Been a Long Time Since I Rock N' Rolled

Looks like I haven't been here in a while.  Life has kinda taken over and many of my online pusuits have had to take a back seat.  Now I'm back and, luckily for you, won't bore you with all the juicy details.  I'll save that for the novel.

Family can make interesting characters.  In my family, for instance, there are several members who I wouldn't need to change at all.  Well, I might want to change their names and possibly their appearance.  But as far as their personalities go, they are already perfect exaggerated characters for a book.  Unfortunately, I haven't come up with a book to fit them into yet.  I mainly gravitate toward children's books and these people would not fit into the type I write at this time.  Maybe it's time to branch out?

Family situations, problems, disagreements, etc. are a good foundation for a book, as you can see by browsing through the stacks at the library or book store.  You might think 'younger sisters fighting over older sister's recently vacated room' would be written to death.  It has been.  But everyone handles the same situation in a different way.  It's always interesting to see where another author goes with it.  One problem I see would be making sure not to be too limited in appeal and focus.  Make sure readers anywhere can relate to the characters.  I often wonder if my characters have that quality.

So I guess that's my suggestion for today.  Keep it real!