Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)

[MyPeopleAreNordic]

On 1/27/2019 at 12:37 PM, louannems said:

He did- he flew back alone, without the whole Rod ensemble.  Shortly after returning, JillR post that Timothy and her had a three hour talk by phone.  Ridiculous!  That poor boy works and attends classes and doesn't he need to study, eat and sleep?

I have two toddlers and I cannot have a 20 minute phone conversation, let alone a THREE HOUR phone conversation. 

How does a mother of 14(?) have three hours to talk on the phone? Shouldnt' she be caring for her kids, homeschooling, cooking, doing laundry, overseeing music practice, etc? (Or shilling Plexus and planning her next grift? Or applying eyeline? Or teasing hair?) Jill must be super mom if she can parent and homeschool so many kids (including an infant and a couple of toddlers) and still has time for three hour phone calls!

(Obviosuly sarcasm, because we all know who is doing the work of parenting and "educating" in that family. I'm sure Nurie, Kaylee, and the other older children look forward to a time when they can finally get some rest, sit, and listen to their own brood praise them in hours-long phone calls while their other kids do housework and parenting for them.) 

On 1/27/2019 at 7:23 PM, drafan said:

Wouldn't this be the time for Jessa and Ben to make their move?....didn't they tease in THs about adopting slews of kids?

Oh yeah, right. Just like all the twins she's given birth to.....

Someone should alert Jessa & Bin of this situation so they can put their money where their mouths are! (Although I wouldn't wish that on any child.)

If the girl wants to parent her child, I hope she can and is able to do so with family support and without becoming a pariah.  I also hope that if she wanted to end the pregnancy, she was able to do (although I doubt it, given the circle her family probably runs in).  If she wants to continue the pregnancy and choose to place the baby for adoption, I hope she does and is able to have some say in the adoption process if she wants.  I just hope whatever happens with this pregnancy, that the girl is allowed to choose on her own and given support long-term for her choice by her parents and community.  If her parents' church won't accept whatever her choice is, I hope her family leaves that church.  This poor child has been victimized enough.  (Honestly, if I was her mother, I'd have advocated for an abortion and acted like it was a miscarriage to save face if I absolutely felt like I had to "save face" for the sake of my daughter's reputation while still making sure charges were filed against this guy for getting the underage girl pregnant.)

I also hope that if she chooses to keep and parent the child, that this rapist is NOT allowed to get any parental rights (and goes to jail) but that he be required to support the child financially while not having any access to the child (until the child is old enough to choose to have access to him/her if she wants).  I also hope he will be vilified by those in his community despite God's forgiveness and all, or at least kept away from underage girls. (Note to the Duggars: do not allow this guy around Johanna, Jenni, etc despite that he's been forgiven and all that Jesus speak.  I hope the Duggars seriously ask/think back about whether or not this guy may have ever been around any of the pre-teen girls in the family alone when he's been around the family....not that their track record on handling things like this is great or anything, but you know.....). 

[Temperance]

@MyPeopleAreNordic  For all we know, she did have a miscarriage. 

I think her mother/parents seem to be fighting for her, which is good. I hope she gets help to overcome this. 

[ChiCricket]

2 hours ago, MyPeopleAreNordic said:

I have two toddlers and I cannot have a 20 minute phone conversation, let alone a THREE HOUR phone conversation.

Did you make sure to whip them with thin plumbing line when they were babies until they learned not to make a peep while mama was on the phone?🤔

[SeamusOreilly]

On 1/27/2019 at 8:23 PM, drafan said:

Wouldn't this be the time for Jessa and Ben to make their move?....didn't they tease in THs about adopting slews of kids?

Oh yeah, right. Just like all the twins she's given birth to.....

 

On 1/27/2019 at 6:40 PM, PikaScrewChu said:

I saw that Carlin is having a wedding with very sinful dancing. I'm betting she's trying to out-do her sisters at this point, it's kind of hard to throw something really over the top in 3 months. I fully expect this wedding to have EVERYTHING.

❤️Mrs. Seth Myers!  

[NotFundie]

If anyone wants to go diving down yet another fundie rabbit hole, I'd suggest the John and Esther Shrader family.  I'm not sure whether this has been discussed here lately or not.

