff, especially her holographic computer (she doesn’t really care about stealing clothes), and basically they fight a lot but also love each other deeper. Aislynn isn’t very good at showing that love, though. She’s also into science and psychology and loves learning.

Fun Fact: Hawaiian pizza is her choice of pizza. Because you need to know that for the story to make sense.

CHARLES BENNETT

He goes by Bennett (possibly because his name sounds like it’s from a Jane Austen novel–but if it actually is, then tell me, because I could use that) and he’s a politician. Or, I should say politician-in-training  or attempting-politician because he’s only in his early twenties and hasn’t done much yet.

But yes, Bennett has an oversized opinion of himself (which could be because he really is handsome and popular and all the girls flock around him) and he and Taira clash dynamically in the second book which is quite fun! He doesn’t do much in the first book, though, but, you know, he’s there.

Fun Fact: Bennett kind of spawned into the story by accident? I was writing the first part of Cryonic and Taira ended up meeting him, and they clashed so much that I developed him more, and he’s actually really important. For spoilerous reasons.

JETHRO CAVRILLO

Jethro is–do I dare to say?–the villian…ish. I need to develop his role in the story better because he’s kind of not at the moment and he needs to be. (Even though he has a heartwrenching reason for what he’s doing…*sobs in a corner because no one knows my pain because spoilers*)

Anyway, he’s the Lead Enhancer and founder of the Enhancement Facility (see Places–The Enhancement Facility), and he does lots of cruel things. Enough said. Possibly because his personality isn’t developed super well…shhh.

Fun Fact: His name used to be Javier until I realized that a) that was basically like Javert from Les Mis, and b) that Javier was pronounced with an ‘H’ sound rather than being pronounced like Javert from Les Mis. So I needed a new name, and I was reading the Bible…and yeah, even though Jethro is a great guy, I decided his name was awesome and would be used.

JULIUS …

I still don’t know how I feel about the name Julius. Like, part of me says yes, and the other part of me says no, and then the other part of me says yum, orange julius. So I may need to change his name, but I need suggestions. Anyone?

Julius is the leader of the Reapers (and they may be explained in the Other section of the Field Guide, if I do decide to post it?) and he makes elaborate plans but doesn’t share them with people. And then gets upset with people when they tell him something that conflicts with his plans even though that’s because he didn’t tell anyone.

He has a lot of annoying faults like this, and probably the most so is that whenever people try to tell him this, he won’t listen to them. So yeah, he annoys me sometimes, too, but he’s also really cool. He really does have a brilliant and strategic mind, and he does love people, but it’s even harder for him to show it than for Aislynn.

Fun Fact: He does, indeed, like orange julius. He’ll never admit it, though, because, let’s admit it, you can’t ever live that down.

RICK & RUBEN

I figured I should put them together to save times. They’re brothers and look very similar…but their personalities are fairly different. Rick acts stupid on purpose, and he pulls it off well, so he ends up being fun. He also has an obsession with old stories and fables. And he has a ponytail and a gold tooth.

Ruben, on the other hand, is more practical and refuses to laugh at Rick (that’s okay, Rick knows that he thinks he’s funny) and he likes to cook food and make lists and be ready for anything (while Rick takes things impromptu for the fun of it). Basically, he could be a butler?

Fun Fact: Rick and Ruben once broke into a chocolate factory…don’t ask.

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Sometimes I forget about how much I love this novel until I think about how much I love all of my characters…seriously, all of them. *hugs them all* Anyway, be sure to watch out for the third part of The Field Guide–Plots! And if you didn’t see it the first part, here’s the link again: Enhanced: The Complete Field Guide, Part One (Places).

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Do you, too, ever have the problem of not choosing a last name for your characters? It happens to me all the time obviously. Which was your favorite character? Which do you want to learn more about? I need to choose one to use for Beautiful People this month, so opinions are obviously needed! Oh, and tell me about your characters! What are they like?

Enhanced: The Complete Field Guide, Part One (Places)

I’m beginning a field guide to help you identify characters, places, and plots in my current novel, Enhanced (and in the entire series), including fun facts and more info than you ever wanted to know! It’ll be great, just trust me.

Plus, once I’m done posting all three parts (Places, Characters, and Plots (and maybe Other?)), I’m going to compile them into one huge field guide that can be found under the “Epic Sci-Fi” menu. That way, if you ever have no idea what I’m referencing in one of my posts, you can check out the field guide! Am I too excited about this? …Probably.

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PLACES

THE CITY

Here’s some of the designs I was considering for the layout of the city…I chose the big one in the middle, but I can’t show you the finished, larger one because I’ve lost my big sketchbook at the moment… *sighs*

The city that as of yet is still nameless is the central location of the novel. In the city, it’s like our life–but cooler, with interesting technology like 3-D computers and airtrains and awesomeness like that. It’s full of rich people who are busy and wrapped up in their own lives. It also rains all the time, but that happens in the Outer Regions (see Places–The Outer Regions) as well.

Fun fact: the city was inspired by my trip to NYC, so if you’ve ever been there, that’s kind of what it’s like. But cooler.

THE ENHANCEMENT FACILITY (also referred to as THE FACILITY)

This is a government-owned facility where genetic modifications (“Enhancements”) are done on people in the name of science and healing. If you were clever, you probably noticed the correlation between “Enhancement Facility” and the title of “Enhanced.” If you didn’t notice, that’s okay too. That’s because the main characters believe it’s a horrible place and want to break in and rescue some people (see Plots–Rescue Seth). Namely, a guy named Seth (see Characters–Seth).

Fun Fact: Throughout the book, six of the major characters spend some time in the Facility. By the end of Cryonic, all of the major characters except for two will have gone there. (And, trust me, there’s a lot of major characters.)

THE DELOREM PROGRAM (also referred to as THE DELOREMS or THE REMS)

The Delorem Program is another government-owned…thing. *headdesk* There, people are paid to experience pain. It’s basically a last resort for those who are poor in the Outer Regions (see Places–The Outer Regions) to support their families. Because of the desensitization to pain, it’s rumored that the people in the program (the “Delorems”) can’t feel any emotions.

Fun Fact: “Delorem,” in Latin, means pain. So, “The Delorem Program” literally means “The Pain Program.” Sounds happy, right?

THE SAFEHOUSE

The safehouse is where the Reapers (see Characters–The Reapers) hang out and basically do their criminal stuff without being caught by the authorities. Because there’s so little ground space in the city, the house itself is small, but the basement is large and stocked full of all sorts of stuff.

