Eddie:
I would certainly have taken that as a compliment (despite the tragic setting). You are a good writer and deserve all the praise you get. (And you don't have to belong to an "elite" circle to write well. Some of those elitist types actually hire writers to write their stuff for them and editors to straighten it out before they submit it.)

Eddie:
I just read your March 4 blog -- it seems to me that with your music and your writing you really have the right stuff to hit the big time. I bet people just love coming to your readings to hear you sing and talk.

The written word is powerful. Maybe the internet is saving it.
Forums everywhere, getting people to put thoughts down where many can see. Like the letters of yesterday that carried life as it was lived to the future.
Seeing how well or how poorly one communicates in this medium may make better writers of us all.
Or at least bring the writers and the readers together...

Ah yes, where would the writers be without the readers?

Best of all, the web can provide an almost immediate interchange between writer and reader as well as an exchange of ideas.

With a magazine, several months usually pass between the time a story is written and the time it is printed; with books the lag can be a year or more. Even newspapers take days at times.

Also best...is the sense of alter-ego, of being another person.....the chance to be anonymous in your writings.
I like being known by a 'pen name'.
In my case, I come from an extremely literary family, and I would never, NEVER show my work to them.
It is fulfilling to be able to write as I wish and to get honest comments from my peers.
L.

Lina:
Why? I'd look upon that as a great opportunity for getting some first-rate critiques in a friendly family setting.

Apprehend: "Forums everywhere... bring the writers and the readers together..."

Perhaps I should start hanging out in your forums? Every forum I have been in eventually degrades into a sloppy frothing war of silly attacks and inane arguments. Admittedly, it just may be that the forums I participate in have one common factor, the inability to appreciate fine sarcasm.

Eddie: I agree praise is a fine thing.

Several years ago, there was an early writer website where people would pay to read your postings. Readers would rate your work and could recommend various authors by category. It was a fun concept that eventually went the way of most capitalist pig dot-coms, conveniently before I could cash my first check. That site generated my first fan email. Some lady with nothing better to read gushed over my attempts at humor, ranted over my unique perspective of life and praised my style, promising to watch for my new postings. It was a real joy to read. I just hope it wasn't my Mom.

Laa Laa : Anonymity! Got to love it!

I can't walk along the street without women pestering me for an autograph or wanting their girlfriend to photograph me in a romantic embrace with them as if we were long time lovers. Here, my money and devastating good looks count for nothing and women toss me electronic undergarments because of my brilliant mind, disarming wit, obvious sensitivity and the fact that I grow yard-long cucumbers.

Poppa

Poppa, you're crazy / funny, don' t give up on this forum.
Eddie