Dear Daisy...my sister made fun of my ambitions, and I can't forgive her

I advise a reader - and writer - about family matters...

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Hello, and welcome to the Friday edition of the CCC! This edition is for paid subscribers. If you’d like to join the gang, hit the button below to take advantage of the Spring offer, and get half off an annual subscription.

This week I’ve been mostly writing like mad, working on next year’s book, Read Yourself Happy. We’ve just signed off on the final cover for Pity Party, coming in July, and I’m LOVING the reviews from early readers! And huge, huge thanks, from the bottom of my heart, to everyone who has been in touch to tell me that they have preordered the book, it’s such a lovely way to support my work (and hopefully a treat for Future You in July!) You can get it from your chosen retailer on this link - or treat yourself to a signed copy with a personalised dedication from The Margate Bookshop! Hit the button below, and request your dedication by filling in the contact form.

There’s a new edition of You’re Booked Archive-All Stars - you can listen to this conversation with Sara Pascoe here - and you can hear me speaking about Confidence Gremlins on the Squiggly Careers podcast here.

If you’ve got a question for Dear Daisy, I’d love to hear from you. Email creativeconfidenceclinic@gmail.com

Now, for this week’s letter…

Dear Daisy,

I’m so upset. I’m quite close to my sister, but we just had a big argument in front of my whole family. We were having a silly, sweet conversation after lunch about our ambitions when we were kids. My sister wanted to be a lollipop lady, my brother wanted to run a sweet shop, that sort of thing. And my sister said ‘and you wanted to be a writer, do you remember?’ and she was teasing me about how I’d make little books, and go everywhere with a notebook. The thing is, I am a writer. And it’s taken me a lot of courage to start calling myself one.

Everyone seemed to leap to her defence. They know that I’ve done courses, and even entered some short story competitions, and they kept saying things like ‘we’re not saying it’s not a good hobby’. My sister said that if I were to describe myself as a writer, she might as well describe herself as a fashion entrepreneur because she sells her old clothes online. Everyone thinks I’m being really sensitive and silly, and I should get over it. But it’s hard to find words to explain how much this has hurt me. To be honest, I think I probably am being sensitive and silly. Why has this cut so deep? And what can I say to my family to make them understand the way I feel?

A Writer?