THE OUTER REGIONS (also referred to as THE REGIONS)

The Outer Regions is the area that surrounds the city (see Places–The City) and is full of lots of poor people (extremely third world conditions) under governmental control. However, because they don’t know any better, most of them love the government (see Characters–The Pinnacles). And, of course, the people in the city think that the people in the Outer Regions are savages. There are eight regions and each has a specific purpose in supplying and supporting the city.

Fun Fact: The Outer Regions actually have their own religion, called Cajinism. It comes to play in Cryonic, the second book in the series, with Kai and Brie. (see Characters–Kai and Characters–Brie).

REGIONS ONE AND SIX

Region One and Region Six are both variable regions, which basically means they are well-rounded and end up doing whatever the pinnacles tell them to (see Characters–The Pinnacles). *nods*

REGIONS TWO, THREE, FOUR, AND FIVE

Regions Two through Five are all related to farming stuff. Because, hey, somebody’s got to feed everyone, right? Region Two specializes in herbs and plants grown in greenhouses, Region Three does livestock, Region Four grows orchards, and Region Five is centered around farming (as in growing plants and harvesting them).

Brie and Seth are from Region Four, and Kai is from Region Five (see Characters–Brie, Characters–Seth, and Characters–Kai).

REGIONS SEVEN AND EIGHT

Region Seven and Region Eight both use metal-work. Because of this, they have to use more complicated machines are are less of a third-world place and a little more suspicious of the city and the pinnacles. Region Seven does the large metal work and Region Eight does the fine metal work.

Taira and Will are from Region Eight (see Characters–Taira and Characters–Will).

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And…yeah, I think that’s it for this section. Yup, Places is definitely the shortest (and possibly the most boring) of all of them. However, the places in the city are rather essential in order understand the other ones.

How did you like the post? Are you excited or not for the other sections? Are all of the “see this” parentheses annoying? They were meant as a joke, and then I think they just got tedious by the end, so should I take them out of the other two sections? Any tips for how to make the next section better or improve this one? Are you excited about this novel?

And just because you are awesome for reading this all, have a sneak peek at one of the characters’ hairstyles. For bonus points, be the first to guess which character it is!

Character Studies: Lil’s Beliefs

 

It’s time for you to finally meet Lil! Yay, who’s excited? She got slightly introduced in this post I wrote before I left, about all the characters in Enhanced, but now you get to meet her even more fully. And yes, I do realize that these are the questions from July, but I’m not going to skip them because I want Lil to answer them. The questions are on beliefs, ideals, and morals, which will be lots of fun!

Character Studies is a monthly character interview hosted by Morgan Dusky from Studies in Character. You can find this month’s (well, last month’s) interview questions on her blog here and here.

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• Do you believe in true love?

Yes, I do, but it doesn’t have to be romantic. True love can be familial or brotherly or friendly as well, but it just goes deeper than normal love. True love is when you would sacrifice everything to help that other person.

• How about love at first sight?

I don’t think so, not like how it sounds. There can be affection at first sight, longing perhaps, but not real love. That comes later, with time, lots of time.

• Have you ever been in love—like really in love?

Yes. Yes, I have.

• Do you believe in second chances?

Of course. Where would I be without second chances? I’ve made too many mistakes to count.

• Is there something more to life?

I do believe so. I think there is a reason we are here and that we don’t die at death–not all of us, anyway. A part of us must stay alive, somehow. That’s what I’ve been taught to believe…that’s what I have to believe.

• Do you believe in unicorns?  (Hint: If you say you don’t, somewhere a unicorn dies.)

*laughs* In that case, yes I do.

• Are you superstitious?  Why?

I guess it depends on what you mean by superstitious. I don’t feel superstitious but maybe that’s simply because my beliefs seem normal to me. I believe that good comes from doing good and bad from bad,

• Somebody you just met claims to be a time-traveler from the future.  Do you believe them?

I think part of me would believe them, and part of me would think they were just joking. They’d have to prove it, I think.

• What would paradise look like?

Kaelan and our son son and I, all of us together. That would be paradise.

• Bonus: What are your thoughts on balloons?

Balloons? Toddlers love them, and I think they’re pretty fun too.

• What happens, do you think, when you die?

I don’t think we die–not every part of us. Some part of us keeps on living, survives the death, and goes on to a better place, a happier place where everyone can finally rest and be at peace.

• Are you afraid of dying?

Yes. No. I…I know I’m supposed to know that something more will come, that I should be content with the future and what it may bring, but…I am frightened. I know there will be no pain, but what if it is not everything I was grown up to believe in? What if I die, and it’s just…the end? That’s what I’m afraid of.

• What is the most irrational fear you have?

I’m afraid of getting hurt or wounded, and I’m not entirely sure why, considering I wouldn’t actually feel anything. Perhaps it’s just that everyone else is afraid, and they’ve passed that on to me.

• Why are you afraid of that thing, even knowing it’s irrational?

I think what I said above–it’s sort of rubbed off on me from other people. And some part of me, because of that, is afraid that it really will hurt, that if my hand gets cut off or I get shot in the back, I’ll feel the pain for the first time I can remember, and I can’t imagine how much worse it’d feel without experiencing a smaller portion of it before.

• You’ve just been threatened and told that if you tell anybody about what happened to you, you’ll die (or worse).  Do you tell anyone, or do you lie about what happened?

I wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened. If Kaelan… Maybe eventually I’d tell somebody, if I felt like it was safe, but I’d lie rather than run the risk of dying–or worse, having someone close to me get hurt because of it.

• The one person who could save you is the person you trust least in the world.  What do you do?

I wouldn’t let them save me. I’d rather die.

• Would you, or have you, ever killed anyone?

I’ve never killed anyone, and I never would. That’s horrible. To take someone else’s life…it’s so wrong, and I wouldn’t be able to bear the mere thought of myself were I to commit murder.

• Do you have any recurring dreams and/or nightmares?

No. Blessedly, my sleep is normally very calm and free of dreams or nightmares, at least most of the time. When I do dream, it’s very odd, and nightmares are far and few between.

• You’re going to die in exactly fifteen minutes.  What do you do with those minutes?

It depends on how I was going to die. If we were all being threatened and about to die, I’d spend my last minutes protecting my friends as much as possible. If I were alone…I think I would pray and pour out my soul to the sky. I would think of all I have lost, and all I have loved, of Kaelan and my baby.

