Beautiful People #1

Beautiful People is a blog meme for writers hosted by Sky @ Further Up and Further In and Cait @ Notebook Sisters. It involves a monthly set of interview questions to help you (and your blog readers) get to know your characters from your works-in-progress. 
OK, I should start by saying that, yes, I am an aspiring writer, very aspiring. I will probably not have anything published for while, perhaps never, but that's OK because I enjoy the process. I wrote my first creative writing piece at the end of 2012 for English class during my Access to HE course in college. When I was tasked with writing the opening for a novel, my first reaction was UGH! I can't write and I don't want to write. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the task and my piece was actually quite good and my feedback included comments such as "this is very professional" and "this would make an excellent beginning to a novel".  Since then I have been dabbling in this new found interest of mine and some of that dabbling has included a YA contemporary, coming-of-age, horsey type novel. In this novel a young girl named Olivia deals with her mum's complete change in personality and shitty attitude and treatment of her, leading to a difficult homelife, by throwing herself into her newfound passion - horses.
So, without further ado, lets meet Olivia ...
1) What is their full name and is there a story behind why they got it? 
Olivia Jane Barnes. Olivia because her parents were in an olive grove in Southern Spain when her mum told her dad that they were pregnant. Jane after her maternal grandmother who died when Olivia was an infant. Barnes, well, thats her dads family name.
2) How old are they, and when were they born? 
15 years old. May 8th. If it ever gets published (haha), I will pick a year of birth then.
3) Describe their physical appearance. (Bonus questions: 1. What is their race/nationality/ethnicity? 2. Do you have a picture of them? If so, include it!) 
Shoulder length light brown wavy hair, brown eyes. She is plain ol' white British. Young Emma Watson comes to mind when I think of Olivia, but she is a tad taller and not quite so petite. She starts off the novel at a generous UK size 14 but as she spends more time working around horses (and maybe a bit due to the stress of home), she loses some weight and gets a bit fitter. Of course, there will be not be an ugly duckling into white swan type of transformation, nope, not in my book ;-)
4) Describe your character's personality first in one word, and then elaborate with a few sentences. 
Determined.
Once she puts her mind to something, she will do whatever she needs to accomplish it. She is not afraid of hard work or putting the time in to reach her goals. Of course, her do whatever it takes attitude can lead her to making some very bad decisions that can have a negative effect on her relationships and her chances of reaching her goals.

5) What theme song fit their personality and story arc?
The first song that came to mind was "Be My Escape" by Relient K

6) Which one of the seven deadly sins describes your character? 
This is a tough one, maybe lust - she is a teenager afterall.
7) If they were an element (fire, water, earth, air), which one would they be? 
Earth - she is grounded and easygoing.
8) What is their favourite word? 
Horse, of course.
9) Who’s one person they really miss? (It could be someone who’s passed away, or someone they’re not close to anymore, or someone who’s moved away.) 
She really misses the person her mum used to be and the relationship they had.
10) What sights, sounds, and smells remind them of that person?
Playgrounds remind her of the times when her mum would push her on the swings, then later when they would see who could swing the highest the fastest, and the roundabout, where they would laugh hysterically the faster it went and especially when they got of fand neither of them could walk straight.
Classic rock reminds her of when her and her mum would dance crazily around the living room and when her dad would walk in on them and call them his loony girls.
Fresh baked bread, cookies and such remind her of all the times her and her mum would bake together and the majority of the times the food would just come out all wrong, but they would eat it anyway.

Phew! That was heard work, but so very useful in helping me get to know Olivia better. I look forward to next months questions.  Thanks for hosting this Sky and Cait :-) And thanks to Arende and Emily for some of the questions.