5/16/2024 2 Comments The Get Ready with Characters TagHeyo everyone! I'm back from the trenches of the spring semester and ready to rumble with my latest writing projects. First up, I'm doing a tag created by the amazing Katja Labonté called the "Get Ready With Characters" tag. (Thank you so much to Andrea Cox for tagging me!) These two amazing ladies are promoting the first anniversary of Springtime in Surrey, an anthology themed around the English city of Surrey during the spring season, so be sure to follow them and learn all about the book. For my tag, I'll be featuring Joan Watson from Scarlet Studies, since I haven't done a spotlight on her on the Southern Scribblings blog yet. So, let's go! First off, introduce your character(s) to us! Then tell us how you relate to them. Joan Watson is a Detroit native and is a nursing and criminal justice college junior at San Diego State University. She would describe herself as antisocial, but everyone who knows her well would describe her as introspective. Joan's not actually the middle child as she's a twin, but she fits the middle child aesthetic all too well, which has led to her becoming so introverted. The horrific murder of her mother (and nearly being killed herself) became the fuel for Joan's studies in criminology. After the memories were too much for her in Detroit, Joan transferred from Michigan State to San Diego State in the hopes of a new start. I don't relate a lot to Joan (I'm an oldest child and, thank the Lord, both my parents are alive and well), but there are a few ways we are similar. One is in general appearance - Joan is a redhead, like me, and has more of an athletic build that makes her feel "big" sometimes. Both of us struggle with self-esteem, and both Joan and I are driven by a need to succeed. (Thankfully, I've learned a bit thanks to my good friend burnout, but Joan hasn't learned her lesson yet, so hopefully we'll teach her about boundaries in Scarlet Studies, maybe.) We're also both writers, although she writes mainly about her adventures with Shea; we both write as a form of therapy, however. What’s your character(s)’ main piece of clothing—shirt/skirt combo, suit, dress…? And what’s your go-to main clothing? Joan has a lot of aesthetics she's tried over the years. As a young teenager, she tried to fit into the grudge lifestyle with her older and wilder sister Lizzie, but her mother thankfully talked her out of it. However, that hasn't stopped Joan from liking some of the outfits from the Watson girls' grunge era. She tried the dark academia aesthetic, but she didn't have a big enough wardrobe (or enough patience for plaid) to stick with it. She can often be found wearing a band T-shirt (she's a classic rock fan) and boot-cut jeans, or a hoodie and running shorts. She switches between a thrifted leather jacket and a checkered (it's not plaid, she insists) long sleeve that doubles as a light jacket. As far as clothing style goes, Joan and I are super similar. I don't own a lot of band shirts (okay, I have four, and two are for the same band, and they're also not grunge but they are still AMAZING), so I'm usually wearing either school spirit clothes (Go Tigers!) or my "Hotel California" shirt whenever I'm out. When I'm at home, I'll wear either a school shirt or a long sleeve (even though I live in the Mid-South and the May heat is already killing me here XP) and running shorts/Ducks Unlimited sweatpants. I love jackets and sweaters, but I never get to wear them (#Iliveinthesouth). I do have this cute denim jacket I love though. What about your character(s)’s footwear? And do you care for fancy or simple shoes, yourself? Joan is often on her feet, and she doesn't have time to wear cutesy sandals, and she hates stilettos (because she doesn't have the balance to pull them off, but she'll never tell you that). Joan is often found wearing her Converse sneakers, which are several years old but have managed to stay together and have never let her down. When she's at the beach, she always has her eclectic blue flip flops on, (which annoys Shea to no end because the flip flops don't match ANYTHING in Joan's closet). Speaking of which... In Joan's closet, she has a pair of dark academia brown boots, which is the last thing her mom bought her, so she'll always keep them. And she also has a pair of combat boots that she'll wear to school events and functions. There's one pair of nice black sandals that she wore to her mom's funeral and hasn't ditched, so when I get her to go to church again, she'll probably need to dig those out. Joan and I kind of differ in our footwear choices. I don't have a pair of Converse shoes (I want some so bad though!), but I do have a pair of New Balance shoes that I love dearly. I often wear my Justin cowboy boots, though, because they're slip-ons and they fit so nice, and I can wear them to church and Wal-Mart and on a hike through the forest. I actually like sandals, unlike Joan, and I have these cute light brown wedges that I love to wear to church (I'm one of the shorter people in my class and I like to give myself a little bit of a boost by wearing high(er) heels. ) What jewelry or accessories would your character(s) wear? And