Library of Characters: Mellie

Hey, all y’all! My name’s Amelia Cabot (but call me Mellie if you wish), and I’m here again to participate in another one of Lucy’s lovely and somewhat spontaneous character interviews. 😉 Last time I was here, I introduced all y’all to Annemarie Müller from my short story “His Freedom over Mine” (Tell Me You Love Me anthology). This time, I’m back with a different character from a different WIP!

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Introduce your side character to me—who is she? 

 * takes bouncy character by the hand to the spotlight * Girlie, you’re going to have to contain your energy a little. Otherwise, you’re going to run the readers off.

This is Jubilee Rose Anderson! She usually gets called Jubi for short though. 😉

* Jubilee beams and waves at you all. *

What story is she from? 

She’s from my short story “Every Morning, Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” (Dost thou lovely people know which verse this comes from?)

What is her personality?

She’s giggly and funny and practically my MC’s little sister even though they call each other besties. I love her heart because she wants to be an encouraging friend; she’s always thinking about my MC. And ya know, we all need those friends that encourage us in Christ. 🙂

That being said, she’s been known to have some … ahem, creative ideas.

*Jubilee grins wildly and bobs head emphatically. Then she taps me and leans over to whisper something in my ear. *

You want to do what??

*Jubilee sighs, rolls her eyes, and whispers into my ear again. *

Jubilee Rose Anderson, absolutely not!! This is not your stage, first of all. Second of all, people do not appreciate getting faces drawn on their laptops or phones. Girl, I don’t care if it’s dry erase marker! You’ve had past experience with using Sharpie instead of dry erase marker before. We are not repeating that again.

Oh, quit giving me puppy dog eyes. Why? Because … I said. I know that’s not a thorough answer. Yes, I know I sound like some adults.

And now you’re mimicking me.

* sighs * I give up.

What gave/gives you inspiration for her?

One of my friends and her struggles are the inspiration behind this. 🙂 This friend’s struggles haven’t been talked about in Christian fiction books that I’ve read so far, and I honestly pushed the idea of including this away at first. But the more I prayed and thought about it occasionally, the more I felt the Holy Spirit convicting me to write it.

So … here we are. 🙂

Was she supposed to be in the story, or was she a sudden I-have-no-idea-how-you-got-here addition? 

Well, she was a sudden addition to a suddenly thought-of story. But c’mon, girls need their solid Christian besties. 😉 So … I guess in the end, she’s supposed to be in the story.

Jubilee, quit whispering to them that I’m indecisive. I will  hit you with a broom later.

What is her role in the story?

She’s my MC Mercy’s bestie. 🙂

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Okay, if I have to be honest, I don’t probably have anything in my draft right now for this quote requirement or the next one. I do have one at the end though, so I’d ask that you please stick around for that one. 😉

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What is her past and how has it shaped the character she is now? What is her greatest struggle or fear?Is she a vice or virtue to the protagonist? Does she like her name, or would she trade anything in the world for a new one?

Man, Lucy, how am I supposed to do this without spoiling stuff??

Jubilee’s dad is the pastor of the church Mercy goes to, so Jubilee has a pretty biblically strong past. Her faith in God and reliance on His strength are what carry her through her trial in this story.

Her greatest struggle is said trial she’s facing in this story. 😉 But since Lucy wishes for no spoilers, you don’t get to hear of the struggle yet.

* grins *

Oh, this girl’s a virtue to Mercy!! She kind of sees how Mercy struggles with what she (Jubilee) is going through, so she tries to help her through that despite her own struggle. Mercy probably sees her as a vice sometimes though by the way she acts …

Hm, Jubilee? I never said I was going to go into depth of what you’ve done to torture Mercy. Now hush.

Anyway … Oh, the name question. She’d better love her name. 😉 (And shout out to a girl I know at church camp with this name, even though this story is not based on her lol. She will probably never read this post … but oh, well. XD) Jubilee means “joy” or “celebration” in Hebrew, by the way. I think it’s fitting. 😉

*Jubilee nods emphatically. *

Character Appearance: Hair? Eyes? Height? Favorite color and least favorite food? Other?

 Sigh. The part that Pinterest sometimes cannot help me with.

Her hair usually ends up in French braids. (Jubilee will have you know that she hates normal three-strand braids. They have to be other kinds of braids.) Methinks she’s got malibu blonde or beverely hills brunette hair.

(Yes, I got the names from Pinterest. No, I don’t want you to question why.)

She’s got hazel eyes and wears pink glasses.

Oof, height? * thinks this question is complicated because yours truly is short for her age and therefore has to consult the Internet on what the “average” height is for certain ages * Let’s go with 4’10.” (We’ll pretend that I was not that tall over two years ago.)

Hehe, her favorite color is yellow because it’s such a happy color. She also will take anything that’s rose pink since her middle name is Rose. 😉 Her least favorite food is … * looks at Jubilee * What is your least favorite food?

*blinks * Uh … cicadas? You … ate a dead one when you were five?

Okaaaay, let’s not find out what else you’ve eaten before.

I think Lucy meant a food that people typically eat. Okay, yes, some people do eat insects. But we’re not going for that. Child. Just … pick a food in America that’s commonly consumed. I don’t want one—what?

Yes, you are a child. You’re eleven. *sighs * Yes, Jubi, that’s also called a tween. But you’re not officially a teen until the day you turn thirteen. Now quit looking so insulted and tell me what your least favorite food is please.

Fish? Okay, thank you. That wasn’t so hard, was it?

*Jubilee glowers up at me. *

*I grin and pat her on the head. * Personally, I think fish is good. I would prefer to stay away from the ones that live near the bottom of the ocean floor. Otherwise, proceed to let me eat it. Maybe. Please cook it beforehand. XD

* Jubilee rolls her eyes. *

* I ignore her. *Oof, other. Other, other, other. * looks at Jubilee * You have anything else you want to add?

I’m … what?

We aren’t going to talk about the grammar handbook incident. Lucy wants to know about you.

*Jubilee giggles, then contemplates for a moment before whispering in my ear. *

Okay, you liked stuffed animals and dolls. Cute. So did I when I was your age. You like dresses. Girl, same. It’s so hard to find decent ones, am I right?

* Jubilee nods and whispers in my ear. *

You like daisies. Also cute. Huh? You think I say that everything’s cute? * snorts * Honey, what happened to me with that grammar handbook was in no way cute.

And … *waits for Jubi to finish whispering in my ear * You’re not a fan of grammar and punctuation and spelling rules because they’re too cumbersome.

*clicks tongue and shakes head * I created you. How dare you rebel against your maker.

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I laughed at how those hazel eyes behind her pink glasses were attempting to pierce through my soul. “Yes, ma’am.” Yet for the next ten seconds of my not looking at her, I could tell that she was still staring at me.

“Girl, what have I done to you?” I finally looked up at her.

“Everything,” she whispered. She inched closer. “Eve-ry-thiiing.”

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Lol, you are one hard nut to please. Thank you for having Jubilee and me, Lucy!

*Jubilee also curtsies her thanks. *

And now, Jubilee, we must return to filling in the gaps in your story and editing in prodigious amounts. *raises eyebrow at her whining * Child. *sighs * You’re well aware of how much of an arduous task that this is. I have a deadline to meet, and if I don’t meet the deadline, the world will not get a chance to know who you are and what your story is. Don’t you want me to—Oh, great.

Here you go mimicking me again.