So, uhm, who remembers that one time I participated in NaNoWriMo and wrote something like a novel? Yeah, I know! I never talked about that ever again … After finishing the story I was all elated and happy and excited but I let it sit for a while before re-reading and editing. Turns out revision is a bitch! I don’t like it … I don’t even want to read until the end of the story because it’s just really terrible. At the same time, I don’t want to give up on the story and especially my characters altogether, but maybe I’m just too lazy for the task? You see, it’s been difficult! To get some of my motivation back I decided to do a tag called Beautiful People, which is a link-up hosted by Cait from Paper Fury and Sky from Further Up and Further In where writers answer questions about their books/characters.

The August edition is about friendship, but since you don’t know much (or anything … I wasn’t big on sharing I realise now) I’m going to explain “Break Up Buddy” (yes, that’s the title for now, maybe it’ll change) a little bit before getting to the questions.

Raeleen Miller’s world is falling to pieces when her boyfriend Hunter breaks up with her around the same time her roommate Jemma decides to take a job in the UK for an entire year. But Jemma wouldn’t be her best friend if she didn’t have a plan to help Raeleen get through this. That’s where Nick Mooney comes into play.
As a young aspiring director, he couldn’t be more excited about getting the position of first Assistant Director for a new TV show shot in Portland, now if only he had a place to stay for the upcoming months of shooting! Jemma organises for them to switch apartments, but neglects to tell Raeleen about it since she knows her bestie would be against the idea. So, it all comes down to Nick showing up in front of Rae’s door the day Jemma leaves and there is no way for her to turn him down. (She’s not mean enough to make homeless after all!)  After Nick finds out that Jemma left behind a self-help-book titled “Break Up Buddy” he knows exactly what to do to win over his new roommate.

I guess that’s sort of the main premise of the book. It’s a typical ConRomCom (= Contemporary Romantic Comedy) and if you have any more questions for me about my story, feel free to ask in the comments! But right now it’s time to get down to the Friendship questions for the Beautiful People tag!

1. How long have they known each other, and how close are they?

Raeleen and Jemma went to High School together, even though they didn’t become friends until Senior year when they realised they both wanted to go to Oregon State University together. After sharing a dorm room at university they decided to move to Portland together and stay roommates. They share everything (well, except guys) with each other and have spent so much time together that Jemma’s move to the UK is really hard on Rae.
As for Raeleen and Nick: not very long at all obviously. The day Jemma left for her work was the day they met, but after Raeleen drops her initial resentment they become friends pretty quickly … and at some point even more?

2. What’s their earliest memory of being best friends?

You know that feeling of being in the same class with someone but just never talking to each other? That was Raeleen and Jemma before Senior Year. They really started talking during a campus tour of OSU and realised how much they had in common. They felt pretty silly for not talking earlier with each other after that.
So, Raeleen needed a little bit of time to warm up to Nick, who really only tried to make the best of the situation. It’s difficult to say when exactly they became best friends, but the first spark was ignited through their mutual like for drinking tea with milk in the morning.

3. Do they fight? How long do they typically fight for?

Everybody fights, it’s only normal. Rae tends to be very explosive and irrational sometimes, whereas Jemma is more of the passive-agressive type and Nick is just laid back, not taking it very seriously at all. So they quarrel a lot, but it’s mostly due to misunderstandings. They all don’t feel happy if the other one is mad at them and try to defuse the situation as quickly as possible.

4. Are their personalities similar or do they complement each other?

Rae is stubborn, ambitious and a bit nerdy. She rarely makes the first step to meet new people, but is more the shy and self-conscious type.
Jemma and Nick on the other hand are more open. Jemma is quirky and more clumsyis than Rae. Nick is very open, makes friends fast and is generally cocky and self-confident. Rae needs them to come out of her shelf and to encourage her sometimes.

5. Who is the leader of their friendship (if anyone)?

Nick is definitely the initiator when it comes to making plans, but I wouldn’t necessarily call him the leader.

6. Do they have any secrets from each other?

Nick has had a crush on Rae since day one, but he doesn’t want to make their living situation awkward. Raeleen tells him everything though, she trusts him completely. There didn’t use to be any secrets between Rae and Jemma but the distance is wearing on them and creating a strain on their friendship that leads to keeping things to themselves rather than talk about them. But in the end they always tell each other the big stuff.

7. How well do they know each other’s quirks and habits?

Insanely well! Jemma and Rae have lived together for so long, they were like a well-oiled machine. Nick and Rae are very alike in terms of what they enjoy in food, music and so on. Of course they don’t know everything about each other but they are pretty good at seeing through each other’s fronts.

8. What kind of things do they like to do together?

Rae and Jemma: anything really. Nothing too exciting though since they are more like an old-married couple sometimes.
Rae and Nick: Watch movies, drink tea and chat about their lives and jobs and friends. There’s still a lot to discover about each other and Nick likes to push Rae out of her comfort zone sometimes.

9. Describe each character’s fashion style (use pictures if you like!) How are their styles different/similar?

Just fyi: I “casted” my characters waaaay before I even knew about Godzilla or Avengers: Age of Ultron, so there is no correlation between Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson being in those movies and my book.

Raeleen: She likes to look casual, a bit girly but nothing too flashy. She uses very little make-up and the ponytail is pretty much her signature hair style.

 

Jemma: She likes to experiment a little with her style and has a lot of unique clothing items in her wardrobe. Somehow she always manages to make it look natural and effortless though.

Nick: He doesn’t care that much about his appearance. His hair is mostly a mess and he wears whatever he can find and is clean.

   10. How would their lives be different without each other?

Jemma and Rae need the support of each other. They can be honest and often inspire each other to really go and pursue their dreams. Nick needs Rae to stay grounded and to calm down every once in a while. Rae needs Nick to discover there is a whole world out there that she’s missing out on if she only ever stays in her room.

So, I hope you enjoyed this little excursion into my writing life. It definitely helped a bit in terms of getting my spirits back up! If there are any questions left, just go ahead and ask them below 🙂