Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Sisters are doing it for themselves!

My sisters and I are super close. It's a rare week that goes by without me talking to each of them two or three times a piece. Sometimes more. They're the first people I call with good news and bad. The shoulders I'm mostly like to cry on and the backs I'm mostly like to have.

I'm always amazed at how much those relationships impact the ones I have with other people. Because I'm accustomed to being surrounded by women in a cozy way, I tend to surround myself with girlfriends. I deal with them in very much the same way I deal with my sisters and many of them have become what I call sisters of my heart. In other words, we might not be linked biologically, but we're linked all the same.

I see it among my friends, too. The super-competitive one who spent most of her childhood trying to show everyone she was better than her big brother. The quiet capable one who quietly fixes everything after a childhood spent with a mentally ill sibling that absorbed much of her parents' attention.

I think it's why I always people my books with family for my main characters. So far, I've only written one book that's an exception to that and it felt a little weird. I need to see where they came from to understand how they'll react to things and how they see the world and that sibling relationship is key to that.

(This next bit is for you, Steph. I'm going to end with a question!)

So how about you? Do you like books with lots of family entanglements? Or do you prefer to know only the here and now about characters?

Post a response and you'll automatically be entered to win a copy of the first book in Rita Award winning author Molly O'Keefe's new trilogy! I started it yesterday and can barely stand to put it down!

9 comments:

Maureen McGowan said...

I love great family dynamics in books. Not sure I write them well, but love to read them. And no one does it better than Molly.

Elizabeth Stock said...

I'm the youngest of eight, six of us girls, so I especially enjoy books with complicated sibling dynamics. And I think that comes through in my writing too.

Glad I stopped by - enjoyed reading your post!

Elizabeth

Eileen said...

I am loving the family dynamics in Savannah's story. I can't wait to see how her brothers view their past as well.

Stephanie Doyle said...

I LOVE the complicated family stuff. Jayne Ann Krentz works this theme a lot and it adds so much to the story.

I have Molly's latest and am waiting for the weekend to read so I can do so with NO interruptions. Can't wait.

Eileen said...

Ooh, Steph, it's totally worth it. Andy was laughing at me this morning because I was trying to read it while I blew my hair dry.

Molly O'Keefe said...

while blow drying? Really? That seems dangerous.

Elizabeth!! Six girls? Eight siblings? That's some powerful dynamic. I've always been envious in some ways to big family's because they are such a tribe. the age difference between my brother and I makes it difficult to feel like a tribe.

Though case in point to my blog yesterday - today Tim and I went for an early run - amazing. The months of not talking totally evaporated and what's really exciting, on my end, anyway, is realizing that he doesn't just like me - but respects me as much as I respect him. Which as the hero worshiper in the family comes as a pretty poignant suprise.

Thanks for pimping my book, ladies!

Eileen said...

I laugh in the face of danger. :-) At least, I do when I've got a great read.

Alli Sinclair said...

Everyone has family, right? Even people who are orphaned still have family, even if the family isn't present. To me, family can shape who we are - in good and bad ways. I think it's only natural to be drawn to stories that involve family as we all have them - crazy or not. :-)

Anonymous said...

I love family dynamics when done well.
And I loved the notorious O' Neills, and their interactions.

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