On Vacation...Ask Me Anything!

ask me anything!

That's what this month's exercise at thelitforum is all about:

"This month’s exercise is: Ask Me Anything (AMA)!

It's based off the Reddit subforum in which posters are free to ask the host any question, which should be answered honestly and fully. This is a great way to help flesh out a character, whether discovering backstory, motivation, etc. Even though the assorted participants span different times and places, it's these spontaneous, interactive situations between characters that would never "meet" otherwise that let you turn over rocks in ways that you wouldn’t be able to otherwise. It’s been interesting to see how a character will respond differently to a question, depending on the asker's gender/social class/time period. ...

Please remember that this is a spontaneous, off-the-cuff, get-'er-done kind of exercise. Don’t worry about making your writing all fancy and polished. Your internal critic has been banned from entry."

Here are some of the questions we had in the first week:

When was the last time you really felt like a kid?
Ever felt the urge to take off and leave it all behind? Ever done anything about it?
Ever given up something you really wanted for yourself in order to make someone else happy?
You’ve got a sister? What does she do to push your buttons?
Is this the worst you’ve ever eaten? If not, what is? And the best?
What have you received?
What is your earliest memory of food?
What's the best book you've ever read?
Do you see your family often?
Do you have any planned life goals?
Do you dig in your heels sometimes because you feel like you'll lose something of yourself if you go along with what someone else wants to do? And if that's true for you, too, do you think it's a strength, or not?
If you could be anywhere you wanted right now, where would you go?
Which languages do you speak?
If you could wear anything you wanted, despite what others might think, or because of what others would think, what would you choose?
What do you think your name tells about you?
Is there someone who you disliked, but respected anyway?
Where are we? And why?
What do you consider your greatest duty?


 
And here are a couple of answers from Simon MacDonald, Rory's son,
the character whose story I'm hoping to explore in The Antipodean Time during NaNoWriMo 2019!:

Possible images for Simon

#1 Deniz's August X: AMA -- Simon MacDonald
First off, not sure why it says MacDonald up there.
I'm more Chevalley than MacDonald half the time, but don't tell Dad.
Euh, sorry, I'd better introduce myself.
I get a bit excited-nervous at these sorts of things. I'm Simon Chevalley MacDonald. Half-Swiss, half-Scot, 30 years old. Still single, bien sur, or I wouldn't be here. Oh, it's not a dating thing? Bon, this is getting embarrassing. Where's the cheese tray?

#2 RE: Deniz's August X: AMA -- Simon MacDonald
What job would you be terrible at?
I expect I'm terrible at most jobs, given I've had so many. Went off to Australia with my twin when we were young, worked in radio there. Came back to Switzerland, did a bit of this, a bit of that. I was even a bike courier for a while.
Now I work at my mom's company, The Chevalley Group. The office thing is growing on me. But I'm still not used to all the cocktail parties and corporate events. Maman loves those.
This is some good Tete de Moine. I didn't realise they'd have such a select cheese tray. Better get an aperitif to go with it.

#5 RE: Deniz's August X: AMA -- Simon MacDonald
I hear the question, as if it floats in a fog before us. Deux mecs, sat at the bar. If there was a screen in the corner, it'd be showing sport. Baseball or football or hockey, Nate says, when I ask which sport it'd be showing where he comes from. It'd be football back in Geneva, too, but not the same sport at all.
I take a slice of hard Cheddar from the plate before us, pondering the question.
What is your earliest memory of food?
Not drink, though there's plenty we could talk about, now that I've discovered Nate's from a vineyard family. I've just inherited a small vineyard away up in the hills, and I don't know the first thing about winemaking.
So we sip at some red from the Rivers Estate, and Nate tells me about how to taste it properly.
He mentions crush, which I find out is the vendage, and the party that takes place after it's all over.
That's when I remember: my earliest memory of food is at the vineyard I've inherited. After the vendage, when all the hands and all the family gathered round to celebrate a hard task well done and to take the first sip of what would become that year's vintage. I was four, and Alex had caught chicken pox after I'd had it and Maman and Dad had stayed home with him while an aunt had taken me up to our great-uncle's vineyard.
So I was surrounded by relatives, but no one that cared to keep a close enough eye on me. I crawled under tables, climbed up chairs, ate whatever bits of sausage and cheese and fruit -- apples and grapes -- I could scrounge. I danced alone in a corner near the accordion player. I fell asleep on a bale of hay, woke up, and ate and danced some more.
When my parents arrived the next day, it was like waking from a dream.
It was the first time Alex and I had been separated. The first time I'd eaten something by choice rather than what was set before me. The first time I'd stayed up late.
My first glimpse of a wider world, where I could decide for myself.
Is that what it's like, to be an owner? Whether of a business or a vineyard or real estate or anything. No wonder Maman loves her work. I expect pride and stuff go along with it.
I ask Nate what he thinks. "Does it keep, this feeling of wanting to make all the choices, of wanting to rule? Or does it fade, and you give up, and let someone else take over?"

