There were four or five blogs with some rather hot discussions going on. Lots of good and thoughtful and thought-provoking posts. Unfortunately, some people were being hurt, two authors have quit and another may quit. Some of the most hurtful comments were well-intentioned but perhaps too easily misunderstood.
I've removed the blogs, unpublished them and the comments attached. Don't anyone blame themselves for this, bloggers or commenters, let's just go on and try to be as nice to one another as we can. Personally, I enjoyed the discussions right up until things started going south. I may have over-reacted but I do what I think is appropriate because it is my responsibility.
Hugs to all,
Erin
Comments
As they say,
Your ball, your bat. I'm grateful BC is back up. Guess I could best show my appreciation by being a better member in the future, oh, and writing some more.
Thanks, Erin
Karen J.
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
understandable
I don't think anybody could fault you for what you've done. The discussions were good and for a large part thought provoking, but they were starting to move from 'discussion' to 'argument' towards the end, so it's all for the best.
I hope nobody else leaves. I can understand Alys's reasoning- and even agree with it to a certain extent, since I'm on here at almost all waking hours myself- but I hope we can keep from losing any more excellent authors, whether their reasons be cruelty, lack of attention, or anything else. This is a predominately happy place where people are accepted and relaxed regardless of who or what they are, and if people still feel like they're being discriminated against it's something to really think about.
Melanie E.
You'd be surprised
Yes, I am being faulted for discouraging participation. It was a lose/lose situation for me. When people start making posts with the intent of proving someone else in the wrong, it all goes down the toilet.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
We should all try to get along
and also remember this is the house that you built.We're all different pieces of it but each piece is important.Hopefully those authors that left will realize the grass is greener over the septic tank and come back home to the topshelf where there sorely missed.Amy
oh ...
... phooey!
i tend to avoid the outbreaks of bad feeling, if at all i can. so i guess i missed most of it, and now i've discovered (and double-checked, by looking under the author's link on the main page, which leads only to a collection of empty title pages) that one of my favorite authors has been one of the casualties this time 'round.
which sucks, a lot, because, frankly, i thought her stuff was genius quality. serious inspiration.
paint me fangirl. whatever. different people respond to different authors.
erin, is there a way to send best wishes, or (even better) to follow the stories? or does "leave" mean that you're not allowed to contact them either?
*sigh*
amy!
(depressed into lower case, it appears)
No idea, hon
You can try.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
I know only too well
I can't say I'm not to blame and as they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Even when something said is NOT pointed at anyone, it's so easy for people to assume that the comment was personal and take it that way.
Ironically, I had spent an awful long time formulating my response so that people WOULDN'T get hurt by what I said and it backfired big time, hurting two of my bestist friends here.
I can't apologise enough to both of them.
Some of you think it's alright to vent - your right even, but really it appears that however cleverly worded your comments may be, someone will likely as not get hurt in the backlash.
You may even think we're being repressed by what Erin did, un-publishing the blogs, but when a seemingly innocent comment (on my part) led to so much heartache, I for one can see the wisdom of her actions.
Thank you Erin