Dee’s Butterfly
You might have noticed we’re out of sequence this month. Yeah, it’s my fault. I was stuck across country, and Jenny couldn’t get me, and I couldn’t get signed in to the server, so Jenny jumped in and saved the day. But I’m feeling MUCH better now, so we should be okay from now on. Thank you, Jenny.
Okay, so on to Dee’s butterfly. First of all, this was one of my surprises in this book. Surprises are fun for an author. Okay, good surprises. And it was a big surprise when suddenly all three girls marched into the tattoo shop. It sounded good in theory. It’s quite symbolic, after all. The tattoos interact with magic. They reflect each sister perfectly, and inspire quite different and unique reactions from each hero. But I had to make Dee agree to it. And that was the surprise.
Now, there was never a question that Mare was going to get a tattoo–especially after Jenny went out and did her research by getting one just like it (my husband said it was a good thing we weren’t writing about transsexuals). But Dee just isn’t your tattoo kind of girl. In fact, in the tattoo scene, the last thing you hear from her is, “I am not getting a tattoo.”
Imagine my surprise when the next time we see her, she does, in fact, have a tattoo, just like her sisters–on her shoulder, of course, so not just anybody could see it. And to tell the truth, she’s not much happier about it, especially when Danny notices and asks her about it.
“Yes,” she snapped, “it’s a butterfly. It’s a symbol of, oh, I don’t know, having the courage to fly. Well, I fly all the time. I don’t need an insect on my back to help me. I’ll probably be the only hawk with a butterfly on its back. All the other hawks will laugh at me.”
Now, we looked at a lot of flash to pick our own butterflies, because our butterflies had to reflect their owners. Wearers. Whatever. And Mare definitely had a Queen of the Universe butterfly. Lizzie had a very cool stylized butterfly that said mystical and mysterious to me. But Dee’s…well, Dee still doesn’t know what she is. So Dee’s couldn’t be too out there, because even though her art is, she isn’t. She still doesn’t have the courage to be. But it has to be a butterfly that could stand up to trouble. That could remind her that she could fly, that she could metamorphose into someone truly beautiful. A sturdy, but not masculine butterfly. And definitely not too girly a butterfly. Just like this.
I think it’s the perfect median between Jenny’s kick-ass butterfly and Krissie’s exotic butterfly. And it looks great on Dee’s shoulder. Especially when it becomes green.
Eileen
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i think all three of you did an excellent job of picking butterflies for your character.
i think Mare’s suits me best though.
There’s a question for you guys. What butterfly would you choose? And it doesn’t have to be ours. Mine wouldn’t be Dee’s.
Eileen
*sneaking a quick peak to make sure no CBs are around*
I really like all the butterflies and how they tell you so much about each of the Miss Fortunes! If I were picking a butterfly for me, though, I would definitely go for Dee’s.
Will there be pictures of the butterflies in the book?
How do you find one to choose. I googled butterflies , found one. Don’t know how to post it here. If I had to pick one here it would be Lizzie’s.
Theresa - why are you hiding?
So I looked up butterfly clip art but it won’t let me copy the pic here. The one I chose is small with a deceptively simple shape. You wouldn’t think too much of it if you saw it head on or with its wings closed. But viewed with a different perspective the colors are billiant jewel tones, blues and greens that really pop. I like that it looks fragile but has such strong colors.
‘Cause I’m not suppose to be allowed out to play until that thing I’ve been working on is turned in. I thought I might be able to get away with it over here.
Ya know, I never used to have even the slightest desire to get a tatoo, but after reading Gaffney’s Three book and hearing that Jenny got one, I’m thinking maybe someday….
Going back to work now. No really.
I love all three of the butterflies, but if I had to pick one for myself I’d probably go for Lizzie’s. I like it because it’s different and it just looks cool.
Theresa Says:
‘Cause I’m not suppose to be allowed out to play until that thing I’ve been working on is turned in.
Gotcha! Get back to work or no Vicar of Dibley for you! (love that show)
You and OH. I tell ya, try to raise kids right these days and all they want to do is hang out with best selling authors and talk about books. Where did we go wrong???
One of the reasons I can’t imagine getting a tattoo is that it’s hard for me to think of something that would be “me” all the time. I mean, sometimes I’d be the caterpillar, not the butterfly. And I suspect that sometimes I’m a mean, butterfly-snarfing bird. Or a perky little ladybug. Or an aphid. I only wish I had the presence to be a cat.
