Character Interview with Jim, Morgan, and Nathan

 So the basic layout of relationships at the beginning of the book is going to be three separate, distinct groups - Tammany and Cale, the Cafe group; Jim, Morgan, and Nathan, the Music Inc. group; and Andrew and Grace, the New-to-Town group. The NtT's are hired, one at the cafe and one at Music Inc., and that's when the overlap starts. Outlining through blog posts - acceptable or no?

Background for the three:
Jim Reinhart came from a very blue-collar family, with parents who worked basic service jobs for cash. He won a full ride to College University after writing an essay expounding on the rights of the lower-class and the responsibilities of government. Now a math major, extremely intelligent, will flirt with anything that moves - a defense mechanism, because charm got him out of a lot of trouble as a kid.

Nathan Harding came from American nobility, more or less - his father owns the major recording label Music Inc. He works there as a BI manager, and is amazingly good at what he does. He's more or less expected to take over the company after his father retires. He met Jim when they were in college, and they were roommates for two years - they still are, Jim paying minimum rent to Nathan because he doesn't want to feel like a leach while he figures out grad school. Nathan's cynical, sarcastic, and generally expects the worst from everyone. However, when he meets someone whom he deems 'legitimate,' he is the most loyal person on the planet. Has a soft spot for his cousin Morgan.

Morgan Hart is the other heir apparent to Music Inc. Where Nathan is probably going to be the director of the board, Morgan is going to be the actual power behind the throne - key to choosing soon-to-be-popular bands, etc. to add to the label. She always seems to know just a little bit more than everyone else - wrong-footing her is almost impossible. She loves her cousin, and likes some people, but she doesn't suffer fools gladly. It's a regular joy for those who know her to watch her destroy someone who's being an idiot seemingly on purpose. She will occasionally go a little too far, and tends to feel guilty for that.

• What is your lifelong dream?
•  J: Graduate school. Don't know how, because that shit's expensive. But yeah, a Master's in math, if not a PhD.
• N: Becoming the head of Music Inc.
• M: Original. To become a world-recognized salsa dancer.
• N: That's a complete lie. You want to move to England and have ten cats.
• M: Five.
• How do you feel about your life in general?
•  N: I'm quite happy with it all. No complaints.
• M: I'm a little bored, but I can usually fix that by meddling in others' lives. 
• J: You're an evil woman.
• M: Yep.
• J: Anyway, if I won the lottery and didn't have to work in a freaking gas station to earn enough for my Master's, I'd be perfectly happy. Actually, I'd probably settle for just not having to work at the gas station.
• What do you fear most?
• M: In the secure knowledge that everyone involved will forget this entire conversation, I can safely say my greatest fear is loneliness. That's why I have so many friends.
• J and N: .... Seriously?
• M: Shut up.
• J: Greatest fear would be heights. 
• N: Morgan, you're sure no one will remember any of this?
• M: Of course.
• N: Then disappointing my father.
• M: I KNEW IT. 
• N: Shut up.
• If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be?
• N: New York, in the boardrooms of iTunes and Spotify.
• J: All work and no play makes Nathan a dull boy. 
• N: It also makes him successful.
• M: Now, boys...
• J: Anyway, Oxford or the Bahamas, with a tall, tan someone.
• M: Any hints?
• J: No.
• M: Fine. Probably Paris during Christmas.
• What's the worst argument you've ever been in?
• J: My father wasn't happy with my choice of career. That's all that needs to be said.
• M: There was that row with my friend Molly, back in high school.
• N: I don't argue. I discuss at high volume.
• Who's your best friend?
• M: These two.
• N: These two.
• J: These two.
• If you knew you were going to meet your true love tomorrow, how would you react?
• M: I'd be incredulous. I don't believe in true love.
• N: What she said.
• J: I'd be interested, but wary. Meeting true love at this point could screw stuff up.
• M: Such a romantic.
• J: Says the woman who doesn't believe in true love.
• Final question: How would you react if your friends suddenly no longer wanted anything to do with you?
• N: I wouldn't be surprised. I migh be a little pissed off if they didn't give me a reason, but I wouldn't be surprised.
• J: I'd say go screw yourselves and find new friends.
• M: ... Have a panic attack, maybe. Enter a depressed spiral of booze and pills.
• N: That would be a sight.
• J: Hey, Morgan, no one likes you.
• M: Go screw yourself.

These will be fun to write, I think. My favorite character and his sister come next, though - Andrew and Grace something-or-other. Who needs last names?