• Bonus: How long is your attention span?

I’m decent at paying attention, but the times when I’m not seem to always be the times when it was the most important.

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Ahh, so there’s Lil! And I have finally finished this post, despite school being a little bit crazy busy at the beginning. (Short school update: I like all my classes and teachers, so I’m liking school, but I’m kept busy by homework and my marching band practices, not to mention things like writing and spending time with my family.)

Anyway, how did you like Lil? I feel like she made sure to answer some of these questions shallowly…but maybe the vagueness made her more mysterious or intriguing or something like that, heh. I do love Lil, though. She’s so interesting. Do you have any questions about her? I’m ready to answer them! (Unless there’s spoilers…then you’ll just have to wonder.)

And also, lastly, how have you all been? Is life getting busier at the start of a new school year? Anything exciting happening? Tell me about all the fun (or not fun, I suppose) you’re having!

Let Me Introduce You to the Cast of Enhanced

I wasn’t sure really what to post about today, but I finally decided that I would talk to you about Enhanced, the novel that I have been preparing to rewrite during this month.

More specifically, the characters. Because I know that even though you may have read the little summary on the page for Enhanced on this blog, you probably still have no idea what it’s about. (If I just read that summary, I’d have no idea what it was about either.) I was originally going to throw my rambling for the entire novel into one post but that might be a little too long…hehe. So instead, you get to meet the main cast of characters…and learn a few things about the novel along the way.

Have fun! (Also the (POV) next to the first five characters’ names indicates that they are POV or Point of View characters)

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KAI (POV)

Up first is Kai, mainly because he is the first character I came up with from my very first idea of the first draft’s first scene (which was (fun fact) originally conceived in biology class and then written in choir).

Basic Premise/Role: Kai has grown up in the Outer Regions (think third-world living) that surround the city (think first-world living), working as an agriculturalist. Yes…he’s a farmer. His father died when he was young, but now his mother has contracted some sort of disease that he has no medicine for–that no one has medicine for in the OR (Outer Regions). He decides to travel to the city in an attempt to earn money to at least give her some comfort before she dies–or maybe find the medicine that will save her.

Personality: Kai is…kind of complicated. He’s friendly and will talk to people, but I can’t say he has any real friends, except for maybe his mother. He sort of keeps his important thoughts all to himself, and kind of feels a need to impress people. Especially the ladies. But inside, he’s really not as shallow as he seems.

Fun Fact: Kai’s name was actually chosen by a friend of mine when I asked her to give me a name, though she was actually thinking of the name Ky. I heard her say it as Kai, however, and have therefore spelled it that way since. However, writing this post, I’m now thinking of actually changing it to Ky. I actually had this big long frustrated rant with myself about possibly changing Kai’s name to something else, but I couldn’t think of what to change it to. I do like the name Ky though…so maybe…0.0

Character Interview: Character Study: Comforts

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TAIRA (POV)

Basic Premise/Role: Though Taira (POV character) was born in the city, she grew up in the OR with her cousin, Will (soon to be introduced). She went with Will when he decided to go back to the city, however, and what she really wants is to fix herself. When she was younger, she was Enhanced (genetically modified) to have the ability to feel/detect other people’s emotions. The thing is, she can’t turn it off, and even just standing a few feet away from a person gives her a headache. Standing right next to someone makes her feel like her head will explode. So she’s determined to go back to the Enhancement Facility and force them to change her back to normal. if that made any sense at all.

Personality: Taira is very grumpy and rather pessimistic (though she prefers to call herself “realistic”). She basically restrains herself from ever laughing or feeling happy because why should she. She does occasionally show happiness around her cousin, Will, though otherwise she keeps it inside. She spends a lot of time alone and is introverted but blunt and can be rude. Quite fun to write, really.

Fun Fact: Well, there isn’t exactly anything “fun” about her…okay, okay. She has a younger brother that she hasn’t talked to in years. (She also hasn’t talked to her parents in years, but eh, the brother is more interesting.)

Character Interview: Character Studies: Introductions with Taira

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WILL (POV)

Basic Premise/Role: Will is Taira’s cousin, and he came from the OR to the city like I said before, and trust me, there’s some reason why he did that, but I haven’t figured it out yet. (I will, though. Haha, I will. So funny. *facepalms*) Oh, also, he comes to the city about a year before the book starts, whereas Kai comes at the beginning. The Reapers (who are like this subterfuge criminal/rebel group that for some reason has only four people in it before this point) recruit him to be their computer hacker. In Enhanced, he finds out that there’s a new computer code and he has to figure out how to use it, which is easier said than done when you don’t have tutorials or books or websites to explain it.

Personality: Unlike Taira, Will is very happy, and he also tends to make stupid jokes. (He actually laughed at the one I did above. I mean, I did too, but that’s irrelevant.) He really likes to talk to people and never really thinks about what he’s going to say before he says it, which makes him simultaneously fun to listen to and also makes you want to headdesk repeatedly. He can get distracted by anything, except when he’s doing computer work–then he’ll talk to you, but only if you talk to him first. Otherwise he’ll just zone out everything.

Fun Fact: These are surprisingly difficult to think of…  Well, Will can actually be serious, though that is rare. And if he were back a few hundred years to our day, he would very much enjoy cat memes.

Character Interview: Character Studies: Will’s Flaws

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MERYN (POV)

Basic Premise/Role: Meryn is one of my very favorite characters, though I’m not exactly sure why…? She’s just awesome. And also really spoiled. She grew up in the city in a wealthy family, in contrast to a lot of the other characters, and she loves dresses and dancing and music. But her parents have actually lost a bunch of money recently but they’re unwilling to change their lifestyle, which leaves Meryn to try to earn enough money to pay for taxes…well, something like that. I’m still ironing out plot details. It doesn’t help that her younger sister, Aislynn, is also sick.

Personality: Meryn is fun-loving and like I said before, fairly spoiled. She loves to be with her friends, fights a lot with her sister Aislynn, and her favorite part of the week is dancing. The worst part of her life is school, and she mainly just leads a very carefree life…at least at the beginning of the book. She’s…pretty normal.

Fun Fact: In the first draft of Enhanced, Meryn was blind. Now, I’ve decided to alter that so she just can’t see very well out of her left eye.

