The Sister Thing

"Sisters never quite forgive each other for what happened when they were five."

Pam Brown

I spent yesterday working on the new book, Under the Skin -- Elizabeth's sister Gloria has come for an indefinite visit and Elizabeth is, somewhat to her (and to my) surprise, becoming a tad bitchy.

Now I don't have a sister so I have no personal experience to draw on. But that doesn't stop me -- I've never (knowingly) encountered a murderer either but still I write about them.

Of course there are sisters who are best friends and always have been. But when one is writing a novel, high on the list of Must Have's is CONFLICT. Not just one big conflict but lots of little ones as well. So, Elizabeth and Gloria -- two very different people with very different world views are bound to clash.

Also, as I mentioned just a month ago, I'm writing Elizabeth in first person -- getting really up close and personal. In the past, sometimes I've thought that Elizabeth was just a little too good to be true -- so balanced, so kind, so good natured, so . . . rational.

Well, there's nothing like being around a younger, slimmer, richer sister, who also likes to tell you how you should live your life, to bring out the inner female dog in a protagonist.

I'm finding it interesting.

Sisterhood

Carol, over at The Writers Porch has tapped my blog with the Sisterhood Award which I'm passing on to five blogging sistahs who expand and enrich my world:





Marta, the gardener at Marta McDowell, teaches, writes, gardens, and takes great pictures too. This is one of her own garden.












Byron, The Village Witch, gives a lively insight into traditional Appalachian witchery as well as the pagan/earth religion/Wiccan community. Alas, no pictures on her blog which is put up through The Asheville Citizen-Times.














Pepper at the Quilt Studio reminds me that I have a mass of fabric, waiting to be made into all sorts of wonderful quilts . . . someday.

















Susan at Rambling Thoughts and Thoughtful Ramblings is a writer, would-be gardener, and blossoming entrepreneur with her pet-sitting business.












Victoria at Brushstrokes shares paintings, photos, and thoughts from her world somewhere on a mountain in California.









An interesting and varied posse . . . I invite them each to pass the award (a right-click will do it) on to 5 more Blogging Sisters with links to their blogs, notifying them by e-mail or by leaving a comment on their blogs...