Exceptional Rant Can't Imagine Why I'm Annoyed by Spiritual Echo Artwork by Renate-Bertodi at FanArtReview.com

Maybe we take ourselves too seriously on this site. Do we really think that we'll pen some essay on the back of a napkin that will one day evolve into a world phenomenon? Perhaps we are waiting for some hungry publisher to spend his lunch hour perusing the thousands of sites, just waiting to discover the pearls of wisdom we drop on the screen under some acronym that won't embarrass us in the real world. Does it really matter? Fan Story is a comfortable home for me, a place where for a few dollars I have been able to post my thoughts, rants and experience the outrageous consequences of my imagination. More than anything, it has given me a vehicle to practice the discipline of writing regularly. Yes, I too have been published. Nothing major and certainly not enough to pay for my basic expenses, let alone affording me the urge to buy champagne and throw a party to celebrate my success, and certainly nothing that would compel me to contact Tom and expect other members to cheer. Perhaps we all define success with different yardsticks. I'm not sure that Fan Story represents a footfall or footstep in my personal journey. I can easily credit relationships on line for sincere help in defining my writing. The appreciation I feel for those readers, critics and free editors whose help is immeasurable. I dare to call them friends and have no issue when they call me out and expect me to defend or embellish posted work. I have a highly competitive nature and there are a very few people that I enjoy going head-to-head with on line. It's not terribly serious, at best, a game, and I always play with writers who I feel are my equals. God, how I miss Captain Jack and wish I knew what became of him. There are young, innocent writers who have drifted on site, armed with nothing more than a Visa card. Some are just that--drifters. They drop a few C-notes, twirl if they see their stories in print and occasionally figure out the formula, buy themselves into the premier position on the home page, and no doubt, posture and preen in front of their friends in defiance of their doubts when the new author proves her 'talent' by displaying her number one position on the home page of Fan Story. There are others, people with passion and cause. Technical skills may be weak, but they excavate and rummage around my heart and I can't help myself, I try to help clarify and bring out glue in an attempt to try to adhere them to a solid point of view. I'll never make the short list in the reviewers contest and honestly, there aren't that many, but when it comes to serious advice, I do it in private, sending a message by PM. Some are grateful for advice and others scuffle off, their Visa card and arrogance intact. I couldn't care less. There is a two-dimensional aspect to work posted on Fan Story--your screen and mine. Until the words float across my screen, impact me on an emotional level, you are nothing more than one of the seven billion other people who occupy this planet. My experience on Fan Story has taken on some intimate aspects. There are people all over the globe that delight, argue, support and laugh at my point of view and do not differentiate between my fictional characters or my true-life points in essays. Their responses amuse me, encourage me and sometimes elevate my understanding. In the last two weeks, I have become seriously annoyed by one 'writer' and I mean to differentiate his unlimited credit limit from any effort to communicate or post anything of substance or value. Usually these characters blow a lot of smoke, leaving nothing behind but the stench of a fire that used garbage as fuel. But this one, in particular, has annoyed me by latching unto God as his unrelenting subject. Most of us don't want to mess with belief systems. They are highly personal and usually are thoughts under construction. There are zealous folks on this site that have actually helped me along in my personal journey to discover and embrace an abstract concept that floats around my life. I've had people quote me Bible passages and invoke vengeance on my black soul. Then there are, what I perceive as true Christians, who take the time to both express their beliefs and share personal life stories to support their point of view. For every person that has taken the time to 'live their faith,' I'm deeply grateful and I listened. Once before, I went on a tirade against a writer that used this forum as a platform for extreme religious beliefs. I'll never do that again. Though I believe I stood on solid ground defiling the author's rant against homosexuality and human fragility in general, my vomit on the screen accomplished nothing more than a bigger-than-expected American Express invoice. We have in our midst a feeble writer who chooses to spout biblical theology as if he is the sole protector of morality and a personal messiah to the derelicts and profane writers on site. I suppose my defiance and disgust may send me straight to hell, but in my world, I'm certain, that if Jesus wanted us to listen he'd have sent a better scribe. Please don't tempt me. I know that by choosing God and Lord Jesus as central characters in a series of essays or blasphemous stories and opinions, I can inflame and nurture those that fear the very invocation of the Master's title. Really, don't tempt me. Yes, of course this is a rant, but I sincerely hope that our resident apostle will run out of credit before I run out of patience. Congratulations Tom, FS, for the windfall of zealous, misguided writers who willingly dump their credit rating, waiting for God to discover their rapture. Sure, buddy, He'll be in line, standing patiently behind the publishers, waiting for his turn to reward you for your devotion to The Word and the craft. Recognized

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