L is for lost #atozchallenge

I should have taken the easy way out which was to use L for Lists (my previous post on character interviews), honestly  I don't have any characters with L names, I don't know why it isn't a letter I use. Never even thought of L names when I was pregnant.
I'm lost of an L name, I'm lost in a mess of chaos right now and the only thing keeping me above water is my escape into the little worlds/ scenes I create when I am writing. Writing has become once again and escape for me, no matter what is going on around me I can set it aside and write, create, daydream.

Character Interviews I use #atozchallenge

Since I am working on a list of characters, I thought I would take the time to share a couple lists of questions to answer about characters you a writing.

Basic Character Interview: (this is my own personal collection of things)
1. Name
2. Age/ Birthday
3. Physical traits (list 5)
4. Favorites (list 5)
5. Marital Status/ views on marriage
6. Children (have/ want)
7. Siblings
8. Religion / views on religion
9. Political views (party affiliation or list 5 or 6 general views)
10. Philosophy (personal and professional)
11. Career or career path
12. Hobbies (list 3)
13. Interests (list  5)
14. Childhood dreams
15. Fantasy
16. House (where lives, what kind of setting : house, condo, dorm, apartment, etc...)
17. Car
18. Darkest secret
19. Greatest Accomplishment
20. Fears (list 3)
21. Desires (list no more than 5)
22. Regrets (list 3)
23. How the character sees his/ her self.

I find this list helps get to know the person I am writing about (leaves enough room to grow.) I also don't answer every question right off the bat, sometimes I get to know the character while I write and will jot down  answers as I go.

Worksheet on Attraction (complete one set for heroine and one for hero)
***This is something I was given in college, I did not write it, but don't know who the original author is to give credit to****

1 Why is the hero attractor to the heroine? What does he respond to in her beyond the physical? What aspects of her character and personality draw him in?

2. How will the heroine fulfil his emotional and internal needs? Heroes often think they don't have any emotional needs - this is a part of growth.

3. Emotionally speaking what does he want that he has never gotten from a woman and how will the heroine give that to him? Again he may not even know he has such a need

4. What does he find in her that he lacks in himself? How do her strengths make him stronger?

5. How is he different with the heroine that he is or ever has been with any other woman, emotionally speaking again?

6. How is she his best friend and understands him in a way that no other person does? There things come up over the course of the book.

7. What secret or secrets do the two of them share?

8. What makes this hero different from any other heo. List the two or three traits that I want to reveal in his speech and actions? Good or bad.

K is for Katherine #atozchallenge

Katherine seemed rushed no matter how hard she tried to get things done, her days were filled with no less than 3 full classes everyday, 4 hours working in the campus bookstore , and working to get all her homework done just to start the next day with only 3-4 hours of sleep each night. Life for this college student was a push, but yet she felt something was missing.  She really did not have time to find the missing something today though, she was late for a lecture in Psychology on the other side of campus. Thankfully her bag wasn't as heavy today and she could cut across the commons and dash behind the Student Union building and up the backside of the Social Sciences building ducking in the back way.  As she cut across the commons she felt like someone was watching her, but brushed it off as nothing in her rush to get where she needed to be.
Falling into her seat among the rest of the Psychology class she was relieved to see she made it with time to spare. Pulling out her notebook, she began jotting down some questions that she wanted to ask the speaker following the reading of his latest book related to birth order in young adults.

Katherine pulled her blonde hair into a quick ponytail and straightened her campus Bookstore staff shirt as she freshened up her makeup, ready to hit the floor for her afternoon shift. Thursdays in the bookstore were pretty mellow, usually the only traffic they saw would be from the students that actually did their projects over the weekends instead of waiting until the last minute. As she reached her assigned register, she caught a glimpse of a tall, slender guy with a black cowboy hat on. Most people didn't surprise her, but something about his caught her by surprise, where had she seen him before?

J is for Justin #atozchallenge

His black hair shone as ebony when  he tipped his black stetson hat passing the girls in the hall. Most of the guys on the 4th floor thought Justin was a little weird, but the girls all seemed to blush when he gestured and smiled at them. He might be something of an anomaly on campus, but he grew up with a strong belief that a lady was something to be treated with respect. While his cowboy hat seemed out of place in Avery Hall he had earned his spot on campus working hard , maintaining his grades and showing compassion and chivalry to those around him. As a business major he spent a lot of time studying trends in marketing, finance, and crunching numbers; one thing wasn't going to change his compassion.
He caught a quick glance of her across the common area and wondered who she was....

I is for Insanity #atozchallenge

I is for Insanity, hey I'm just keeping it real. As a homeschool mom of 2 boys who dreams of writing all day and not worrying about the real world, the dishes, or even the laundry I tend to get in over my head. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who can't go a day without doing a load of laundry and an amazing mother who comes over once a week to help me clean up the messes the boys and I manage to make.  The insanity is all the crazy chaos circling around inside my mind. Most people don't even try to understand me thank goodness and those that try and actually get me learn rather quickly that I don't fit into a box, I actually create my own box and it doesn't have 4 sides , a top, and a bottom it is actually more of a cylinder. I dream big and reach higher each time, and that is all I can ask for.
I am spiritual, thoughtful, romantic, and whimsical all of which tend to land me in hot water no matter which way I turn.
My characters come from inside this crazy brain of mine and all stem from parts of my existence or my dreams.  I try to follow the advice a professor gave me in college to 'write what you know', but honestly I often question what I know.
There are days when it is all clear and I can write (usually on paper) for hours, but most days I  am lucky to find the time to blog here much less my normal blogs. I love my boys and the insanity of being a homeschool mama and will take the quiet moments I can steal from the day and savor them.