My sister's a real character
by
Terry McLaughlin
Sisters and series: a match made in heaven. Or so it seems, judging from the number of sisters-based book series. Or is that series-based sets of sisters?
I glanced through my own published and upcoming books, searching for female siblings. I've written two three-book series, yet within those six books I found only one–one!–pair of sisters. And those weren't biological sisters, since one was adopted.
I guess this proves that I'm a fan of sisters of circumstance. Sisters of
story.
My story sisters gossip and tease and talk in their private codes. I love inviting them into scenes just to discover what they'll do or say. Yes, they support each other, but they also tell the tough truths. It seems no one else can help a heroine get back on her story track like her kitchen-table sisters.
Sisters can be handy characters in an author's toolbox, can't they? They can enrich and expand and explain the heroine's world. They can serve as sounding boards or studies in contrast, as mentors or mirrors.
Do you enjoy reading about sisters? Do you add sisters to the stories you write? What do you think sisters add to a hero's or heroine's story?
Labels: characters, series, siblings, sisters, Terry McLaughlin
What Makes A Good Read?
For me, it’s all about the characters. If I care about the main characters, I have a hard time putting the book down because I NEED to know what happens to them.
I am reading Lisa Gardner’s
HIDE right now and the main character, Annabelle Granger, has been hiding, thanks to her parents, since she was seven-years old. Her father moved her and her mother from city to city, state to state, always changing their identities, never staying in one place for long. Her mother dies and years later her father is hit by a taxi and killed. Annabelle has no idea why her father forced them to run and hide for all those years. No pictures. No relatives. No fond memories. Her father has taught her to be paranoid, prepared, always on guard. She goes by the name of Tanya now. She’s still on guard but she is glad to finally settle down and have a life. She gets a dog and starts a business. She’s still not ready to use her real name, and she’s not sure why…until she sees on the news that the body of Annabelle Granger has been found.
How can that be?The first chapter is in Annabelle’s point of view and right away I feel for her as she’s swept away in the middle of the night time after time, never able to make friends, always told to look over her shoulder and be aware of her surroundings. Poor girl! What is she hiding from? Why is her father doing this to her? Is he crazy? What’s going to happen next?
What makes you read a book late into the night? Is it the story question, the characters, the fast pace, the great dialogue? Look at your own work in progress…what is it about your story that is going to make it difficult for the reader to set your book down? Feel free to share!Labels: a good read, books, characters
Sisters and series: a match made in heaven. Or so it seems, judging from the number of sisters-based book series. Or is that series-based sets of sisters?
My story sisters gossip and tease and talk in their private codes. I love inviting them into scenes just to discover what they'll do or say. Yes, they support each other, but they also tell the tough truths. It seems no one else can help a heroine get back on her story track like her kitchen-table sisters.
