Ship it like FedEx--What Writers Can Learn from the Fandoms

SHIP, noun, derived from the word "relationship", is a general term for fans' emotional and/or intellectual involvement with the ongoing development of romance [I rudely interject here to expand definition to any relationship, not just romantic] in a work of fiction.

(according to Wiki Answers, anyway) 

 From John/Sherlock to Doctor/Rose, Hermione/Ron to Edward/Bella, Katara/Zuko to Rapunzel/Jack Frost, ships are as varied as the fans who exist to create them. The term was coined from the word relationship, and is used as in "I totally ship Elena and Damon in The Vampire Diaries" or "do you get the whole Mericcup ship? Because I don't." (but seriously I do--because ADORBZZ)

Though these terms are relatively new, we've been falling in love with couples for as long as we've  been telling stories. And in my opinion (and for the sake of this post) ships don't have to just apply to romantic relationships--they can also include platonic but nevertheless compelling bromances and friendships (John/Sherlock or Merlin/Arthur) or even rivalries (Sherlock/Moriarty). 

Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a lecture on fandom subculture, but rather a look at what we as writers can learn from the emotional investment inspired by ships. First, I want to note--as a writer of an original piece of fiction, you'll have pretty much no control over the ships fans might create with your characters, so be prepared: anything (and anyone) can happen. So I'm not talking about ways to create ships that fans will carry on--no, quite the opposite. What I want us to do is look at our works with our own ships in mind.

Who do you ship in your current WIP? Have you thought about it? See, I think what defines a ship isn't the individuals involved in it--but the new character their interaction creates. A ship is a like a whole new character in and of itself; it's the hybridization of the characters' personalities. The inside jokes, the shared looks, the history between them--all that drama and interaction that makes their relationship a living, breathing character of its own.

John Watson and Sherlock Holmes have one of the oldest bromances in history (Sherlockians have been around for over a hundred years!) because their relationship is so compelling (even without being romantic, which brings us to one of my greatest pet peeves--the wholly unnecessary romanticization of friendships like Holmes/Sherlock or Harry/Hermione--friendship is powerful enough without having to be romantic!--but for your sake I'll nip this rant before it buds but don't be surprised if you come back to this blog at some future time and see my opinions on this topic blathered all over the place with vehement abandon). 

Eccentric Holmes is brilliant and aloof, but what makes him relatable is his need for a friend--Watson--who humanizes him and keeps him anchored. Obversely, haunted by the ghosts of the war he's fought in, Watson presents a character struggling to reintegrate himself into normal life but in desperate need of someone who will inspire him with a new purpose. Two compelling characters brought together like this create an even more compelling relationship, and the appeal of the Sherlock Holmes stories revolves on their quirky friendship (which does NOT need to be romantic--oh, wait, sorry, I promised I wouldn't go into this rant).

Anyway. Ships are something we writers can look at when creating our stories. We ought to develop relationships with the same care and forethought as we do our characters and worlds. Don't just think about who your characters are individually--but who are they when they're together? How do they change each other? How is their interaction special and compelling?

You can use this lens to view not only the romantic pairings in your story, but also the friendships and even the rivalries. Almost as compelling as Holmes/Watson is Holmes/Moriarty, the hero vs. his arch nemesis. Their rivalry is fascinating--the contest between two ingenius masterminds, one for evil, one for good, transcends the ordinary hero/villain relationship. Each is fascinated by the other and their verbal battles are as interesting as their physical ones.

Stories take on whole new levels of meaning and intrigue when characters are defined by their relationships to other characters--and this adds a certain realistic bent as well. Think about yourself: what matters most to you? Most of us would answer in terms of our relationships, the people we love (not, probably, so much the people we hate--the real world seems to be regrettably lacking in arch nemeses these days, wouldn't you say? Thank God for fiction!) We tend to define ourselves in terms of the people around us, by our parents, our friends, our significant others. You are not an island and neither should your characters be. 

Maybe the general rule in writing characters should be this: Where two are gathered, three are present. Character A, Character B, and the Relationship Between Them. As the fandoms have zealously shown, it's relationships above all else that readers and fans will connect to and love. It's the relationships which are most human and most intriguing that we love most. They are the source of the greatest drama, the deepest emotion, and the strongest motivation. So use them to their fullest! Don't just create characters--create the links between them with equal care.

