It's All About the Gail
Hey all!
On Fridays as part of Fifty Days of Fail, I'm basically filling out one of those early aughts email profiles we used to love back in the day. Obviously there are spoilers for SUPERHEROES ANONYMOUS #1-3 in here, but there also might be some things you don't know about these crazy people who sprang fully formed from my head like living migraines. First up, we have Gail Godwin, the center of her (and my) universe!
Name:
Gail Olivia Godwin*
Hero name:
Hostage Girl, The Raptorlet
Age:
28
Occupation:
Superhero Apprentice, but for tax purposes she claims to be an admin
Any description in the book?
I've described her hair as curly, which is not fair to the character, as I have also never shown her struggling with this and any curly-haired person can tell you this is unrealistic. She's also very muscular, and has hazel-colored eyes.
My favorite thing about this character:
Everything? I like that she essentially plants herself in one place and forces the world about her to change. She's not going to make it easy for them, and she won't help them, either. Supervillains probably found her frustrating in her Hostage Girl days because rather than cower in fear, she treated them with unaffected and unrelenting sarcasm. It's fun to write a character who sticks to her guns, especially when I'm really not like that too much.
The most challenging aspect of this character:
See my previous answer. Gail is an inertia machine. If you plonk her somewhere, she will stay somewhere until there is a catalyst strong enough to force her to move. This catalyst typically involves dynamite, by the way. A lot of the time, I've had to resort to Gail being forced to act by other characters and by ticking time bombs. Once you get used to her, it's easy enough to figure out how to work around this, but writing SUPERVILLAINS ANONYMOUS was a nightmare.
How have they changed over the years?
Gail has gone through a total transformation over the last four books, which is a relief. If the opposite were true, they would be very terrible books--just saying. She started out as a woman perpetually waiting for the other shoe to drop—which is understandable, as that other shoe usually kicked her ass when it did drop—and over the years, she's blossomed into her own. Being able to actually hit back and make a difference is a big part of that, but I think Gail owes a lot to the very patient people around her.
Anna Kendrick. 100000% Anna Kendrick.
Authorial headcanons I've never shared about this character:
Not so much a headcanon but originally we were going to meet Gail's father and half-siblings, none of whom knew about her existence, and all of them would be part of Guy's world. But even though I wrote the first book living in the Hamptons, I really didn't like that lifestyle and Gail's father (and possibly other family) remains a mystery to this day. Not an important one, for her.
Favorite Quotes:
“Doing things the smart way is not in the Gail Godwin playbook.” - #Herofail, Chapter 13
Yeah because I had the luck of a one-leaf clover. - How to Save the World, Chapter 10
And that's all she wrote today, folks! See you back here on Monday for more Fifty Days of Fail, or you can follow along on my social media on the weekend!
Stay sexy!
Lexie
* Gail's original middle name was Alexandria, but I picked that for a penname instead. Olivia is 100000000000000% after Olivia Dunham, light of my life.
0 comments:
Please keep it PG. My mom reads this blog.