Writerverse character interview challenge (Erica)
The Interview Meme with Erica Gardner (an original character - she is a pilot stuck on one of the Channel Islands during the German occupation when she would prefer to be back in Britain ferrying planes with the Air Transport Auxiliary)
1. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I seem to have devoted a great deal of my life to learning to fly, clocking up flight hours and studying for exams I need to get particular qualification. Anything I do to further myself as a flyer adds to that overall sense of achievement, I feel. Though, I have to say I was particularly proud of myself when I gained my ground engineer's licence.
2. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Soaring through the air with someone who is just as delighted to be up there as I am.
3. What is your current state of mind?
I'm in a sort of dark mood and I'm confused and worried, as I seem to be most of the time these days.
4. What is your favourite occupation?
Flying. There is really no question about it. If I had not left the mainland when I did, I would have joined the Air Transport Auxiliary. Pauline Gower was gathering girls together around the time I was leaving.
5. What is your most treasured possession?
Apart from my plane, Icarus - who isn't quite himself these days, I don't have have many of my possessions close at hand. A lot of them are back in Britain. Even my wedding dress once belonged to my fiancé's grandmother, so I cannot even count that.
6. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
The "what" is most unquestionably Icarus. The "who" is still in question and the answer is more doubtful than ever.
7. What is your favourite journey?
I have travelled a lot. I'll say that the months I spent circumnavigating the globe if I can count it as one trip. It was really a collection of smaller journeys broken up by longish stays in many very interesting places. Naturally there were quite a few dreadful places I had to stop over at along the more difficult legs of the journey.
8. What is your most marked characteristic?
9. When and where were you the happiest?
During my first solo flight, I would say, or perhaps my second, when I wasn't quite so worried about forgetting everything both my father and my old friend Peter had taught me.
I shouldn't really confess this but there was a time recently when I may have felt happier than that. There is a German officer who I know quite well and we somehow got round to admitting to each other that we both used to dance very well in more carefree days.
He caught me off guard by asking me to go dancing with him. He took every problem and excuse I had and offered a solution immediately - he would buy me a dress if I didn't have anything suitable, he would ensure I didn't get caught breaking curfew, he would give me somewhere to sleep if it was too dark to travel home safely.
We danced surprisingly well together considering we aren't used to having each other as partners. We're not quite Fred and Ginger but I think it was enough to pretend we were for the night.
I must have been immensely happy that night if I was able to forget that I was making a mockery of my already shaky engagement to step out with a German. The realisation of what a fool I was also hasn't tarnished the memory anywhere near as much as it really should have done.
10. What is it that you most dislike?
Having a problem that I can't fix.
11. What is your greatest fear?
Drowning.
12. What is your greatest extravagance?
13. Which living person do you most despise?
I suppose it may cheating to say Hitler, never having met him personally, yet I can pinpoint him as the origin of a lot of my current miseries and I'm far from the only one who can claim that.
14. What is your greatest regret?
I suppose I've done a few things I deeply regret. I can't help dwelling often on the likelihood that I would be part of the Air Transport Auxiliary at this moment if I had not moved to the Channel Islands to marry Simon. It seems impossible to think I might be helping the war effort by ferrying planes rather than tiptoeing around every day to avoid breaking any of the rules the Germans set for us.
15. Which talent would you most like to have?
Singing, perhaps. I think it's supposed to make people feel better.
16. Where would you like to live?
I live in the lighthouse where my fiancé grew up and most of the novelty has worn off for me. He refuses to leave although it is not in use during wartime. I almost wish the Germans would decide to make use of the lighthouse and we could live together in a little cottage on the island when we finally get married.
Alternatively, I'd like to get us as far away from the Channel Islands as possible.
17. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Being unhappy with the situation you are in and seeing no way of changing any aspect of that situation.
18. What is the quality you most like in a man?
His charm, as long as he does not disagree to me being charming in return.
19. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Humour.
20. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
The restlessness that develops when I feel myself becoming too settled.
21. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Hypocrisy.
22. What do you most value in your friends?
Open mindedness.
23. Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
I like the women in mythology, particularly Pandora, Persephone and Ariadne. I see flashes of them in myself. I have found myself comparing my situation to Ariadne's on Naxos.
24. Whose are your heroes in real life?
Amy Johnson and Amelia Earhart have certainly been great sources of inspiration to me. Their sense of adventure and determination to become well known and respected as a flyer, not just as women who fly, spurred me on when my own career seemed a bit of a lost cause.
25. Which living person do you most admire?
If you had asked me before I heard of her death, my answer may have been Amy Johnson. Since hearing of Amy's death, I'm really not sure I can name anyone I admire as much as I did her.
