Cache Lesson 4 - Character Sketch

Create a new character – Astoria Rose Reynolds

Astoria Rose Reynolds is 25 years old. She is 5’3” tall and is boyish slim. She has golden brown eyes and very straight light brown hair that she frequently wears pushed back with plastic headbands to keep it out of her eyes because she is usually bent over a drafting table creating drawings for comic books at her day job. Her favorite pastime is drawing fairies in botanical illustrations. She enjoys doodling and developing her own series of a kick-ass fairy. Also, very knowledgeable with cartoon software.

Astoria Rose was named after the hotel she was born in – the Waldorf Astoria in New York. She is a Gemini. Her parents Cooper Redmond Reynolds and Rose Sharon Sullivan Reynolds were on vacation when Astoria Rose was born prematurely. She has since been known to everyone as Storee; however, she signs all her work as A.R. Reynolds at her day job, except for her private fairy series she signs with a flourished Astoria signature.

She enjoys working to music. Her favorite is Lady Gaga. She knows all the words to the songs, but can’t carry the tune without the music blaring in the background - although she did a fair job of singing Bad Romance at a karaoke bar. She also favors Sheryl Crowe and Kurt Cobain.

Storee does not have any siblings as her mother was already 45 when she had Storee and was ten years older than her husband Cooper. Her father was a nature photographer and a part-time videographer for ABC News. Her mother was a high school art teacher who taught botanical illustration and dabbled in botany and herbalism. She quit her teaching job to home school Storee in her formative years. They made sure she socialized with people her age by sending her to dance and gymnastic classes. Cooper and Rose both shared an interest in gardening and also built a glass green house on their property. They lived and raised Storee in a refurbished Victorian style home in a gentrified neighborhood called Ellington City. The home backs up to a wooded area.

Both of her parents are deceased and Storee lives in the old house and rents out two of the rooms. The house is paid in full and she was left a small inheritance, but she doesn’t like living alone in the ancient house. The old housekeeper she has known most of her life and who doesn’t pay any rent, but takes care of the simple cleaning, and preparation of food when Storee is in the mood for Polish cooking. She knows that Storee is allergic to peanuts, but loves chocolate covered raisins. Mrs. Lipinski is hard of hearing now and stays in a room on the main floor near the kitchen. The house is still furnished with all her parent’s period furniture with a few added bohemian touches of Storee’s.

The other is rented to Storee’s good friend from college. Kevin Chinn is an independent visual merchandiser for Barney’s Chicago and other fashion stores. He is gay and selects a lot of clothes/accessories for Storee at a deep discount. Her favorite is a vintage Gucci handbag she totes everywhere. Storee and Kevin love to watch Project Runway together. Kevin has a boyfriend, but Storee is resorting to Match.com for a boyfriend of her own without much success. She is not sure what she is looking for in a man, but has started an email friendship. She’s had about three real boyfriends in her life. She ended two of the relationships because she lost interest, and the one she fell for deeply, dumped her for his physical therapist. She fears she would take him back if he wanted her again.

Storee is reasonably attractive without makeup, but wears mascara and Chapstick by day. She applies Chapstick constantly. When out with friends or date she becomes stunning when she applies makeup like an artist. She used to be self-conscience of her upturned nose, but as an adult is comfortable with it. She keeps her nails short for easier cleaning because they become stained from charcoal, conte sticks, pastels, and black ink at work. She hates plucking her eyebrows so she has them done at a salon about once a month and her hair trimmed about six times a year. Her hair is slightly past her shoulders and her stylist would like to shape and trim it to chin length with a fringe of bangs because it would emphasize her pretty eyes, but Storee likes the simplicity of being able to pull it back off her face. She uses a curling iron only on special occasions. She dresses very casual for work, usually jeans and a fitted t-shirt. She loves long chandelier earrings for work and play. Her favorite footwear for work is a well broken-in pair of scuffed cowboy boots. In the summer she brings out the flip flops and black nail polish for her toes.

Storee did not attend any church, but was taught fundamentals of religion through her parents. The rest she experienced through art history. In college she experimented with Kabala, Wicca, and new age Zen, but they required too much in terms of rituals and effort so she gave up and decided she would just be a spiritual being as long as it didn’t take a lot of concentration. She fools around with tarot and does readings for friends when asked.

Storee has a tender heart for animals. She has two dogs – a black lab named Happy, and a mixed mutt from a shelter named Spinner. When she first got him he used to spin around chasing his tail. She feeds a white cat that arrives every morning and who occasionally comes in to look around but prefers the outdoors. She calls her Dawn.

She is also aware there is a family of raccoons living in the attic, but she doesn’t want to displace them by boarding up their entry – wherever that may be. She refers to them as Mabe and her babes. She is adamant against animal abuse.

Storee has a longtime girlfriend, Cara, who is a florist and has taken over the use of the green house. Lynn is a gal pal from work who she conspires with against her “cellmates”, Jason and Dan. Often times, they all meet up at the local pub and get loud and boisterous.