With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season upon us, many us will be traveling to be around family. So what better way to prepare than to read about families?
Tule has several series that can help you do just that. Here, author Audrey Wick, writer of the 2018 Texas Sisters series and an upcoming 2019 brothers series, shares her experiences writing books with interconnected family characters in today’s Tule Author Q&A.
It’s that time of year: we’re all reconnecting with family. In your Texas Sisters series, you write about sisters who grew up in a small town. In your upcoming 2019 series, you write about brothers who own a BBQ restaurant. What’s the main difference in writing these sibling relationships?
Siblings can have wide-ranging relationships. The Fredrick sisters in Finding True North and Coming Home are supportive and provide a soft place for each other to land when challenges rock their lives. With the Hutchinson brothers for my BBQ brothers series, they stay in close proximity because they work together at a family business. That ignites conflict that they must navigate together, even though they don’t always see eye-to-eye.
What’s the hardest thing about writing sisters?
While my sisters act like friends, one of the challenges I had with writing their relationship was authenticity of their actions. Because they have a lifetime of history together, their communication, humor, and actions are driven by their relationship, but also by a friendship they’ve chosen to continue as adults.
What’s the hardest thing about writing brothers?
The Hutchinson brothers are in their twenties. They are trying to establish themselves while continuing to mature, especially in keeping a family business afloat. So making sure they have their own personalities—while maintaining a central family goal—was the biggest challenge.
Which do you prefer and why?
My Texas sisters are ones I adore for their personalities, but my Texas brothers have a spunk that’s hard to resist. Writing certain scenes with them were the most fun!
From whom do you draw your influence when you write new characters?
My characters usually start with a small trait, and then I build their personalities from there. For instance, in my first brothers novel, I channeled what I knew about the world of Texas BBQ . . . and imagined what it would be like to throw a vegetarian into the mix. That clash was used as the basis for my fish-out-of-water approach to character development. Look for book one in my BBQ Brothers of Last Stand series in mid-2019 from Tule!
Thanks so much for chatting today, Audrey.
My pleasure! And if readers want to follow more of my writing adventures and learn about new releases, they can find me on Twitter and Instagram @WickWrites or at audreywick.com.
Audrey Wick is a full-time English professor at Blinn College in Texas. Her writing has appeared in college textbooks published by Cengage Learning and W. W. Norton as well as in The Houston Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune, The Orlando Sentinel, and various literary journals. Audrey believes the secret to happiness includes lifelong learning and good stories. But travel and coffee help. She has journeyed to over twenty countries—and sipped coffee at every one.
I loved the Texas sisters books and can’t wait for the brothers stories to come out. I enjoyed your interview and getting to know more about your writing and inspirations.
Thank you so much, Janine! I think you’ll really enjoy not only getting to know these Texas brothers but also the town in which they live . . . stay tuned!
Nice you go the extra mile for authenticity.
I appreciate that, Denise. As a reader, I like relatable stories and characters, so I try to achieve that in my writing. Thanks for being a reader and supporting my debut series this year!