I shall say my father as I have always admired him greatly and of course he inspired my love of flying. It is troubling to name him though because it makes that doubtful part of me wonder if he is still among the living.
26. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Patience.
27. On what occasions do you lie?
When I spend too much time with that German officer. I have to lie so that my fiancé doesn't become too concerned that an enemy soldier may wish to court me.
28. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Quite, perhaps, suppose
29. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I'd like to improve my ability to make the right decisions about my own life. I'd also like myself less susceptible to the charms of men who seem exotic, are well-read and well-travelled and who are far too good at dancing when they claim not to have practised in years.
30. What are your favourite names?
Simon, Verity, Elizabeth, Amy and Amelia,
31. How would you like to die?
I'd prefer not to die at all actually. At the very least, I'd like to outlive this war.
32. If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
I suppose I should say some kind of bird considering how much I've gone on about my flying.
33. What is your motto?
Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn't be done. (Amelia Earhart)
Also, I've written out some thoughts about why Erica chose to move to the Channel Islands to live with her fiancé at the time she did in response to one of the commenters in the writerverse bookclub community (where challenge responses are posted) wondering about it.
Erica's fiancé works as a doctor on the island but he is determined to take over from his grandfather as head lighthouse keeper. When the war is breaking out and other men are joining up, he returns his focus to his job at the hospital but he still has his ambitions for after the war.
It's very likely that Erica has come to the island for brief holidays in the past. I think her fiancé probably suggested this particular stay as a test to see if she could live as the wife of a lighthouse keeper. They had vague plans for the wedding somewhere between half a year and a year in the future but with nothing set in stone in case they discovered they wanted to kill each other after three weeks and end up having to call the whole thing off.
As the time wears on, it becomes more obvious that there will be a war. Erica has several opportunities to leave the island and return to Britain but does not take them because her fiancé in determined to stay. By the time she loses her temper and tries to leave without him it is too late as the Germans have begun to arrive.
Her escape attempt fails and she ends up where she started, living at the lighthouse with her fiancé. They've begun to see how quickly their marriage would sour if the wedding took place now. The problem is that Erica moved to the island to be with him. She does not have a job on the island as she planned to continue going on her travels whenever island life got too dull for her. At the point in time when Erica answers the questions in the meme she's feeling trapped in her engagement as well as trapped on the island by the occupying German army.
1. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I seem to have devoted a great deal of my life to learning to fly, clocking up flight hours and studying for exams I need to get particular qualification. Anything I do to further myself as a flyer adds to that overall sense of achievement, I feel. Though, I have to say I was particularly proud of myself when I gained my ground engineer's licence.
2. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Soaring through the air with someone who is just as delighted to be up there as I am.
3. What is your current state of mind?
I'm in a sort of dark mood and I'm confused and worried, as I seem to be most of the time these days.
4. What is your favourite occupation?
Flying. There is really no question about it. If I had not left the mainland when I did, I would have joined the Air Transport Auxiliary. Pauline Gower was gathering girls together around the time I was leaving.
5. What is your most treasured possession?
Apart from my plane, Icarus - who isn't quite himself these days, I don't have have many of my possessions close at hand. A lot of them are back in Britain. Even my wedding dress once belonged to my fiancé's grandmother, so I cannot even count that.
6. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
The "what" is most unquestionably Icarus. The "who" is still in question and the answer is more doubtful than ever.
7. What is your favourite journey?
I have travelled a lot. I'll say that the months I spent circumnavigating the globe if I can count it as one trip. It was really a collection of smaller journeys broken up by longish stays in many very interesting places. Naturally there were quite a few dreadful places I had to stop over at along the more difficult legs of the journey.
8. What is your most marked characteristic?
9. When and where were you the happiest?
During my first solo flight, I would say, or perhaps my second, when I wasn't quite so worried about forgetting everything both my father and my old friend Peter had taught me.
I shouldn't really confess this but there was a time recently when I may have felt happier than that. There is a German officer who I know quite well and we somehow got round to admitting to each other that we both used to dance very well in more carefree days.
He caught me off guard by asking me to go dancing with him. He took every problem and excuse I had and offered a solution immediately - he would buy me a dress if I didn't have anything suitable, he would ensure I didn't get caught breaking curfew, he would give me somewhere to sleep if it was too dark to travel home safely.
We danced surprisingly well together considering we aren't used to having each other as partners. We're not quite Fred and Ginger but I think it was enough to pretend we were for the night.
