The Sparrow's Nest

I had so much fun writing "Little Berry." Believe it or not, she was one of my very first characters that I ever made. Back in grade school, I had nothing to give to my mom for her birthday, so I made a picture book for her, and Little Berry, who's name was Melly at the time, was the main character. She was trying to get a pot of honey for her little sister's birthday. I had thought of publishing these little stories, but set it aside. So now, years later, I thought of Melly again, and decided to write a short story for her. Stretching something so tiny as getting a pot of honey for a birthday made me wonder if I should just make a whole new story altogether. So I did, and Melly's name changed a few times until I decided on Little Berry. I moved my fairies into more of an American Indian garb. They live in a forest on the reservation and are called tree people. The big house in the story belongs to people living off of it, but right on the border. I

Minority characters, how many have I seen turned into dancing monkeys, stoic idiots who are all warrior, but no fight--ugh. I could go on for hours. They always end up as supporting characters, and there is nothing more frustrating than watching a movie, or reading a story that's supposed to be about Native Americans, and the main character is white. Raised by Natives, but white. Gatewood, oh sorry, it's called Geronimo, Last of the Mohicans (and they killed my favorite character), Dances With Wolves--and they're all depressing. Do you want to see the most accurate depiction of Natives? Watch Maverick with Mel Gibson. Does the view of Natives go against all preconceived notions here? Good. Does it make fun of how Natives are depicted? Yes. And that's a good thing. Shanghai Noon is another good one. When making Native characters, all you have to do is make them as human as yourself, and make sure they have a funny bone. That funny bone isn't being a dancing