#6 RE: Deniz's August X: AMA -- Simon MacDonald
They even have toilets here. I find the nearest one and stand with one hand on the wall, making room for more drinks.
I have no idea how I got here, and I've never philosophized so much about myself before. You'd think it might turn me off everyone, but instead, weirdly, I suddenly feel quite close to my family. I'm not used to not sharing with Alex, even though he's already taken the two big leaps of marriage and kids without me. Before that, though, we were inseparable. Still are, but his family takes up more time. But we chat often, meet for lunch, and are messaging each other all the time, every day. I can't imagine not having a twin, another half. People with siblings sort of get it, but only those who are twins (or triplets or whatever) really get it.
He'd be fascinated by this place. Prowling the edges, asking a lot more questions than I am. Maybe I am finally starting to learn a bit of patience.
I shake off, zip up, wash my hands.
Walk out, still thinking of Alex, and the next question hits me.
What is one thing you will never do again?
And I don't answer about something negative (though I've sworn off Southern Comfort for life after that time at the hospital) but I answer in the negative.
I'll never travel again like I did in my youth, disappearing to far off places, working just to earn money to travel some more, chatting up locals and ex-pats and fellow travellers, always headed for the next party, food festival, beach, street market breakfast, comparing the coffee in a dozen cities. I'll never travel in that carefree, exploratory, energized way again, not like I did in my late teens and twenties. With Alex.

#11 RE: Deniz's August X: AMA -- Simon MacDonald
What three things do you think of the most each day?
The question is written on the coaster, not one that someone asks me. Good, because my three things are... Two are mundane, and one is still private.
I think about work. What can I say? It's still exciting, this job, and I enjoy my time there.
I think about dinner. Sounds imbecile. But I have plans every night. Sometimes I go out with Maman or to her flat, sometimes I'm with Dad and Christianne, sometimes with Alex and his family, other times with friends, there's always someplace to be. It's fun thinking about which dessert to bring for the kids, or looking up new restaurants, or finding a place to hang out for a few months. Good thing I hit the gym every day at work to balance it all.
I think about Her. I text her. Send her emails. She writes back. Even though we've gotten together every day since we met. There's always something more to say. I think about how this has never happened to me before. How all my future choices may change because of this. This hope.

#13 RE: Deniz's August X: AMA -- Simon MacDonald
What would your alter ego be like?
He'd show up on time. The con, he'd remember the appointment in the first place!
He'd have a steady girlfriend. Bon, complete opposite to me now: he'd be married and have kids.
Wait, are you saying Alex is my alter ego?
*blink*
His go-to drink is a vodka and Coke; mine is a gin and tonic. He takes Dad's side a lot, I take Maman's. He works with Dad, I work with Maman.
*blinkblink*
But we both eat fast and talk fast and walk fast. We enjoy the same kinds of stories. We laugh at the same time over the same things (physical comedy and fart jokes).
*flinch*
Bon, mais, there's no need to prod me like that. I can think of deeper things.
My alter ego would open up a little more. Trust his heart. Love one thing and one place deeply instead of leaping up to run off to yet another new horizon. Tend to the vines with roots, rather than experimenting with new cross-breeds.
Take the time to savour the vintage.
But he'd still laugh at a good pratfall.
Now where's Salvador? This drink is broken.
*turns empty glass upsidedown*



And here's a list of all the fun stuff I got to research in the first week alone!

• new Quebec bands
• B2Run competition
• bamya, the food and the Egyptian word
• Someone to Watch Over Me cover versions
• gambas a gogo
• MacDonald clan battle cry
• Reverso translate
• slang from Australia and New Zealand
• Pinterest images of suits -- as seen above!

What have you been researching lately?

What questions would you like to ask your characters?