One of these days I’m going to do a Beautiful People post properly at the beginning of the month. But it is not this day! Ahem. Our benevolous (what do you mean that’s not a word? it means benevolent and fabulous, obviously) hosts Sky and Cait have come up with some fantastic questions to torture—ahem, I mean explore our characters with this month. You can link yourself up here or here should you choose to join in. (Pst. You should.) The moment I read this month’s list of questions Rose, my protagonist from my current WIP Burning Thorns, popped in my head. I’ve since thought about it, weighing out each character and even some from other novels, but it kept coming back to my Rosie girl. So Rose it shall be! "You know, I could help clean for you." Rose’s voice pulled him from his agitated thoughts. "But it’s much too nice a day for that right now. Come on." She snatched the feather duster right from his hand and tossed it into the study. It clattered into a bookshelf, making the Beast wince, but Rose seemed oblivious. She snagged his arm and gave it a mighty tug. "Let’s go!"

The Beast stared at the feather duster thrown carelessly to the floor, not budging. "We can’t."

Her futile but determined pulls halted. "Why not?"

He turned to meet her innocent gaze and the tense muscles in his jaw relaxed. "Because the exit is the other way." He was rewarded with a laugh that made her brown eyes light up brighter than the sprite’s.

With his guidance, they made their way to the entrance doors, Rose talking excitedly all the way about nothing in particular. The walls of the castle that held in the tense silence for so long quivered to life with the echoes of her sprightly voice. No, not sprightly. Joyful, alive; as vibrant as the roses. ~ Rose ~ 1. Do they get nightmares? If so, why or what of?
Honestly, Rose isn’t terribly prone to nightmares. She’s always held a child-like wonder of the world and keeps tight to her happy-go-lucky personality, despite her not great circumstances. As a result, her dreams soar in the clouds more than creep in the shadows. She does dream often about her deceased mother, though they’re usually happy dreams. It’s the waking up part that’s hard. But from time to time a nightmare will crop up involving her oldest sister, Anya, torturing her in various of ways, but these aren’t too numerous.

2. What is their biggest guilty pleasure/secret shame?
Her father appears to favor her over her two older sisters, in fact most people do. Though she might not honestly know it consciously, Rose loves the attention from others. Love and companionship fill her up, make her whole, they’re her sustenance. Not in a selfish way necessarily, she just loves people and feeling like she belongs. But I think there is a little shame and pleasure there that her father holds her higher up than her sisters.

3. Are they easily persuaded or do they need more proof?
Rose is woefully easily persuaded. It’s not in her nature to believe anyone is a liar, she always wants to see the best in people. Her sisters are about the only ones she’s wary toward, and only because they’ve deceived her time and time again. But even still she tries to see the best in them.

4. Do they suffer from any phobias? Does it affect their life in a big way?
She’s pretty terrified of both her sisters, and since she’s forced to live with them, yeah, that affects her life a lot. She’s spent a lot of her years keeping far away from their wrath. But as far as actual phobias, she fears being unloved. As I said earlier, she feeds off love and companionship. She clings to any she has and fights to keep it, always having room for more friends and loved ones. Her sense of worth also ties into that. She often worries she’s unworthy for her role in life, and when someone strikes her with an unloving act, it only makes her think she’s unworthy to even be loved.

5. What do they consider their “Achilles heel”?
She clings to her father’s approval more than anything. Since her mother is gone and her sisters despise her, she has nothing left but her father. To fail him would shatter her world. Then of course she meets the Beast and another weak spot forms in her soul. . .

6. How do they handle a crisis?
Rose’s instinctive reaction is to hide. She hates conflict and hopes if she can hide and ignore it, it’ll eventually go away. But if the crisis involves someone she loves, she’ll pick herself up, swallow her fear, and do what she must to resolve it, however much she wants to run.

7. Do they have a temper?
Gentle, joyful Rose? Nah. Again, she’s the running type, not one for fighting. If things get out of hand she’s more of a mouse in a corner than a lion in the thick of it. She does lose her temper once or twice in the book when her world shatters and everything she loves is stripped away. It has to be something like her sense of justice being provoked or pure tragedy to set her off.

8. What are their core values and/or religious beliefs?
Rose holds tight to her belief in the Giver of Lights (the God-figure in that world). She knows all light comes from Him and strives to seek it even in the darkest places. She believes that everyone deserves a second chance, that good can be found in all.

9. What things do they value most in life?
She keeps her father’s love and memories of her mother closest to her heart. The gardens outside her home also hold many happy moments. She loves sitting in the midst of all the bright blooms and sweet smells where the world feels safe and beautiful.

10. What is one major event that helped shape who they are?
After her mother’s death, her life altered completely. Her father became more distant, her sisters more vicious, and new responsibilities were thrust on her shoulders. Before, she thought life was carefree and full of rainbows, but then reality came and weighed heavily on her heart. She learned the hard way that rain has to come before the rainbow. I think it’s because of her mother’s death that she so clings to the love of others. Losing the greatest loved one in her life pushed her to hold tighter to the others she has. This was extremely insightful for me! It’s crazy how much one can learn just talking about their characters. BP is a wonderful thing!