I have an acquaintance, who is a reproductive biologist, who has a very ornate tattoo of a sperm with a homunculus inside the head. I had to call him on the biological inaccuracy and political potential of that one. It must be tiring to have to defend such a thing (not that he seemed to mind). But still - it’s a permanent commitment to an ornament that’s supposed to “say something”.
Which is why I have jewelry instead.
Diane, I’m 100% with you on that one. And yeah, I’m the only one of us who doesn’t echo her character on her body somwhere. I’m too gunshy. So I got a butterfly pin to put on my black business suit.
As for where to find the clip art for the butterflies, ask Jenny. She can find ANYTHING. And yes, the appropriate butterfly will lead into each character’s section of the chapter. It’s really neat(back to work, Theresa)
I think I’d pick the butterfly I had to do for my first design class. I loved that butterfly, got to use a really cool paper, color and texture, and the colors were subtle but really popped. The shape was an attenuated monarch/swallowtail type. If I’ve got to pick one, I’m picking that one.
I doubt I’ll ever get a tattoo either. Don’t like needles and also don’t think I could ever come up with anything that would be me 24/7, ad infinitum. My Bradley went out one night and got a tattoo. Heee. He now has a black freckle on his upper arm, to match the brownish ones he was born with. The stealth (coward’s) tattoo.
I like Mare’s butterfly the best, but I’m not really a butterfly kinda girl. I have a celtic shield on the inside of my right wrist. It’s meant to be a protection against all the big, bad ugly out there in the world. Even the colors mean something in it… green, yellow and turquoise…they basically follow the same lines as the shield itself, thereby reinforcing the magic.
I cannot wait to read this book!!!
MCB: i don’t know, we could be worse. ummm, name how? that’s kind of hard to do…
one day, i may get a tatoo. not sure what, not sure where (though knowing my sense of humor probably on my butt), but as of now: no. and when i do it, i’m going to need a lot of liquor to get through it. A LOT. and then i can watch it stretch and sag over the years and scare small children with it. ooo, sounds kind of fun.
oh, and check out that cover. oooooo
Oh my, Dee’s butterfly turns green….can’t wait to read what makes it do that.
Theresa….you know CB’s lurk anywhere there is a writer.
No tatoos for me…
I’m really loving the cover! It just looks so completely right for this book.
No tatoo here either. As everyone else has said, there’s nothing I can think of that will always suit who I am. And I hate the thought of what it might look like when I’m 82. Somehow I don’t think it would appears as cool.
McB–My daughter came to me when she was 14 and demanded a tattoo. She’d seen one she thought was tooooooo cool, a shamrock just below and to the side of a friend’s navel. Small, delicate, but a statement. I said, “Okay, fine”(my poor kids never got a chance to rebel. I was smarter than they were), “but you know what that tattoo’s going to look like the first time you get pregnant? The state map of Iowa.” At 25 she is still tattoo-free. You just have to know what’ll scare them the most.
I have one. I got it in 2005. I almost passed out. Yes, I’m a wuss. What can I say? What is it? Well, it’s a daisy. My younger brother got this big daisy on his leg, with my mom’s name and her borthday and the day she died. I’m not a big-obvious-tat kinda girl, so I went for a smaller version of the same daisy, with no writing and no color, on the lower right side of my back. It’s only visible to my husband, or when I wear a two-piece swimming suit (NEVER!). But I know it’s there. And I know what it means. And when people ask “Do you have a tat?” I can say “Why yes. Yes I do” and then give them a mysterious smile, and leave it at that.
I do wish that mine glowed green though. That would be kinda cool. Do you have to get special ink for that Eileen? Or does it just require superpowers?
i already picked a butterfly tattoo, but i really like mare’s and was talking to my roommate about how i was thinking i should get that one too! she told me to get it for my 21st birthday, but that isn’t happening - too soon!
getting the tattoo wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be. i hate needles but its more the needles attached to a syringe or an IV that freaks me out. i made my roommate go with me because she already had 3 and i went to her artist so i knew it would look good. mine is above my left hip and i’m sure it will get distorted when i’m pregnant which will beinteresting considering it is all black and that will make for some pretty interesting cover-up work! so if i get another one it will be somewhere that wont get all stretched out when i have kids, like maybe my ankle.
Sorry to be so late answering here.
I got the butterfly pix from Chinese Butterfly Designs CD-ROM and Book (Dover Electronic Clip Art) (Paperback). Sorted through until I had half a dozen that fit each sister (had to change some of them slightly) and sent the to Eileen and Krissie. Eileen picked hers from there and I picked Mare’s and Xan’s from there (Xan’s with some alteration) but Krissie had one from another book of clip art that was close to what she wanted, so I tweaked that one, too.