Esther is Anna Duggar's older sister and she's married to Pastor John Schrader.  He wasn't able to make a living in the USA grifting for the Lord, so he took the family to Africa.  I think they're in Kafue, Zambia.  They have 11 children, three of whom were born since they've moved overseas.  John regularly takes to his bed with a back ache or some other problem.  He composes what his thinks is poetry, writes hymns, and prints translations of the Bible.  He's on Facebook and there are discussions on FreeJinger as well.  His father is a minister in Texas and the general consensus is that he helps drum up support for John's "missionary work" in order to keep him at a distance.  Those poor Zambian people are stuck with him now.

Anna and Esther's dad, Mr. Keller, has got to be one of the worst judges of character around to let his daughters marry such terrible husbands.

[madpsych78]

13 hours ago, NotFundie said:

If anyone wants to go diving down yet another fundie rabbit hole, I'd suggest the John and Esther Shrader family.  I'm not sure whether this has been discussed here lately or not.

Esther is Anna Duggar's older sister and she's married to Pastor John Schrader.  He wasn't able to make a living in the USA grifting for the Lord, so he took the family to Africa.  I think they're in Kafue, Zambia.  They have 11 children, three of whom were born since they've moved overseas.  John regularly takes to his bed with a back ache or some other problem.  He composes what his thinks is poetry, writes hymns, and prints translations of the Bible.  He's on Facebook and there are discussions on FreeJinger as well.  His father is a minister in Texas and the general consensus is that he helps drum up support for John's "missionary work" in order to keep him at a distance.  Those poor Zambian people are stuck with him now.

Anna and Esther's dad, Mr. Keller, has got to be one of the worst judges of character around to let his daughters marry such terrible husbands.

Totally. The only one who is marginally better is TFDW because he at least seems to provide for Priscilla and their family. But he's high up in IBLP which means he holds vile beliefs.

[queenanne]

14 hours ago, NotFundie said:

Anna and Esther's dad, Mr. Keller, has got to be one of the worst judges of character around to let his daughters marry such terrible husbands.

And keep in mind, he ministers at prisons...!

[ginger90]

Jill Rodrigues has a new blog post up. I’m just posting some pictures. The post is a bunch of BLAH BLAH BLAH...... (the picture at the table is at a Bed and Breakfast they were staying in)

[BitterApple]

How is it that Jill always manages to photograph her children from the least flattering angle possible? They look like bobbleheads.

[galaxychaser]

Maybe she squats down when she takes pictures?

[Temperance]

The Maxwells are having a giveway and retrospective weekend to celebrate the blog. It's worth taking a look if you want to know the family. Their fans are out trying to win and there's a post before the giveway touching on all the milestones the family has blogged about.  (Do keep in mind that anything the kids/adults wrote was heavily coached by their parents.)

Edited February 3, 2019 by Temperance

[Minivanessa]

11 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Jill Rodrigues has a new blog post up. I’m just posting some pictures. The post is a bunch of BLAH BLAH BLAH...... (the picture at the table is at a Bed and Breakfast they were staying in)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sorry, but Nurie's hair and makeup are doing her no favors. In these photos she looks old enough to be the mother of the other kids, not their sister. She's not blessed with classically beautiful features, but FFS there must be something she could do to look better than that.

 

10 hours ago, BitterApple said:

How is it that Jill always manages to photograph her children from the least flattering angle possible? They look like bobbleheads.

 

7 hours ago, galaxychaser said:

Maybe she squats down when she takes pictures?

I don't think she squats. The photos are taken from above the subjects' heads. I suppose she could either stand on something to be higher than them, or just hold her phone up high when taking the photos.

[doodlebug]

11 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Jill Rodrigues has a new blog post up. I’m just posting some pictures. The post is a bunch of BLAH BLAH BLAH...... (the picture at the table is at a Bed and Breakfast they were staying in)

 

It’s pretty obvious the breakfast photos weren’t taken chez Rodrigues, there’s a reasonable amount of food on the table instead of the half rations Jill serves her kids. No surprise that Daddy has the big plate of sausages right next to him.

[louannems]

7 hours ago, Temperance said:

The Maxwells are having a giveway and retrospective weekend to celebrate the blog. It's worth taking a look if you want to know the family. Their fans are out trying to win and there's a post before the giveway touching on all the milestones the family has blogged about.  (Do keep in mind that anything the kids/adults wrote was heavily coached by their parents.)

