I know, I know.  Everyone is hustling and bustling around this week getting last minute things done in readiness for Christmas.  Me too.  We head to Minneapolis on 12/23 to visit family.  And yes, we have  read the weather reports — a big snow storm is on the way.  I haven’t been dreaming of a white Christmas, but guess what?  I’m getting one anyhow.  I think the grandkids will be building giant snowmen, or is it better  to say snowpeople?   We certainly don’t want to get stuck in an airport.  Just in case, I’ll have my Kindle with me  and a notebook for jotting down people-watching observations and whatever else pops into my head.

I’ve been busy reworking my novel in first person, present tense, and it sounds more natural.  The good news is my characters are happy with me.   I hated that guilty feeling when they were sitting across the room, breathing down my neck.  Now, they come with me to holiday parties, to church, out to dinner, shopping, on walks, into the bathtub.   We ‘re back in synch — they march around in my head giving me tips on what they would like to do or NOT do next.  Tessa, my main character, had the nerve to ask me what I got her for Christmas.   I told her to simmer down.  What I got her was a new lease on life.  I put her back in action, as if that wasn’t enough.  She acts like a goody two-shoes.  But, I can assure you, she is not all perfume and roses.  Like everyone else, she has her devious moments.  Everyone knows her older sister, Claudine, has a bit of the devil in her, but Tessa puts on this nice-girl front.

As many a writing instructor has told me, a character cannot be all good or all bad.  Everyone is made up of a little of both.   That’s always a good thing to remember.  My sister used to be the one who got in the most trouble.  She argued with my mom a lot, which got her in  hot water.  As for me, I often behaved poorly, but didn’t talk back.   Acting innocent saved my skin.  Mouthy Charlotte often got blamed.  (Sorry Charlotte.)

Here’s hoping all of you have a blessed Christmas.  I wish  you peace and joy in the coming New Year.  I’ll check back in with a report after we return from Minnesota.

Do you have sister stories to share?  Did you let your sister take the blame?  Feel like confessing?