WRITING CHARACTERS AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

 

 


Stepping back in time as I did when I wrote My Little Brother, I discovered a whole head full of memories of my own childhood. Events that happened which I’d tucked into the recesses of my mind.

When I was a little girl, an event happened which I have magnified for the sake of My Sister’s Secret and made so much more of it than it was at the time. It was a fleeting brush with something that could have turned out so much worse than it did.

I was never traumatised then. Years later when I was writing about children, this memory emerged to nag at me. Did I do the right thing? Should I have done more? What if my silence had cost someone else?

If you’ve read any of my books already, you’ll realise that I write character based largely. Yes, the plots are thick with twists and turns, but the characters create them.

My Sister’s Secret is heavy on people because I wanted that complex relationship of a large family, with different personalities kicking in. The ebb and flow of emotions as feelings are hurt, or revelations come to light. They love each other, but they don’t necessarily understand the reasoning behind every decision each of them make. Their love for each member of their family can never be the same, but it can be equal. We are human with opinions and idiosyncrasies, but no matter how close, there is always something left unsaid.

I have a brother fourteen years older than me, and two older sisters and the revelation that I didn’t know every single thing about them, even though we are all so close came about when my dad died. Events that happened before I was born. Why would they be spoken about? They weren’t necessarily secrets, but events that had nothing to do with me. Conversations my brother had with our dad, places my older siblings lived before I was born, attached to memories I can’t share.

The shock of finding something out that the others all casually nod and say, ‘yeah, of course we knew.’

This is the familial atmosphere I wanted to create in My Sister’s Secret.

A close family isn’t necessarily pulled apart by secrets. Sometimes they’re held together.


My Sister's Secret: The BRAND NEW unforgettable psychological thriller from Diane Saxon, author of My Little Brother, for 2023 eBook : Saxon, Diane: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store


Amazon.com: My Sister's Secret: The BRAND NEW unforgettable psychological thriller from Diane Saxon, author of My Little Brother, for 2023 eBook : Saxon, Diane: Kindle Store


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