I is for an Interview with Iris

  Hey everyone. I'd like you to meet Iris.

She's one of my characters in a novel I'm querying when I get the chance. I thought it might be fun to introduce her to the world in a post, especially since her name starts with I. I know I would love to read interviews with people's characters! So this is what Iris says:

What's your name?

Iris Opal. Or... Iris The Opal, but that sounds kind of silly. "Opal" isn't really my last name, but... well, I guess now it is, because what else would be? And it's not like "the" is my middle name. My birth name had a middle name, but it doesn't really fit anymore.

What was your birth name?

Samantha Laurel Washington.

Okay, before we get back to that: what's up with your eyes?  They, like, don't have pupils.

Oh, yeah-- nope, I don't have pupils. It's just all blue iris. Like me!

Is that where you get your name?

I hope not! I hope I get it from the flower, they're so pretty! The eye thing is just a defect. Although... nevermind.

Although what?

Oh, just... sometimes, I got the impression that the Doctor preferred his experiments if they didn't have pupils. I have this feeling that pupils freak him out. I don't know why.

Who is The Doctor? 

I dunno, actually. But he goes by Dr. Pinecone. He made me. And my sisters-- sister experiments, the Opals. I always thought he was pretty okay except for the time when he said he wanted to kill Indigo and me. Indigo doesn't like him, and I trust Indigo, so yeah. He's bad news.

So I guess this has to do with why your birth name and current name are different: 

Uh huh. The doctor gave me a new name when I got a new body. My brain's the same brain as ever, though. Okay... almost. Besides the whole no-memories-before-I-was-an-experiment thing.

Riiiiiiight. Alright, enough of that science talk. How old are you, Iris?

13. That's something I just know.

What are some of your likes?

I like the color blue, and animals, although I've never had a pet, and I like Indigo, and I'm sure I'll like the rest of my Opal sisters, when we find them. Oh, and I like some of the kids we've been spying on. There's one boy who hangs out with a big group of neighborhood kids and he seems really smart so I think we'll try asking him for help.

Help?

Yeah. We need people who aren't experiments to help us find the rest of our experiment sisters.

Ah, I see. Back to the fun questions. Favorite food?

Grilled cheese! My favorite food changes all the time but I always love grilled cheese.

Dream job?

That's a hard question! I haven't thought about my dream job much, especially since Dr. Pinecone said I was his, like, heir to the lab thing. I don't think being in charge of all that sounds fun, but I am really interested in all the stuff he tried to tell me about how he made me. Did you know I'm part plant?

Part... plant? Like, part leafy, photosynthesizing plant?

Uh-huh.

Wow.

Yeah! Cool, right?

Wow.  

[Iris giggles.]

Anything you want to say to our readers before we go?

Umm... thanks for listening... or, uh, reading I guess. And if you happen to have black hair and blue eyes, you might be one of our sisters! So contact me, okay? Especially if you don't have pupils.

Thanks, Iris!

***

I hope you enjoyed our chat. Let me know if you and one of your characters do an interview, too!

Tome