Beautiful People: Corrie // Summer

Hello, beautiful people! I bring you Beautiful People!

This is the monthly link-up hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Skye @ Further Up and Further In. 

For July, it is kinda summer-themed. This feels weird because in my novel right now it is December.

If you want to read any of my previous Beautiful People posts, pop up to the page called I Write. The links are there.

I will, once again, be talking about WIP novel, focussing on the MC, Corrie.

1. What’s their favourite ice cream flavour?

Before coming to Teyvanidan and the Royal Court, Corrie had never had ice-cream bar a very few times. It's not that her family are super poor (her stepfather is actually a well-established merchant so they're pretty comfortably off) but, without electricity, there just aren't the facilities in her village to store something that needs to be frozen. But she really likes ice-cream. (Who doesn't?) Favourite flavour is orange sorbet.

2. Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What are they wearing? Who will they be with?

The one and only night out Corrie has in the book (thus far) -- and it is organised by school! Awkward ...

It is a feast and ball for St. Hesta's Day. She is wearing a green dress. She will be with her friend Freddie. Things you should know about Corrie's friends: she is in a group of four. The others are called Freddie, Mel and Jem. Freddie and Corrie were Selected together from Mallowwick, whereas Mel and Jem live in Teyvanidan. They are not of the Selected nor the nobility; they therefore cannot come to the St Hesta's Day Ball, which is why Corrie and Freddie go alone. But most of the time, any evening stuff will be done by the four of them together.

^There was this one bit where they talked by the sea and ate toffee apples ... that doesn't count, does it?

3. Look at your character’s feet. Describe what you see there. Do they wear dress shoes, gym shoes, or none at all? Are they in socks that are ratty and full of holes? What do they consider comfortable and what do they consider agony?

Brogues! You'd be hard pressed to see Corrie not in brogues. Hers would be a lot more scuffed than these, though.

These are some legit 17th century shoes. (In terms of historical context, the novel is very loosely based in the 17th century. With emphasis on the very.)

Bonus: for the aforementioned ball, Corrie has to wear this kind of shoes. They are surprisingly comfortable. She does have a weakness for pretty shoes (just pretty things in general, to be honest).

4. Do they have any birthmark or scars? Where are they and how did they get them?

She has a birthmark on her shoulderblade; not in a particular shape, just a light brown mark. As a little girl, she used to pretend it was a sign that she was actually a fairy. (It isn't. Sorry, Corrie.)

She has a scar on her calf, near the knee, from a bad cut she got aged seven. She fell over and sliced her leg on a stone.

5. What kind of music do they listen to? Does it change depending on their mood or is it always consistent? (Feel free to share samples!)

In a Spotify-free world (I know. Try not to imagine such a horror.) she doesn't have much opportunity to listen to music. I've never really thought about this before, but I suppose the only music she'll hear is from court musicians, or street performers. 

She really likes choral music.

6. Do they have any musical talent? Play an instrument? How’s their singing voice?

Not especially. She doesn't play anything, and in terms of singing, Corrie is like me. Words sound better coming from her fingers than her mouth. She's not a bad singer, though.

7. What kind of book would you catch them reading?

EVERYTHING! OK. Not quite. But ...

You know this. I know this. Corrie knows this too. 

She loves reading about magic etc, but as it actually exists in her world, "fantasy" is not a genre as such. She also reads a lot of classics. And poetry. 

8. How would they spend their summers (or their holidays)?

With no aeroplanes, there aren't many super exciting holiday prospects in Corrie's life. Her mum doesn't really like travelling, and for George (her stepfather), his job involves a lot of travelling, and he can't often take his family with him. As such, they don't really go away in the summer, except to see Corrie's grandparents.

So she spends her summers reading, writing, enjoying not going to school, and taking long walks to write, and to avoid her sisters, who are probably bickering. She also likes to go swimming in the lake behind the village.

9. It’s Saturday at noon. What is your character doing? Give details. Ex. If they’re eating breakfast, what’s on the menu? Are they hiking, shopping, lazing around?

During termtime, Corrie has just finished Writing. In the Selected timetable, they work for the week and get Sundays and Saturday afternoons off. On Saturday mornings, Breakfast is half an hour later than a normal day (8.30 instead of 8), and a special two-hour class begins at 10, for training in your Selected discipline. You have other one-hour lessons in this subject throughout the week.

So, at noon, she's just leaving class. There's an hour till lunch. She's probably going to read for a bit, or meet her friends to walk the city streets, watch the performers; soak up the life of Teyvanidan. 

10. Is there anything your character wants to be free of?

A civil war that's threatening to tear her country apart. The fact that, right now (80k in) she doesn't know where one of her best friends is because he went off to fight and could be dead. The missing, also potentially dead, sister of another of her friends. The pyschotic queen who's after her. The fact that a lot of Ivarians are on the brink of starvation.

Yeah, Corrie would like to free of all of those things.

So, have you participated in Beautiful People? I'll go round some of the posts on the link-up, but tell me yours, in case I miss it! Oh, and a question for the non-writers of my followers: is this sort of post even mildly interesting to you? I am eager to know.

Emily x