I WALK A LONELY ROOOAD, THE ROAD OF POSTING TO LJ
Things:
1. Apologies if I become a snapmonster, my tooth/jaw/middle ear/throat are all trying to destroy me, and it turns out that a persistent background of continual pain doesn't make me a patient or happy Del.
2. Interviewing characters for NaNovel Take #1:
Please introduce yourself
Hello, I'm William, pleased to meet you.
With your full name.
Oh, sorry. William John Herbert Graves-Peake, pleased to meet you, sorry for all of the syllables. Er, obviously everyone calls me Will.
And what do you do, Will?
Oh, ahaha, I'm an admin assistant for Greenwich Borough Council. Greenwich Council. I don't think we're a Borough Council. I should probably... find that out.
That doesn't sound very impressive
No, no it's not really, is it? I, er, well. I'm in a band, too. We're, er, we're getting there. Probably. Possibly. It's hard to tell, really. Early days. Well, second year of gigs. But I'm sure things will improve soon.
No real career goals, then?
Well, I was thinking about, er, I was thinking about being a teacher for a while, but I dropped out of university, you see, and then I looked into how much it would cost and uh, I can't get a loan. I'm sure my parents would, you know, if they thought I would stick it out.
So why did you drop out?
Well that was the original career goal, I was signed up to play for Harlequins, professional rugby, you know, that kind of thing. That was going rather well, actually.
Was?
Yes, I buggered that up somewhat. Smashed myself. Anyway, it was nice while it lasted.
Are you seeing anyone at the moment?
Ohhhh, no. No, no. Do you have someone in mind? Haha. I've er, I've not got he most brilliant track record with that, thinking about it. Tremendous talent for catching people maybe six weeks before they want to give it another try with their ex. Or leave the country. Or decide that they're not really ready for dating people at all. Or have a catastrophic change of sexuality. No, I, um, I'm definitely not seeing anyone. Which is probably good because Helen's quite ... intimidating to the people I do see.
And who is Helen?
My flatmate. She's... she has some strongly-held moral opinions. They don't always line up with ... things I do.
That sounds awkward.
Well not really for me, I'm quite an easy-going chap, we just agree to disagree or we agree that I probably am bound for the lake of fire but that Helen would like a cup of tea and I'm making one. That sort of thing. My sister doesn't like her very much and she doesn't ... always approve of who I date.
Is that really any of her business, though?
Everything is Helen's business. She is terrifically nosy.
What do you think about Guy Fillmore?
Who?
The American presidential candidate
Er. Oh. I don't really have any strong opinions there. Isn't he the Republican one?
Yes, widely regarded as the puppet distraction to the political heavyweight who is his running mate
I'm not sure I'm veyr fond of the Republicans, don't they have some unwholesome attitudes to women?
Is that your position?
Well, look, no, I'm sure they have some excellent points, economics isn't really my strong suit, but come on, it's just no on to make a woman out to be some sort of, of breeding apparatus.
Would you call yourself religious?
Um, er. Not especially. I don't, you know, I haven't really been to church since I was in school and they made us, really.
Do you have any firmly-held convictions?
Ha ha good grief, probably not, my sister calls me "porridge" - because I'm sort of ... well, a bit sloppy when it comes to things like that. I mean, I think everyone should be nice to people, let them live their lives, not steal or cheat or so on, but I'm sure most people think that.
Okay, big questions now -
Oh no.
- Abortion?
Er, not my uterus - I don't have one - not up to me to make a judgement.
Gay marriage?
People who like each other should be allowed to marry, really... if I ever made it beyond a month or two with anyone I'd consider it myself, ever. Oh dear.
Death penalty?
Seems a bit unnecessary, doesn't it? I mean, there is rather a limit on what additional knavery a chap can get up to in a solitary cell.
Social welfare?
I work for the council, what do you think?
Tell us about your family.
Right, well. Okay. My parents are still nominally together, mostly by not really ... being together much. Dad tries not to be in the country at the same time as Mum. Uhh. I have a younger sister, Carrie, she's ... not doing her GCSEs yet, but it's in a year or so. She keeps going on about it, though, I told her as soon as you get into sixth form it's meaningless but she's quite adamant. Going to comp, though, so maybe it matters more. Um. After I 'threw away a good education' they didn't want to spend anything on hers, which is why. Ahaha, but I'm sure Carrie will do them far prouder than I, than I would have. At least it gives them somehing to bicker about, I suppose. Carrie's grades.
What sort of background would you say you come from?
Very, very white, ahaha. Or so Helen says. I did go to Rugby school, after all. And not on a scholarship. So, you know, probably quite good, in that sense. I suppose it is worth saying my cousins all have jobs in things like the City and whatnot, except for Edward who is in prison in Sierra Leone apparently.
Why's that?
Not sure, no one would tell me. He's been there for about six years, they've been pulling all sorts of strings but apparently he did something terribly bad.
What's work like?
Slow, most of the time, with mad bursts of accusation and a lot of reading news websites to see what people are saying about us, followed by very long meetings about how to make the newspapers etc be nicer about us, and untangling some very messy records. I have to go to the meetings even though I have nothing to do with public relations, and everyone stops for tea about every half hour. Your taxes at work!
What would you do for a living, given a choice?
I really don't know. I mean, sky's the limit, I would like to be a musician. But, you know, the genre and everything, even successful bands playing what we play don't make a great deal of money.
What genre is that?
Trad goth.
Shouldn't you have longer hair if you're going to be a goth?
Not with this hair. I just end up looking like I'm wearing a Farah Fawcett wig.
How would you describe your looks?