Character Interview: Character Studies: Meryn’s Hobbies

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LIL(IAN) (POV)

Basic Premise/Role: Lilian, or rather Lil, which she goes by, is a member of the Reapers. She found them after her young son and husband were taken away by government officials and killed in the Enhancement Facility. Throughout the novel, she’s trying to get revenge on the government and the Enhancement Facility, while figuring out how to live without them.

Personality: Lil, despite what she’s trying to do, does not have a vengeful personality at all. She’s actually really sweet and motherly, but she’s confused with desperation and sadness and all of that. I feel like her personality can be summed up in one word: “mother”. She tends to put others’ needs before herself and tries to see things from others’ points of view.

Fun Fact: Lil always wears her hair in lots of little tiny braids (she’s also black, which is cool, though there’s really not any racial discrimination in the books, so it doesn’t really come up much) and she weaves ribbons through several of the braids. Throughout the book, she occasionally redoes her hair with new ribbons of different colors. When she first appears in the book, the ribbons in her hair are gold-colored.

Character Interview: [coming shortly–this post may or may not be updated when it’s done]

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JETHRO

Basic Premise/Role: I suppose you could call him the “villain” of the book, although in my opinion that’s not really a fair title. He’s the Lead Enhancer of the Enhancement Facility and also its founder. He doesn’t appear much in the flesh throughout the novel, but he does play an important role and the characters definitely know about him.

Personality: Jethro is on a conquest for knowledge and to push the limits of all known science through his genetic testing–his “Enhancements”. He keeps most of his thoughts and ideas to himself and has a fantastic poker face. He does not show outward joy in successes, or pain at failures. We could call him stone cold, perhaps.

Fun Fact: He actually travelled to all eight sectors/regions of the Outer Regions when he was much younger, before creating the Enhancement Facility, but he’s never told anyone what he saw or what he thought about it.

Character Interview: [possibly forthcoming, possibly not]

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AISLYNN

Basic Premise/Role: Aislynn is Meryn’s younger sister, and basically her role in the book is to be sick. Okay, just kidding. She’s actually convinced that the Pinnacles (the four “presidents,” shall we say, over the city) have a million secrets that they’re not revealing to the people, and she’s determined to figure them out. Of course, Meryn thinks she’s crazy, but she won’t let that dissuade her.

Personality: Aislynn absolutely loves reading and learning new things, and she’s very determined to prove herself right. She feels a little outcast by her peers (which Meryn really doesn’t understand) but makes up for that by reading lots of books and hanging out with Meryn and with her friends. While Meryn loves to go out, Aislynn is definitely more of a homebody.

Fun Fact: According to Meryn, Aislynn has no style, and Meryn is constantly trying to dress her up and make her look all fancy. Also, she likes dogs.

Character Interview: Beautiful People: June with Aislynn

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RUBEN

Basic Premise/Role: Ruben is part of the mysterious Reapers and also very underdeveloped, so I can’t really tell you what his role is, exactly. But he does stuff. Important stuff. It’s just stuff I haven’t figured out yet. I think he’s in charge of basic supplies and stuff, and he’s also their cook, but I haven’t worked on developing him yet, so he’s just kind of…there. Yay.

Personality: I’m not really sure how to describe him… He scoffs at teasing and Rick’s (to be introduced) jokes, but he secretly enjoys them. He just…finds joy in being around other people. He likes everyone to feel welcome and happy and well-fed…I don’t know if there’s a specific way to describe him. He’s just Ruben.

Fun Fact: Ruben is famous for his pancakes. Also, he has a fake gold earring that I’m pretty sure Rick gave him…

Character Interview: [non-existent currently, though who knows, maybe I’ll do the next Beautiful People with him]

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RICK

Basic Premise/Role: Rick is Ruben’s clone at least I think so? It could be the other way around, I suppose… and could be called the comic relief. He’s very amusing to me, mainly because he does stupid things, knowing that they’re stupid. I also haven’t really worked on developing him yet, so he’s also just there, like Ruben, but he’s also the Reapers’ weapon master–which I really don’t understand. I would not trust Rick with a gun.

Personality: Rick has a very good self-worth, I guess you could say. He does what he wants and he doesn’t ever care what other people think of him, no matter how idiotic he looks or how other people look at him, which I think is admirable, even though he’s not really someone I aspire to become like. He’s daredevilish, makes even worse jokes than Will, and teases everyone mercilessly, especially Lil.

Fun Fact: Want to know why the Reapers are called the Reapers? Because of Rick. He’s fascinated with old stories/legends/fairy tales, you name it. After learning about The Grim Reaper, he decided it would be awesome for them to be called the Reapers…and the name just happened to stick. I think even Julius (to be introduced) calls them the Reapers, which is amusing to me.

Character Interview: [not applicable at the moment]

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JULIUS

Basic Premise/Role: Meet Julius Shaw, the gruff and quietly mysterious leader of the Reapers. His role? The leader, the planner, the strategist, the one who makes everything fit together.

Personality: He’s very secretive, and doesn’t give any clues to what’s going on in his head until he finds it to be the proper time. He always has a plan, no matter the situation. He’d be a brilliant chess player and is great at predicting things. However, he’s not very good at showing or receiving affection to/from other people, and he always seems a little bit distant from everyone else.

Fun Fact: He thinks fun facts are a waste of time. But I, as the author and creator of these people, will override his opinion and tell you that he really likes sandwiches. Roast beef, specifically.

Character Interview: [nope not yet]

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SETH

Basic Premise/Role: A few months or so before the story begins, Seth leaves the Outer Regions to go find out what the city is like and have a grand adventure. He ends up trapped in the Enhancement Facility with no way of getting out, until Kai comes along and they start forming escape plans.

Personality: Seth is really cool. He’s the “let’s go have an adventure!” type who loves doing things with little-to-no notice and is definitely never over-prepared. He makes do with what he has, and what he doesn’t, he does without. He is a little bit of a risk-taker and loves being in the outdoors.

Fun Fact: Seth has this really awesome walking stick that he carved himself from an orchard tree branch years ago. It has little drawings all over it, and what’s even better is that his younger sister, Brie, really wanted to carve something in it at the time, so Seth helped her carve a picture of the two of them in it. He is the sweetest big brother ever.

