Dual Character Inquisition Tag
The lovely Christine did this tag this last week, and she tagged the public in general to do it as well. I'm going to take her up on it and do this tag. <3
It's difficult to decide which characters to pick from one of my WIPs to do this with, but I'm going to do Melinza and Bryce, two main characters from Watched, the dystopia that I'm (attempting to start) editing right now. And instead of answering the questions for them, I will be interviewing them. This could get very dangerous.
-Who inspired this character?
That's a good question. And a very difficult one to answer. I'll do this one for them.
I have no idea where either Melinza came from. I invented her when I was ten or so and working on a kids' version of Lord of the Rings (you don't want to know.) Who even knows where she came from?
With Bryce, however, I was writing a later draft of that same story and decided that the third member of the love triangle needed a younger brother (yes, I had a love triangle. It was awful. That is long gone now.) Both of them kind of had their own subplots and stories, though, and I decided to put them in a different book of their own. Score for everyone involved!
-What is their weapon of choice?
Bryce: Give me a minute.
Melinza: You could just use your toothpick. That thing's intimidating enough.
Bryce: *removing toothpick from his mouth and failing to look cool* Um, what do you mean? I'd use the - the baseball bat in our basement.
Melinza: You don't have a basement or a baseball bat. I'd use -
Bryce: What is 9-1-1 for?
Melinza: *death glare* My phone. Sure. And I might get a Taser or something. My sister Opal is pretty scary, though. She can be my bodyguard.
LONG PAUSE
Bryce: Yeah.
-Have they ever been physically violent with someone else? What instigated it?
Bryce: I've gotten into fights with bullies at school before. Most of them were to help my friend Jeannie.
Melinza: "Your friend"? She's my friend, too!
Bryce: I'm not undermining that at all. I'm just answering the question. I punched the guy, he punched me, and I got a week of detention. Interestingly enough, he didn't. Must be because it's my fault.
Melinza: I try to stay out of combat as much as possible, but I've had to avoid some dangerous situations before. Just stuff at school. The usual. *sighing*
Bryce: Guys at our school are idiots. Why are you laughing?
LONG PAUSE AGAIN
Bryce: Oh.
Bryce: I'm not undermining that at all. I'm just answering the question. I punched the guy, he punched me, and I got a week of detention. Interestingly enough, he didn't. Must be because it's my fault.
Melinza: I try to stay out of combat as much as possible, but I've had to avoid some dangerous situations before. Just stuff at school. The usual. *sighing*
Bryce: Guys at our school are idiots. Why are you laughing?
LONG PAUSE AGAIN
Bryce: Oh.
-Are they more of a rule-follower or a rebel?
Bryce: We're both rebels.
Melinza: Bryce!
Bryce: What? It's true. I'm an AP student, but I think that there's no way to avoid being a rebel when you're a Christian in our society. Mel here is very fond of trying to fit in, but it doesn't usually work out so well.
Melinza: How come you get to do all the talking?
Bryce: Because I like to talk, of course. Have I ever told you about the time Mandy found a mouse in the bathroom?
Melinza: No, you haven't. Please stop. I guess I'm kind of a rebel.
Melinza: No, you haven't. Please stop. I guess I'm kind of a rebel.
-What kind of child were they? Curious? Wild? Quiet? Devious?
Melinza: I was pretty similar to the way I am now as a child. I mean, I'm not that old - only fifteen - but I was cautious and quiet for the most part.
Bryce: I was a very well-behaved, modest, sweet little boy when I was in elementary school.
Melinza: I'm sure that's true. He was a wild hooligan.
Bryce: I was not! *thinks* There may be some truth to that, but I was not either a hooligan. I was a nice, normal boy.
Melinza: *shudder* You're right about that.
-Where would they go to relax and think?
Melinza: My bedroom. William, my brother, took the cameras out of there. So it's safe to say whatever I want to and do whatever I want.
Bryce: The park down the road! Take a pretend nap on a bench and think whatever I feel like about the people passing by.
Melinza: *sigh* Well, you definitely have some class to you.
-Do they have a temper?
Bryce: Not really.
Melinza: I'm a redhead...
Bryce: Explanation, my dear girl, not an excuse. But I rarely get angry.
Melinza: I've been working on getting better about it lately. *very large grin with too many teeth*
Bryce: Really? I haven't noticed.
Melinza: *gets very red in the face* Would you just stop? Please?
-Would they be more likely to face their fears or run from them?
Bryce: Run. As hard and fast as I can.
Melinza: That sounds about right, you coward.
Bryce: Not because I'm a coward, just because I think anybody would run from my fears.
