Forum / One impetuously generated thread where no one despises or rebukes or dimninishes another with words, but instead praises them...

James Lloyd Davis
Dec 18, 03:44pm

Or utopian dream?

You decide.

I'll just start out by thanking Sam Rasnake for his tireless and continuing support of numerous people here. There are so many others. If you care to mention them.

James Lloyd Davis
Dec 18, 03:44pm

dimninishes? I like the sound of that.

James Lloyd Davis
Dec 18, 03:48pm

I also propose the acceptance of another word into the the lexicon... dimninish, synonym of greater grit than the word from which it derives... diminish, addressing both the effect and the cause of diminishment.

Darryl Price
Dec 18, 04:42pm

Susan Tepper was one we lost who took great delight in reading the works of others and sounding the trumpets in their favor. She also explored her favorite pieces in depth with interviews about their writing processes with several of our Fictionaut authors.Enlightening and fun.Marcus Speh and Bill Yarrow always like a piece with great enthusiasm and praise--which as we all know helps tremendously to get on with the next creation at hand.And James Lloyd always opens the doors and windows on a regular basis so the fresh air is let in.There's four right there. If there's four there's eight. If there's eight there's sixteen, and so on.There's a ton of good people out there. JP Reese wrote the wonderful primer. I'm just saying, look and you will find plenty of inspiration and friendship and community spirit all around the place.

Gary Hardaway
Dec 18, 05:22pm

I can certainly echo your citation of Sam's generosity.

Mathew Paust
Dec 18, 05:45pm

Writers tend to be rather solitary and prickly types, I have heard.

Robin Graham
Dec 18, 05:47pm

Yes, I've been on the receiving end of Sam's generosity, and that was for a "long" story that it would have taken him a while to read.

Gary Hardaway
Dec 18, 06:10pm

Many here strive to be supportive of exemplary writing by reading and commenting and, sometimes, rewarding stars to pieces that impress, move, or dazzle them.

Mathew Paust
Dec 18, 09:01pm

Sally Houtman had the grace to welcome me by reading my first posting, an obscenely long story - 8641 words - faving it and writing a friendly note praising the story and advising me that shorter is better on Fictionaut. Invaluable advice, which I've tried to follow. Others of the more experienced writers here have humbled and encouraged me, going out of their way to make me feel welcome and appreciated - Sam, of course, among them. Fictionaut's generous reception continues to amaze, especially considering the reputation we writers have of being solitary and prickly types.

Joani Reese
Dec 19, 12:29am

JLD--for your intelligence and grace.
Sam Rasnake-- for always being a gentleman, (sometimes against steep odds), a generous person, and a poet whose work I admire.
Bill Yarrow--Missing his sense of whimsey and insightful contributions to the discussion--A man who is always supportive, inside and outside of Fictionaut.

...and those who have left us for whatever reason who once called this little space home, Susan Tepper and MaryAnne Kolton among them.

Dolemite
Dec 19, 03:16am

(pssst...

Sally Houtman is a meanie.

Pass it on...)

Matthew Robinson
Dec 19, 08:38am

Sally HOOOOOOOTMANNNNNN

Sally Houtman
Dec 19, 10:55am

It's true, you know.

Linda Simoni-Wastila
Dec 19, 03:11pm

Thanks for starting this swell thread, James. Huge props to you for finding the positive and generally being that way.

I would like to express my gratitude for EVERYONE here: for posting your precious words for all to read; for reading others' words with compassion; for your public contemplations of the writing life--and life in general; for being honest even when it hurts; for kindnesses, both personal and writerly, towards me and others here; for participating in this great mosh pit of a place.

A special thanks to our creators.

And yes, Sally is a meanie. Heard it on the playground.

Peace...

Mathew Paust
Dec 19, 04:13pm

So maybe I was misinformed about the "solitary/prickly"? I mean, those adjectives do apply to me, but...I thought I was part of the herd.

MichaelDickes
Dec 20, 10:34pm

Wait...what? Sally is throwing a hootenanny?

Writers are mostly goo.

Dimninish is now part of my regular vocabulary...like gliberish.

I miss Jack Swenson

Frankie Saxx
Dec 20, 10:44pm

Sam, stephen, Marcus, yourself, James, have always had kind and meaningful words for me, along with many others.

James Claffey
Dec 20, 10:57pm

a good thread. so many people on here have been sensational advocates of my writing, and that of others. the list is long, and i'm afraid i'll forget someone, but for starters,

sam r.
david j.
joani
gloria
sally
james lloyd
gary h
gary v. p
susan g.
michael d.
mathew
gessy
mia
sally r.
deborah o. p
beate
steven
stephen
john r.
carol r.
steve f.
foster
brenda
david
robert
meg p.
estelle
michael d.
alex p.
michael g. m
matt r.
and i'll add more if i remember!!!!

this is a phenomenal community, even though it's diminished by the absence of susan and maryanne, it remains strong and vibrant.