And be creative in the kinds of relationships your story can include or center on. Here are some examples of my favorite pairings and their dynamics:

Friendship
Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Shawn Spencer/Burton Guster, from Psych
Elphaba/Galinda, from Wicked
Calvin/Hobbes
Claus Valca/Lavie Head, from Last Exile

Master/Servant
Jeeves/Wooster, from the books by P. G. Wodehouse
Merlin/Arthur, from the BBC show Merlin

Romantic
Tenth Doctor/Rose, from Doctor Who
Clark Kent/Lois Lane, from Smallville
Aang/Katara, from Avatar: The Last Airbender

Rivalry
Sherlock Holmes/James Moriarty
Superman/Lex Luthor
Harry Potter/Voldemort

Siblings
Katara/Sokka, from Avatar: The Last Airbender
Meg/Charles Wallace, from A Wrinkle in Time
Fred/George Weasley, from Harry Potter
Frank/ Joe Hardy, (I'll always love those Hardy Boys!)

I think most of us would agree that non-romantic relationships can often be as endearing as romantic ones, so don't be afraid to develop your characters' friendships and rivalries as much as their romances.

Writing exercise:
1) Make a list of your favorite pairings; try to find one for each category. Then describe their relationship--not the individual characters, but who they are together. 

2) Do the same with characters in your current WIP. Here are some questions to get you started:

- what does each character in my pairing love most/hate most about the other?

- what would each character's response be if the other died?

- how would another character, not in the pairing, describe the two characters when they're together?

- what would each character change about the other's personality?

- what does each character envy most about the other?

These are just to get you started. Be creative! Explore the relationships of your story as you would the characters, the world, the plot. Don't just assume that because you throw two individuals together, a relationship will just happen. It takes care and intentional work on your part, just as it would if you were building a relationship in real life.

What do you think?

I'd love to hear some of your favorite ships and character pairings! Sound off in the comments, and share why you love those pairings in particular.

VITRO Cover Reveal!!

It's time!!

So Vitro is the companion novel to my debut Origin, which came out last fall. Vitro is due to hit shelves on January 14, but you can get your first peek in this exclusive cover reveal!

True fact: I've been waiting to show you Vitro's cover since

LAST. FREAKIN. SUMMER.

Penguin's inimitable design team had the cover for Vitro done even before I'd finished the first draft, so imagine how hard it's been for me not to paste it all over the internet! It's like I've been holding my breath for nine months!

And guys--this cover is so amazing!!

Okay, no more wasting time--

GO SEE IT at Bookish!

Then race back here and enter my VITRO Cover Reveal Giveaway, because I've some fahbulous things for you...

A signed hardcover of ORIGIN

A hot-off-the-press ARC of Rebel Spring, the much-anticipated sequel to Morgan Rhodes's Falling Kingdoms which, by the way, doesn't actually come out until December, so don't miss this chance for a very early chance to read this amazing book!

And to top it all off, the lucky winner will receive this awesome Penguin tote and water bottle!

You can purchase Origin through

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

And you can pre-order Vitro here!

Contest closes next Sunday night, so you have until then to get as many entries as you can for the best chance at winning this prize pack! Winner will be announced next Monday (April 29) and will have fourteen days to respond to their notification email or I'll keep all these swanky goods to myself, savvy? 

USA and Canada only, please!

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Next Big Thing Blog Hop!

Many thanks to the lovely Samantha at Samantha's Bookshelf for tagging me in The Next Big Thing! You guys know how these work--questions, answers, tags--and there you go. Here's a look at my current WIP, which is (hopefully!) about to move into copyedits at Razorbill/Penguin and will be in bookstores January 14, 2014!!

What is the working title of your book?
Vitro

Where did the idea come from for the book?
It came to me just as I was falling asleep one night (I find I get a lot of ideas then; I suppose it has something to do with brains being most uninhibited or some sciencey thing like that). Anyway, I knew I wanted to set a book in the South Pacific, so that was a given, and I already had the characters in mind, but it was the idea for the science behind the book that popped into my head and started me on Vitro.

