As a writer, I study people all of the time, especially teen/tween girls and their mothers.  I try to study their speech patterns, mannerisms, quirks, dress codes and eating habits; all while appearing to not really be paying much attention to them at all.  It's an exhausting process.  Sometimes I feel like an undercover spy as I busy myself casually observing the female species around me.  I do this so that I can obtain information for my novels.  When I'm developing a character, I will often pause and think about an observation to see how I can incorporate real life drama into my fiction.  I'm a people watcher by nature and enjoy sitting at my favorite writing coffee shop and watching the other customers.  With my laptop serving as my distracting disguise, it's amazing the types of things one overhears all because people believe that you are not really paying attention to them.  Sometimes to create inspiration, I will create stories about a stranger's background and family.  Of course, they don't really know that I'm observing them so before I can put pen to paper, or finger to keypad, I put a spin on my observations so that my subject doesn't easily identify herself in my work.  Sometimes, I incorporate several dramatic spins in order to protect the anonymity of my unknowing muse.

 One of the things that intrigues me about teen girls is the infamous teen clique.  As soon as you say the word clique, most women still bristle.  A "clique" is what you called the girls who were not in your circle of friends.  It's what other girls were in, the girls who thought that they were the "er" girls:  prettier, smarter, richer...the better girls.  Those were the girls who were in cliques.  But your circle of friends wasn't a "clique."  Your circle of friends was just that, your circle of friends.  But to girls who were not in your circle of friends, your circle of friends was a clique.

When I created the characters for the Black Diamond Series, I didn't set out to promulgate the notion of a clique.  Tanisha, Lori, Maria, Rashanda, Justine and Grace are just a group of friends, with differences, quirks and imperfections like all girls.  But as I study the behaviors of girls and women in preparation for our move to the other side of the Mason Dixon line, I find myself considering the notion of cliques as I consider what types of girls my girls will meet at their new schools.  Will there be pre-established cliques or circles that will be unwelcoming to our teen and tween daughters?  As scholar athletes, will they be welcomed warmly or with hesitation due to their "funny midwestern" drawl?  If they are assigned a buddy to help them navigate, will they be drawn to that person's "clique" by default?  If they don't "click" with their buddy, how will they meet other friends?  

And the clique fear is not unique to my daughters.  I too will have to find a group of women that I can "click" with as well.  Will the moms at the school and in our neighborhood be inclusive and welcoming?  Will I meet women with similar hobbies and interests?  At my age, is it possible for me to really meet people that I will consider friends or will they be mere acquaintances? Oddly, I'm not worried about our son finding his way.  Boys just seem to have an easier time meeting and welcoming other boys into their group.  But girls are different.  There are books written and movies made about the infamous girl cliques.   And girls grow up to become women and moms, and the clique cycle continues.

As I blogged last, change is good.  I'm excited to embrace all that is good in our newly adopted city, and I will try to carefully purge and summarily dodge negative experiences like one dodges a strange child with a drippy, runny nose.  Although I'm usually the mom that hands a tissue to the runny nose child and then promptly applies antibacterial gel to my hands.  My prayer is that my girls (and my readers) enjoy a life's journey that is textured and colorful like the characters in my novels.  My Tanisha-Maria-Lori-Rashanda-Grace-Justine "girl group" or clique by default is comprised of girls who possess strong character traits yet are flawed in very believable and identifiable ways.  

My prayer is that my real life darlings (and my readers) survive the six letter word that is clique as we stumble through our life journeys with style and grace.  But just in case you encounter a bad "clique" remember to always have a tissue in your pocket and a trial size bottle of antibacterial gel to wipe away the nasty clique germs that you may encounter.   Are cliques a bad thing?  Share your good and bad clique stories.