Letter to the Sisters
Here are the letters to the two girls in the young adult verse novel I am working on at the moment.
I might as well get all the dead dad questions out of the way at the same time. I want to know what you felt like when you found out your father was dead.
Signed, Me
Signed, Me
You two have been together a long time. Why? Tell me what attracts you to her. I know a lot of your downs, mostly hers. I don’t know any of the highs. You can’t hang around in this book as some sort of eye-candy. That’s not going to work.
Tell me what she does that really ticks you off. Tell me why she doesn’t have any close girlfriends. Tell me if you think the two of you will still be together by the end of this book.
Signed, Me
Tell me your favorite memory you share with your sister. Is she nice to you? Does she help you clean your room or do your homework? Do you ever spy on her? So far you’re acting a lot like a dog in a book, a dog that doesn’t really need to be there. If I can yank you out of the story and not notice, well, you’re going to be history pretty soon.
Signed, Me
Do you have a backbone or a heart? I can’t figure out which.
Have you told her the truth or nothing but lies?
And that husband you have now, how much does he really know about the real story?
Signed, Me
To be honest, neither one of you is all that interesting to me right now.
Signed,
Author who may be backburnering you for a while unless you can do something to change my mind
Before you give up on us you might want to know the story about how one of us, and probably not the one you were thinking of, had to make a visit to that grey building over on Galindo Street. You know, the one that has the people carrying signs out front and screaming at the people going inside? The one where you practically have to have a guard or a boyfriend with really big muscles walk you from the car to the inside? Yeah, that one.
And she wasn’t going there to pick up some more pills.
Signed, The Girls
Okay, so I get your point about the medical procedure one you had to have. And I get that it’s a great big secret. I’m even pretty sure I know which one of you had to have it.
But so what? What does that have to do with the story we’re trying to tell here?
Signed, Author who is trying to see what parts of each of you are inside of me
Girl#1 is like you in that she’s a goody-two-shoes, (well except for that one medical incident). At least that’s what she wants you to think. And she has hole in her heart that she thinks is going to be filled when she finds her dad. And she’s going to be disappointed.
Girl#2 is like you in that she is afraid for people to see who she really is. And so she’s pretty much an expert in the “fake it til you make it” way of thinking. And she really loves dogs. Great, big dogs.
Signed, The Girls
I thought what you did that night was his choice, not yours. You’re not who I thought you were and that makes you a very interesting character. I don’t like you as much as I did when we started this journey, but that’s okay. I don’t have to like you, I just have to believe you. And I do.
Dear Girl #2,
You’re the strong one. I know it doesn’t feel that way at the moment but I can already tell you are the strongest of the pair of you. It’s not just what you’ve had to endure, although that has certainly added to your strength. You’re also very talented but I wish you wouldn’t hide your talent in those books. It’s okay to share.
Signed, the one trying to write this story
Signed, Girl #1
So you decided to pop into my life, with no invitation, and start writing my story, huh? Got that much extra time on your hands? Can’t think of something better to do? Don’t go kissing up to me with compliments because they don’t count for crap in the real world. Sweet-talking might work on my mom but not on me. And stay the hell away from my journals. Just because they have pictures in them doesn’t make them public. They’re private. Just like my life. So stay the frack away.
Signed, Girl #2
You boyfriend’s right. You shouldn’t go to that funeral. I know you’re going to go ahead and go but you really shouldn’t. It’s not that something bad is going to happen there. You’ll have a good time seeing as how it’s the first funeral you’ve ever gone to and everything.
It’s the after part you should be worried about. Sorry about your car.
Dear Girl #2,
I am not writing about your boobs. Nope. I don’t care who you’re flashing them to I’m not writing about them.
Well, not much anyway.
Signed, Me
Your mom’s telling the truth. Maybe not all of it but what’s she’s told you so far is the God’s honest truth. Just thought you should know.
Dear Girl #2,
Your mom’s lying like a dirty rug in front of the kitchen sink. And yeah, that stinky stuff is going to hit the fan. I’d offer to give you a hand but you’d probably bite it off.
Signed, Me
I’m sorry about your dad. Your real dad. More sorry than I can say. Sometimes there no reason that we can see for why people do the things they do. When people tell you life isn’t fair, this is what they are talking about.