What genre does the book fall under?
YA Science Fiction, with a proclivity toward Thriller, more so than even Origin.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a film adaptation?
For Sophie, I always pictured Elizabeth Olsen, and for Jim, definitely Zac Efron (most of my male characters end up looking like Zac Efron, I must admit--hm... there must be some kind of deep, psychological meaning for that... I wonder...) and for Nicholas, I picture Ben Barnes.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Skin Island has haunted Sophie all her life, ever since her mother left her to work there full-time on the mysterious Vitro Project; with the help of hotshot pilot Jim, she finally has the chance to learn the truths of the island, which strike at the heart of everything she thought she knew about her mom, her past, and herself.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Vitro is part of the same deal under which Razorbill bought Origin, so you could say it was agented. By my savvy and inimitable agent Lucy Carson at the Friedrich Agency, of course!

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Yikes. Um. How to answer this... Well, let's just say ten months. It went through some crazy extensive revisions during that time, so I spent a lot of time rewriting and starting over; the final first draft (yes, I know that's a bit contradictory, but that's how it worked out) took two months, with about a month of planning and conversations with my editor preceding.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Really, it was the characters. The main characters--Jim and Sophie--had been in my mind for some time, and it was just a matter of finding the right book for them. I had probably eight different stories in which they featured, and Vitro ended up being The One!

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
Vitro is an adrenaline rush of a book. If you like fast-paced stories with lots of twists and turns, this one is for you! Even writing it, I felt like I was on a high-intensity roller coaster the whole time. It'll keep you pinned to the pages for sure, and it'll definitely get your blood pumping. 

Oh! and if you want, do add Vitro to your Goodreads shelf! 
I wish I had a cover to share with you guys (I've been sitting on the Vitro cover for ELEVEN MONTHS OMG without being able to show it to anyone) but we'll be revealing it soon! Follow me on Twitter or Facebook if you want to be among the first to see it when we do unveil all its glory! It's really, really cool, you guys--Penguin has outdone themselves on this one!

Now. My tags! I'm gonna tag some of my lovely AQCon gals, because they're fabulous and it's so exciting to see what they've got coming up--I want you guys to see too!!

Stephanie Diaz
R. C. Lewis
Mindy McGinnis

Thanks again for the tag, Sam!

YASH Winter 2013

Hello hunters!
I am Jessica Khoury, author of Origin and Vitro, 
and I'm your host on this YASH stop!

HERE'S THE SKINNY:

YOU: What's the YA Scavenger Hunt and why are people losing their minds over it like fangirls at a Bieber concert?

ME: Because, gentle reader, on this hunt, you not only get to read exclusive content from your favorite YA authors--you also get a chance to win a major fantastic prize (like fifty signed books yes you heard that right FIFTY SIGNED BOOKS) 

YOU: But Jess, how do I win this glorious readers' booty?

ME: By hopping from blog to blog and collecting the secret numbers! You'll find each author's favorite number hidden in their YASH blog post, highlighted in RED. Collect all the numbers for my team (I'm on Team Blue!) and submit the total sum here on this nifty entry form, and hey presto! you're officially entered to win a year or two's worth of reading!

YOU: But what if I don't win?

ME: Lucky for you--there are two simultaneous hunts going on, and you can participate in either one or both! There's the Blue Team (aka, the Cool Ninja Spider Team) and the other team, which is the Red Team. Collect the numbers from each hunt and submit them, and double your chances of winning!

YOU: OMG, JESS. Can this hunt get any more awesome?

ME: Why, yes, dear hunter, it can. Each author has the option of hosting their own giveaway on their blog, so keep an eye out for extra chances to win extra books and swag! (PS. At the bottom of this post I am giving away some shiz of my own--so be sure to enter!)

YOU: Okay, I'm in. Where do I start?

ME: Right here! You can begin your hunt on any participating blog, but for the full list of rules and authors and blogs and prizes, check out the YASH website here! The contest runs from April 4 at noon to Sunday, April 7 at noon, PST. Small window of opportunity, my dear--you must be swift!

YOU: Is there any fine print to this? Cuz it seems too good to be true.