Melinza: I prefer to stand and face it when I'm afraid.
Bryce: Well, we can't all be perfect.
Melinza: *speechless*-When they are upset, do they turn to other people or isolate themselves?
Melinza: I usually isolate myself, although I will go to one of my siblings or maybe to my friend Jeannie. And I pray.
Bryce: I talk to Dad. Most of the time. If he's not too busy working. And my teachers have all said they'll always be here if we need anything at school... which is a really scary prospect.
Melinza: *snorts* I wouldn't go within ten feet of your teachers.
Bryce: I don't blame you.
-Say 3 things about where your character lives (as broad or specific as you like).
Melinza: Well, we live in Washington of Columbia.
Bryce: Used to be called D.C. Now it's its own state. Lots of fun for everyone involved.
Melinza: Three things from me? There's nowhere near enough kids to sustain the future population here, Christians are not liked in the least, and politicians are always running around everywhere, trying to convince you that they're America's only hope for the future.
Bryce: Uh..... You want me to add to that?
Melinza: Yeah. *elbows him*
Melinza: Yeah. *elbows him*
Bryce: *rubbing side ruefully* I can't come up with three things off the top of my head, you know that. Um - how about higher education is awful and I love the public city parks?
Melinza: One more thing.
Bryce: You're so bossy. *thinks for a second* How about there's cameras everywhere to track our every move and word and reading and writing and online writing and text message and...
Melinza: *cuts him off* I think we're all done now, thank you.
Thank you so much for joining us today, Melinza and Bryce!
There will be updates (and possibly snippets!) coming up in later posts not too long from now :D so stay tuned for those. For now:
What did you think of Melinza and Bryce? Fun? Not-so-much? Do I think I'm clever when I'm actually just producing bored snores from everyone? Have you read the Tales of Goldstone Wood? (I swear this is not off-topic.) Talk to me in the comments!
~Faith
10 comments
YOU DID THE TAG!!! SO FUN! And I looooove when people interview their characters. It's the best getting a real peek at the characters!!!
ReplyDeleteWow. Bryce and Melinza are so REAL. I can just HEAR their conversations perfectly in my head. Their dialogue was spot on, and hilarious. They sound like quite the pair. XD I love how Melinza answered the temper question with "I'm a redhead." That IS an explanation, Bryce. All the explanation we need. XDDD
Their world does...not sound fun to live in. Watched and listened to at all times? *shudders* That'd be awful. But their book sounds SO interesting. Do share snippets sometime! I want to read themmmm!!! :D
And oh my goodness gracious. THE TALES OF GOLDSTONE WOOD. I looooove those books!!!!
It's so fun to write it, too! It was a lot easier than I expected, too.
DeleteThey're really fun to write, until the other characters come along and throw in their wild cards. I edited the first two chapters and it was exhausting. When Jeannie and Lucas show up *shudders* And yes, I have known too many redheads to discount that as an explanation. XD
It wouldn't be fun to live in at all (although it's only fifteen years in the future on my timeline... gulp) but the story is so cool. I will definitely post snippets at the end of the month (ten days!) And it'll be great.
I ordered four random books from the series from Amazon because they were on clearance and I knew I'd never get another chance to read them.... So, yeah! Lots of fun!
"Bryce: Run. As hard and fast as I can.
ReplyDeleteMelinza: That sounds about right, you coward.
Bryce: Not because I'm a coward, just because I think anybody would run from my fears."
That's a great piece of dialogue!
Yes, I've read the Tales of Goldstone Wood, and reread them, and re-reread them. Such a delicious series!
Thank you so much!!!!
DeleteI'm getting three of the books in the mail today and I'm really excited :)
Oh my word, I want to meet these people so badly!! Honestly, though, I'm still laughing. They are HILARIOUS! I only read one or two of the Tales of Goldstone Wood. Hmm, maybe I should pick them up again. Hope you enjoy them!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I enjoy writing them :) You SHOULD. They are so wonderful.
DeleteYour story sounds fascinating! I love Melinza and Bryce's bickering :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't read the Tales of Goldstone Wood. You'll have to tell us what they're like! (okay, so most people here seem to know already... but I don't :) )
I will probably do a post on them once I've read the rest of them, I ordered four books in the series this week and it is so exciting.
DeleteYes, they bicker a lot... One of the side effects of being close like siblings ;)
These characters sound really cool! :) I'm curious to know more about this novel of yours!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm so glad you like it!
DeleteHello, friends! Do make yourselves comfortable and stay for a while--I'd love to chat with you! I simply ask that you keep it clean. :)