Mining Stories While Reminiscing

My brother, sisters and their spouses are all coming to town this weekend. Usually we only have an annual get-together, but we've had a few health scares in the family this past year, and a death, so we are realizing we need to spend more time with each other, time that is a valuable commodity. Here's a picture of us from a recent visit.

Usually when we get together, someone will tell a story, reminisce about when we were kids and what crazy things we did. I've used some of my own experiences in my writing, most recently documenting a little boy who used to draw on the soles of my shoes during nap time in Love's In The Cards.


And I've used my own family dynamics with my own three sisters in Blame It On The Brontes. We were never really quite as bad, as mad with each other as I wrote in the book, but my memories of growing up with competitive sisters definitely came into play.




















My feelings during my own bra-burning days were used when I created Ginger Fitzpatrick, my suffragette from
The Reluctant Debutante. I only wish I could have found a Joseph character as my prize for speaking out for injustice.

I'm hoping one of my siblings will tell a story, relay a memory, recall an event that will spur my creative genie and I'll have a new twist on a story for my work next year. My brother usually starts laughing halfway into his stories and can't finish them. Whatever happens, we usually laugh a lot, hug a lot, and cry a little.

Whatever you've got on your agenda this weekend, be it raking leaves, going to a movie, finally deciding who to vote for, or spending time with your own family, have a blast. As for me, since the clocks are being turned back on Sunday, I get an extra hour with the people I love most.