Interview with Tare & Adrian! (Language of Worlds Linkup Sept. 2019)

The lovely Liv K. Fisher has a new Language of Worlds linkup for September-October, and in honor of my current WIP, I’m letting my characters Tare and Adrian answer the questions! Oh yeah, this is going to be fun. *grins*

A brief intro to this story and these characters before we dive in.

Story/Character Intro

Double Lives at Kedran’s Wood (trying out a new working title; previously Mixup at Kedran’s Wood) is a contemporary fantasy novella, set after book 2 in my Kedran’s Wood WIP series. I’m nearly 12K words into it so far.

Tare is a twenty-ish (it’s complicated) young man with black hair and a black leather jacket, whose specialties include being a loner, skills with a variety of weapons, fighting monsters, and saving our other heroes, the Chess Club.

Adrian is 19 at this point, and he’s basically Tare’s opposite (blond, easy-going, loves the color yellow and drives a big yellow pickup truck) except that they both share a protectiveness of the other Chess Club members that often causes sparks between the two.

In Double Lives at Kedran’s Wood (KW2.5), through a magical mishap, Tare and Adrian end up switching appearances and have to live each other’s lives for a day and then figure out how to reverse this mixup, while working together.

It’s. So. Much. Fun. XD

Setting the scene

Now. Let’s pop in at the cafe where Mr. Larch (head of the Chess Club) works, and have a chat with Adrian and Tare over a cup of coffee . . .

(Tare doesn’t really drink coffee so he’s just having it straight black, and Adrian’s having a caramel frappuccino. In case you needed to know.)

1. Your character is in crisis! Who is the first person they turn to?

Tare: *folds his arms* “Okay, first of all, I don’t get in any crises. And if I did, there wouldn’t be anyone to turn to, so I’d deal with it myself.”

Adrian: *smirks* “Oh, come on, admit it—you’d turn to us. The Chess Club is totally here for you.”

Tare: *side-eyes Adrian* “. . . Maybe. Now you answer it.”

Adrian: “If it was something every-day and not dangerous, I’d turn to Ivy. She always knows what to say. Best girlfriend ever.”

Tare: “And if it was dangerous?”

Adrian: *shifts in his seat but smiles disarmingly* “I’d . . . take care of it myself. Maybe.”

Tare: *raises eyebrow*

Adrian: “. . . Okay, I’d take it to you. Whatever. But I don’t have to like it.” *blows out a breath* “Next?”

2. Who has their unconditional loyalty?

Tare: “Nobody.”

Adrian: *side-eyes him this time* “The rest of the Chess Club. That’s the answer for both of us. We’d do anything to keep them safe. It’s like the only thing we agree on.”

Tare: *hides a smile behind one hand* “Fine. Maybe.”

3. What cause do they believe in? Why?

Tare: *sighs* “Keeping the Chess Club from dying every time we have a little incident with monsters or rogue fae or anything like that. They’re like puppies trying to play in traffic, so guess who gets to stop them? Full time job. Thankless. Hopefully worth it. Saving the world is a side-effect sometimes.”

Adrian: “Hey, I like to think I hold my own in these little situations.”

Tare: “How about the time—”

Adrian: “All right, I get it. And for me? I don’t know. Doing what’s right, I guess. Helping others. Loving them. Sounds like a good cause, to me.”

4. Are they easy to get along with?

Tare: “No.”

Adrian: *grins* “Got that one right. Me, I’m a pretty laid-back guy.”

5. Are they a night owl or morning dove? (Or “weird daytime pigeon”?)

Tare: “Night owl, all the way.”

Adrian: “This guy literally spends most of his nights up. Or used to, anyway.”

Tare: “Could you stop making commentaries on my answers? Just answer the stupid question.”

Adrian: “‘Weird daytime pigeon.’ I like it!” *laughs* “Nah, I’m pretty much a morning guy, though I don’t think I’m a dove. Ivy says I’m a golden retriever in human form, so we’ll go with that.”

6. What do they consider most vital to their health? Are they right?

Tare: “Sleeping occasionally. Ask me how I know.”

Adrian: “Okay, how do you—?”

Tare, through gritted teeth: “That. Was. Rhetorical.”

Adrian: “Getting quality time in with friends and family. And eating. I mean, hamburgers, am I right?”

Tare: “I prefer steak, myself.”

Adrian: “Steak is good!”

Tare: “Did we just agree on something?”

Adrian: *grinning* “I’m shocked too. It’s too much work to cook it in a fireplace, though.”

Tare: “Only way to eat it. Grills are lazy.”

Adrian: “Ooo-kay.”

7. What was their childhood fear?

Tare: “Didn’t have any. Next.”

Adrian: “Oh, come on! Everybody did.”

Tare: …

Adrian: “Really? Not even one thing? You never talk about your childhood.”

Tare: …

Adrian, sighing: “Fine. I guess that’s assuming you ever had one. Okay, this is gonna sound weird, but I was always scared of this one cartoon character and thought it lived in my grandfather’s attic and was terrified it was going to come down and get me.”

Tare: *snorts*

Adrian: *puts hands in the air* “Hey, I’m just saying it like it is. Lots of weird things are scary when you’re a kid, okay? Especially cartoons and picture books. Oh boy, picture books. I loved them, but—so scary, you know?”

Tare: *smirking*

8. What do they have nightmares about?

Tare: *crosses arms tighter and glowers* “I was trapped in a dimension of eternal night full of monsters for eight years. What do you think I have nightmares about.”

Adrian: *shrug* “I don’t really dream much. If I do, probably just the normal stuff.”

9. What sights/sounds/smells remind them of home?

Tare: *leans back in chair* “I’ve lived in many places and none of them were home. Unless we’re talking about my leather jacket. Well. Maybe Kedran’s Wood, now.”

Adrian: “What about your lair?”

Tare: “It’s an abandoned apartment. But fine. That and the woods. So . . . The sounds and smells and sights of a forest, or a fireplace, I guess.” *shrugs*

Adrian: “Dogs, laughing kids, basements, mechanic tools, and the color yellow. And the smell of Mom cooking lasagna.”

10. What do they love most about themself?

Adrian, protestingly: “Hey! Not fair. Way to put us on the spot, right?”

Tare: “Yep. Do you see why I hate interviews?”

Adrian: “I can’t think of anything, can you?”

Tare: “Nope.”

Adrian: *laughing* “Guess that makes us humble, right? We can like that.”

Tare: “Sure.”

Adrian: “For real, though, I guess I like that I am—or, try to be—kind of easygoing and friendly and just . . . kind of there for people. Everyone needs somebody who’ll be their eye in the storm, their rock in the ocean, their sunshine in the clouds, and I try to be that as much as I can for the people in my life.”

Tare: “I suppose you could say I never give up. I always. keep. fighting. No matter what. That could . . . be something I like. Are we finished now?”

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And there we are!

Let me know in a comment what you thought of Adrian and Tare’s interview!

(And feel free to join in on the Language of Worlds linkup, which is open through October as well!)

Thanks for reading! ^_^