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Writers Idolization  [message #77668] Wed, 24 March 2021 23:25 Go to next message
Shazamboi is currently offline  Shazamboi

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Location: USA
Registered: September 2020
Messages: 11



You know growing up, Nifty was a safe haven for me, If I'm honest. It started with Gary Gibson's Loving Timmy. 
And then later TruthInWords' Tales from Another Broken Home. 
I've got a long list of authors I've always wanted to meet with or chat with online, but I wonder if it's like meeting your idol. You know how they say never me your Hero because it'll just be disappointing? Well...I'm thinking about reaching out to a few and hopefully it won't be a disappointment.
Re: Writers Idolization  [message #77669 is a reply to message #77668] Thu, 25 March 2021 02:53 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Biff Spork is currently offline  Biff Spork

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Location: Northwest Pacific
Registered: March 2021
Messages: 11



You raise an interesting question: what happens when readers and writers meet outside of a story? Sometimes it results in a lifelong friendship - I'm reminded here of the friendship of the German author of "Emil and the Detectives" and a young fan of his who wrote to him. Their friendship was immortalized in a book and film. "Kästner und der kleine Dienstag". More recently there is the film "The Death & Life of John F. Donovan" again about an epistolary relationship between an author and a young boy fan. Novelist Mary Renault also had at least one lengthy friendship with a fan who wrote to her. I'm sure there are many other examples when lifelong friendships have developed between authors and their readers. 

I've spent a  lot of time on Nifty myself, first as a reader delighted to discover stories about people like myself though my kind were apparently invisible to authors catering to the mainstream. I wrote to a few Nifty authors whose stories touched me. Later, when I started to write myself out of my particular closet and publish on Nifty, I found I was intensely hungry for feedback from readers. For the first time in my life I was writing about secret things from my innermost core. I ached to hear from readers how my stories affected them, if they too had those hidden strands in the fabric of their lives. Eight Nifty readers of my first story wrote to me, mostly with fulsome praise. When I replied, several of those readers continued to respond for a few more letters. None of them developed into any kind of personal or lasting relationship but all of them meant a great deal to me. They validated me as a writer and they validated my experience as a human being.

So, my answer is that you should write to every author whose work has affected you. They have put in a great deal of effort to shape a story for you. You may end up being disappointed in them - writers are human and are probably never identical to the characters they put on their pages. But I'll bet 99% of writers want to hear from you, what you thought and how you felt when you read their story. After all, every story is about two people, the writer and you. Your response to the story is ultimately as significant as the story itself.

(Disclaimer: The generous soul in charge of this site has recently begun publishing one of my stories and I have heard from nobody about its first two chapters. I'm not complaining (not yet!) because I have not written to any of the authors represented here about their work. But I shall - it's terrible not knowing if the feast you have prepared has been eaten with satisfaction or is becoming a platter of sodden, flyblown leftovers.)



Consider becoming vegan. It's good for your health. It's kind and respectful to other animals. It's a good way to make an individual gesture towards averting the climate crisis. It's easy - if a lazy degenerate like me can do it, anyone can.
Re: Writers Idolization  [message #77677 is a reply to message #77668] Thu, 25 March 2021 23:34 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13738



"Shazamboi wrote on Wed, 24 March 2021 23:25"
You know growing up, Nifty was a safe haven for me, If I'm honest. It started with Gary Gibson's Loving Timmy. 
And then later TruthInWords' Tales from Another Broken Home. 
I've got a long list of authors I've always wanted to meet with or chat with online, but I wonder if it's like meeting your idol. You know how they say never me your Hero because it'll just be disappointing? Well...I'm thinking about reaching out to a few and hopefully it won't be a disappointment.

--
THis web site in the form it is in today created a meeting between writer and reader (me and Megaman) initially online and then in person. It is one of a number of lifelong friendships reader and writer, and writeer and writer that I have made with others because I started to write stories



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Writers Idolization  [message #77678 is a reply to message #77669] Thu, 25 March 2021 23:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13738



"Biff Spork wrote on Thu, 25 March 2021 02:53"
(Disclaimer: The generous soul in charge of this site has recently begun publishing one of my stories and I have heard from nobody about its first two chapters. I'm not complaining (not yet!) because I have not written to any of the authors represented here about their work. But I shall - it's terrible not knowing if the feast you have prepared has been eaten with satisfaction or is becoming a platter of sodden, flyblown leftovers.)

--
There is an oddity about the readership. I have learned over tkime that they expect high quality. This means that authors will only get proasie here is the quality is better than expected, and wil smetines get brickbats if the quality has fallen short in their view.

The praise is implicit in that I do not publish every submission sent to me, only those that say something that catches my heart. Just making the cut is a good start for praise



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Writers Idolization  [message #77706 is a reply to message #77668] Fri, 02 April 2021 21:14 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Teddy is currently offline  Teddy

Really getting into it
Location: USA
Registered: October 2006
Messages: 484



"Shazamboi wrote on Wed, 24 March 2021 16:25"
You know growing up, Nifty was a safe haven for me, If I'm honest. It started with Gary Gibson's Loving Timmy. 
And then later TruthInWords' Tales from Another Broken Home. 
I've got a long list of authors I've always wanted to meet with or chat with online, but I wonder if it's like meeting your idol. You know how they say never me your Hero because it'll just be disappointing? Well...I'm thinking about reaching out to a few and hopefully it won't be a disappointment.

--
IOMFATS was the first site of this genre I ever encountered. I discovered it because I did a google search specifically for sites like this one. My search criteria was such that this site was the top hit on the list. The idea of developing online friendships or of meeting any of the authors here or from any of the other sites never entered my mind beyond sending a word of appreciation after reading one of their tales.

That all changed for me when I encountered a man on another site with whom I had something unrelated to sexuality or this genre of stories in common. At the time I was experiencing a particularly rough patch in my life and was facing an event that I absolutely could not face alone. Being in a neighboring state here in the US, he volunteered to be with me on that day as my support. 

As it turned out he was an active author here and on AD at the time, as well as had a similar site of his own that I was a frequent visitor to. Neither of us had any clue as to that connection between us until that day he came to stand beside me as I faced the difficult things needed facing. He remains a good friend to this day.



“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
Re: Writers Idolization  [message #77707 is a reply to message #77669] Fri, 02 April 2021 21:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Teddy is currently offline  Teddy

Really getting into it
Location: USA
Registered: October 2006
Messages: 484



"Biff Spork wrote on Wed, 24 March 2021 19:53"
(Disclaimer: The generous soul in charge of this site has recently begun publishing one of my stories and I have heard from nobody about its first two chapters. I'm not complaining (not yet!) because I have not written to any of the authors represented here about their work. But I shall - it's terrible not knowing if the feast you have prepared has been eaten with satisfaction or is becoming a platter of sodden, flyblown leftovers.)

--
After being caught up short far too many times beginning to read a tale that the author never finished I have made a personal practice of never beginning a tale until such time as it is complete on the various sites where it is published. As such, when I do contact an author they won't hear from me until I've completed reading their work, and right now, due to a very busy work schedule I'm at least two months behind in my reading on this site, so... Smile



“There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That's what sin is.” - Terry Pratchett
Re: Writers Idolization  [message #77742 is a reply to message #77707] Fri, 09 April 2021 04:17 Go to previous message
ray2x is currently offline  ray2x

Really getting into it
Location: USA
Registered: April 2009
Messages: 429



I've enjoyed the many arthors who put efforts into their craft and create good stories for our enjoyment. I wish I would have been more that a reader but also a apprieciative reader by at least to complement their efforts. I will certainly try, not to idolize but to show appreciation for their craft.
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