Here it is! The first ever character interview for The Wonderful World of My Life!
Cassie is the main character to my Dystopian novel, that currently has no title. I'll spare you the boring "She's seventeen and blond" description, and hopefully let the questions give you a taste of what she's like.
WHERE DO YOU LIVE?
Cassie: I live in a small town in the Kingdom. No one can remember the name it used to be called, but it's about thirty miles from Angeles right on the coast...My mother says it used to be called California, but I'm not supposed to say that.
HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR DAY?
Cassie: Well, mostly I get up early and head out to go look for food. Most days I try and trade things. Usually things like work. Maybe sewing a fishing net, or baiting hooks. The other day I had some bread and I traded that and a kiss for a fresh fish. My mother was a little upset about the kiss, but it was worth it. Recently though, I teamed up with a boy...I can't tell you his name, because hunting outside of the fence without a license is against the law. But I help him sneak all the meat he hunts past the street police and then he splits it with me.
OKAY, SO THIS BOY. DO YOU LIKE HIM?
Cassie: Define like. As a human being I think he's pretty good. I mean, he did try to rob me the first time we met, but that's just part of life. But do I like him special? No. I don't. Liking people in that way leads to other things, and I'm not bringing any more kids into this town to scrounge for survival. Besides, he doesn't know about marriage, and I wouldn't want to compete with other girls.
OH. SO WHAT ABOUT HUNTING? WHAT KINDS OF WEAPONS DO YOU HAVE?
Cassie: Are you trying to get me in trouble here? Who are you anyway?...He uses a bow he made, and a bunch of arrows. He's making me build my own right now, but I don't know if its looking right. He says he has a gun, but he wont let me see it. He doesn't use that to hunt.
LETS MOVE ON TO FAMILY. WHO DO YOU LIVE WITH?
Cassie: I live with my mother. We have a house on the edge of town that my father fixed up for us...the police came and took him three years ago. We haven't seen him since.
WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?
Cassie: ....That's an odd question, but okay. I've got blond hair, and my eyes are green like Father's. Um...I like to wear my hair in braids, but it falls out of the tie a lot. I wear a skirt over my jeans. And combat boots. I can't afford laces though, so they fall off a lot, and they're hard to run in. My partner says I'm pretty, but I don't really believe him cause its always something like "You're just a pretty waste of my time" or "Maybe you do have some brains behind that pretty face."
DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?
Cassie: Oh no. Definitely not. Pets eat too much. Mother say's lots of people at their pets during the war. And since we're just one step ahead of starvation most the time, I don't really enjoy the idea of getting attached to an animal, just to turn around and make it dinner. A guard dog might be nice though, if I had to have one.
WHAT DO YOU DO AT HOME?
Cassie: Well, me and my mother usually eat whatever we have together, and then sometimes she tells me the stories before we go to sleep. She has lots of stories, about the Hero, and all the people he knew. She says they're all true, but she won't tell me where she heard them....I'm not even supposed to talk about them. Give me another question.
OKAY THEN. WHAT SCARES YOU?
Cassie: Well...Something happening to my mother scares me a lot. She always tries to make me eat more than her, and she's so skinny. But she wont listen to me. So keeping food on her plate is priority number one. I'm scared I won't be able to do it.....I guess I'm afraid of getting caught out hunting too, but my partner says that's not likely to happen.
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU ARE DANGEROUSLY CURIOUS ABOUT?
Cassie: Hmmm, dangerously curious...about the travelers. They've always been fascinating to me. They wander from town to town. They peddle things, and bring games. You have to pay for the games, so I don't usually get to try any of them, but I've heard they can tell your future. I'd like to talk to one of them sometime, but since they come from outside the fence, the street police don't like them, and don't let them stay very long. They keep tabs on who talks to them too.
WHAT WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO DIE FOR?
Cassie: My mother. That's it.
WHAT IS YOUR LIFES PHILOSOPHY?
Cassie: Are you trying to get me in trouble? I told you I'm not supposed to talk about this kind of stuff....If I tell you, you cannot tell, or I'll find you. I mean it, I will. I believe in honesty. The city doesn't really care about it. People lie and steal and cheat through life, to survive, but Mother says it shouldn't be. She tells me we should care about others, and not be so worried about ourselves. So I guess I believe in that. She says everything ties to the truth. So my philosophy is to seek the truth in everything.
DO YOU CRY EASILY?
Cassie: Why do you have to ask things like this? No, I don't cry easily. The last time anyone saw me cry, was the day they took Father. If I do cry, I don't let anyone see. Especially Mother. I can't let her worry.
HOW ARE YOU AT SCHOOL?
Cassie: Girls don't go to school. We're not worth nothing. Only boys go. And then only the boys who score well on their tests. Mother has taught me a lot though. I can read, and write. And barter for food. I know all the stories. I can learn fast.
IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD IT BE?
Cassie: Now I know you're trying to get me killed. I don't know. I've never been out of the city, let alone the Kingdom. Mother says there's lots of land out there away from the Kingdom, but no one has been out there in years, because the Queen (I should say her advisors who use her as a puppet) says its dangerous. But its dangerous in here too, so I guess I'd want to go out and see what's out there.
There you are! Hope you enjoyed it.