Character Interview: [there isn’t one yet, but I should definitely do one of him]

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BRIE

Basic Premise/Role: Brie is Seth’s younger sister, and she’s actually kind of what sets the entire story in motion. Once Seth hasn’t come back after his long absence, she decides to go looking for him, in case he’s in some sort of trouble. She almost gives up before finding the Reapers, at which point she finds out that Seth is in the Enhancement Facility and convinces them to help her rescue him.

Personality: Brie is very emotional and acts like a child a lot of the time, though no one can really tell if she’s just never grown up or if she does it by choice. So she’s also fairly innocent and naive, and she finds it hard to alter her small home in the orchard region view of life to the big city, with all its new technology and people and everything inside of it. She has unfailing faith and optimism in people that a lot of the other characters lack in exchange for a more “realistic” view of life.

Fun Fact: Brie is a devoted follower of the religion of Cajinism, and she loves singing, birds, flowers, and all sorts of bright and happy things. She’ll also talk to you all day if you just half-pretend to to listen.

Character Interview: [there isn’t one, but I did do a Spotlight on her last Monday]

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Hm, yes, perhaps I do have too many characters…but now you know all of them! And now, for a quiz on everything you learned…just kidding. But seeing as this post is really long already, why not make it a little longer with some updates?

So, first off, I lost Camp NaNoWriMo but it really doesn’t bother me for some reason, and I’m finishing up my 40 hours of prep during these first two weeks of August. You can find my progress on the blog sidebar.

Also on the blog sidebar, you’ll see that I have lots of new books that I read! While procrastinating from Camp, I finished 12 books in July, which was awesome, and I’m working on reading more.

And lastly, apparently now I have a Goodreads created on a whim that I don’t know what to do with… What else do you do with a Goodreads account besides read books?

Anyway, yay for August! How was your July and what did you accomplish?

Spotlight #1: First Draft Brie

First things first: Brie is not cheese, she is a character from Enhanced.

Second things second: What is this “Spotlight” you speak of? you may be asking. Well, I’ll explain it to you. During the week or two I’ve been gone from the blogosphere did you notice? I was (as well as procrastinating from Camp NaNo) thinking a bit about how to improve my blogging. And I decided I wanted to share more writing with you more often, but I can’t exactly write a short story every week. Then I thought of writing a novel solely on this blog, which would be fun, but I have no ideas, let alone motivation to actually do it.

So I came up with the idea of the Spotlight. Basically, weekly I will “shine the spotlight” on some of the writing I worked on that week, which will probably include excerpts of some of my favorite parts, anything that I really enjoyed writing, cool descriptions, thoughts, etc. Basically anything that I feel really struck me gets to be posted here!

That means that not only will you get to read more of my writing through excerpts, you’ll also get to know my characters a lot better and get a feel for my novel. Are you in? I hope so!

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FIRST DRAFT BRIE

I was reading through my first draft of Enhanced the other day, and found myself thinking about Brie. She is…an interesting character.

Fun Fact: Taira, Will, and Brie all came from a short piece I wrote for an informal writing contest:

Taira took a step. That one step, into the new world, the world they had saved. Will and Brie walked after her, looking about themselves in awe. “We did it,” whispered Will. “We did it.” Brie nodded along, eyes full of wonder.

Taira couldn’t understand them. The world was too empty. There were buildings just down the road from them, with flashing lights and glowing signs, but it was still so empty. She finally realized why — the world had been silenced. There were no people driving cars along the roads. There was no music to be heard. There was no sound of jets flying over them. Everything was totally silent. The only thing that made a noise was the wind blowing the dirt around them, dirt devoid of any sort of life.

She felt like she was in a dream as she walked along with the others, into that maze of buildings. Empty buildings. A soft sound filled the air, a sound Taira wanted to run away from, to never have to listen to again. The sound of sobbing, the sound of pure sorrow, the sound of the worst pain in the world. They didn’t go down that road.

As they walked, they saw no movement until they came upon a little girl, kneeling in front of someone, shaking him. “Daddy, Daddy, wake up!” she said, as if not knowing that he was gone and would never come back.

The little girl looked up as they walked past, and Taira saw her wide eyes staring up at them, clouded with confusion. Taira wanted to go to her, to comfort her, to do something, but Will and Brie held her back. “You can’t do anything about it,” said Brie.

Taira pushed herself away from them, away from everyone, her eyes welling with tears as she ran down the empty streets, finally collapsing under a large tree. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It had never been meant to be like this.

The plague had spread over the whole world, infecting almost everyone, with almost unnoticeable symptoms that led quickly to a sickness that was more painful than death. It spread easily, and only few people in the world had been able to resist it.

The only cure was death.

The only way to restore the world was to cleanse it from the disease, to purge it of all of the remaining plague. To kill everyone who’d contracted it.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It wasn’t supposed to include pain and anguish. It was supposed to take that away, not leave children parentless and parents widowed and people with no one left in the world to care for them.

The tears streamed down Taira’s cheeks and her throat choked as she whispered a prayer, as if someone, somewhere could give her comfort. Those lives shouldn’t have been lost. Life was too precious to be cut short like that, in an instant.

They had saved the world, but had they destroyed it in the process?

Of course, Enhanced is much, much different than this excerpt. Nothing in this happens that does in Enhanced, but it was still the inspiration for those three characters (though you may notice that this Taira is much different than the one in her character interview, who is more of the actual Taira).

I don’t know where Brie really came from besides that, but for some reason, I decided that she was going to be really, really emotional. And kind of childish. And in a way, just relaly weird… I don’t know why, though.

There was a banging sound on the other side of his door, and Kai cautiously stood up and

opened it. Will stood on the other side of the door, looking relieved and also disheveled. “Taira’s missing,” he said.

“What?” he asked, the worry on Will’s face putting him on high alert. “What are you talking about, she’s missing?”

“She’s not here, and there’s this crazy girl in my room, and I have no idea—”

Kai held up a hand. “Hold up, just wait a minute and start from the beginning. What exactly happened?”

“Well, I was going back to my room, and when I came in, there was this girl sitting there on my bed, looking through all my gadgets and stuff. And then she said that she was Seth’s sister and she talked to Taira about something about getting a job here, but that Taira was supposed to come back before I did, and she’s still not here.”

“Seth’s sister?” asked Kai. “Brie?”

Will’s face registered surprise. “How did you know that?”

“I met her once a while ago.”

“And you remember her?” Then he shook his head. “I guess when it’s someone with a crazy personality like that, they’re hard to forget.”

