As a writer I feel as if I walk two distinct paths. On one path, I am drawn in the direction of non-fiction family pieces. I believe that if we can understand our family relationships, we can get a better understanding of who we are as individuals. Our surroundings mold much of our personalities and behaviors and the first environmental strongholds come from the family unit - or the lack of a family unit. The family environment can be a focus for our positive motivations or an instrument of self-destruction.

My real fascination on the subject of siblings was developed as I took note of similar birth order character traits (as noted by Alfred Adler) in siblings from different families. At that moment, studying siblings became much more interesting and complicated. I learned to get out of the textbooks and into the lives of real siblings. My hope is that in my capacity to research, interview and advise, my writings will effect positive changes for the readers. Even fun articles about family activities can become the catalyst for a busy parent to start spending more quality time with the kids.

On my other path as a writer, I enjoy the creativity involved when plotting out different fictional stories. As the characters go through their ups and downs, it’s comforting to know that on some level, it will all work out for them. Even though my plots usually revolve around the family unit, when writing fiction I can guarantee happy endings. My central characters always carry the lesson that sometimes to grow, you have to “let go.”
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Nina Guilbeau is the Siblings Editor for BellaOnline where she writes weekly parenting articles. Her parenting articles have also appeared in various online magazines. She is the winner of the Royal Palm Literary Award and author of Too Many Sisters, Birth Order and Parenting with writing credits in short story anthologies From Our Family to Yours and the upcoming Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Magic of Mothers and Daughters.

She has written (with the help of readers!) the romance suspense novella, Save Angelina. Join Nina Guilbeau on the Women’s Fiction Club Facebook page and help write her next novella!

Visit NinaGuilbeau.com for more articles, information and writing tips!




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