 

I recently spent a day reading back over 10 years of Maxwell's blog.  The endless, matching, ankle-length homemade frumpers.  Oh my!  They look so modern now in their calf-length denim skirts and Eddie Bauer down vests!

Edited February 3, 2019 by louannems

[Barb23]

Like I've said before, the Rod's pictures look like ads for Jib Jab greeting cards with the large heads & smaller bodies.

The kids probably didn't recognize the grapes on the table. I'm sure they don't get them that often. 

Their clothes are too much. Don't know whether I should laugh or cry.  I guess with that many kids, the clothes aren't separated by seasons so it's just one big free for all no matter what the day of the year it is. The more layers the better. There's snow on the ground & the girls look like they are freezing but some of them are wearing spring type dresses without socks.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Barb23

[Churchhoney]

3 hours ago, Barb23 said:

Like I've said before, the Rod's pictures look like ads for Jib Jab greeting cards with the large heads & smaller bodies.

The kids probably didn't recognize the grapes on the table. I'm sure they don't get them that often. 

Their clothes are too much. Don't know whether I should laugh or cry.  I guess with that many kids, the clothes aren't separated by seasons so it's just one big free for all no matter what the day of the year it is. The more layers the better. There's snow on the ground & the girls look like they are freezing but some of them are wearing spring type dresses without socks.

Yeah, when you can instantly see in the photo that people are freezing, they're freezing. But I guess if you don't care whether your kids have enough food, you're unlikely to care if they have enough clothes on either.

[awaken]

The oldest three girls look so much alike!

[MerisWetBar]

Something I always wonder when I see pics of the Rod kids-how did that one younger daughter-Olivia? Erin? Hannah?-she is on the far right of the pic of the sisters-anyway how does that one escape getting those puffy puffy fundie bangs that all the rest of the girls have? I can't imagine Jill letting her have a choice. 

[Jynnan tonnix]

11 hours ago, Jeeves said:

I'm sorry, but Nurie's hair and makeup are doing her no favors. In these photos she looks old enough to be the mother of the other kids, not their sister. She's not blessed with classically beautiful features, but FFS there must be something she could do to look better than that.

 

 

I don't think she squats. The photos are taken from above the subjects' heads. I suppose she could either stand on something to be higher than them, or just hold her phone up high when taking the photos.

I think she has one of those selfie sticks, except rather than using it to take a picture of oneself, or a group of two or three people with still enough space to include a bit of background, she just takes all the photos from way overhead, all the better to highlight how thin they all are between all their godly fasting and Plexus.

[Catfin]

33 minutes ago, Jynnan tonnix said:

I think she has one of those selfie sticks, except rather than using it to take a picture of oneself, or a group of two or three people with still enough space to include a bit of background, she just takes all the photos from way overhead, all the better to highlight how thin they all are between all their godly fasting and Plexus.

I think you’re right. 

[PradaKitty]

That is one unattractive family. 

...That is all.......

[queenanne]

9 hours ago, I8A 4RE said:

Something I always wonder when I see pics of the Rod kids-how did that one younger daughter-Olivia? Erin? Hannah?-she is on the far right of the pic of the sisters-anyway how does that one escape getting those puffy puffy fundie bangs that all the rest of the girls have? I can't imagine Jill letting her have a choice. 

Maybe her hair is stubborn and won't hold a curl.

[floridamom]

There is snow on the ground in that photo and those girls are wearing summer dresses with summer shoes. Why do they seem to always dress inappropriately for the weather or occasion is beyond me. That has NOTHING TO DO with being modest. It has to do with having no common sense.

[galaxychaser]

2 hours ago, floridamom said:

There is snow on the ground in that photo and those girls are wearing summer dresses with summer shoes. Why do they seem to always dress inappropriately for the weather or occasion is beyond me. That has NOTHING TO DO with being modest. It has to do with having no common sense.

Or the parents don’t buy them winter clothes. Just like the parents don’t buy them bathing suits and the girls swim in denim skirts...

11 hours ago, PradaKitty said:

That is one unattractive family. 

...That is all.......

The father is no looker and being underfed will make you seem even more unattractive.

[Temperance]

Today's blog post from the Maxwells is about writing fiction. Sarah is the author of 12? children's books. Anyway she gives ideas about how to write. Some of her tips may be good. One odd recurring theme is that they need to experience things in real life in order to picture them, write about them or illustrate them. So in this post she mentions going to the supermarket and breaking eggs on the floor with the store's permission for the book. They also made used smoke balls to make an engine look like it was smoking. 