ME: Just this: Open internationally, and anyone under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by April 7 at noon PST. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

YOU: Jess, these rules and info are a drag. Can I just start already?
ME: Jumpy little thing, aren't you? But YES. Enough talk. LET'S SCAVENGE! Scroll down to meet the author I am hosting, read her bonus content, find my secret number, and to get on your merry way! For more info on the hunt, check out the YASH homepage!

HAPPY HUNTING! MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU.

I am thrilled to be hosting the prolific and talented Tera Lynn Childs, who has 7 YA novels on shelves--soon to be 8! Tera has tackled everything from mermaids to goddesses, and her books have become a staple in YA literature.

Tera  is the award-winning author of the mythology-based Oh. My. Gods. and Goddess Boot Camp, the mermaid tales Forgive My Fins, Fins Are Forever and Just For Fins (July 3, 2012), and a new trilogy about monster-hunting descendants of Medusa, starting with Sweet Venom and Sweet Shadows, and the latest Sweet Legacy will be in stores September 3 of this year. She has also epublished two fun chick lit romances, Eye Candy and Straight Stalk. Tera lives nowhere in particular and spends her time writing wherever she can find a comfy chair and a steady stream of caffeinated beverages.

Now feast your eyes on this gorgeous cover!!

Sweet Legacy is the sequel to Sweet Venom and Sweet shadows!

Want to know more about Sweet Legacy?

Greer has always known she was privileged, though she had no idea how special her second sight made her, even among her triplet monster-fighting sisters. But when a god starts playing with her mind, can Greer step up in her pretty high heels to prevent anything from stopping her sisters’ mission? 

Grace loves her adopted brother, Thane, but now that he’s back and has joined her sisters’ team, it’s clear his past is full of dark mysteries. She wants to trust him, but will Thane’s secret put the girls in even more danger? 

Gretchen knows she can rely on her sisters to help her stop the monsters. But after getting to know some of the beasties in the abyss, she finds her role as a huntress comes with more responsibility than she ever imagined. How can she know what her birthright demands of her now? 

The girls cannot hesitate as they seek the location of the lost door between the realms, even as monsters and gods descend on San Francisco in battle-ready droves. In this exciting conclusion to the Sweet Venom trilogy, these teenage heirs of Medusa must seek the truth, answer the ancient riddles, and claim their immortal legacy.

Sweet mother of mythology--as if the delicious covers weren't enough, you had me at "monster-hunting descendants of Medusa!" 

#NeverABadHairDay

You can purchase any of Tera's books through the links on her website!

Tera's exclusive material is a free downloadable Sweet Venom wallpaper! Click this link and enter the password "sp2013yash" to get yours!

In addition to the massive jumbo prize pack that goes to the YASH grand prize winner, I'm giving away a prize of my own!

Use the form below to enter for your chance to win a signed hardcover of my YA debut ORIGIN and a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card!

USA & Canada only; winner will be announced on April 8 and will be notified by email; winner will have 14 days to respond to email or prize will be forfeit.

Ready to hop to the next YASH stop? Hop away, little hunter!
Click here!

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Book Updates: Invisibility & Vitro

Two books to talk about:

1. I finished reading Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan, and I loved it. It's the story of a boy who's been invisible his entire life, and what happens when he meets the only person--a girl his own age--who is able to see him. The moment I heard what the book was about, I knew I had to read it, and was lucky enough to snag an ARC. Guys--it rocked! It was sweet, surprising, intense, and triumphant--a fast-moving read with fresh, likable characters and two distinct voices (the story is told alternatively through Stephen's and Elizabeth's perspectives). The pub date for this book is May 7--I know, I know, absolute ages!! But you should totally pre-order it because it is worth it. In fact, to justify my own pre-order of the hardcover, I'm giving away the ARC below--so be sure to drop your name in the hat if you want an early peek! 

2. I finally got to reveal the title and synopsis of my next book!! It's called Vitro and it's coming out early winter 2014. It's not a sequel to Origin but it is set in the same universe, so you'll see one familiar character from Origin. Haven't revealed the cover yet (but I've been sitting on it since last summer so I'm really dying to share--all that to come!). Anyway, you can read the synopsis and add it to your to-read list here!

Contest ends March 26. Winner will be contact by email and will have 14 days to respond or your prize will be forfeited. US and Canada only, please!

