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Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Sister, sister-what's in a name? - Ann Roth

My women's fiction novel, My Sisters, is out this month, so I'm focused on sisters. There are so many aspects to the relationship between sisters. I have been and will be blogging about some of them. You'll find a list of blog dates and links below.

What's in a nickname? Plenty if your sister coined it. Or your mom. Or anyone in the family, especially if everyone calls you by that name even now, when you're grown. A name is like a label. Someone calls you Miss Neaty-pants, you either toe the line and keep everything in your life spic-and-span, or rebel and live a cluttered, messy life.

Even if you don't have a nickname, you might be labeled, say this way: "She's a troublemaker." Chances are, you'll do what you can to live up (or should I say down) to the family expectation.

I won't tell you the labels that define Margaret, Rose and Quincy, the three heroines in My Sisters. But trust me, their nicknames have profoundly affected them.

Do you have a nickname for your sister (or someone else in the family)? Does she have one for you?

Looking forward to those nicknames, and thanks for stopping by.

Ann ("smart, with good common sense")
http://www.annroth.net/

For more blogs on sisters, check out the following:

http://www.noveltalkblog.blogspot.com/ (10/30)
http://www.loveisanexplodingcigar.com/ (11/6)
http://readerslounge.catanetwork.com/ (11/7)
http://www.toberead.wordpress.com/ (11/11)
www.ninc.com/blog (11/12)--
My Sisters, Zebra, November 2008

9 comments:

Avi J said...

My Sister could not pronounce my full name at two years when I was born, so she called me Avi, a shorter version of my name, as my parents told me; and it just stuck on me. My nickname feels more now like my real name (lol)

Gina said...

My nicknname is queenie. My three older sisters callled me this cause I was the last child and was spoiled by them and my parents. Now I cannot seem to get them to stop calling me that.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Avi, that's really cool! I'm thinking you and your sisters are close, huh? Are you going to tell us your full name? :-)


Gina- I can't think of a better name. Nothing wrong with being queen, is there? LOL.

Helen said...

I am the eldest of 4 girls and no brothers, I have never had a nickname my two next sisters names have been shortened and the youngest is called by her full name.
But we are really close and had so much fun growing up together there is only 5 years and 10 days between myself and the youngest so we did lots together.

Have Fun
Helen

Anonymous said...

Helen- How wonderful to have all those lovely sisters! You're very fortunate.

Michelle Douglas said...

My sister's nickname is Maggie - given to her by my grandfather - because when she was a toddler she'd chatter away like a little magpie. We all still call her Maggie... and she loves it.

I love kindhearted/generous nicknames - ones that almost say as much about the person giving it, as the one receiving it. I think nicknames are a wonderful device to use in fiction. Did you have fun giving your sisters nicknames, Ann?

Estella said...

I had two sisters and they called me Sis or Sissie.

Anonymous said...

Michelle- One of the sisters in My Sisters is Margaret, aka Maggie. Cool that your sister is the same name!

Estella- Sis/Sissie is nice. My youngest brother calls me Sis and I love it. :-)

Michele L. said...

My nickname is Shelly. I like my full name better which is Michele. My brothers used to tease me and call me Shelly bean, Shelly Skelly, Shelton Skelton, etc. I was like, "Whatever..." Brothers!