Ha!

So...what did Lucy buy?

Bwah!

I just showed Stephen those pictures and he totally did a double take. "How did she get our dog?!" They could be from the same litter.

It was a good batch, for sure. I think Steph now has a Lucy clone too, but hers uses an alias.

Rebel.

That would be awesome. And much-needed. Part of the reason I like Vampire Kisses so much (besides the adorable babygoth lead character) is that the vampire is also a teen. Not the typical "Older Man" stalking wooing a teenaged girl. In the Morganville Vampires series, none of the older vamps have shown any romantic interest in the kids.

Who's the author of Vampire Kisses? Must keep my eyes peeled for that one.

Considering how much vampire fiction I read, I have an awful lot of issues and complaints with it.

You know, seriously, this conversation is giving me definite ideas about my EternallyUnfinishedNovel, which was suffering from plot issues. Because if I throw out the original plot entirely, and concentrate on the more interesting subsidiary...yeah...hmm...Jilli, out of interest, could you send me/write here a wishlist of what you'd like to see in a vampire book, and feel is somewhat lacking? 'Cause that might help feed the plot bunnies some more...

So I got up from the sofa to get the cat a snack. As I was sitting down, the cat decided to move. In the process of trying not to sit on the cat, I wrenched my right shoulder. And the cat was of course, offended.

ION, I just made a Waldorf salad for the work potluck tomorrow. Who knew celery was such a vital ingredient.

.Jilli, out of interest, could you send me/write here a wishlist of what you'd like to see in a vampire book, and feel is somewhat lacking? 'Cause that might help feed the plot bunnies some more...

Absolutely. I will do that in the morning.

Who's the author of Vampire Kisses? Must keep my eyes peeled for that one.

Ellen Schreiber. I think you'd really enjoy the series.

Cheers, love! (And then if I do find that this helps me get back into poking the GreatUnfinishedNovel with a stick, perhaps I might send you some of my WIP, maybe? For your thoughts?)

Meanwhile, advice sought from the Hivemind!

So my friend D is mad into reiki and crystals and healing and all this jazz. Knowing that she was quite psychic & into such things, I brought her along to a reiki session maybe six months ago or so - I'd drunkenly agreed to go along and do a weekend reiki course with a friend, and had found the experience...interesting, but not particularly convincing. However, my friend D was pretty depressed, had no money, and this seemed like a good way for her to hook up with other folks who were interested in spooky psychic/alternative healing things, as well as the fact that it was free for her to come and get a treatment.

Well, of course she's very into it, has gone on to do Reiki 1 and Reiki 2 and various other courses, and loves the guy who runs the centre, and went down to do a meditation course for 2 weeks with him at Hua Hin (at which she actually spent a lot of time helping him build his new spa) and is helping him write his book (ie he babbles a load of crap at her, and she's his amenuensis. Which I can't spell, and am perhaps misusing, but what the hell).

And whilst I remain open-minded on the topic of reiki in general, catagorising it along with Christianity, Islam, Buddism, Animism and any other non-scientific 'here's how the world works' philosophy*, I'm pretty much of the opinion that this bloke is totally full of shit. (Which I did more or less say to her in the first place, when I invited her along to the original reiki session.) I don't know whether he's full of shit and yet sincere, or full of shit and sneakily manipulative. But full of shit he most emphatically is, imho.

But, you know, I could have the same feelings about a particular priest or a rabbi or a whatever, without feeling the urge to tell a friend that they shouldn't go to that person's church/temple/whatever, you know? I mean - yes, she's spending money on his courses, but if it's giving her focus and happiness and so forth then I don't neccesarily think that's a bad thing. As such. Although I'm sort of divided on it.

Anyway, sorry - point being, she's presently writing his book for him. Which - I'm not madly comfortable with, but it's her life, her choice (she's 41, after all) and she's enjoying the responsibility. So fine. I think he's taking advantage of her, rather, but she's enjoying the job, and they're doing some quid pro quo where she gets the meditation course for free or whatever, and since she values that then it's all relative.

She's just asked me, on facebook chat, if I (and a mutual friend) could help her with it. Basically edit it for her, because she's trying to turn his gibbered stream-of-consciousness into a coherent book about reiki. With the intention of getting it published.

And I did not have the spine to say: "No." I havered instead, saying I'd have to speak to [mutual friend] and that it would be lovely to see her, and all that. I didn't say yes. I didn't say no either.

But I really do not think that this guy should get to benefit from my skills. Not at all. I paid around $250-$300 for the freaking Reiki weekend, and I'm glad I went and did it, but I definitely think that it was a crock of shit, and would have been expensive at a tenth of the price.

...I like my friend, and I want to support her. I do slightly wish I'd never taken her along to this place, but then it's given her a lot of pleasure, and she IS a grownup. But - I do not want to do this.

Any suggestions for how I can manage to refuse to do this for HIM, whilst minimising the hurt/offense it will cause her? Because I'm flailing a bit at the moment.

eta: * upon rereading, I'm concerned that this will come off as disparaging, but it really isn't meant to be.

Hrm. Maybe you could say that you'd be happy to, assuming that if the book makes any profit you'll be reimbursed for your share, as you assume she's going to be? Which might at least bring up the topic of 'are you getting your rightful percentage of this?', and such.

Unless you really don't want to do it altogether, in which case you could just say that you're too busy, or if you're feeling braver, that you think he's a bit dodgy and don't want to help him in his dodginess.