Good afternoon, everyone!!!
Lately, I've been doing a great deal of thinking both about my characters in writing but also about real life and the relationships between siblings.
As anyone knows who has read my books a great deal of my writing revolves around family. I love families and the dynamics of them.
So, a bit of history here...
I come from a large extended family. Lots and lots of large families within our dynamics. My own family consisted of myself and my two sisters, whom of which between us had eleven children. Now, those eleven children have gone out and populated and last count there have been 17 greats with three of the original eleven yet to become parents and the others still young enough to have more.
So, you see, family is very important to us.
Am I saying we always get along??? Oh, HELL no!!! Because the original three of us are not only women, but we are also very strong-willed women, very opinionated, very stubborn, and very passionate in life. So, yes, this can make it hard at times for anyone including ourselves.
To outsiders, well, I'm not sure how many outsiders see us. I know many of them have to wonder about us at times, LOL. Because we not only love with our entire being, but we can also fight with our entire being. It's who we are.
We've gone years without speaking. We've gone years with being inseparable. Our poor husbands have a saying, "It's a McIntire girl..." And we live up to that for sure. It takes strong men to not only understand us, but to love us, and we're good with that. Because a weaker man would be swallowed up by us and we're not good with that for sure.
So, when I sit down to write a heroine I think of the women I surround myself with...
A younger sister who not only had her first child at the age of 15 and raised that child to adulthood, but also went on to get married, raise a family, and is one of the most successful women I know being a Nurse Practioner and living her best life.
A middle sister, who started out this life with a bang becoming a very talented and successful hairdresser that people once lined up to get an appointment with. A woman who watched the beautician cut my hair at the age of 13 and said, "I can do that," and started cutting my hair at that ripe young teenage girl. I watch her battle her disease now, with as much gusto and passion as she lived back in the day. Not allowing this disease to overtake her but fighting to live every day. You can't do that and be a simpering female.
Life kicks you, sometimes hard in the gut. But it's your choice how you take those punches. The stock I come from, it may throw us to the ground, but man, oh, man, when we get back up, we come up swinging.
When you come from a family like ours it is very difficult to bring in outsiders who are more like wallflowers than outgoing people. We overwhelm people who are afraid to participate, or just join in. It's not that we are being rude, it is life has thrown some pretty hard punches at us, and we are at an age where we feel like if a younger generation wants to know what's it's like to be a part of our inner circle, then get your ass in where the action is, LOL.
***WARNING***
Just remember when doing so, be genuine. We sisters run on vibes. We feel what you're not saying. Your actions scream louder than any words you will ever utter to us. We're tough to get along with sometimes but know there's a reason or two for that. We won't push a relationship, not at our age. You want a relationship, wonderful, let's see how we can make that happen.
I promise however, we don't do one sided anything in this family. We bring you in, we're all in. Just know that, because we expect you to pull your weight of the relationship.
If we see our children being taken advantage of, well, that will not work for us. Like I said above, we're passionate people. We love our kids, nieces, nephews, and greats with our entire being. The words that come out when we see them being used, well, we're just as passionate in our beliefs that relationships are not only a give and take, but also a unity to work together for a better life.
Don't get me wrong. People may mistake this as being closed minded but it's not. Just like we feel the vibes we see and know what a future of a one- sided relationship can do over time to a person. We love our children enough to not want that future for them, however, we also love our children enough to stop pushing, but stay firm in our beliefs and let them live the life they've chosen. That one is a fine line for us and sometimes a difficult one to straddle. But we do it, because we love our children, even when they aren't so sure we do.
So, you see, when I think of writing a character, I can't think of my females always needing to be saved. I want them to save themselves, but I also want them to know the pleasure of working side by side with someone to make the life they want.
I can't think of a better way to live a full life, without all the ups and downs this life has brought me. I love my family always and forever. I love everything about them. When one or more of our children get upset with us because we've been vocal about their life's choices, I say to myself, "It's okay, they got that passion honestly. They'll be okay, because it's in their DNA."
Everyone have a lovely day!!!