[Future Cat Lady]

56 minutes ago, Temperance said:

Today's blog post from the Maxwells is about writing fiction. Sarah is the author of 12? children's books. Anyway she gives ideas about how to write. Some of her tips may be good. One odd recurring theme is that they need to experience things in real life in order to picture them, write about them or illustrate them. So in this post she mentions going to the supermarket and breaking eggs on the floor with the store's permission for the book. They also made used smoke balls to make an engine look like it was smoking. 

WTF! And they let her? She couldn't do it in her own house?

[Churchhoney]

9 minutes ago, Future Cat Lady said:

WTF! And they let her? She couldn't do it in her own house?

Steve is in her house. ;  )

[Jynnan tonnix]

Maybe part of the scenario included the reactions of other shoppers to the broken eggs?

[Future Cat Lady]

2 hours ago, Churchhoney said:

Steve is in her house. ;  )

At least her parents had the common sense to say no  😀

[McManda]

I'm just confused. Is her imagination so stunted that she can't visualize what broken eggs look like on the floor? Or what a smoking engine looks like? She's writing children's books, not books for Mensa members. The illustrations don't have to be hyper realistic.

I feel sad for her, if that's the case. How boring your life must be if you need to actually break eggs to see what they look like. How does she ever think any truly fiction books are written? No one has ever lived inside a giant peach and sailed across the ocean, but Roald Dahl managed to write a book about one without it existing. The wild things don't exist in real life, but Maurice Sendak managed to write about them. Whoville is a creation entirely from Dr. Seuss; he created it from the ground up.

But Sarah Maxwell had to go to the supermarket to break eggs on the floor to see what they look like. Her books must be awful. I entirely disagree one must live something to write about it. Some of the best books are completely made up. 

Edited February 5, 2019 by McManda

[Sew Sumi]

Her books are terrible. I have an autographed copy of her first (found it for cheap on Amazon). She writes, figuratively and literally, like a 10 year old. 

[louannems]

38 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

Her books are terrible. I have an autographed copy of her first (found it for cheap on Amazon). She writes, figuratively and literally, like a 10 year old. 

Also, lots of her reviewers say the language is very stilted and not like most kids actually speak.  And they complain of undeveloped characters and boring plots.  Poor Sarah.

[Churchhoney]

Not possible to be a decent writer and be as repressed as Sarah Maxwell, and as terrified of the potential responses of God and Stevehovah and who knows who else to every tiny thing you -- or your characters -- ever do. Kinda makes me laugh that people who must know what she and her family are like would think that she could write anything that wasn't ridiculously stilted and boring. If it's not boring, Steve Maxwell doesn't permit it. 

Who knows? Maybe she -- gasp -- actually felt a little frustrated or even mad one day and it gave her an excuse to go down to the grocery and throw a few eggs on the floor. She's certainly never get away with doing that at home. (and, no, I don't think this is what happened -- but I think it'd be good for her if it had...I can't imagine any of them gets to let off any steam in any kind of way at all...)

[Sew Sumi]

2 hours ago, louannems said:

Also, lots of her reviewers say the language is very stilted and not like most kids actually speak.  And they complain of undeveloped characters and boring plots.  Poor Sarah.

All true. Very immature writing.

[doodlebug]

2 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

All true. Very immature writing.

Yep, I’ve read excerpts and the kids all speak like robots, terrible dialog without an ounce of reality.  And every single story is based on the kids parroting the parents, no rebellion, no questioning, not even a simple alternative thought.  If the kids want French toast for breakfast and mom wants pancakes, well, that’s it. Pancakes are so much better than French toast, everyone wants them!  Any kid who even briefly has an unapproved thought or feeling immediately regrets it and begs mom and dad for forgiveness.  It’s all rather scary. And boring, very boring.  All the characters are cardboard cutouts and, while many fine authors write about everyday family life in insightful and interesting ways; Sarah seems to go out of her way to avoid anything the reader might find enjoyable.  The ‘Dick and Jane’ readers in first grade had better stories and were better written than the awful Moody Family books.

I hope Sarah at least paid for the eggs she broke and cleaned up her own mess. And how very sad that her life is so stunted, her imagination so small that she cannot picture broken eggs on the floor without seeing it. A goldfish has a more satisfying inner life than she does.  Terry and Steve must be so proud to have sucked the imagination out of their kids.

