CHARACTER INTERVIEW: Wendy from Fractured Memories

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)

My name is Wendy. I’m sixteen years old, but I still look like I’m thirteen. My goal is to avenge my family. I live in the world after the Starvation took out 90% of the population. It’s been twenty years, and humanity is still fighting to recover. I used to live in a little compound in the mountains called the Den. My parents built it right after the Starvation, but the Skinnies attacked, and I am the only survivor.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Practice fighting. My mom died when I was young, and I turned to defend myself as a coping mechanism. I prefer two knives along with my own hands and feet.

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What is your favorite color and why?

I’ve never thought about it.

What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?

Sugar cookies. I’ve only had them a few times, and they are the last gift my dad gave me before he died.

What would you say is your biggest quirk?

Everywhere I go I make a mental map of the route. I can keep track of a path and can get back to where I started no matter what. The Den, where I grew up, had a bunch of tunnels, and I hated getting lost. My dad always said it was the way I coped with that.

What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why? Share a line in the book where this irk is manifested.

When I figured out who betrayed the Den, it took everything I had not to kill him right then and there. Unfortunately, he had about ten friends with him, and while I could maybe handle four or five of them, he taught me to fight. He knows all of my moves.

He thinks I’m like him. He thinks I would rather let weak people die and save them the trouble of suffering rather than help them. He’s wrong.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Wendy said.

“Why?” He stopped twenty feet away.

“Because, I’m going to kill you.”

“You’re here for a rematch?”

“I’m here for your head.”

He laughed. “Still upset about the Den?”

“I’ll get over it just as soon as you’re dead.”

What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?

After I figured out who betrayed the Den, I realized that I’d found a new family. Arie, Kev, Cal, Matt, and Jeff had become my family. I’ll do anything to keep them safe. Anything. Even live when I would rather die.

What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?

In Fractured Memories, I’m deep in the clutches of PTSD. That’s why the book feels a little disjointed because I’m still processing the death of my family and friends from the Den. It’s a bit rough at first, but throughout the series, I come back to myself. Actually, I become a better version of myself, thanks to the friends who take me in and guide me back to my humanity.

If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?

I’ve been gathering bad puns since this series started. Can I use them in the last book? Pretty please? I promise to give Kev a run for his money.

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A Question for Kathryn:

How much of yourself do you put in your characters? If I were to come to life, I wonder how much of Jo is in me.

I put quite a bit of myself into my characters, especially when I wrote my first book, A River of Stones. After Samantha's parents' divorce, she has to figure out how to get through the hard times ahead. The good news is that there are also good times, times Samantha learns how strong she really is. 

Books that have come after that, are are more of a mixture of me, but I still have some of me in each one, whether that's a character's thoughts, mannerisms, or a portion of their life story.

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Website: http://joannschneider.com/dir/