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
posted by Terry McLaughlin @ 2:00 AM
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