*facepalms at self repeatedly*

Perhaps because of this…this awkwardness, though she did play a part in the beginning of the book, Brie kind of disappeared near the middle. But what I had forgotten was that I brought her back at the end of the book, and…she’s really more amazing than I had thought before.

There’s this part where I really, really love what she says:

Then Brie straightened and thrust herself out of his grasp. He reached out to grab her, but she was too far away already. But instead of heading toward where Jethro was, like he expected, she ran to Seth’s bedside, talking furiously and quietly to the figure there.

Kai began to walk toward her, as his inspiration said, and soon he could hear her softly-spoken words. “What do I do, Seth? Tell me what to do?”

Seth’s words were weary. “Stop fighting. No one can save us now.”

“No, I won’t leave you.” She leaned even closer next to her brother’s head where it lay on his pillow. “I won’t stop fighting. I’ll never stop. Have hope, Seth, please, have hope.”

“Brie…” he said faintly, “all of my hope died a long time ago.”

That second-to-last paragraph…I just love it. I won’t stop fighting. I’ll never stop. It just made me fall in love with her a little, and I had a lot of fun today developing her for the rewrite of Enhanced. Even though she’s still not a POV character, I am hoping to make her a little more major in the rewrite, and also more of the person she is in this last excerpt.

Also, I decided that Brie loves to sing! She’s really awesome…and I think that concludes our Spotlight for this week. Any thoughts on this Spotlight or Spotlights as a whole? Oh and one more thing for all you Miraculous fans out there: I was looking up what type of cheese brie was and apparently it’s similar to Camembert (but more mild). I suppose Plagg would like her.

Character Studies: Kai’s Comforts

I’m finally doing the June Character Study! (I know, I know, I’m behind, but at least I’m doing it now!) This one is on comfort, or as Ereinne (one of Morgan’s characters) calls it, affection. This one will be interesting since Kai’s character has changed a lot since I wrote the first draft of Enhanced. He was my original main character, but I haven’t used him for the Character Studies yet because he was basically a sugar character…nothing nutritious or filling at all. (Yes, I did just make that term up.) However, I finally feel that he’s ready to be exposed out into the open. For a little background, his mom is sick and dying but he doesn’t want anyone to know that so just shhh. Don’t tell him I told you.

Character Studies is a monthly character interview hosted by Morgan Dusky from Studies in Character. You can find this month’s interview questions on her blog here and here.

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• Who’s your best friend?

I try to be friendly and make a lot of friends… I wouldn’t say I have a best friend. I know a lot of people, but no one really stands out as the “best” one.

• You’re feeling miserable.  Who tries to cheer you up?  Does it work?  Do you appreciate it?

My mom usually is the one to try to cheer me up, or sometimes my friends if I’m with them. And it usually doesn’t work, but I pretend it does, and sometimes the pretending works. It definitely doesn’t work if she’s miserable too, though. Then we’re both miserable. I appreciate her trying, though.

• What actually is the best way to cheer you up?

Probably just hanging out with my friends and talking–that usually works. Or being convinced to try something crazy–a little adrenaline rush really stops any miserable-ness.

• What’s your favorite comfort food?  Or what do prefer to eat when you’re sick?

Sometimes Mother plants things in the garden that we’re not supposed to–things besides flowers–and then we eat them. That always makes me happy, even if I’m sick.

• You’re being congratulated on/for something.  How do people congratulate you?

Congratulated for what? I haven’t done anything congratulatory…but if I ever did do something amazing we’d have a celebration with dancing and music and people would tell me “Congratulations.”

• What’s your idea of a perfect date?

Walking with a pretty girl who is clever and is impressed by me and makes me laugh as we talk about anything and everything, and then maybe playing some games together or something. I know that sounds kind of childish, but I kinda think it would be nice.

• What kind of relationship do you have with your parents?

My dad died when I was younger, and I only have a few memories of him. But my relationship with Mother is good. Sometimes we just talk and I tell her everything–from friends to girls to my dreams for the future. She always listens to everything.

• If you could have anything at all, what would you want your parents to give you? (Not something tangible)

More time.

• Hug or fist-bump?

Fist-bump. I don’t like all that touchy-feely stuff.

• BONUS: Are you ticklish?

I’m not going to answer this question…

• Which is your preferred fight—words or fists?

Fists, but it doesn’t happen much…well, not anymore. When I was younger I got in quite a few fights…

• How difficult is it for you to apologize when you were wrong about something?

Pretty difficult…I’m not very good at apologizing…or even admitting that I’m wrong. I usually wait for the other person to apologize first.

• You had a nightmare. Do you go to anybody for comfort? If so, who?

No, I don’t tell anyone. There’s no reason for me to bother them.

• Someone is trying to ask you out. What could they do to really screw it up? What is, in your opinion, the ideal way to be asked out?

There is a multitude of ways they could screw it up…but to really screw it up? Someone I don’t like very much asking me when I’ve had a really bad day while expecting they’ll get exactly what they want. I prefer girls to be a little more hard to get, so the ideal way to be asked out would be for me to gradually and subtly convince them to ask me out. It’d be so much more rewarding that way.

• What would you do for love? What would you do for hate?

I’d do a lot of things for love. If I really love someone, and I mean really love them, I will do anything to help them. For hate? Maybe get a little revenge and punch someone but not much more than that. Hate is strong, but not that strong.

• What is your perfect happily ever after?

Being able to have everyone I love around me when I need them.

• What would you do if someone hugged you so hard, they knocked you both to the floor?

Push them off and give them a look that says “Why on earth would you even do that?”

[*Lana enters interview* The funny thing is that I can totally see Brie doing that…]

Please don’t talk about Brie.

[Why not?]

She’s so…immature.

[Well, you’re not exactly the epitome of maturity either. I actually can’t believe how shallow you are about some things.]

Wow, thanks.

• What’s your favorite thing about your favorite person? (If you don’t have a favorite person, just pick one awesome person.)

I guess my favorite person is my mom, but please don’t say that out loud, because it sounds really childish and immature. My favorite thing about her is that she isn’t always perfect and she doesn’t make me try to be perfect. Sometimes we break the rules and that’s okay.

• Do you like to be touched by other people, or would you rather they kept their hands to themselves?

I’d rather not have anyone touching me. Unless they’re a certain pretty girl…I wouldn’t mind holding her hand or something.

• BONUS: Do you like plants?

