Sample Character Interview

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Sample Character Interview"

Constance Daniel
6 years ago
Views:

But Hessenberg royalty has vanished. Except for one. My heroine Regina who has NO idea she s about to get a new identity. Tanner is tapped to travel to Florida to deliver the news.

1 Sample Character Interview Set up: Tanner is a professor and friend of King Nathaniel, my hero in book one of the royal series, Once Upon A Prince. Tanner lives in a sister country, Hessenberg, that is about to be free from a lease agreement with Brighton going back to WW1. They need a royal to oversee this change of authority. But Hessenberg royalty has vanished. Except for one. My heroine Regina who has NO idea she s about to get a new identity. Tanner is tapped to travel to Florida to deliver the news. Interview: RH: What bothers you the most when the story opens? Tanner: That everything will change. That Regina will ruin my country. She ll fail. RH: Why does failure bother you? Tanner: Who wants to fail? Do you? I don t want my country to fail or fall into turmoil. RH: Did you fail at something? Tanner: Excuse me? RH: Did YOU fail at something? Tanner: Yes, everything. Let my parents down. RH: When? Tanner: When what? RH: When did you let your parents down? Tanner: Really, that s where you re going? RH: Yes.

2 Tanner: In prep school. There, you happy? Some blokes and I got into some mischief and I was removed. But then I was sent to Brighton and RH: That s a long way away from Hessenberg. Tanner: Only a 100 kilometers by boat. RH: Did you see your parents much? Tanner: Certainly. Yes. Some. More than some of the other boys, I ll tell you that RH: When did you see them? Tanner: Holidays. They sent for me. I went home for Festive and Christmas. We always holidayed together in the spring and summer. RH: Birthdays? Tanner: They sent money. Gifts. RH: So you liked boarding school? Tanner: I never said I liked it. I said it was all right. Sports were fun. RH: What would you have preferred? Tanner: To not enter this conversation with you. Just what is it you want? RH: To know what you want? Tanner: You want to know what I want? Peace. World peace. RH: Har, don t be a wise guy. You want peace for yourself. Tanner: Doesn t everyone? You re not a very smart writer are you? RH: Actually, I m quite brilliant. So, you want peace. Inner peace. Tanner: Of course, I m not an ogre. RH: Why don t you have it? What troubles you? Tanner: You re a nosey one, are you not?

3 RH: You re an evasive one, are you not? Tanner: Touché. RH: So? Tanner: So? RH: What is bothering you? You have 2 PhDs. A standing in politics and in the community. A favorite professor. A leader. What s missing? Tanner: You Americans always want to dig into a chaps heart and dig up all the personal stuff. Well, I won t fall for it. Speaking out what I want won t make it true and I ll be sure to regret it later. RH: Love? Acceptance? Is that what you want? You mentioned failure. Are you afraid to fail. Tanner: Yes, you bloody know-it-all. Who wants to fail? RH: Some don t mind. At least they tried. Tanner: Well, they can have their try, and the mess it created. RH: You don t like messes? Tanner: Bloody hell, can we talk about what I do like? RH: Sure. Go for it. Tanner: I love a crisp Hessenberg morning. I love when the snow falls in the mountains and my feet tingle in anticipation of strapping on my skis. I love the sound of my heels clicking on the polished marble of the university halls. Debating the merits of supply side economics with my students or the merits of a constitutional monarchy. Or the new reforms in the House of Lords. I love sculling on Reims River when the sun is cresting over the mountain. Dipping my oar into the glassy surface of the still waters and surging forward. I love the sound of wild birds nesting. I love racing my car over the back roads, engine at full throttle. I love a good rugby game. I love a good wine, grilled meat with béarnaise sauce. I love the sound of rain on my balcony. The rooting of a football crowd. Dancing.