Joani Reese
Dec 20, 11:22pm

I miss Jack Swenson, too. Just got his wonderful and funny collection "Happy Birthday" in the mail last week. It's 320 pages of Swenson greatness. He may not be here, but his work is out there, and it's still grand.

James Lloyd Davis
Dec 21, 12:11am

Yes for Jack. He's missed.

I don't miss MaryAnne, though. Couldn't if I wanted to, which I don't. She's on the couch right now watching Brian Williams... admiring his tie.

Sally Houtman
Dec 21, 01:27am

I miss Matt Dennison. He was nice to me.

Not like that other guy.

(I think the word 'rebuked' is vastly underused. Going to make a point to bring it back into common use.)

Gary Hardaway
Dec 21, 01:29am

Claffey stole my list, the wanker, then added stuff.

Sally Houtman
Dec 21, 01:48am

claffey's like that. you gotta watch him. he stole all my caps. told me he's saving them for the apocalypse.

Dolemite
Dec 21, 01:57am

(pssst...

And she has cooties.

Pass it on...)

James Lloyd Davis
Dec 21, 02:03am

If it's not the end of the world and you wake up tomorrow morning? Send me $19.99 and I'll send you... not one, not two, but three amazing black velvet t-shirts that show a four color rendition of the Mayan deity Tezcatlipoca on the front and on the back, in bold gold letters, the message "I survived the Mayan Apocalypse."

Act now... call us before midnight tonight and you will get, free of charge, as a special one-time bonus, one jar of El Paso picante sauce and a big bag of Uncle Domingo's blue corn tortilla chips. (Cheese not included.)

Operators are standing by...

Of course... if it is the end of the world, we cannot guarantee delivery, but with a deal like this? You'll want to order some for your friends as well...

James Lloyd Davis
Dec 21, 02:04am

Or am I in the wrong thread...

James Lloyd Davis
Dec 21, 02:05am

Sheesh

Gessy Alvarez
Dec 21, 02:06am

Besos y abrazos para todos aqui en Fictionaut.

Los adoro a todos.

:)

Sally Houtman
Dec 21, 02:23am

Daaa-aaaaad! Make him stop picking on me!

Waaaaaaaaaah!!!

Mathew Paust
Dec 21, 02:58am

You people are scaring me!

James Claffey
Dec 21, 02:59am

it's over. the crow cawed. the caps are all gone. the world is done. basta...

Gary Hardaway
Dec 21, 04:02am

Just in from the Ouija board- 2013, you gringo morons- 2013!

Robert Vaughan
Dec 21, 04:13am

I'm truly grateful for the entire lot of you all. So much better for it as well. Happy holidays everyone.

Matthew Robinson
Dec 21, 08:38am

Fictionaut is what happens between cheese breaks.

Andrew Stancek
Dec 21, 03:23pm

I am truly thankful. Period. This community has given me so much. Hope. Support. And much more.

I will of course unintentionally omit some of great people who have been instrumental and I apologize for that. But a few who must be mentioned are James Lloyd Davis, Susan Tepper, Susan Gibb, Sam Rasnake, Linda Simoni-Wastila, James Claffey, Robert Vaughan, Joani Reese...

In times of darkness you have been there.

Thanks does not say enough.

Gloria Garfunkel
Dec 21, 04:15pm

James Claffey and Sam Rasnake have been my muses.

James Claffey
Dec 21, 04:16pm

and andrew s., and linda s. w.,

James Lloyd Davis
Dec 21, 05:52pm

In a difficult time, it's good to see people reach out with a kind word. Encouragement won't make you a better writer, but it will keep you going when you feel like quitting. And that, ultimately, is what will make you a better writer.

Mathew Paust
Dec 21, 08:02pm

I hear you, James, and I have definitely have benefited more from positive incentives than the contrary, which is said to jar some writers out of their half-assedness, testing their resolve, and in some cases making or breaking them. And I understand this from the occasional thumb down that's infuriated me to "show that damned" blankety blank blankety blankety...

Not that I have ever dramatically done so, or the infuriator apt to give a damn were I to prove him or her a blazing idiot. Yet those moments have indeed tested my resolve and have thus far found it sturdy. And most times the damned blankety blanks were right.

Mathew Paust
Dec 21, 08:03pm

Oops, didn't catch the extra "have" in time. My inner editor's a tad soft today, it seems.

Mathew Paust
Dec 21, 08:19pm

It also just occurred to me that the idea of quitting is so remote from my consciousness that I missed that aspect in your last comment. I feel panic approaching within hours of finishing a chapter, never certain if there will be a next, if the story will run out, as many have before. Suicidal intimations drift into view at the edge of sanity between every goddamned chapter. That's the only quitting I can envision, and I'm too chickenshit to spin that reel, and too old to trust anything else that might keep the demons at bay. And, yes, indeed, in those breeches a kind word is more than a blessing.
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