I like the plants in our garden. The plants that we grow as a region I’ve grown to hate because they remind me of long, sweaty days working in the sun without enough water and hardly any reward.

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What do you think? Seriously, though, I didn’t realize he was so shallow about girls. If I actually had any control over him I’d teach him a lesson, but I’m afraid he won’t listen if I try. Which of your characters do you wish you could teach a lesson to and why? Would they actually listen? 😉

The Rising Authors Tag

By my order, this week is decreed The Week of Blog Tags, in which I shall gift you with a blog tag each day (in an attempt to finish all the ones I have been tagged for). Therefore, I shall not tag anyone, else there be a multitude of tags. If you wish to be tagged, you are! Thus ends the decree.

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I still feel like there’s a tag I’m missing…? But oh well. I can’t remember it so I just snatched this tag from Fin @ Spiel since she said anyone could take it. Thanks, Fin! It’s, obviously, about rising authors which sounds kinda like the zombie apocalypse with writers but I think it’s supposed to mean aspiring authors…? The really fun part is that I get to share a 150 word piece/excerpt of my writing! (Now I just have to choose which excerpt to post…)

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Rules:
1. Write a post thanking the person who tagged you: include the tag, the 11 questions asked, your answers, and, in reply to the request for a small piece of prose or poetry, share a 150-word story.
2. At the end of the post, provide 11 new questions.
3. Request a brief 150-word story from the people you tagged.
4. Tag at least one person, and include a link to their blog.

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Q&A with Fin:

• What’s your favourite genre to write in?

Fantasy is what I’ve written from the beginning, but I’m working on an epic science fiction series right now, and I’m really liking it so far, so I like that too. I’ve also always wanted to write a fractured fairy tale (which I suppose could fall under fantasy) but have never actually finished one.

• What are your favourite writing blogs, or writing websites?

My favorite writing website is definitely the Young Writers Program for NaNoWriMo–everyone is so friendly and awesome, and participating in NaNoWriMo is just awesome in general.

• Give three pieces of writing advice that you’ve found helpful!

Ooh, hmm… 1. Have fun with your first draft and don’t worry about it making sense–just make sure to love it. 2. A good ramble about your own writing never hurt anyone, and can actually be really helpful. 3. Chocolate always helps.

• Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what do you like to listen to? If not, well, why not?

Yes, if I remember to turn it on, haha. I usually listen to “epic music” on youtube, which can alternately be non-distracting background music or an inspiring fountain of story ideas.

• Do you eat or drink while you write? If so, what do you eat/drink?

Hmm, not usually, actually. When I procrastinate from writing, though, that’s when all the chocolate and candy and random snacks come out…

• Out of curiosity, what’s your typing speed?

I’m not sure; I haven’t taken a typing speed test in a while. I think generally my typing speed if I’m going as fast as possible is about 70 wpm, but when I’m writing it’s a lot less because I have to think. I think if I’m writing as fast as possible I can get to around 500 words in 15 minutes, which is about…33 wpm. And that’s when I’m trying to go fast.

• Do you give much thought to your antagonist?

I haven’t really, before, but I’m planning on digging down deep into my antagonist for Enhanced (and hopefully, into all my other characters). I want him to be a realistic antagonist, so I’ll have to work on him for a while.

• Do you write more females or more males?

Probably more females… I try to balance it out but I think I just end up with more females because I’m female and that’s who’s easier.

• Which do you think you write better?

Females, definitely. I don’t feel like I have enough deep friendships with boys to be able to write them properly.

• What’s your idea of a perfect place and time to write?

Ooh, interesting question. I don’t know, usually I just sit on my couch when I write, which is fine, and I think it’d be weird to write anywhere else now since I hardly ever do. And a perfect time? I actually tend to stay up late writing, but I don’t like it. I’d rather write earlier in the day when I’m better at thinking and will actually be able to get a decent amount of sleep that night.

• If you could do one thing to make your writing life easier, what would it be?

I’m not really sure. I think part of the fun and reward of writing is the challenge of it. I mean, having no procrastination would make my writing life so much easier…but I think it makes me feel closer to my novels when I realize how much time and effort I’ve spent on them. Yeah, I don’t know…maybe I’d just tone down the procrastination a bit.

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Writing Excerpt:

Since I was too lazy to actually write something new for this, and didn’t want to use something from the old Enhanced, I decided to take an excerpt of an excerpt I wrote for these writing practice things I was trying to do months ago. It’s the end of a conversation (well, argument) between Kai and Taira, and I doubt it’ll even go anywhere in any of the novels, but I like it, so I’ll stick it in here. (Oh, and feedback is always appreciated!)

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Each of her words cut, and with them, a desire to cut her back burning stronger and stronger. “You’re the one who’s being insulting. You may have gone through some pretty terrible things, but that doesn’t mean you have to be rude to everyone else about it! You have a choice—a choice to be whoever you want to be, and you just chose to be bitter about it.”

Taira turned a cold glare back at him, but in those eyes, he could see the pain that he’d inflicted. She was hurting too, now. “You have no idea what I’ve been through. So you can just go now. I can’t believe I even started talking to you in the first place.”

His heart pumped, pulsing against the wounds she’d caused, blood spilling through him. Guilt pumping through his bloodstream. Realization pooling around him.

She didn’t hurt any less than he did.

But it was too late to say he was sorry now.

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Questions:

1. When did you first start writing, and was there ever any real reason why?
2. What is your goal as an author?
3. What writing project are you working on right now? What is it about? (Extensive rambling is highly encouraged.)
4. What new plot bunnies have you had recently?
5. Do you prefer wide-ruled or college-ruled notebooks? Trust me, this is a very important question.
6. Is there any specific kind of pen or pencil that you like to write with the best when you’re writing on paper?
7. Since this is the Rising Authors Tag, what heights have you risen to in your writing that you never thought you would? Also, have you ever been a zombie?
8. How many books do you read on average in a month?
9. Would you rather write a first draft, or revise one?
10. Do you have any writing rituals?
11. Do you ever put inside jokes or easter eggs in your writing? Tell us about them! Give us all your secrets…

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Remember, if you want to be tagged, you are! If any of you do this tag, I’d love it if you’d post a link in the comments so I can read it! If you don’t, you should totally answer the questions in the comments. Especially the zombie one.

