Neily Speaks Out

Neily is one of the narrators of the totally awesome All Unquiet Things. He's a cool guy, so I figured I might as well as him a few questions.

I have many things I don't like about living in California. What is one of the things you don't like about it (or maybe you're one of those crazies who loves it, so if you are, why do you like it)?
Oh, I'm definitely not one of those people. It's not California I hate, though, it's the town I grew up in, Empire Valley. I felt trapped there, even physically, the place is surrounded by foothills and there's only one way in or out. You're just stuck there until you graduate, and you feel like you're in an aquarium, just swimming around while people gawk at you. Now that I live in San Diego, it's a lot nicer, although honestly that might have something to do with being four hundred miles away from my father.

Have/do you ever wish you weren't The Smart Kid? Why/why not?
Always. When I was younger (I mean in grammar school), I was this shy, bookish kid that nobody noticed enough to like or dislike, and then one day I took a standardized test and scored off the charts, and then somebody took a look at my grades, and suddenly I was The Smart Kid. I thought that was my ticket out of invisibility. I was really hoping to meet people like me at Brighton, and I guess I did, in a way. But there was all this pressure--from my dad, the principal, and the worst of it was that I was desperate to live up to all their expectations, so in a way I put a lot of pressure on myself. It took a while for me to figure out who I really was and who I really cared to please. Looking back, it just doesn't feel worth it.

What one thing reminds you the most of Carly?
Empire Creek Bridge. I know that's morbid because she died there, but she did a lot of other things there, too. She laughed there, she read there, she sang there, she danced there, she talked there, she jumped there, she cried there, and she was brave there. I'm never in Empire Valley anymore, but if I was I'd be there every day.

What scares you the most?
Making another mistake and losing someone else.

Any New Year's resolutions, or are you not into that sort of thing?
I'm not very good at resolutions, but I'm trying really hard to keep in touch with my old friends. It's a work in progress.

Cross-posted at: The Frenetic Reader on 13 January 2010.