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On Inspiration: How To Find Your Story

This post is adapted from the presentation I give when I speak at schools. I added this topic to my presentation after I started receiving a good many emails from students telling me they wanted to write a story, but had trouble coming up with an idea that was fresh and interesting.

If you're a writer just starting out, that can be really tough. I know it was for me. It took me years to separate my ideas from the books I read, to move into a place where my inspiration became original and personal, instead of just me recycling the stories and characters I read about. This isn't a bad thing--this imitation of other writers. It's how we learn, and I believe most writers start off that way.

For example, my first novel (which I wrote at age 13, when I was in the height of this story-stealing phase) actually started out as fan fiction of the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. When I realized I couldn't really a call a story my own when I was basically copying another writer's world, I changed the species of my characters from squirrels to humans, and thought that in doing so I had broken free into new original territory. I hadn't. In fact, when I thrust that poorly written and decidedly horrid manuscript onto some of my friends after I'd finished it, begging them for feedback, more than one handed it back saying, "You know, you write a lot like Brian Jacques. Ever hear of him?" Palm to the face. Palm. To. The. Face. Apparently, changing the species of my cast wasn't enough to qualify me for  true originality. But I would learn.

So anyway, all this to say, I've come a long way from that sad, beloved first novel in terms of ideas and inspiration and finding my own unique voice. If you're a young or newly developing writer, here are some ways you can begin to do that too, and places where you might draw your inspiration. Then, armed like Benjamin Franklin out to catch a lightning bolt, you can set out to catch your story.

Four Places Where Inspiration Might Strike

1

What interests you?

It's pretty basic, but it's so important. You have to love your story material. You have to be passionate not only about the characters and the plot, but about the world, the settings, the props, the activities. 

I sometimes miss this as I'm writing. For example, I need my character (oh, let's call her Kate) to have a little more backstory to her. I want her to play some sport at school, perhaps. My natural inclination is to  make my characters different from me (I don't know why) so I'd likely assign her to something like basketball or lacrosse, two sports about which I know nothing. Now, I could take the time to learn, to research these things--and that's good. That's fine. You can totally do that. Writing should stretch you and bring you to new places, learning new information. But if I stop and just think for a minute, I'll realize that making Kate a soccer player will be a much stronger move. I'm a soccer player. I adore soccer. I'm one of those scream-at-the-television kind of soccer fans. So when I plop Kate down on the soccer pitch, I suddenly feel more passionate about her character, because I can relate to her passion for The Beautiful Game. I learn things about her I didn't know before--that she's highly competitive, that maybe she loses her head a bit in the heat of the game, that she's fiercely loyal to her teammates. And I know these things because when I think about soccer, I feel them myself or have known teammates who were like this. When I think about lacrosse or basketball, I feel nothing. Blah. Whatever. 

By simply going in the direction of what interests me, I find so much more emotion, experience, and passion to draw from as I write, whether it's something as small as adding another hobby to my character's repertoire or coming up with a completely new, big story idea.

I mean, look how passionate soccer players are. Awesome.

2 

The Magic Question

I borrow this phrase from the theatre, though I think it might originally come from psychology or something. Whatever. Anyway, it's simply this: 

"What if _________?" 

I love this. It's so open, so filled with possibility. What if the world weren't actually made of rock and dirt, but it's actually some giant sleeping creature that starts to wake up? What if when you take a photograph you're actually creating a new alternate reality that begins inside that picture? What if my long-lost grandmother suddenly appeared and told me I was the princess of a tiny, wealthy kingdom in Europe? Oh, wait... You get the idea. 

The key is to hold nothing back. Let it all spill out--the silly ideas, the impossible ideas, the ideas that will never go anywhere. This can be done as a kind of exercise in creativity. You have to be willing to sound a bit ridiculous, a little crazy. But there are no truly bad ideas or stupid ideas--they're just ideas. They're not even stories yet. But they could be--somewhere in the dozens and dozens of What if? questions you pour out, there just might be a golden ticket to story inspiration.

3 

What terrifies you?

What's your greatest fear? What's that one subject you always avoid because it makes your blood turn cold and your chest constrict and your skin crawl? Is it the dark? It is spiders? Is it the thought of being alone in a strange place? 

Use your fears to bring real tension to your story. If you write about something you are afraid of, it will be much easier and more organic to translate that fear into your writing. 