Er, being wildly practical: ex-professional rugby-player, public school hair. That more or less covers it.
1. Apologies if I become a snapmonster, my tooth/jaw/middle ear/throat are all trying to destroy me, and it turns out that a persistent background of continual pain doesn't make me a patient or happy Del.
2. Interviewing characters for NaNovel Take #1:
Please introduce yourself
Hello, I'm William, pleased to meet you.
With your full name.
Oh, sorry. William John Herbert Graves-Peake, pleased to meet you, sorry for all of the syllables. Er, obviously everyone calls me Will.
And what do you do, Will?
Oh, ahaha, I'm an admin assistant for Greenwich Borough Council. Greenwich Council. I don't think we're a Borough Council. I should probably... find that out.
That doesn't sound very impressive
No, no it's not really, is it? I, er, well. I'm in a band, too. We're, er, we're getting there. Probably. Possibly. It's hard to tell, really. Early days. Well, second year of gigs. But I'm sure things will improve soon.
No real career goals, then?
Well, I was thinking about, er, I was thinking about being a teacher for a while, but I dropped out of university, you see, and then I looked into how much it would cost and uh, I can't get a loan. I'm sure my parents would, you know, if they thought I would stick it out.
So why did you drop out?
Well that was the original career goal, I was signed up to play for Harlequins, professional rugby, you know, that kind of thing. That was going rather well, actually.
Was?
Yes, I buggered that up somewhat. Smashed myself. Anyway, it was nice while it lasted.
Are you seeing anyone at the moment?
Ohhhh, no. No, no. Do you have someone in mind? Haha. I've er, I've not got he most brilliant track record with that, thinking about it. Tremendous talent for catching people maybe six weeks before they want to give it another try with their ex. Or leave the country. Or decide that they're not really ready for dating people at all. Or have a catastrophic change of sexuality. No, I, um, I'm definitely not seeing anyone. Which is probably good because Helen's quite ... intimidating to the people I do see.
And who is Helen?
My flatmate. She's... she has some strongly-held moral opinions. They don't always line up with ... things I do.
That sounds awkward.
Well not really for me, I'm quite an easy-going chap, we just agree to disagree or we agree that I probably am bound for the lake of fire but that Helen would like a cup of tea and I'm making one. That sort of thing. My sister doesn't like her very much and she doesn't ... always approve of who I date.
Is that really any of her business, though?
Everything is Helen's business. She is terrifically nosy.
What do you think about Guy Fillmore?
Who?
The American presidential candidate
Er. Oh. I don't really have any strong opinions there. Isn't he the Republican one?
Yes, widely regarded as the puppet distraction to the political heavyweight who is his running mate
I'm not sure I'm veyr fond of the Republicans, don't they have some unwholesome attitudes to women?
Is that your position?
Well, look, no, I'm sure they have some excellent points, economics isn't really my strong suit, but come on, it's just no on to make a woman out to be some sort of, of breeding apparatus.
Would you call yourself religious?
Um, er. Not especially. I don't, you know, I haven't really been to church since I was in school and they made us, really.
Do you have any firmly-held convictions?
Ha ha good grief, probably not, my sister calls me "porridge" - because I'm sort of ... well, a bit sloppy when it comes to things like that. I mean, I think everyone should be nice to people, let them live their lives, not steal or cheat or so on, but I'm sure most people think that.
Okay, big questions now -
Oh no.
- Abortion?
Er, not my uterus - I don't have one - not up to me to make a judgement.
Gay marriage?
People who like each other should be allowed to marry, really... if I ever made it beyond a month or two with anyone I'd consider it myself, ever. Oh dear.
Death penalty?
Seems a bit unnecessary, doesn't it? I mean, there is rather a limit on what additional knavery a chap can get up to in a solitary cell.
Social welfare?
I work for the council, what do you think?
Tell us about your family.
Right, well. Okay. My parents are still nominally together, mostly by not really ... being together much. Dad tries not to be in the country at the same time as Mum. Uhh. I have a younger sister, Carrie, she's ... not doing her GCSEs yet, but it's in a year or so. She keeps going on about it, though, I told her as soon as you get into sixth form it's meaningless but she's quite adamant. Going to comp, though, so maybe it matters more. Um. After I 'threw away a good education' they didn't want to spend anything on hers, which is why. Ahaha, but I'm sure Carrie will do them far prouder than I, than I would have. At least it gives them somehing to bicker about, I suppose. Carrie's grades.
What sort of background would you say you come from?
Very, very white, ahaha. Or so Helen says. I did go to Rugby school, after all. And not on a scholarship. So, you know, probably quite good, in that sense. I suppose it is worth saying my cousins all have jobs in things like the City and whatnot, except for Edward who is in prison in Sierra Leone apparently.
Why's that?
Not sure, no one would tell me. He's been there for about six years, they've been pulling all sorts of strings but apparently he did something terribly bad.
What's work like?
Slow, most of the time, with mad bursts of accusation and a lot of reading news websites to see what people are saying about us, followed by very long meetings about how to make the newspapers etc be nicer about us, and untangling some very messy records. I have to go to the meetings even though I have nothing to do with public relations, and everyone stops for tea about every half hour. Your taxes at work!
What would you do for a living, given a choice?
I really don't know. I mean, sky's the limit, I would like to be a musician. But, you know, the genre and everything, even successful bands playing what we play don't make a great deal of money.
What genre is that?
Trad goth.
Shouldn't you have longer hair if you're going to be a goth?
Not with this hair. I just end up looking like I'm wearing a Farah Fawcett wig.
How would you describe your looks?
Er, being wildly practical: ex-professional rugby-player, public school hair. That more or less covers it.