Illustration from "Adventures of Tiger" children's book (unpublished). I know the following is a very odd story, but I swear that every word of it is true. When I was twelve, I dreamed that my first child would be a daughter, that she would be blonde and blue-eyed, and that she would have a very characteristic smile, similar to but not the same as mine. I also dreamed that her name would be "Akkhira Miriam" . . . I've often been asked if her name was based on the anime movie, "Akira," but her name came to me before I'd ever heard of the film. Anyway, I started writing a children's book for my future daughter, with the main character being a little girl, Tiger, who looked like a cartoon version of her. (The characters in this illustration are, from upper left: Tiger, Leo, Skippy -- Tiger's orange-haired 'evil twin,' sorta -- there's a long story there!, and Aliester. Note that Skippy is wearing a Cure t-shirt, and that Aliester's shirt says "SHRED," hee!). The thing is, there's no way that I could have predicted that I'd have a blonde, blue-eyed child . . . I'm auburn-ish and green-eyed, and Kira's dad, Charlie, has hazel eyes and near-black curly hair. Go figure!! Kira's hair was much lighter when she was younger, BTW -- it looks dark in this photo, but it was really ash-blonde.  << Adrienne Gallery View Alicorn >> |