Edited February 5, 2019 by doodlebug

[Normades]

11 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

Her books are terrible. I have an autographed copy of her first (found it for cheap on Amazon). She writes, figuratively and literally, like a 10 year old. 

Oh, I don't know, at 10 I was writing some pretty fanciful things!  Can you imagine if she were asked to write about her moss covered, three handled, family gredunza??  Smoke would come shooting out of her ears!!

Now, for those of you who can't imagine that.  Ask your friend to place a smoke bomb in each ear and light them, then view the results taking copious notes.  Remember to ask Jesus for permission before attempting the above demonstration.

Poor Sarah, I joke, but this is truly sad.

[Churchhoney]

5 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Yep, I’ve read excerpts and the kids all speak like robots, terrible dialog without an ounce of reality.  And every single story is based on the kids parroting the parents, no rebellion, no questioning, not even a simple alternative thought.  If the kids want French toast for breakfast and mom wants pancakes, well, that’s it. Pancakes are so much better than French toast, everyone wants them!  Any kid who even briefly has an unapproved thought or feeling immediately regrets it and begs mom and dad for forgiveness.  It’s all rather scary. And boring, very boring.  All the characters are cardboard cutouts and, while many fine authors write about everyday family life in insightful and interesting ways; Sarah seems to go out of her way to avoid anything the reader might find enjoyable.  The ‘Dick and Jane’ readers in first grade had better stories and were better written than the awful Moody Family books.

I hope Sarah at least paid for the eggs she broke and cleaned up her own mess. And how very sad that her life is so stunted, her imagination so small that she cannot picture broken eggs on the floor without seeing it. A goldfish has a more satisfying inner life than she does.  Terry and Steve must be so proud to have sucked the imagination out of their kids.

The worst thing is that I'm sure they're quite proud! ..... And they'd be mortified and furious if they had not done this. 

I speak from experience. Doing this is a badge of honor to some people, and not just super-conservative Christians, either. There are people around who think job one is snuffing out any individuality or "difference" from any kid who crosses their paths. 

[madpsych78]

Guys, while I totally agree that Sarah has no imagination, are we really sure that the breaking eggs in the supermarket is because she can't visualize broken eggs? I mean, isn't it possible that she did it to get a sense of her own reaction (which would still be pathetic) as well as the reactions of other shoppers (which would be a little more plausible, but still speaks to how sheltered they are)? Why just the focus on the visual of the broken eggs?

[Future Cat Lady]

Let's all be glad that she doesn't write books about serials killers.  ;)

[McManda]

9 hours ago, madpsych78 said:

Guys, while I totally agree that Sarah has no imagination, are we really sure that the breaking eggs in the supermarket is because she can't visualize broken eggs?

She specifically gives going to the store to break eggs as part of the process of getting a photo from which she and her illustrator creating the drawings for her books.

From her blog post:

Quote

The next step after choosing the illustration is to figure out a photograph that would depict what I’m envisioning for my illustrator to draw from. 

...

We’ve done some interesting things to get pictures over the years. One involved going to a grocery store, with a nurse friend of ours, and asking permission from the store to break some eggs on the floor. They were great to accommodate us! Another time, we rented a U-Haul truck and used smoke balls to make it look like the engine was smoking.

[Churchhoney]

12 minutes ago, McManda said:

She specifically gives going to the store to break eggs as part of the process of getting a photo from which she and her illustrator creating the drawings for her books.

From her blog post:

Aha.

She did it for the illustrator. Not so she could write about it but so she could give a photo reference to someone who'd then draw it. That's, like, completely different from what was being talked about up above!

Had nothing to do with her writing. She was providing a guide for the artist of exactly what illustration she wanted. 

Makes perfect sense now. That's a totally normal thing to do. Nothing Maxwellian about it at all. 

Edited February 6, 2019 by Churchhoney

[Sew Sumi]

Isn't Mary the illustrator these days?

[doodlebug]

21 minutes ago, Churchhoney said:

Aha.

She did it for the illustrator. Not so she could write about it but so she could give a photo reference to someone who'd then draw it. That's, like, completely different from what was being talked about up above!

Had nothing to do with her writing. She was providing a guide for the artist of exactly what illustration she wanted. 

Makes perfect sense now. That's a totally normal thing to do. Nothing Maxwellian about it at all. 

