This is plain and simple a rant.

I apologize ahead of time; but, I know if people write a certain kind of review to me – they're doing it to people who haven't been playing this game very long and it's destructive to budding writers which I am not.

To people who write reviews, please be careful with what you write and how you word it. I've seen numerous promising writers just starting out quit because of poorly worded reviews that cut them more than they can handle. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I'm not one of them. It's not right for you to steal someone's joy and that's what writing is for most of us…our joy.

I've said this several times – my fanfics are not my serious works and they are neither indicative of my true writing style or my talent. These stories are rough drafts. They're R & R and me having fun. End of story. They're not meant to be award winning anything. They're not even consciously meant to be good – just me playing.

If you happen to like them, I'm truly honored more than you will ever know. I mean that.

To my reviewers, you're all appreciated greatly. To my followers, etc., you're appreciated just as much.

To the people who enjoy my stories, thank you.

To the people who find errors I make and let me know, thank you. Things do slip through the cracks no matter how hard I try not to make them. To the legitimate critiques that are pleasantly worded and are more than a criticism of what you don't like about my story/writing style/portrayals/word choices, etc., your input is appreciated because you make me a better writer.

To my more "Critical" reviewers who like to tell me what they don't like about my writing style in explicit detail and in a way that borders more on a flame than a legitimate critique – and think adding "I hope this critique is beneficial' cuts it - don't bother. While I will post your review as I don't selectively cut reviews, they're a waste of my time. I'm going to keep on writing my stories my way regardless of how you feel.

Most of the time I'm a late forty-something, old school Southerner who errs on the side of extreme politeness as I was taught; but, that being said, I'm tired of doing that as you can see. So:

If my inane details bother you ~ don't read my stories.

If my use of certain phrases or words irk you ~ don't read my stories.

If you don't like my portrayals of Lisbon and Jane ~ don't read my stories.

If you want more dialogue than backstory ~ don't read my stories.

If almost everything about my stories bothers you ~ don't read them.

You've been politely disinvited to.

Trust me, if I feel any of the above about a story I'm reading I simply stop reading it. I don't feel the need to inform the writer of what I don't like about the story or about their style. I respect their right to write their story any way they please. It's theirs! The last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from doing what they love! In fact, I've been known to encourage lousy writers who are good story tellers because they're new to all of this and it's something you can learn.

In closing, I don't expect everyone to like my stories. Not remotely possible. They're mine. I write them to please myself although I enjoy sharing them with you.

I won't lie. I love it when you happen to enjoy my offerings. If you don't that doesn't negatively impact my life and the world goes on. It doesn't even destroy me if you let me know how much you don't like my story (ies).

It does, however, aggravate me as you can see.

Mostly because, if you do this to me, you're inadvertently doing it to newbies and you're discouraging budding writers who've finally gotten the courage to try writing for themselves. I don't want to see that happen to anyone. I can't describe how I feel about writing – spinning stories. Perhaps I can sum it up by saying putting words on paper makes my life worth living.

I don't mean to offend anyone with anything I've said.

I simply feel the need to finally say some things I've wanted to say for a while. In the past, I've come across as needing encouragement when the truth is I've wanted to say exactly what I just said. I was hesitant because I don't want to offend any of the rest of you who mean so much to me and I hope I haven't.

Thanks to all of you for being out there.

I sincerely love you guys.

Calla