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Writing

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pnwmom

(109,655 posts)
Sat Jun 3, 2023, 08:00 PM Jun 2023

What do you do when a sibling insists on your not ever writing about your family? [View all]

I'm not writing a memoir; I'm writing a children's novel with a gay dad, so it is relevant that my own parents were in a mixed-orientation marriage. Today my sister told me if I ever mention our dad being gay to anyone from our hometown, even on Facebook, I will purposely be ripping off her scab and making her bleed. (I guess she's talking about the parental-divorce-scab, when she was 23.)

I told her that most friends in that town already know about our parents, and don't care. She said that doesn't matter. She doesn't want anyone to have any reason to think about our dad being gay ever again.

I hung up while she was yelling at me, for the second time, that if I ever outed our family on FB, that would be the end of our relationship.

We have different last names, live in different time zones, and have 95% different friends. Doesn't matter. If I ever go public about having a gay father, that will be the end of our relationship, or so she says.

P.S. I have people I'm close to that have serious health issues, and it is scary to think about losing them someday. I didn't need this threat from my sister, on top of everything else.



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Ignore. elleng Jun 2023 #1
You gotta be you, she has to be her. Eko Jun 2023 #2
I have only one living relative, multigraincracker Jun 2023 #3
Just write dweller Jun 2023 #4
She's not in it. What she doesn't want is me to publicly mention that I have a gay father, pnwmom Jun 2023 #5
Consider dweller Jun 2023 #10
Allow me to start from left field for a moment Tetrachloride Jun 2023 #6
It's not a character I'm talking about. It's the fact that our father existed in real life pnwmom Jun 2023 #7
yes. my idea is your pride is what makes you bulletproof against her threats Tetrachloride Jun 2023 #8
dont mention his name. end of problem for you. sis will never have an end to it anyway nt msongs Jun 2023 #9
Publishers want authors to have a social media presence. So even though I wouldn't need pnwmom Jun 2023 #13
Do what I did: "I'm not writing history, I'm writing a story." marble falls Jun 2023 #11
That works for a story. But the fact that my real father was gay is biography. pnwmom Jun 2023 #14
She is making clear... pandr32 Jun 2023 #12
Rifts can be permanent. bucolic_frolic Jun 2023 #15
Why would she have to even know? Blue Owl Jun 2023 #16
We have some mutual friends from our hometown, and my sister is a FB friend of mine.nt pnwmom Jun 2023 #17
There are worse things in life than divorcing yourself from a sibling. Chainfire Jun 2023 #18
JMO MuseRider Jun 2023 #19
Unfortunately, my parents didn't have an agreement. pnwmom Jun 2023 #20
I understand. MuseRider Jun 2023 #24
I just remembered something she said a few years ago pnwmom Jun 2023 #29
Be true to yourself and your project. Deuxcents Jun 2023 #21
Think carefully if it's worth this. Do you have nieces and nephews you'd be barred from seeing? Liberty Belle Jun 2023 #22
It's not about what I'm writing. She wants me to never leave the closet that our parents built pnwmom Jun 2023 #23
A simple tweak qwlauren35 Jun 2023 #25
The story is NOTHING like our family -- complete fiction. The problem is that my sister pnwmom Jun 2023 #26
Oh, now I understand. qwlauren35 Jun 2023 #27
Once my mother had died and I wasn't afraid of hurting her anymore, I felt free to share pnwmom Jun 2023 #28
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