Oh. I lied.

Kuss isn't my main character. This guy is. Sam. Just because, you know, most of the plot revolves around him, but the others are all very big characters still!
SIX DAYS. I AM SO EXCITED!

1. What is your protagonist? A person? An animal? Something else?
A 16 year old guy.

2. Where does your protagonist live? Does he or she like it there?
He lives in San Diego, and yes, he likes it quite a lot.

3. What does your protagonist look like? Hair color? Height? Distinguishing features?
He’s 5’9, got dirty blond hair, and a really cute grin, but he doesn’t smile much. He’s got what you might call a bit of a baby face, with a very venerable awkward look to him. He has a scar a little above his left temple, caused by an accident he had when he was thirteen.

4. What is your protagonist’s favorite outfit?
He doesn’t really care. Anything that’s comfortable. He likes hoodies and jeans. He also listens to his ipod or at least has the head phones in his ears almost 24/7.

5. What clothes would your protagonist never be caught dead wearing?
Again. It’s really not something he cares about.

6. What is your protagonist’s pet peeve?
People who make fun of him for listening to music constantly.

7. What is your protagonist’s fondest memory?
A couple years ago, long after his brothers childhood disintegration disorder set in. He was looking after his brother by himself, and he sat down next to him, as his brother couldn’t really walk at that point. He turned and smiled at him, and his brother suddenly awkwardly put his arm around him, and said “thank you,” with great difficulty. His eyes were intelligent for just the briefest flash, for the first time since it really set in, and he’d never spoken clearly like that before. It was a one time occurrence, but obviously, it meant a whole lot to him.

8. What are your protagonist's hobbies?
Claymation, writing, and reading.

9. What can your protagonist do better than anyone else?
Interact and connect with his brother.

10. What is your protagonist insecure about?
His deafness.

11. What makes your protagonist angry?
Really, he lives in his own world, and doesn’t pay much attention to other people. People who don’t know anything about pain and pretend they do really bug him, when he pays attention. Shallow people in general. Bullies, of course, and anyone who makes fun of disabled kids even remotely. Also his parents, and how blind they are sometimes.

12. What are your protagonist’s parents like? How about the rest of his or her family?
His parents are really preoccupied and don’t pay much attention to him. They don’t mean to, of course, but his brother takes up all their parental warmth. They’re both teachers, and always stressed about money. His brother who has the syndrome is 13, but can only talk a little, and walks with difficulty. He also has an older brother who is in the military, and he’s really a father figure to him. He’s 26 and the only one who knows about Sam’s deafness. (He guessed.) He’s been trying to save up for a really small hearing aide, because Sam doesn’t want anyone to know, but they’re really expensive and he doesn’t have a lot of money. He’s the only person Sam can open up to about anything.

13. What's one secret your protagonist hasn't ever told anyone?
His deafness. He technically hasn’t ever told anyone because his brother guessed.

14. Is your protagonist outgoing? Shy? What do people think when they first meet your
character?
He’s super excluded and people at school tend to think he’s autistic or something, because he has a lot of those peculiarities. Nothing obvious enough for the teachers to be worried about, but that’s because he works really, really hard. If someone talks to his left ear though, he completely doesn’t hear them, so a lot of the time he’s unresponsive and unemotional. Like I said, he always has headphones on, kind of as a cover up, and often his hood pulled up. Kids either make fun of him or ignore him.


15. Describe your protagonist in three words:
1. Hiding.
2. Confused.
3. Loyal.

16. Pretend for a moment that your protagonist is really nervous. What does your protagonist do with his
or her nervous energy? (Tap his or her toe against the floor? Hum a song?)
His hands get really cold, so sometimes he blows on them, or pulls them under his sleeves or whatever. He bites his lip too. And broods. He’s very broody.

17. Write a sentence describing how your protagonist walks.
Kuss tilted her head and frowned. That’s what was so weird about that guy! He walked so... carefully. His hood was up as usual, shoulders hunched just the tiniest of bits, but his body was so alert. A kid came running through the hall, probably late for some class, and barreled past him, and he pulled away just in time, looking tense.

18. Write a sentence describing how your protagonist stands. What’s his or her posture like?
He leans against things whenever possible, and slouches terribly.

19. What do you really like about your protagonist?
He’s so loyal and great with his brother, and he’s also very very strong, and very hardworking.

20. What do you dislike about your protagonist?
Well obviously he’s really confused, having not even told his parents he’s DEAF, but other then that, he’s super stubborn and so sometimes a bit pigheaded.

21. What is your protagonist’s greatest weakness?
Um. He’s super insecure about the deaf thing. Obviously. If you mean what he’s most addicted to though, that would be the TV.

22. What is the one thing your protagonist fears most?
Going all the way deaf.

23. What does your protagonist want more than anything else in the world?
His brother to get better. Being normal would be nice too.

1. If your protagonist could change his or her name, what would he or she change it to?
Pablo. He likes the sound of it, and also, he was an epic cello player.

2. What is your protagonist’s favorite band? Song? Type of music?
He actually likes strings and classical. Soft rock too, but a lot of soundtracks. His favorite song is claire de lune. Doesn’t have a favorite band, but he’s currently obsessed with the August Rush soundtrack.

3. What is your protagonist’s favorite book and why?
He likes poetry and nonfiction a lot, but he doesn’t really have a favorite.

4. What is your protagonist’s favorite season?
Fall.

5. What places, other than where he or she lives now, has your protagonist lived or visited on
vacation? Which one was his or her favorite and why?
He’s only ever been on vacation once, before his brother got sick. They went to Disney world. He wasn’t real into it, but oh well. They’ve always lived in San Diego, and he expects they always will. They don’t have money for vacations now.

6. What does your protagonist’s house look like? What is hanging on your protagonist’s
bedroom walls?
His house is kind of just normal... small and a little crowded, and generally quite messy what with all his parents work and stuff for his brother. His room is his sanctuary. He keeps it really clean, just because he likes it like that, but one wall is completely covered in a collage of pictures. Some people might call it girly but hardly anyone is ever in his room. A ton of the pictures are of his family, well his two brothers, hardly any of his parents, and then just random stuff. The rest of his walls are fairly bare, but he has stacks of Cd's (from before his ipod days.), and books and his laptop (borrowed from the school), and cool stuff like that.

7. What is the best thing that ever happened to your protagonist?
There’s really been nothing good in the last three years, and before that it was ALL good in his mind. His older brother is the only thing he has keeping him sane.

8. What is the worst thing that ever happened to your protagonist?
It’s pretty much a tie between his brothers syndrome and his accident.

10. What makes your protagonist most uncomfortable?
Overly touchy/affectionate people, and people who treat him like he’s mentally handicapped or something.

11. Describe how your protagonist speaks. Does he or her have a lisp? An accent? Does your protagonist
use a lot of slang, or end every sentence with “okay,” etc.?
He doesn’t have an accent, or a lisp, but he talks really carefully. Like it’s not obvious at all that he can only hear himself through one ear, but he’s still really careful. He doesn’t use a lot of slang at all, but then he doesn’t talk much either.


12. If a song played every time your protagonist walked into a room, what song would it
be?
Well this wouldn’t be every time he walks in a room, but Hallelujah is his song. It makes me cry inside.