what’s your favourites? Joan is not huge on jewelry, and most of what she wears out is sentimental or just habit for her to put on. For instance, the cross necklace is because it's a gift from her maternal grandmother and she wears it out of respect for both her grandma and her mom. (But it will start to have more of an effect on her in the books to come... :D) She has some cute friendship bracelets that she will occasionally wear to the beach (for the aesthetic), but otherwise, she keeps her accessories pretty minimalist. She does have a cute set of sword earrings that she and Lizzie bought together when they went through their Lord of the Rings phase (well, for Lizzie, it was a phase XP); but she hardly ever wears them and they spend more time in the back of her closet than hanging off her ears. Still, they're pretty cute. I, on the other hand, LOVE jewelry, and could tell you about all the different bracelets, watches, and necklaces that I've loved over the years (I'll keep it simple for today, though ;D). I usually wear a Fitbit Watch all the time, because I love how it's helping me stay fit. I usually only wear jewelry and bracelets to church, although I had this cool rubber bracelet that said "I Am Brave. I Am Creative. I Am Strong." that I wore through all of finals. I have this adorable bracelet that my grandparents gave me that has a tree very loosely resembling the Tree of Gondor on it, and I often switch out between my simple heart necklace and my gemmed heart necklace. I had two cross necklaces I loved, but I lost one at Disneyland (hot tip: never wear a necklace to Disneyland, and especially on the Indiana Jones ride), and the chained broke on the one with my birthstone in it, which is sad. But I still keep it, so I can find a better chain and get to wear it again. What headwear would your character(s) wear? And what do you think of hats? Joan actually wears a lot of hats, and it's mostly because of my own love for hats. The better, more specific word is ballcaps, though. She has three that she loves to wear the most, and one she only really gets to wear when she's back home in Detroit. Her SDSU hat is her favorite (and only) beanie; her denim cap is eight years old and doesn't fit, but it's a gift from her dad's brother, Uncle Frank, and she just loves it. Shea gifted her a San Diego Padres ballcap upon arriving in San Diego, but she always has and always will love the New York Mets, being a second-generation NYM fan. Her NYM hat is actually fairly worn and fringe-y, but she loves it anyway. As for me? I love ballcaps, and I like beanies, but I like to do up my hair a lot so I don't usually wear hats - not on a regular basis, anyway. I do have a NYM hat (because I took am a second-gen Mets fan :D) I don't have any San Diego merch on me, but I do have plenty of school merch of my own. And this January, my grandmother and I swapped hats and she wore my UofM beanie, and I wore her UofM beanie (I'm not telling what the Ms stand for, but they're different). Bottom line: I like hats. Any final touches you or your character(s) would wear? What about a bag or purse? Well, Joan always brings her backpack along on cases or to school, and hence doesn't have a purse because of it. If I had my way with her, I would give her a purse, but us writers let our characters get away with so much. And it's just a purse. Me on the other hand... I love purses and always have my fanny pack purse on me (because this is the only way I can downsize with what's in my purse, apparently). Well, that's all about it for this week! I'll leave you with a blurb about Scarlet Studies (and my little mock cover, which I love more and more every time I see it). Aaaand... the person I hereby tag for this character tag is... YOU! If you're reading this, go tell us about your character's clothing style. Can't wait to read it! And here's a clean set of the questions for you to use. :) Until next time! 1. First off, introduce your character(s) to us! Then tell us how you relate to them. 2. What’s your character(s)’ main piece of clothing—shirt/skirt combo, suit, dress…? And what’s your go-to main clothing. 3. What about your character(s)’s footwear? And do you care for fancy or simple shoes, yourself? 4. What jewelry or accessories would your character(s) wear? And what’s your favourites? 5. What headwear would you character(s) wear? And what do you think of hats? 6. Any final touches you or your character(s) would wear? What about a bag or purse? About Scarlet Studies![]() To say that criminal studies major Joan Watson is a fish out of water might be an understatement. After eighteen years of putting up with her grief-stricken family, she moves from a small Detroit suburb to the bustling campus of San Diego State University. When she befriends Shea, a budding detective, and Toby, a cute but reserved theater nerd, she begins to feel like she has found her group of misfits. But when Toby’s precocious roommate is murdered and suspicion falls on his shoulders, Joan and Shea find themselves the next targets of a cold-blooded killer, with their mind bent on one thing: revenge. Until next week!
~Cate
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