OMG I just need to vent on this. So....okay my eldest sister, she's like 44 I think or 45, not sure and yes...I know that's sad but she's taking her hand to try and write. Problem is, she has no real personality ergo, her writing style has no personality and now I am literally being asked by her to not only proof read and fix this crappy story of hers but she also wants me to write the adult scenes.......AHHHHH and because I'm just way to freaking nice I am helping her out but her writing hurts my head, it has no real flow and now I can't tell if she is writing from the present looking back on the past, or if this is telling the story from her characters present year. At first I thought it was from the present year, then she has a line of....looking back on my life....it's like seriously, that makes no sense! AHHHHHH sorry just had to vent.

Tell your sister that if she's serious about her writing, then she'll be serious about hiring a professional. (No offense to you if you are a professional! I just got the idea that you were looking for some distance. Or a way to let her down easy.) If you want to shield her a bit, say that you can't read it objectively. Suggest a class or a group. Don't join this group or invite her to your group, if you have one.
This message was last edited by the user at 21:09, Sat 20 June 2015.

Yeah, well it's not that easy when it comes to family. She knows I write....a lot though I have yet to be published. I am trying to give her a good example of how to write and have even offered to help her learn how to RP so it will give her good writing practice, but she's not said anything yet. I have no intention of writing this story for her, I write my own stories....seriously. I still have to finish my own first book....just ugh.

It's as difficult as you let it become. You just answered yourself: You're not going to write her stories. You've got your own stories. You've pointed her in a direction. Let her go and stick to your guns.

In reply to fireflights (msg # 962):

In the past I have one thing that works with every occasion.  It's called the truth.  Will her panties get in a bunch, probably, but it will only be temporary.  Being nice to family can screw you in the long run.  So use the following statement, "I'm sorry sis, but I can't do this."

Maybe fiction is not her talent. Essays, reports, history...how she feels about things (which leads to sessions with a counselor maybe).

Just because you write doesn't mean you would be the best person to help her, even if you had higher hopes for the end product.  And if she can't/doesn't want to write adult scenes, she should aim for a story that doesn't include them.  If I were you, I'd be relatively (ha!) blunt about refusing to do that part; asking a family member to help edit is one thing, but she should never ask one to do part of the writing.  Sounds as though a writing group would be what she needs.

Hopefully it won't last?

She probably finds all the "characters should have personality" and "what tense is this in?" sorts of issues extremely boring.

Last Friday our neighbor of 28 years died (she was 88).
 We inherited her cat (Name: Sister, solid black with yellow eyes, 5 years old). Now I know she is still getting used to the place (only been here since last night) but the very first time she went 'potty' it was in the middle of my bed - her pee went through the top sheet, the bottom sheet, the pad and in to the mattress. She is hiding now.
Fortunately we have some pet odor removal stuff (that works, we got it cause we got a puppy 4 years ago and boy did we use that stuff then). I got spare sheets, but I only had that one pad ... it's all in the wash now. (Yes she knows where the litter box is, but two she has been under the weather lately to, sneezing and all. This mess was half solid, half not and Stinky (ier than usual - I have had a cat before when I was Much younger, I know what the look for in the Smell department.)

In reply to ShadoPrism (msg # 968):

Yuck, poor you, and poor kitty!  Maybe she should have a checkup in case there's a physical problem along with the emotional ones?  Probably a good idea anyway unless you know she just had one.

But try to think of it from her side.  I assume she knows her owner died, at very least she knows she was 'abandoned'.  We had a pair of rescue cats here whose owners had died.  We don't know if they were alone with the second body for any length of time, but they had no loving attention till they came here at least a few weeks later, after spending that time in a room together alone (and for two who were brought up together they sure didn't get along well!).  They were beyond stressed, lost all their belly hair, and all we saw of one for days was her big eyes and her teeth from the box in the closet, and the other spent much of her time huddling in the corner of the window sill, or under their bed once she had access to that room, took weeks before they got used to us.

I know it's a little late now, but you probably shouldn't have given the cat access to your bed, but kept her in a separate room for a while.  My daughter has done a lot of rescue and fostering, and she always keeps a 'new' cat in one room for at least a few days.  Good luck with your new family member, hopefully things get better soon for all of you.

Sister and I have known each other since she was a kitten. She was rescued by my best friend and ended up living with his Mom (the woman who died) for the last couple years cause of well complex stuff. So she is used to me and I think finds comfort in my presence.
She has already trained our Golden Retriever though, only took one time and he now stays a min of 6 inches from her at all times. Which means if she is laying in the hall way he does not leave the room he is in.