4 The sound of the church choir raising their voices to God in Burkhard Cathedral. Women with long dark hair. The soft lilt of a the female laugh. Making eye contact when she thinks I m not looking. A roaring fire. A good night at the pub with my mates, discussing everything from cars to women to the meaning of life. RH: Any family memories? Tanner: Yes. The stiff handshake of my father when he dropped me off at school. The quick kiss of my mother. Saturday evening calls to see how I faired. Mother did love Christmas. She made a point to do it up well. My brothers and I tried our best to get her the best gift we could every year. RH: What were some of those gifts? Tanner: Funny, now that I think about it. It was always perfume. The same one. Channel no 5 cause she told us she liked it once. RH: Did she wear it? Tanner: I believe so. RH: What about your father? Tanner: Books. Always books. The man put a high price on education. And staying educated. When he entered the House of Lords, he was the most knowledgeable one. RH: Did you feel pressure to be like him? Tanner: I see what you re doing. RH: Pretend you don t. Humor me. Tanner: Of course, I felt pressure. As did my brothers. We didn t want to let the old man down. He was one of those chaps you felt like you d spend your whole life trying for his approval. Just one none, one well done one attaboy. RH: Did he ever say those words to you? Tanner: Still waiting. Though, I think he s proud. Mum tells me he is. Talks all the time about his boy with 2 Ph. Ds.

5 RH: Speaking of two? Really? Kind of overachieving, no? Tanner: I m a diverse fellow, what can I tell you. I loved politics and economics. Figured the two go together anyway. I had a mentor who had degrees in both. RH: Who is this mentor? Tanner: Lord Edmund. He was in some ways like a father to me. RH: But not your father. Tanner: Does it matter? RH: Did you please him? Tanner: I think so? He said as much when I graduated. RH: You know, God is not like them? Not like any man you ve ever known. Tanner: I know. I understand the word holy. RH: Do you? Tanner: Totally other than. Set apart. Not like anything you ve ever encountered before. Do you really want to take me on? RH: No, just trying to meet you. At the end of this story, Tanner, what will you have learned. What do you hope happens to you? What is your epiphany? Tanner: I hope that I learn I don t need man s approval. That God s is enough. I hope I know in my heart that HE does approve of me. I hope above all men that I please God. I wish to hear good on you from my father but if I don t, I want my heart to be whole. RH: What will cause you not to hear it? Tanner: If I help Regina. Father is a Brighton man, through and through. He will not want a restarted Hessenberg. He doesn t believe our economy can afford it. RH: But you ll do what s right, won t you. Tanner: Don t I always. RH: Does that make you mad?

6 Tanner: Mad. No. Girl YOU are mad. It does make me feel all too safe. I always do what s safe. I stick to the rules. Even the self imposed rules. Some days I just want to RH: Let go? Let God? Tanner: If we re quoting clichés yes. I just want to not be in control. To not have it all buttoned up. RH: You want to fall in love with Regina? Tanner: I don t know, you re the brainchild author. Do I? RH: I think you do. Tanner: Why? RH: Hey, I m the one asking the questions here. Tanner: Why do you want me to love her? What about this Felicity lass? She seems more my type. RH: Exactly. Too buttoned up, as you say. Regina is messy. Outside your boundaries. She scales your walls and messes with your heart and head. You can t contain her. Tanner: Sounds like a challenge. RH: And you like a challenge? Tanner: Within reason. Sure. Is she smart? RH: No, she s dumb. Of course she s smart goofball. Tanner: Will she love me? RH: Ah, is that important to you? Tanner: Yes. I ve never been in love. Not that I know of and I d kind of like the first girl I whisper love to would return the sentiment. Wow, aren t you romantic? Good grief, Tanner. You won t even put your heart out there for love? RH: Do you want me to get all gob smacked and mushy?

7 No, but I want you to loosen up. What about doing something completely selfless? Tanner: I can do selfless. RH: Then let s see it. Give up everything for Regina? Tanner: Is that what I do at the end I can t do in the beginning? Be selfless? Give up everything my reputation, my desire to hear good job from my father, my loyalty to Brighton, for her. RH: Yes for her! For love. For the kingdom. Thank you for your time today, Tanner. I have what I need. You are dismissed. Tanner: Used up for the purposes of your art. I hope you are satisfied, madam. RH: Quite.

Sam Ross 2012 facebook.com/teenagewhisperer Twitter.com/Teen_Whisperer

Sam Ross 2012 facebook.com/teenagewhisperer Twitter.com/Teen_Whisperer facebook.com/teenagewhisperer Twitter.com/Teen_Whisperer Peer pressure G i Under pressure? 1. What, Who, How? Your peers are usually people about the same age as you - friends, cousins, brothers, sisters,