Here’s the REAL Scoop

Man, if you ever get busy, hire an assistant.  Because I had a really busy week, and the rodeo-circus that followed has been something else.  A LOT of rumors are going around. Oddly, the truth is, in some ways, more freaky than the rumors.  But I have seen gossip cause a bit too much trouble to simply ignore it.

Taking a breath…

Here’s the actual scoop… or, here are the actual scoops.  (I told you I was busy.)

1. Yes, I left RD.  I was not banned.  I requested that my membership be deleted because there is no place on the membership control panel I could find to do it.  I wanted to be deleted, primarily to avoid getting numerous “personal message” alerts, and quite a few emails about RD.  My personal philosophy is that one should not say it if it must be said in private.  I don’t know anyone at RD (or anywhere else on the net) well enough for long personal conversations that wouldn’t have been in private to start with.  I ALSO felt that contacting me directly to complain about RD stuff was disloyal to RD… even though a lot of the “stuff” was allegedly in support of me.  I do not think MORE of a person for copying and pasting something they were supposed to keep private/secret into an email to me.  I’d be flattered if they stood up for me openly, but stabbing my back-stabber in the back?  That just makes me think you are both a wuss and a back-stabber, too.

2.  There was no big, huge throw-down.  I have been getting copy-and-paste “intel” for months, and never wanted or solicited it.  I was ignoring it.  I even asked repeatedly for it to stop.  When I took ONE angle on something, but the powers-that-be took another, I simply decided that my loyalty was only going in one direction.  Nobody was set on fire.  I simply asked to leave in silence.

3.  Yeah, silence isn’t going to happen.  I mean, I tried.  Now the speculation that this was a REALLY BIG THING is going in absolutely wonky directions.  I will not elaborate on those directions, since it only risks validating them.  Seriously… some adults decided they didn’t wanna hang out anymore.  The sky hath not fallen.

4.  Fictionistas kicks butt.  I am no longer a blog-mate there, but I wish them all best.  To be completely fair, they had no idea I was leaving til I left.  I simply felt that it was my safest way to go.  I really mean it when I say I wish them all the best.

5.  I really mean it when I say I mean it… I never bother lying and don’t pull punches.  The bad part of that? I do not suffer assholes well and people who have to get along with assholes find being around me uncomfortable.  (See #1.)  The good part?  You never have to ask if I meant something.  This blog post is going to piss some people off, but I discovered an absolute truth this month: keeping quiet to protect others doesn’t work, and I don’t deserve the stick-beating my silence earned me when I have the audacity to speak.

6.  Write Out Loud was not my idea, but I kind of liked it… so I posted a question on FB, created a freebie forum, and didn’t think much more about it until the super-seekrit-brigade began flipping out that it was intended to be an alternative for people who wanted to trash RD and other sites like it.  Um.  No.  Since the few members there have emailed saying they are worried about retribution I have:

a.  laughed pretty hard

b.  asked them to be careful what they imply about it

c.  offered to make it a private, email loop… or simply let it sit there untouched

7.  (I know… this shit is getting LONG.)  The Sceptics’ Tank has been around since before 90% of you were on the internet.  We began in the late 90s, and will be around forever.  Recently our webhost changed its pricing and we all decided that the actual web page had no reason to exist.  The group is private, members-only, and we never shared our BBS or IRC stuff actively, except the logs we found helpful or funny… so no, the site did not vanish for nefarious reasons.  It had no reason to exist.  We are still here.  Members already know that… but everyone else being curious was a bit odd, and I worried it would somehow get piled onto the current crazy train.

8.  I did not have a heart attack.  WHO THE HELL MAKES THIS STUFF UP?  I discovered that a good friend was losing her battle with cancer and some of the copy-paste-brigade truncated their gossip, leading to people misunderstanding some facebook and twitter posts.  I’m tired after a long and stressful week.  Other than that I am great.  Ask me and I will tell you so.

9.  The Steampunk Bash is sold out.  YAY!!  This was another reason I was busy.  The ROR Spring Brunch is coming up, too.  Busybusybusy.

10.  I am actually a writer trying to write writery stuff… another reason.  Raising Tabitha will be out soon.  My Boyfriend’s Back has done well.  THANK YOU for the support on that!

Now you know.  It would be great if people would not speculate… it would be greater still if we could all be grown-ups, say what we mean, and allow for one another to make personal decisions without creating a huge dust-up that may hurt people unnecessarily.  RD is a great resource for some.  Fictionistas is a great group of women.  If somebody wants to stab me in the back they are free to take a shot… please do not join their ranks by stabbing THEM in the back as a favor to me.  I don’t consider it a favor… I consider it meddling.

Have a nice day.