Wouldn't most illustrators know what broken eggs look like without having a photo?  Couldn't Sarah have just described what she was thinking?  I guess I don't understand how anyone living a regular life out in the world wouldn't know what broken eggs on a floor look like.  Or what a truck engine looks like when it's overheated and smoking, for that matter.  It still seems like a lack of imagination on either Sarah's part (feeling the artist couldn't understand what she wanted without a photo) or the artist (being unable to picture something fairly simple that virtually everyone has seen).  It still seems like there's a significant lack of imagination or lack of verbal descriptive ability involved here.

[Churchhoney]

16 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

Wouldn't most illustrators know what broken eggs look like without having a photo?  Couldn't Sarah have just described what she was thinking?  I guess I don't understand how anyone living a regular life out in the world wouldn't know what broken eggs on a floor look like.  Or what a truck engine looks like when it's overheated and smoking, for that matter.  It still seems like a lack of imagination on either Sarah's part (feeling the artist couldn't understand what she wanted without a photo) or the artist (being unable to picture something fairly simple that virtually everyone has seen).  It still seems like there's a significant lack of imagination or lack of verbal descriptive ability involved here.

Sarah may be one of those writers who has a very specific vision of how they want the illustrations. I expect she almost certainly is, in her cautious, probably kinda control-freaky way. She's a Maxwell. 

And her artist is almost undoubtedly another amateur -- maybe, as Sew Sumi says, a younger sister -- who prefers drawing from clear photos and wants the book to look the way Sarah wants it because Sarah's the one conceptualizing it. That kind of artist is going to feel a million times more secure having a photo that clearly shows what the writer is thinking about. 

That being the case, this is 100 percent normal. And not unusual at all for this kind of thing.

There are volumes and volumes and volumes of photo-reference books out there that even some very very experienced professional artists use as a basis for pictures. Drawing a realistic picture (which a Maxwell book would have -- nothing fanciful here) from the imagination is way way harder than drawing something with a photo reference or the thing itself in front of you to rely on. And drawing from the imagination is much much much harder yet when you're trying to gather from words what's in somebody else's imagination, which is what the illustrator here would have to do. 

Why would you make it hard on the artist -- for no reason -- when you could make it easy? 

Plus, it's quite possible that she doesn't want just a picture of the broken egg but a picture of the broken egg in a supermarket with a certain kind of supermarket background or whatever.

Edited February 6, 2019 by Churchhoney

[McManda]

21 minutes ago, Churchhoney said:

And her artist is almost undoubtedly another amateur -- maybe, as Sew Sumi says, a younger sister

If Mary is her younger sister, then yes. Mary is who she says is her illustrator. (I don't really follow the Maxwells, except what I glean from here.)

[McManda]

21 minutes ago, Churchhoney said:

And her artist is almost undoubtedly another amateur -- maybe, as Sew Sumi says, a younger sister

If Mary is her younger sister, then yes. Mary is who she says is her illustrator. (I don't really follow the Maxwells, except what I glean from here.)

[doodlebug]

8 minutes ago, McManda said:

If Mary is her younger sister, then yes. Mary is who she says is her illustrator. (I don't really follow the Maxwells, except what I glean from here.)

I'm pretty sure Mary is the youngest of the Maxwell sisters.

[madpsych78]

1 hour ago, doodlebug said:

I'm pretty sure Mary is the youngest of the Maxwell sisters.

Mary is the youngest of the eight Maxwell siblings, not just the sisters.

[Sew Sumi]

2 hours ago, McManda said:

If Mary is her younger sister, then yes. Mary is who she says is her illustrator. (I don't really follow the Maxwells, except what I glean from here.)

Which means that Mary has even less imagination than Poor Sarah.

[Normades]

11 hours ago, Churchhoney said:

Sarah may be one of those writers who has a very specific vision of how they want the illustrations. I expect she almost certainly is, in her cautious, probably kinda control-freaky way. She's a Maxwell. 

I think it is all about control.  I can't believe she can't explain to her sister who has the same exact frame of references how she wants the picture to look.  And honestly, if I were writing a book and had an illustrator I trusted, I think I would rather they read the book and draw what they see.  What better way to get an idea of how your audience might picture your story.  I think Sarah probably wants complete control, even over the way her readers interpret her stories.

She is a Maxwell, indeed.