She is a sweetheart of a cat, has a tiny little mew of a voice and is very careful of her claws on people (has never scratched me at any rate, or anyone else that I know of, short of our dog, whom I admit deserved it. He can be very nosy and in your face at times.)

Oh, good, she's lucky to have an alternate home, instead of a totally strange place.  But she must still be upset, and an angry and/or stressed cat will go for something that matters to you.  From my experience beds seem to be their favourite though my daughter says one's clothes or the like can also be a target.  *sigh*  Even the one of the rescue cats I mentioned that we kept.  She cares about upsetting me, unlike her 'sister', but she still wet on our bed one day when she was unhappy.  Luckily I have a mattress cover with a plastic liner so it wasn't as much mess as you had.

I am thankful we had that odor removal spray, it worked as advertised. (Sister spent a good hour trying to figure out where her poop scent went and has been jumpy all day sense then. She keeps trying to look under the bed for something, like maybe it all went down there).

Any idea on how long a cat can go with out peeing ? she has not used the litter box (or anywhere else) since the bed episode.

Is she drinking?

I have a male cat that I have to monitor because he's had issues with crystals forming in his urethra, and he generally pees once a day -- it's pretty easy to monitor with the clumping litter.

Not sure on drinking, but she is eating. 1 bowl wet food and 3/4 cup of dry a day.

Maybe she feels guilty for going where she knows she shouldn't have?  Annabelle kept looking for her mess also, in fact the second time I wasn't sure which cat was responsible until she did so.

I don't know how long a cat can go between pees, but I think I'd be concerned by now.  And yes, is she drinking?  It can be hard to tell unless you see them drinking, but eventually there should be some water disappearing.  Is it possible the water tastes a bit different?  Not likely since she lived so close, but still a possibility.  Maybe take a little extra effort to make sure it is fresh also?

Refill it every morning - she Finally went a couple of hours ago, in her new litter box. We are relieved, though I am still pushing for her to be taken in for a check up.

This evening, during a family argument, I was told by my sister that my Warhammer miniatures are "idiotic".

Kind of great to know that your loved ones are open-minded and willing to accept your hobbies...

Maybe she just prefers Warmachine.

In reply to Varsovian (msg # 977):

Better than peeing on your bed ...

Shado, your cat was probably peeing in some place that you haven't found yet. I wouldn't stress about it, but you should continue to monitor that litter box. A lack of urination could indicate either a urinary tract infection (which can clear itself up or not), dehydration, or something else I of which I haven't thought. Also begin watching the cat's gums. Changes in gum color are another way of monitoring dehydration.

My wife's cat suffered from kidney failure brought on by anemia a couple of months ago. The cat barely recovered with the aid of strong drugs, a prescription diet, and hydration administered every other day though an iv. The first sign of trouble for this cat was her acting lethargic, but if you aren't used to seeing how your sister's cat acts when it healthy, that might be a false flag in your situation.

She is not peeing anywhere but the litter box (carpeted floors tend to hold pee and it Stinks to high heavens making it easy to track), but when she does pee, its Lots going by the bricks of litter I have pulled out of the litter box over the last couple days.
She does have the sniffles and if it does not clear up by Wednesday I will take her to a vet (Wednesday is my payday, ergo the reason for the wait - hard to do a doctor visit of any kind when you can't pay for it).

I've found such cheap shots are usually done by people who are losing their arguments.   :)
Perhaps she's just jealous that she has nothing so interesting going on, eh?

So, the jackwagon who, three years ago, ran three different kickstarters to publish RPG's, got $75,000 in 9 months, and produced nothing with said money, has started a Paetron page to get people to pay him to make games.
Normally, I'm a live-and-let live guy, but this? This gets me. Y'see, on his third kickstarter (and I understand his second one as well, so I can only assume the first one was like this, too), he outsourced the work. The work was GIVEN TO HIM. And he still didn't publish.
Yes, yes I am one of the people he outsourced project 3 to. No, I never got paid for my work. A month after I was supposed to get paid, the guy told me not to tell anyone about it, as it would hurt his chances to get more investors in the Indigogo campaign he ran to get more cash.
I really want to sign up for the Paetron just to post 'Hey! No one else sign up for this! The guy is a crook!' and link to the kickstarters, but I know as controller of the Paetron page, he'll just delete the comment.
The guy really ticks me off. Before all this happened, we were friends. He took advantage of me, and of a -lot- of other people, and now he's out to do it again.

That is horrible! I would leave comments anyway. I would spread the word about him like it was a second job.

Is it against the rules to link it here?