My Inspiration: Addie

Adelaide Marie West: Oh boy, where to begin. This girl is full of emotions which is odd to try to and convey on paper because I am full of bitter resentment. NO, I’m just joking, I’m only half full. By the end of one of these books though, I’m just bubbling over with craptastic embitterment.

So, onto my inspiration for Addie. To be perfectly honest with you, Addie was not initially my creation. A good friend of mine, Nicolette, came up with the idea of a younger sibling for Dane. She helped put her looks together, her ideals, her personality (for the most part), and her general style of going about things. We both had differing views of how we wanted Addie to act in general and be portrayed. Her version of Addie was a little extreme and, after a view initial read throughs with trusted people, they claimed Addie was their least favorite. So, we had to overhaul her entire background, how she came about, and that birthed the bubbly, scared, overly optimistic character we have today. Even though I didn’t create her alone, and Maddie and I decided against Nicolette’s take, I will never hide her. Nicolette brought this girl into the story and I simply brought her to life. She is Nicolette’s and I’s baby.

Now, my inspiration for Adelaide comes down to this. We have Quinta, the strong, independent woman. Dane, the quiet, friendly giant who has seen enough in his short nineteen years to be aged beyond the number, and Leon, the fool hardy cop. Leon is the comic relief, but we needed more than that. I wanted to capture the innocence that could still live on even though the world had ended. I wanted a girl who has lost almost everything in her life and still is able to find the good without a fault. That’s what Addie does. When the chips are down, and all odds are against them, Addie will find that piece of hay in a needle factory and bring it to light.

In a way, I see her being a former child we all once had. Not in mindset but in the way she approaches the world. When we were kids, everything was “cool” “awesome” “amazing”. We would literally fall down, skin our knees, cry a little bit, and get over it. Move on to the next fantastical portion of our day before our parents put us to bed. Somewhere along the line, as we grow up, we stray further from that part of us. The flowers don’t smell as good, food doesn’t taste as good, and when we’re knocked down…we’re down for a while.

Not Addie, and I plan to keep it that way.