Thanks, Anne and Sail! This character is the first major character I've written who's near my own age--I started writing seriously right after I turned 30, but I've tended to write 20-somethings. So it's a change from my usual coming-of-age and seeking adventures to have someone who's a bit further along on the journey.

ION, DH wants to buy me this shirt: [link]

It's time to play "Help Susan Name a Character" again! English woman, upper class, born around 1780, slim, dark hair, pale skin, light eyes. So far I've determined that she's very intelligent and possessed of a certain practical ruthlessness that makes her a wonderful person to have around in a crisis, but she's not exactly what you'd call sweet or warm-hearted, and if you stood between her and something she wanted, she'd find a way to justify shoving you out of the way.

The name can't start with A, C, J, or M. Some possibilities I've thought of:

Beatrice
Eleanor
Elizabeth
Frances
Georgiana
Hermione
Isabella
Olivia
Philippa

Do any of those sound especially right or wrong for such a character, or can you think of anything in the same vein? I'm inclined toward Hermione. Is it too soon to have a Hermione outside of Harry Potter?

I like Philippa, which is English and the fact it contains a male name is a subtle hint of her determination.

Hermione is too sweet sounding to me. I'd go for Eleanor. It has a queenly pedigree to it.

Oookay, I'm still dubious about this teenage poetry endeavor, as I thought the last was really the best (and omg, the angst in some of these that I probably WON'T share):

Time is an endless
Circle.
Forever repeating with
endless variations,
Shaping our minds,
Changing our lives
Into rings of memories.

And the first I remember writing, at maybe 13 or 15 or, I don't really know, I tie it up with my maternal grandmother's death years earlier and seeing Orion from the bedroom window, and how that has been a constant solace (and I don't know if the poem will ever convey that. Just that it has that touchpoint for the adult me now):

"I want to be a star"
she cried.
"What kind of star?"
they asked.
"A star in the sky star"
"Oh really?"
"Yes"
"Why?
they pressed.
"I would be free
to shine,
To be wished upon.
To have children
point at me
and say
"There's you!"
She grew
Old
As she died
she said
"I want to be a star,
a star in the sky star."
And she flew
Upwards
And shone
with light.
Taking her place, up
up in the sky.
A child cries
"There's you!
I want to be a star,
a star in the sky star,
up there."

Damn it, sara, that last one made me cry. That's lovely. I'd be tempted to revisit how/where the lines break, but other than that I absolutely love it.

Susan, I like the name Eleanor for that character.

Susan, I like Eleanor because of the "_____ of Acquitaine" associations. That'll convey a fair amount of ruthlessness and toughness.

The center challenge is now closed.

This week's challenge is embrace.

I like Philippa