I am the middle child of three girls (the middle of 5 kids total, counting step-siblings who are real siblings to me). I have great relationships with all of them. They are ALWAYS there for me, and I hope they are able to say I am there for them.

They support and help me. They would move heaven and earth for me. And I won’t say too much more of a personal note to respect the privacy of my sisters and brother.

It must be because my sibling relationships have been such a blessing in my life that sibling relationships feature heavily in my fiction: every single installment of the Herezoth trilogy, and just as much, if not more, in the prequel.

Some of these sibling relationships are good. Others aren’t so great, or are absolutely abusive and toxic. But every single one of them is formative and powerful.

WE DON’T PICK OUR SIBLINGS

G.K. Chesterton observed that the reason family is so important for our character formation is that we don’t pick our family.

We choose to hang out with friends who are similar to us and share our interests, especially as adults.

We are just thrown with our families and have to learn to navigate those relationships. It is the breeding ground, ideally, of charity and other virtues.

KORA AND ZACRY PORTEG

Kora and Zacry are among my favorite sibling pairings in The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope. Kora is seventeen as the book starts, and Zac’s eleven.

Zac is Kora’s motivation and her heart. He brings out the deepest selflessness of which she is capable as she works to protect him and secure a future for him in a dystopian world ruled by a tyrant sorcerer.

Zac and Kora teach each other that the deepest love involves self-forgetful sacrifice. It’s a beautiful thing. I just love them together and what their relationship evokes in each of them.

So, who are your favorite fictional siblings? The Bennetts? The March sisters? Boromir and Faramir? Comment below.

And mark your calendars for June 15! In the meantime, read an excerpt featuring Kora and Zac here