Dear Girl #2 in this book.
I’m sorry about your mom. Something happened to her, something neither one of us will completely understand. Some people, like you, get broken by the world then pick themselves up and move on. Other people, like your mom, get broken and never really recover. It’s not your fault.
Signed, Me
There is something you’re not telling me about your home life. I thought I knew it all but last night, in my dreams, you whispered to me that you still had a secret. You need to be brave and let me know what it is so I can help you.
Dear Girl #2 in this book,
You’re tough. You’re a little bit mean to the people in your life, people who really care about you. There must be something more than the deal with your dad that is causing it but I don’t know what. Any ideas?
Signed, Me
Thank you for suggesting that scene at the beginning of the book, the one that will probably make some readers mad and some librarians not order the book. I realize now that it is the force behind much of what drives girl #2 in this book. Good job, subconscious. (Psst…do you think you could come up with something equally strong for girl #1? I’ll let you work on it for a while.)
Signed, Me
You are going to need a new dictionary to define a few things in your life.
Dear Girl #2 in this book,
Yes, you are going to get your wish. You may wish you hadn’t.
Signed, Me
You’ve made some difficult choices that not everyone is going to agree with but I believe you did the best you could do with what you had going on in your life at the time.
Dear Girl #2 in this book,
Surviving a bad life does not make you a bad person.
Signed, Me
It’s time to unleash your temper and make a public spectacle of yourself. Ready? Set? Go!
Dear girl #2 in this book,
Self-loathing much? Ouch.
Signed, Me
I didn’t like you when we started this journey but now, now I want to take you out for a coffee and fill you up with so much happiness that maybe that whole in your heart won’t hurt so much.
Dear Girl #2 in this book,
I’m sorry you started off as the slapstick kind of character. I was having trouble getting to know you because you were a little too much like me. You’re still a lot like me but I’m peeling away the skin (ouch!) and letting it all show. Yeah, it hurts. Yeah, some people are not going to approve. But yeah, it’s the right thing to do for the story.
Signed, Me
You don’t deserve that boyfriend you have. I’m just saying.
Dear Girl #2 in the book,
Why you don’t have a boyfriend, I don’t understand.
Signed, Me
I think you bit into a lemon and forgot to let go, for years! You are one bitter lady.
Dear Girl #2 in this book,
Sometimes we have to redefine words we think we already know. Words like love and family and patience and acceptance- they might mean something different to you by the end of this book.
Signed, Me
Yes, it gets better but first it gets a whole lot worse.
Dear Girl #2 in this book,
I promise, I really thought your parents when married when I started this book. I found out they weren’t the same time you did.
Signed, Me
Someone is about to wreck your car. It might be you. It might be your girlfriend. Just giving you a heads up.
Dear best friend of girl #2 in this book,
Your love life just got complicated but I’m not sure that’s really pertinent to this story. In other words, you may be single again very soon.
Signed, Me
The cello is your security blanket, I get that now. And I’m okay with it. You have no idea how good you are. I’m not so okay with the way you’re treating dad #2 but I understand it. But you have to get over things with your little brother ASAP.
Dear Girl #2 in this book,
When I asked you what you were afraid of, your answer surprised me. You are so strong that I forget that you haven’t always been that way and when I think about the things that have made you this strong, I want to cry. I’m sorry.
Signed, Me
Are you going to play that cello or just stare at it for the entire book?
Dear Girl #2,
When did you meet your best friend? I think this is important for me to know.
Dear Boss Where Girl #2 Works,
You are scum.
Signed, Me
The cello is much more important than either one of us anticipated. Also you’re not a complete brat which makes me feel better. Mostly but not totally.
Dear Girl #2,
That scummy job you had with that equally scumming boss? Gone! I love where you work now and so do you.
Signed, Me
2 main characters, 3 supporting characters, 3 sets of parents, a grandfather, a cat, and a dog. Plus all the walk-on characters. I have never had so many people in a book before. Please make sure they all need to be there.
Signed, Me
You cook! Whew! I am so glad to know that now. It may seem like a little thing to you but it might turn out to be a big thing to the plot.
Dear Girl #2,
Keeping your job has never been as important to you as right now. So don’t lose your temper. I’m not saying you should let your boss walk all over you but keep it together because your life is about to get a whole lot worse.
