Beautiful People: Fiona and Cobie

Last week, I shouted "AHHH I MISS YOU SO MUCH." The person I missed? Cobie, my character from Petrichor.

Because of this, I'm featuring Cobie in this month's Beautiful People. But I'm also featuring Fiona, the protagonist of the book I'm (re)writing right now. So enjoy the double feature, y'all!

(I can also think of no better thing to do on International Women's Day than highlight two of my favorite female characters that I've written.) I wrote this on IWD, but didn't publish it until today.

Let us begin!

Fiona

1. What is their secret desire?
To play violin at Radio City Music Hall, whether it's for an audience or just for fun.

2. What is the best and brightest moment they experience during the story?
Going to Ireland, where she feels safe.

3. What are the emotional places your characters are afraid to go to?
Pretty much every single one. Fiona hates being vulnerable.

4. Is there a place/city/room where they will never go? Why?
She dislikes going home to New Jersey, but she does have to go there from time to time to see her parents.

5. If they were permanently leaving town, what would they easily throw out? What would they refuse to part with? (Why?)
Fiona would have trouble parting with her violin, but she'd also have trouble parting with a lot of things. Underneath her tough exterior she's actually very sentimental. She'd throw out things that were of no importance to her, like maybe old papers or something, but other than that she'd try to keep the things that meant something to her.

6. What do they want (consciously and tangibly)?
Fiona wants to be safe and not on the run anymore--from anything, whether it's a physical person or her emotions. She wants to be at peace.

7. On the other hand: what do they need (on the emotional, subconscious level)?
Her tangible want and her emotional need are pretty much the same: to feel safe and relaxed and peaceful. And then she also wants the answer to #8.

8. If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?
She wants to change how bitter she is, but she doesn't know how.

9. What is the most humiliating event of their life?
When she was rehearsing to join the Irish boyband, and she was running and tripped and almost broke her nose.

10. What things do they turn to when they need a bit of hope?
Doctor Who, quotes on Goodreads and Pinterest, her friends.

Cobie

1. What is their secret desire?

To see as much of the world as she possibly can.

2. What is the best and brightest moment they experience during the story?
Going to the cove with her best friends, and then staying at a diner eating french fries dipped in ketchup late into the night.

3. What are the emotional places your characters are afraid to go to?
She's most afraid to address the things that scare her. She tries to ignore them so they'll go away, but this becomes increasingly difficult as the threats to her town become more and more real.

4. Is there a place/city/room where they will never go? Why?
Nope. Cobie will go anywhere.

5. If they were permanently leaving town, what would they easily throw out? What would they refuse to part with? (Why?)
Cobie isn't very sentimental, but she'd hold onto all her clothing, as ripped as they are, and her black nail polish. She'd also hold onto her polaroids that she's taken on all her adventures. Everything else can go. (Cobie is really unattached, so she'd be the kind of person well-suited to a nomadic lifestyle.)

6. What do they want (consciously and tangibly)?
To marry Ryker and to be accepted by her parents and the rest of the town.

7. On the other hand: what do they need (on the emotional, subconscious level)?
To accept herself, and others, for exactly who they are, flaws and all.

8. If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?
She'd want to make herself less insecure. While she looks confident, she's often projecting.

9. What is the most humiliating event of their life?
When she showed up drunk at church.

10. What things do they turn to when they need a bit of hope?
Her best friend, Blade. The polaroids she's taken of her friends, tinted with summer light and the echoes of laughter.

You can participate in Beautiful People here.