Beautiful People: The Parental Unit {June 2015}

Greetings! I suppose I should find it odd that I only participate in Beautiful People linkups every other month, but the last (and first!) few I've participated in have just been so exciting! There was the Valentine's Day edition, the sibling edition, and now the parental edition! It doesn't get much better than that! ^___^

Anyway, I was super excited to find out that this one was about parents. Why, you ask? Because my characters actually have them this time! It's nice writing YA again. I kind of missed my sweet charries having families in the picture. I kind of miss writing about families in general. It's a beautiful thing. <3

Speaking of beautiful, if you haven't heard of the Beautiful People linkup yet, you can learn more and even participate this month by clicking here. It's a writing meme hosted every month by these lovely ladies: Sky at Further Up and Further In and Cait at Paper Fury. (I might or might not have been stalking their incredible blogs over the last few days...)

 

This month, I'll be writing about characters from my newest novel (OH MY GOSH I'M STILL SO EXCITED ABOUT IT), titled A Thousand Wishes. It's a YA novel revolving around two siblings who have never met, Jordan and Eloise Forde. I haven't written a lot of it yet, only a couple excerpts, but I can't wait to delve deeper into their story and find out more about who the characters are! In fact, I found myself wondering about their parents yesterday, so this linkup came just in time. ;)

I'm going to focus mainly on Jordan and his parents, because his back story is still pretty unclear and I'd love to know more about him (silly, secretive character). I might try this with Eloise as well, though. I guess we'll see. Anyway, Jordan, unlike his sister, has never actually met his family. Not since he could remember, at least. (I shared an excerpt of the novel in this post, where Jordan meets his dad for the first time.) So, here are the charries and then on with the questions!

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Robert Forde

Jordan Forde

Marilyn Gerrard

1. Do they know their biological parents? Why/why not?

Jordan actually knows neither of them. He hasn't seen his father since he and his mother left, when he was four, nor does he remember the man. He lived with his mother until he was six years old. She abandoned him then, placing him in the foster care system just before she disappeared. He hasn't seen her since.

2. Have they inherited any physical resemblances from their parents?

He shares his father's nose and brown hair, but he has his mother's height and crystal blue eyes.

3. What is their parental figure(s) dress style? Add pictures if you like!

Robert refuses to wear casual clothing of any sort. T-shirts? Tacky. Jeans? Hideous. And sweat pants? A gigantic no-no. He prefers wearing more formal clothing - khaki pants, dress shoes, button-up shirts (no plaid, ever). He also tends to wear a watch and even a suit and tie, on special occasions.

I haven't really given a lot of thought as to what Marilyn looks like. I imagine she differs drastically from Robert in style, though. Like, first of all, she is obsessed with jeans and even jean jackets (every now and then). Perhaps this is because Robert hated them so much and wearing them is her indirect way of spiting him, although she hasn't seen him in years. I also imagine that she enjoys wearing dresses - not the ones worn to dinner parties, or wedding receptions, but the dresses you'd wear out and about on a sunny day, dresses that make you feel happy and free. I doubt she likes jewelry that much. Except for earrings. She loves earrings. (Poor Robert. He only got a small paragraph. My little fashionista isn't so fashionable, after all.) 

4. Do they share any personality traits with their parental figures? And which do they take after most?

Jordan tends to be rather distant, which is unintentional and he gets it from his father, who also has a habit of keeping everyone at a distance in fear of getting hurt. The two are pretty laid back and it takes a lot to anger them. They also love people and the life and craziness that comes with each and every individual. Opposite of Eloise and Marilyn, Jordan and Robert enjoy being in the company of others, whether close friends or complete strangers.

However, Jordan takes after his mother in terms of his flighty nature. He is not accustomed to a stable lifestyle, therefore he finds himself getting nervous when things start becoming too comfortable. He is used to moving from place to place and he refuses to get too attached to anyone. He is also prideful to a fault, something he blames solely on his mother. Overall, he takes after both of his parents in many ways, but perhaps he is slightly more like his father.

5. Do they get along with their parental figure(s) or do they clash?

Due to the fact that the lifestyles of Jordan and Robert differ greatly, they tend to disagree on many things. For instance, Jordan is rather free spirited and has a habit of doing things his own way, without concern for how others feel or are affected by his actions. This worries Robert to no end, for he is used to his way of living and losing control of his own life is something he fears most. It is often these diversities that cause the two to clash, creating disagreements about what is and isn't acceptable. Outside of values, however, they tend to get along with one another. Jordan is grateful to have a dad and Robert hopes to make up for lost time.

Marilyn has been nonexistent in Jordan's life for the past fourteen years, therefore she and Jordan possess no relationship at the moment. However, if she were to return, I'm sure Jordan would resent her for abandoning him and destroying the life they could have had. Their relationship would probably be strained at best.

6. If they had to describe their parental figure(s) in one word, what would it be?

Marilyn: Absent

Robert: Distant

7. How has their parental figure(s) helped them most in their life?

Marilyn, despite her many shortcomings, managed to help Jordan the most. She taught him to be self sufficient, resourceful, and capable of handling himself. Her absence, as well as his time in the foster care system, taught him to grow up quickly and rely on himself. He will never admit it to anyone, but, in spite of everything, his mother did one thing right: She helped him realize the type of person - and even parent, someday - he didn't want to become.

Unfortunately, he has yet to spend too much time with Robert, so there hasn't been a lot of time for father/son bonding, but he supposes the Fordes offering him a place to stay was pretty helpful, especially since he was homeless when they met him.

8. What was their biggest fight with their parental figure(s)?

He never really fought with his mother much. I'd love to see a fight between he and Robert, though, just because their lifestyles and perspectives are so different. Actually, there's a pretty big fight coming, I think, but I have a feeling it's too spoiler-y to mention here, so . . . >:D

9. Tracing back the family tree, what nationalities are in their ancestry?

This is such a great question, but I don't knooooow. I'm thinking his father has some Irish family waaay down the line and perhaps his mother has some Native American family members, going even further back, but his immediate family is American.

10. What's their favorite memory with their parental figure(s)?

His favorite memory with his mother would definitely have to be when she taught him to ride a bike. She was often a frustrated person, who never paid him much attention, but she looked so happy that day, happier than he had ever seen her. Her hair was pulled back, away from her face, and she spoke kindly to him, helping him keep his balance for a while, and even holding him as he cried after skinning his knees on the cement. It remains one of his happiest memories.
 

Again, he hasn't spent too much time with Robert yet, but hopefully that will change. Right now, we're still at the I-just-met-you-oh-my-gosh-this-family-dinner-is-awkward stage, but things are looking up!

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Well, that's all! I went into this knowing very little about my babies, but now I know so much and it just makes me love them more! Beautiful People is such an amazing thing and I'm happy to be participating in it! I'm relieved to have at least some of Jordan's past unraveled at last and I'm excited to see what else this book has in store for me!

So, what about you guys? How are your relationships with your parents/families? Do you often write about characters with parents, or do prefer a few Lost Boys (or girls!)? What's your view on family in fiction/YA? Any favorite fictional parents? Tell me all! I wanna know! ^___^

Oh! And I might have gotten a Pinterest account over the weekend . . . And pinned too many things and spent way too much time fangirling. So, um . . . Yeah. This is a thing now. ;D Feel free to check out my boards and suggest some I should follow! I'm kinda in love with Pinterest at the moment. XD