He was scoring them for you and me, for LFC, Fernando!

Even though this is mostly unnecessary, here is some information that you are supposed to have going into this torrid month we call NaNoWriMo:

1) How old is your character?
Yes, this year I will actually establish Olga's age! She's twenty one at the start, but it will probably occur over more than a year, so early twenties.

2) What is their gender?
Olga is a girl, traditionally feminine, but not overly "girly."

3) What do they do for work?
Olga will work at Liverpool's Melwood Training Ground, where she will work in the sports medicine clinic. She has a kinesiology degree, and has always loved sports, so it's a perfect fit. It's pretty entry-level, however, so she mostly cleans things (this is also because she's a woman, and will likely face a lot of sexism in the workplace) and does simple exercises with patients. The patients will be both reserve team members as well as first team members. She won't like a lot of the players, as they will be disrespectful, cocky, and self-important. She won't be payed that much for her work.

4) Who are their friends, family, and love interests?
Well, there's obviously Fernando, love of her life. Fernando is Spanish, comes from a lower class background, so he is really dedicated to football as a career. He is a family man, wants to start a family, and has traditional ideas about women's roles. This will cause problems for them as Olga is career-oriented and something of a feminist, although she probably wouldn't describe herself as one. She will be in conflict with her parents for leaving to marry Fernando, as they seriously disapprove. Her extended Dutch family will also figure in, I hope, with a return of Colijn, Aunt Corinne and Uncle Dirk. She will be friends with WAGS, but she won't hang out with them very much as she is really different from them. Her best friend will be Sam, who works as a receptionist at Melwood, and is dating Tim O'Shea. While Sam will be more of a traditional WAG than Olga, they'll still be friends because Sam has her own career and goals, and has more substance than the other WAGS seem to have.

5) What is their living space like?
When Olga first moves to Liverpool, her and Fernando will live in a small, downtown one-bedroom apartment as he is just a reserve (who gets called up to sit on the bench once in a while, but is yet to play). He will get a big raise and be called up more often after a key Champions League goal and they will move into a house with a treehouse in the backyard. I think that would be fun. Collectively they don't really have that much stuff, so their house will seem pretty empty.

6) What are their hobbies?
Olga loves to play football, watch football, talk football, etc. She also enjoys watching hockey, and soon after she leaves Montreal the Habs will win the Stanley Cup, making her extremely homesick. She likes hanging out with Fernando at home and watching movies, and other low-key activities. She's not that big on going out, but she will once in a while with the team. Olga likes to learn, I think that she might decide that she wants to go back to school so she can become a sports medicine doctor. When not doing the above, she enjoys musical theatre, spy novels, running, traveling, and hanging out with friends. I have no idea besides that.

7) What were they doing a year ago? Five years ago?
Can You Hear the Drums, Fernando outlined exactly that.

8) What are their values and politics?
Olga isn't very political, she's probably a little left of moderate if she had to choose. She values family, love, football, and independence.

9) Setting
Rainy Liverpool

10) Decide on the POV
Contrary to what I thought I would do at the end of NaNoWriMo last year, I am going to go with first person again. I really want this to come from Olga's perspective.



Now on to prepare to watch the Champions League Final. This is so huge I can't even explain to those of you who don't understand. Wow.