Just Like You, Part 3: "Soraya’s name"

When I first started writing Just Like You, I was reading the first book in Hilari Bell’s Farsala Trilogy. I glanced down at the book when trying to decide on a name for my main character. Soraya is the leading lady in the Farsala books, as well as my late grandma’s favorite hairstylist at the Hair Cuttery. Sudaba, my character’s first middle name, was taken from the book Soraya’s mother. Maria, the second middle name, was added sort of on a whim. Her two last names are her mother’s last name and her father’s fake last name. Soraya’s nickname, Mole, is kind of a joke from the movie about how the D Tent Boys thought Zero was a mole because he was the fastest digger. I made Soraya be Mole since she was a faster digger than Zero.

Just Like You, Part 2: "Soraya"

I wanted to make Soraya different than some of my other lead characters. I made her a lot bolder, tomboyish, and sarcastic than a lot of my other narrators to sort of contrast the calmer characters I usually use.

Just Like You, Part 1: "Almost a Spoiler"

I almost gave a spoiler about Mr. Sir knowing about Soraya’s family history in Chapter 2, but she tries to deny it. I had to cut out a lot of dialogue in the chapter because I remembered I didn’t want to do much other than make readers guess about her until the big reveal at the end. I didn’t want D-Tent, Mr. Sir, or Dr. Pendanski to know who Soraya really is, but the Warden would know.