Signed, Me
Will you please do something? Want something? You are the singularly most boring character in this entire book. It is just the two of you in the house, unless you count the cat (which you ignore) so one of you has got to do something eventually. I’d kill you off except there’s already been enough death in this book.
Signed, Me
I know you’re awesome but can you please show me why?
Dear Girl #2 in this book,
I can’t promise you a happy ending but I can promise you less pain when this is over.
Signed, Me
Do you enjoy making our lives so miserable? You must because bad things keep happening to both of us and there’s not a lot of sunshine raining down on us. Think you could do something about that?
Signed, the Girls
It’s your fault the dog died. I knew it was going to be your fault and I knew I was going to be mad at you (which is nothing compared to what Felix thinks of you now) but until I wrote the scene, I didn’t realize how angry it was going to make me to see how much you are like someone else in the book, someone who is thankfully already dead or I might have to kill him again.
Dear Girl #2 in the book,
It’s a nice thing you did with the sketches. She probably doesn’t deserve what you did but it makes me love you even more.
Dear Felix,
I’m so sorry about your puppy.
Signed, Me
I never thought you would turn out to be the hero in this story but there you are, rocking back from all the crap I keep throwing at you, smoothing things out for everyone else, carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders but still believing it’s better to be nice than not. I’m loving telling your story. And when all this is over, you’re gonna be alright. I’m sure of it.
Signed, Me
If you aren’t careful, people are going to start believing those flip comments you keep tossing around. It’s fine if you want to muck up your own life but what about your little brother? Or your mom? Or the man that married your mom that you refuse to call dad? Your words have more power than you think.
Dear Girl #2,
You’ve got a lot of crap going on in your life but there’s some good stuff (like your art) and good people (like your best friend). Focus on them and let go of the bad stuff (like your dad). You can’t change him. You can only change your reaction to him.
Signed, Me
You need to talk to someone about your dad. If you can’t talk to your mom and your won’t talk to your boyfriend, where’s all that anger going to go next?
Dear Girl #2,
I know you’re not going to to talk to anyone about your mom. What I’m wondering is where you’re going to go when she falls apart? Because you know that’s coming sooner rather than
later, right?
Signed, Me
You are a brat. More than a brat but I can’t say that here. At the moment I find absolutely nothing redeeming about you. Nothing. So you better make good with your little brother and the puppy and change my mind.
Dear Girl #2,
When we started this journey you were up with so much anger that you thought you would explode if you didn’t scream about. Now you’re acting like, well, that doormat of a mother of
yours. What happened?
Signed, Me
Since no one else has told you this yet, I will. That death was not your fault. You’ve screwed up in a whole bunch of other ways and you have let just about everyone around you down more than once, but that death, it couldn’t have been avoided.
Dear Girl #2,
What are you planning on doing with all that money you’re hoarding? I think I know but then every time I think I know something about you, you do something unexpected.
Signed, Me
You just became a whole lot more interesting to write about. I had no idea about THAT wall.
Dear Girl #2,
I’d apologize about that slap in the face you just got but I’m inclined to agree with the slapper, you deserved it.
Dear character who died,
Yes, you are still dead.
Signed, Me
That hole in your life you’ve been pretending didn’t exist? Be prepared to fall a very long way before you land. Also, you used to be my favorite but the more I learn about you, the less I like you.
Dear Girl #2,
You can try to avoid the truth as long as you want but trust me when I tell you that it really will set you free, if you can see past the anger. I’m not so sure about the dog/cat thing though. We’ll have to talk some more.
Dear unknown character who is not dead but somehow connected to both of these girls,
Are you really a lawyer or just pretending to be one?
Signed, Me
You should have listened to your boyfriend. There is a giant crapstorm about to fall down around you. You could have avoided it if you had just stayed home.
Dear Girl #2,
I know you’re not as tough as you try to make the rest of the work think you are. Do you?
You know that puppy and how I thought all that stuff that happened with it was out of the book? Well, that thought might have been a bit premature. Or it might have been that it happened to you and not your brother. I’m just warning you to keep the tissues handy.
Dear Girl #2 in this book,
Suddenly the cat matters so much more than I ever realized. Wow!
Signed, Me
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