For example, one of my fears is death, and especially of losing someone I love. This is a fear I drew on in writing ORIGIN; it's a topic Pia contemplates to some depth. I relate to her through her fear of losing her loved ones more than anything else, because I understand it. 

Building real, personal fears into your story not only makes it relatable to you, but probably to a lot of your readers as well. I'd say most of our fears are pretty commonly held by the majority of people--death, darkness, loneliness, etc. Fear makes your characters human. It makes them vulnerable, gives them that all-important Achilles heel. Once you know their deepest fear, you can exploit it--twist the knife in the heart, so to speak. Pry into their fear and force them to face it in a dramatic way.

4

History, Science, Art

The world is burning with untold stories. As writers, our primary concern is seeking out those stories and telling them. Sometimes inspiration doesn't necessarily begin with us, as in the previous points. Sometimes, it comes from outside--from a painting, a poem, a news story, a stranger sitting on a park bench. 

Mary Oliver said, "I think our duty as writers begins not with our own feelings, but with the power of observing." Exposing yourself to art, to history, science, nature, whatever, can be a great way to find a story. The key here is to always be alert.

source

Keep the Magic Question always in your pocket. No, scratch that. Don't keep it in your pocket--wear it like a pair of glasses, through which you're always seeing the story stuff of the world. Look at history this way--What if Abraham Lincoln were really a vampire slayer? Look at science. What if, ten years from now, invisibility technology becomes viable? And art. One of my favorites! (Hence my massive Pinterest collection). Photography, painting, sculptures, gosh--did you know they've got whole museums packed with the stuff? Good art not only comes from good inspiration--it's also becomes inspiring to others. And there's bookoos of it out there, so you've got no excuse, really, to not be inspired--especially if, like the good little writer you are, you're wearing your MQ glasses.

Mini-Lesson: How To Be An Author

Mini-Lesson:
"How To Be An Author"

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1. READ. Read everything. In your genre, outside your genre, fiction, non-fiction, classics, short stories, poetry, magazines, journals, history, science, the bottoms of tissue boxes and the back of your shampoo bottle. This is how you acquire new words and new ideas. This is how you know what's been done before and what works. This is how you learn what good writing is (or isn't, as the case may be). Lose yourself in libraries. Find new sections in the bookstore. Fall in love with books and reading and words and stories. Like this little guy:

2.WRITE. Write every day. Prose, poetry, diary, blogs, it all counts, and it's all important. Write badly. Write without using any punctuation marks. Use words you've never used before. Get funky with your thesaurus. You have to find your voice, your writing identity, your unique literary thumbprint. Explore with words and challenge yourself in impossible ways. Do NaNoWriMo. Join online writing guilds. Go to conferences and take classes. Write for yourself and for others and above all else, for gosh sakes, don't stop and don't give up. And if at all possible, write on a steampunk typewriter computer like this one, because COOL:

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3. LIVE. (this especially to all you introverts like me!) Don't let your only experience of the world be vicarious. Go outside, meet new people, go to strange places, eat weird foods, do crazy and daring things. Go outside your comfort zone. Challenge yourself. Have adventures. The most important thing you will bring to your writing is your own personality, experiences, and emotions. Don't borrow all of that from books, moves, TV, etc. Get out and find your own!

4. BE QUIRKY. Be yourself! (see #3)

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5. GET INVOLVED. Find other writers, either in person or online, and especially ones who are at the same stage as you are. Share your frustrations, your triumphs, your risks, and your failures. Connect with other writers because then you will know that you are not alone and that success is possible. When you have a bad day, when you're paper mache-ing bowls out of your rejection letters and you hate every word you ever put on paper, these are the people who will listen to you, hurt with you, encourage you, then pick you up off the floor, dust you off, and push you back in line. To write is to be intensely vulnerable. It's you pasting the tenderest parts of your identity to the wall and then letting any passing stranger chuck a tomato at them. You're going to need a wingman or two. You're going to need to know that you are not alone and that you are strong enough to take a few hits. Surround yourself with the ones who make you stronger. Surround yourself with the honest ones, the kind ones, the ones you'll be there for just as they are there for you.

Be like the Doctor. Always take a companion. Hugs take two--even virtual ones!