Sisters

Got some great pictures of Luthien while we were watching 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' together. Unlike me, she has dark blue eyes and blond hair. Really gorgeous.

I really enjoyed watching the movie with Luthien, especially because we rarely get a lot of 'sister time' together. Understandable--there's an eight year age difference between us, and we are about as different as sisters get. Kind of like Blanche and Rose from 'Shadow of the Bear'. It was really great, and there were times when we were both laughing hysterically and rolling around on the couch. I almost fell off once ;)

Anyway, I was talking about 'sister time'. I like to say to myself that I'm not like the 'typical American girl' because I'm close to ALL of my siblings. BIG FAT LIE!! I'm not. A few months ago, I realized that Luthien and mine relationship was most definitely not at it's strongest point.

I could simply wave it off--after all, we're completely different!

But then I realized that having weak relationships in the family is an open invitation for Satan. And it is! Siblings are supposed to grow together, talk together, share things, and build each other up. Not fight, bicker, tattle-tale, etc.

Right now, we aren't as close as we should be. But we're trying to work on it.

Thank you all, if you read all the way to the end, for listening to my pointless rambling. :)

Izori

P.S. My wrists are doing better at the moment! That could have something to do with the what-ever-you-call-it..ibuprofen that I took a short while ago.

Family in Books?

Has anyone ever noticed that in a lot of stories and movies, the main characters (especially if they're kids) have almost no respect for their parents or siblings?

Take, for an example, the books about that aardvark named Arthur. You know, the kids books? One of them is called something like 'The Poetry Contest'. Innocent enough, right?

At the beginning, Arthur recites a poem that makes fun of his sister. And then one of his friends says something along the lines of "I'd be saying that too if I had a sister like D.W. [Arthur's sister]." During the book, Arthur ignores her, and even though I don't think he actually says it out loud, everything he does to her is basically yelling that she's a nuisance.

And that's a kids book.

There are many more books and movies out there like that. Isn't that sad?

But in a major, uncomfortably obvious way, it's reflecting our own culture of disrespect for the people in charge. Lisa, the newest character in my Elandai book, has a brother that ignores her because he thinks it's cool.

So in the book that I'm not writing on my blog (which has the working-title of Sarea) I'm trying to make the main character love and respect her father, mother, brothers, and sister. It's not easy, because right now she's away trying to get an alliance with the Elves, but I have managed to add a few scenes that show how much she loves her family.

Izori

P.S. Thank you, everyone who suggested ways to put un-mushy romance in Sarea. I'm in the middle of it, and so far it's going great!