Stuff and a Character Interview with Cale and Tammany

First, I have a guest post - a legit essay and everything - on the wonderful blog The Critical Psychopath. So. Go check that out.

Second, I applied for Harvard and Carleton today. Neither have the best music performance programs - or, like, any at all - but I applied. With essays and everything. There's a really big part of me that's freaking the fuck out. Because I'm going to be a legitimate adult, with responsibilities and stuff, in less than a year.

And on top of that, it just sort of hit me today that NaNo is in about nine days. I don't remember much after that revelation, but apparently I froze for several minutes and whimpered slightly. It was reported that I was also mouthing "Ohgodohgodohgod."

That more or less sums up my current feelings.

So I know I posted here a warm-up for the TCWT blog chain. That's not going to happen. All the people who say senior year is easier than junior year are lying liars who lie. I'm having to work far harder this year than I ever have before, which means that even a plot with the silliness of Ada Lovelace's ghost isn't going to be feasible, because it requires thought, effort, and a modicum of research. None of these are things I have in excess this November. So. Instead. My current plot idea is taking a bunch of characters I've thought about before and throwing them into that omphalskeptic favorite - "A Bunch of Friends Hang Out In a Coffee Shop and Don't Do Very Much," or as I like to call it, "[CENSORED FOR COPYRIGHT PURPOSES]". Highly original, I know.

On the upside, my favorite teacher and possible new best friend gave me permission to do NaNo for class credit instead of the normal assignments. So all of a sudden I have forty-five minutes a day to dedicate to NaNo that I've never had before. He might even participate in it, too. So there's a good thing.

But back on the topic of my own NaNovel, I have some characters that I've been sitting on for a while. I have the dynamic between them ready, I know who they are - I just need to send them into action. So, without further ado - Tammany Dreisang and Cale Smith.

• What is your lifelong dream?
• T: To own my cafe, which I've technically accomplished. To have it become a local Place, capital P, not just a Starbucks. To own a first edition signed copy of all of Neil Gaiman's books.
• C: To have a successful band. To not have to be an accountant other than for said band.
• T: And me?
• C: ... Fine.
• How do you feel about your life in general?
• C: Other than wishing I had an actual band, it's not bad. Sometimes a bit lonely, but whatever.
• T: I'm good. I don't really want anything more than what I've got now, except maybe a few more customers. I'm easily contented, I guess.
• C: Except when it comes to the last muffin.
• T: Shut up or I will end you.
• What do you fear most?
• C: Being a white-bread accountant for the rest of my life. And spiders. Spiders are scary.
• T: Teenage vandal hooligans with spray paint coming after the cafe at night and defacing all it's windows with nastiness.
• C: Bit specific, isn't it?
• T: At least it's not spiders. 
• If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be?
• T: San Fransisco, definitely. 
• C: Can I travel in time, too?
• No.
• C: Then... Sundance?
• Acceptable.
• T: How are you talking to the questionnaire? Is that even possible?
• C: Trade secret.
• What's the worst argument you've ever been in?
• C: Well, there was a nasty political argument that sort of got me exiled from my group of friends junior year of college, but I think the worst would be when I took Tammany's muffin. She would not rest until I had been thoroughly doused in cheez-wiz.
• T: You absolutely deserved it. A once in a lifetime experience - a cranberry triple-chocolate muffin with walnuts, custom-made by my favorite bakery, and you eat it. Idiot.
• C: You covered me with cheez-wiz. You are not the sane one here.
• T: Well, you grabbed the whipped cream and started spraying me back.
• C: Self-defense.
• Who's your best friend?
• C: We just told you about a cheez-wiz and whipped cream fight.  You need to ask.
• T: Yeah, honestly.
• If you knew you were going to meet your true love tomorrow, how would you react?
• T: I'd laugh so hard I'd probably pull something. 
• C: Hey, don't knock love.
• T: Wait, the high and mighty Cale with a soft side? Be still my beating heart. No such thing as true love.
• Final question: How would you react if your friends suddenly no longer wanted anything to do with you?
• C: Ask what took them so long. Go write depressing songs. Maybe move.
• T: Spend the night sobbing. Maybe get falling-down drunk and make some new friends.
• C: I don't think I've ever seen you drunk. No one likes you.
• T: Shut up, muffin-stealer.

I honestly really like these two. They'll be fun to write, at the very least. Next are Jim, Morgan and Nathan.