I must have been immensely happy that night if I was able to forget that I was making a mockery of my already shaky engagement to step out with a German. The realisation of what a fool I was also hasn't tarnished the memory anywhere near as much as it really should have done.
10. What is it that you most dislike?
Having a problem that I can't fix.
11. What is your greatest fear?
Drowning.
12. What is your greatest extravagance?
13. Which living person do you most despise?
I suppose it may cheating to say Hitler, never having met him personally, yet I can pinpoint him as the origin of a lot of my current miseries and I'm far from the only one who can claim that.
14. What is your greatest regret?
I suppose I've done a few things I deeply regret. I can't help dwelling often on the likelihood that I would be part of the Air Transport Auxiliary at this moment if I had not moved to the Channel Islands to marry Simon. It seems impossible to think I might be helping the war effort by ferrying planes rather than tiptoeing around every day to avoid breaking any of the rules the Germans set for us.
15. Which talent would you most like to have?
Singing, perhaps. I think it's supposed to make people feel better.
16. Where would you like to live?
I live in the lighthouse where my fiancé grew up and most of the novelty has worn off for me. He refuses to leave although it is not in use during wartime. I almost wish the Germans would decide to make use of the lighthouse and we could live together in a little cottage on the island when we finally get married.
Alternatively, I'd like to get us as far away from the Channel Islands as possible.
17. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Being unhappy with the situation you are in and seeing no way of changing any aspect of that situation.
18. What is the quality you most like in a man?
His charm, as long as he does not disagree to me being charming in return.
19. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Humour.
20. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
The restlessness that develops when I feel myself becoming too settled.
21. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Hypocrisy.
22. What do you most value in your friends?
Open mindedness.
23. Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
I like the women in mythology, particularly Pandora, Persephone and Ariadne. I see flashes of them in myself. I have found myself comparing my situation to Ariadne's on Naxos.
24. Whose are your heroes in real life?
Amy Johnson and Amelia Earhart have certainly been great sources of inspiration to me. Their sense of adventure and determination to become well known and respected as a flyer, not just as women who fly, spurred me on when my own career seemed a bit of a lost cause.
25. Which living person do you most admire?
If you had asked me before I heard of her death, my answer may have been Amy Johnson. Since hearing of Amy's death, I'm really not sure I can name anyone I admire as much as I did her.
I shall say my father as I have always admired him greatly and of course he inspired my love of flying. It is troubling to name him though because it makes that doubtful part of me wonder if he is still among the living.
26. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Patience.
27. On what occasions do you lie?
When I spend too much time with that German officer. I have to lie so that my fiancé doesn't become too concerned that an enemy soldier may wish to court me.
28. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Quite, perhaps, suppose
29. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I'd like to improve my ability to make the right decisions about my own life. I'd also like myself less susceptible to the charms of men who seem exotic, are well-read and well-travelled and who are far too good at dancing when they claim not to have practised in years.
30. What are your favourite names?
Simon, Verity, Elizabeth, Amy and Amelia,
31. How would you like to die?
I'd prefer not to die at all actually. At the very least, I'd like to outlive this war.
32. If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
I suppose I should say some kind of bird considering how much I've gone on about my flying.
33. What is your motto?
Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn't be done. (Amelia Earhart)
Also, I've written out some thoughts about why Erica chose to move to the Channel Islands to live with her fiancé at the time she did in response to one of the commenters in the writerverse bookclub community (where challenge responses are posted) wondering about it.
Erica's fiancé works as a doctor on the island but he is determined to take over from his grandfather as head lighthouse keeper. When the war is breaking out and other men are joining up, he returns his focus to his job at the hospital but he still has his ambitions for after the war.
It's very likely that Erica has come to the island for brief holidays in the past. I think her fiancé probably suggested this particular stay as a test to see if she could live as the wife of a lighthouse keeper. They had vague plans for the wedding somewhere between half a year and a year in the future but with nothing set in stone in case they discovered they wanted to kill each other after three weeks and end up having to call the whole thing off.
As the time wears on, it becomes more obvious that there will be a war. Erica has several opportunities to leave the island and return to Britain but does not take them because her fiancé in determined to stay. By the time she loses her temper and tries to leave without him it is too late as the Germans have begun to arrive.
Her escape attempt fails and she ends up where she started, living at the lighthouse with her fiancé. They've begun to see how quickly their marriage would sour if the wedding took place now. The problem is that Erica moved to the island to be with him. She does not have a job on the island as she planned to continue going on her travels whenever island life got too dull for her. At the point in time when Erica answers the questions in the meme she's feeling trapped in her engagement as well as trapped on the island by the occupying German army.