I need to stay off the forums!

Forums are a definite time waster, even worse than sharpening pencils.

Sometimes I have a knack for pissing people off. I don’t know why, Mom keeps telling me I’m a nice person.

What this rambling boils down to is this…I wrote an editorial about how some writers, editors and publishers distain self-publishing, and how some writers need validation from traditional publishers, to feel like real writers.

Since I didn’t say all writers, all editors or all publishers, I don’t know why anyone would get so insulted.

Of course, if the words touch a chord, some sensitive, vulnerable spot, like taking a spoonful of ice cream when a filling has just fallen off a tooth, leaving a nerve exposed, then LOOK OUT!

My big mistake (other than publishing the article and forum posts under my real name) was having this pissing contest with a very popular resident of the forum.

Never ever get on the bad side of the nice, popular girl on the forum.

Funny thing, when I initially posted the person, I sincerely was trying to give her a helpful suggestion.

When things started getting out of hand, I decided I would simply send her a private email, and explain to her my point of view. I figured the drama on the board was getting silly.

Well THAT was a stupid idea. The poster announced publicly about my “unprofessional” email, and instructed me NOT to contact her personally again. I imagine her post conjured up all sorts of sordid images.

It was really, a very sneaky strategy on her part. Especially considering all my email was, was a copy of her posts, with me responding to each point. Nothing inflammatory. Maybe kinda boring.

Perhaps her strategy worked, but I felt it lacked class. If someone contacts me personally, I will respect that privacy, even if I dislike what they have said. I certainly won't post inuendos on a public forum, hinting at their message. The only time I would take it public would be if they continued to contact me, after I privately asked them to stop.

In her final public point (I think it was her final post to me) she tells me how I obviously know nothing about her, or who she is.

Actually, I believe I gleamed an incredibly intimate insight into who she is. Seeing more, than I really wanted.