Blessings to all!!!
Lately, I've been doing a great deal of thinking both about my characters in writing but also about real life and the relationships between siblings.
As anyone knows who has read my books a great deal of my writing revolves around family. I love families and the dynamics of them.
So, a bit of history here...
I come from a large extended family. Lots and lots of large families within our dynamics. My own family consisted of myself and my two sisters, whom of which between us had eleven children. Now, those eleven children have gone out and populated and last count there have been 17 greats with three of the original eleven yet to become parents and the others still young enough to have more.
So, you see, family is very important to us.
Am I saying we always get along??? Oh, HELL no!!! Because the original three of us are not only women, but we are also very strong-willed women, very opinionated, very stubborn, and very passionate in life. So, yes, this can make it hard at times for anyone including ourselves.
To outsiders, well, I'm not sure how many outsiders see us. I know many of them have to wonder about us at times, LOL. Because we not only love with our entire being, but we can also fight with our entire being. It's who we are.
We've gone years without speaking. We've gone years with being inseparable. Our poor husbands have a saying, "It's a McIntire girl..." And we live up to that for sure. It takes strong men to not only understand us, but to love us, and we're good with that. Because a weaker man would be swallowed up by us and we're not good with that for sure.
So, when I sit down to write a heroine I think of the women I surround myself with...
A younger sister who not only had her first child at the age of 15 and raised that child to adulthood, but also went on to get married, raise a family, and is one of the most successful women I know being a Nurse Practioner and living her best life.
A middle sister, who started out this life with a bang becoming a very talented and successful hairdresser that people once lined up to get an appointment with. A woman who watched the beautician cut my hair at the age of 13 and said, "I can do that," and started cutting my hair at that ripe young teenage girl. I watch her battle her disease now, with as much gusto and passion as she lived back in the day. Not allowing this disease to overtake her but fighting to live every day. You can't do that and be a simpering female.
Life kicks you, sometimes hard in the gut. But it's your choice how you take those punches. The stock I come from, it may throw us to the ground, but man, oh, man, when we get back up, we come up swinging.
When you come from a family like ours it is very difficult to bring in outsiders who are more like wallflowers than outgoing people. We overwhelm people who are afraid to participate, or just join in. It's not that we are being rude, it is life has thrown some pretty hard punches at us, and we are at an age where we feel like if a younger generation wants to know what's it's like to be a part of our inner circle, then get your ass in where the action is, LOL.
***WARNING***
Just remember when doing so, be genuine. We sisters run on vibes. We feel what you're not saying. Your actions scream louder than any words you will ever utter to us. We're tough to get along with sometimes but know there's a reason or two for that. We won't push a relationship, not at our age. You want a relationship, wonderful, let's see how we can make that happen.
I promise however, we don't do one sided anything in this family. We bring you in, we're all in. Just know that, because we expect you to pull your weight of the relationship.
If we see our children being taken advantage of, well, that will not work for us. Like I said above, we're passionate people. We love our kids, nieces, nephews, and greats with our entire being. The words that come out when we see them being used, well, we're just as passionate in our beliefs that relationships are not only a give and take, but also a unity to work together for a better life.
Don't get me wrong. People may mistake this as being closed minded but it's not. Just like we feel the vibes we see and know what a future of a one- sided relationship can do over time to a person. We love our children enough to not want that future for them, however, we also love our children enough to stop pushing, but stay firm in our beliefs and let them live the life they've chosen. That one is a fine line for us and sometimes a difficult one to straddle. But we do it, because we love our children, even when they aren't so sure we do.
So, you see, when I think of writing a character, I can't think of my females always needing to be saved. I want them to save themselves, but I also want them to know the pleasure of working side by side with someone to make the life they want.
I can't think of a better way to live a full life, without all the ups and downs this life has brought me. I love my family always and forever. I love everything about them. When one or more of our children get upset with us because we've been vocal about their life's choices, I say to myself, "It's okay, they got that passion honestly. They'll be okay, because it's in their DNA."
Everyone have a lovely day!!!
Blessings to all!!!