Character Studies: Meryn’s Hobbies

It’s time for the May Character Studies, this time themed with hobbies, and I will be interviewing Meryn, one of my six main characters in my epic sci-fi series. She’s the daughter of a wealthy man in the city (whose profession I haven’t decided on yet) and is kind of spoiled. But despite that, she’s awesome and I still love her so much. Fun fact: She actually doesn’t meet any of the other main characters until Cryonic, the second book, but she has a younger sister named Aislynn who I shall try to introduce to you soon.

Character Studies is a monthly character interview hosted by Morgan Dusky from Studies in Character. You can find this month’s interview questions on her blog here.

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•  You need some time with friends, being social. What do you do and where do you go?

I’ll either hang out with my friends at their houses, or I’ll go to one of the parties hosted in the evenings in the Brev-Talo near my house. At the parties there’s dancing and talking and just general socializing, and it’s especially nice because Aislynn isn’t old enough to get in yet so she can’t bother me and my friends.

• You want some time alone. Just you and yourself. What do you do?

I’d probably go down to the Green, a park a couple stops away, and either sit and think or maybe read. Sometimes (and don’t tell anyone I said this, because it’s highly childish) I’ll climb the trees in the Green and just watch people walk below me because they never look up.

• You’re feeling creative. What do you do?

I love to color-coordinate things, so I’d probably do that with something in the house, whether it be Aislynn’s closet or the bookshelf in our living room. Sometimes I doodle outfits and ideas for fashion, but I don’t do that too often.

• What do you do when you don’t want to do anything useful or productive? Your favorite “useless waste of a time”?

I spend time with my friends or maybe even talk to Aislynn, if I’m feeling too lazy to leave the house. Or I just take a nap. That’s nice too.

• What do you do when it rains?

I love it when it rains really hard, because I’ll sit next to the window, wrapped in a blanket, and listen to it falling. It just sounds so pretty and ferocious all at once, and sometimes I’ll even see lightning over the city.

• What’s your favorite outdoor activity?

Oh, I don’t know. I like to take walks in the Green sometimes, when it’s nice outside. Sometimes I’ll also play an occasional sports game with my friends, as long as its not raining.

• Do you like to read?

I’d rather talk to my friends than read a book, but I do like it in my spare time. Aislynn’s definitely more of a reader than I am…she practically breathes books.

• What makes you laugh?

All sorts of things…my friends, old pictures and memories, movies, Aislynn’s horrible attempts at humor…

• You’re going to a museum/exhibit of some kind. What is at the museum and who do you go with? Do you enjoy yourself?

No, I don’t enjoy myself, unless it was that fashion exhibit I went to once that was really interesting. However, in this case it’s probably my mother trying to make sure I’m “educated and refined” and so I make it a point not to be happy about it. Even if it wasn’t her taking me, I still wouldn’t like it. Museums are just so…empty of people and quiet. You just stand there and look at things, which honestly, doesn’t sound very fun to me.

• BONUS: What’s your favorite kind of cookie?

Macadamia with white chocolate. They’re delicious.

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What do you think of Meryn? Would you like to learn more about her and Aislynn? What are some of your favorite hobbies?

Beautiful People: May with Nathor

Beautiful People is a monthly character interview hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In. Since there are only 10 questions, I’ve decided to save the 20 question Character Studies interviews for my main characters, and use Beautiful People to introduce and develop some of my minor characters instead.

Nathor is a minor character from Cryonic who popped up randomly while I was writing and made me really want to learn more about him. In quick summary, he’s an extremely sincere, semi-introverted writer (well, poet) that lives in the fancy sci-fi-y city.

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• How often do they smile? Would they smile at a stranger?

Nathor is kind of completely like me shy, especially when starting conversations and stuff, and he’s also really serious. He wouldn’t smile at a stranger, unless they smiled at him first, but he finds enjoyment in lots of little things that make him smile. Softly, like the budding of a flower…okay, nope, I’m not the poetic one here.

• What is the cruelest thing they’ve ever been told? And what was their reaction?

“You only care about yourself.” His reaction was partly irritated and at the same time, kind of guilty and thinking they were right. He does care about other people, but he spends more time alone than with others, and he thinks that maybe he should fix that.

• What is the kindest thing they’ve ever been told? And what was their reaction?

“You’re the best person I know.” Nathor probably reacted with a “thank you” and a smile, part of him doubting it and the other part of him accepting the compliment and trying to internalize it. Or something, I don’t know. This is the question I had the most difficulties with, so it could be totally inaccurate.

• What is one strong memory that has stuck with your character from childhood? Why is it so powerful and lasting?

Let’s see…I’m thinking it probably has something to do with him having to take on more responsibility and maybe something to do with his parents. I think his parents might have been pretty strict about respect and stuff (though that doesn’t mean they love him any less!) and he probably remembers being punished for something he did wrong. It’s powerful and lasting because I think part of him still resents it, but also because it reminds him of what he’s been taught about respect and such.

• What book (a real actual published book!) do you think your character would benefit from reading?

I have no idea…he’d probably enjoy reading poetry to see how some people did it, and also just because he likes poetry.

• Have they ever been seriously injured? How severely? How did they react?

I don’t think there was ever anything more than the typical broken bone or something. Nathor’s not exactly the type to try the most stupid of ideas, probably because he’s the oldest and has a lot of responsibility placed on him. If he was ever injured, I don’t know, he probably cried and it hurt and then he got better and didn’t want to get hurt again.

• Do they like and get along with their neighbours?

I kind of doubt that Nathor talks to them at all. There’s probably some he doesn’t like and some he likes, but all from a distance. He’s not very outgoing unless he feels comfortable around people, and he’s okay with it being that way. He finds joy in nature and in his solitariness. (Is that a word?)

• On a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being easy and 10 being difficult) how easy are they to get along with?

Meh, maybe a 4 or something? It takes a little while to get to know him and understand why he does some things, but he’s chill at the same time. I guess it really depends on the person who’s trying to get along with him…some would find it harder or easier.

• If they could travel anywhere in the world, where would they go?

Hmm, I haven’t developed too much about the world, and I’m not sure how much he knows about it. I feel like he’d like to go somewhere peaceful and calm and beautiful, where he can just think.

• Who was the last person they held hands with?

I’ve decided he has a little sister that he held hands with most recently, because boys who play with and love their little sisters are 105% more amazing.

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Opinions/thoughts on Nathor? Does he sound like anyone you know (characters or otherwise)? What else would you like to learn about him? What are some of your favorite minor characters in the stories you’ve written and why? I’d love to hear about them!