A classic story of a brother/sister bond
To ease myself into a new project, I am tinkering with autobiographical essays that were in various states of incompletion--several just needing a solid conclusion, but conclusions are very hard for me. Finished one essay yesterday about loving the book HANS BRINKER by Mary Mapes Dodge when I was a young reader, using the story as a way of describing the mythic importance of the brother/sister bond in many fairy tales and classic novels, as well as in my life. Was really fun to write about after so much focus on the sister-bond in my novel in short stories, tentatively titled HOW SHE LEFT. Next I am turning to an old essay I started a few years ago about money and gold (and its absence) in fairy tales. A nice change of pace from the stamina necessary to create longer fiction.