She never replied but, eventually disappeared from
our midst. Occasionally, a zealous blogger will link his
unrelated blog to the Friday Fictioneers’ inLinkz in order
to draw traffic to his site. In those instances, I will notify
the person to let him know I’ve deleted his link and why.
Most of the time there’s no response but in a few
instances I’ve been called a control freak or worse.
For the most part, I enjoy the interaction and have learned from other writers. As a child I had a few pen –pals, one in Wales and another in South America. It was so much fun to get those letters and feel like I’d, in some way, traveled overseas. To me, Friday Fictioneers is akin to having pen-pals on steroids.
To my amazement, Friday Fictioneers has gained popularity and has been featured in three separate Wordpress articles about blog writing challenges. Each time my following increased exponentially and participation has topped out as high as 100 writers in one week.
FRIDAY’S BUS
A lithe maiden with pointed ears and iridescent wings floated past her. Next was an imposing man whose black silk cape skimmed the floor. One by one, diverse passengers stowed their baggage and found their seats.
“Welcome,” said the last in line. “I’m Russell.”
Warmed by his congenial smile she tried not to stare at his plastic clown nose and grasped his offered hand.
Zzzzzzt! His joy buzzer sent shockwaves to her shoulder.
He chortled. “Are we there yet?”
You can see the original post HERE, with everyone's comments.
The first month or so went smoothly. I received a lot of support from other members and quite a few offers of photos for potential prompts.
As with any group, even those online, personality quirks and conflicts arose. One fictioneer I’d considered a friend, lashed out at me in a scathing email in which she accused me developing “an over- inflated Friday Fictioneers Ego.” Without going into detail about the situation, suffice it to say, her words stung like needles.
Another memorable time came when one member
decided to use my page as a platform to preach her
religion. This sent a flurry of complaints to my inbox.
I tried, via email, as diplomatically as possible, to
persuade the would-be evangelist to confine her
proselytizing to her own page.
Russell Gayer, Class Clown of Friday Fictioneers
Pet Peeves
In the beginning, I felt it my responsibility as facilitator to read and comment on each story. After a couple of years it occurred to me that I had neither the time nor the stamina. Perhaps it sounds selfish but I’ve come to the point where I mostly comment on stories of the writers who most often comment on mine. I understand we live in busy societies and not everyone has time to read every story. As I tell folks in the rules, reciprocation is half the fun. Some are great participants while others merely link their pages and neither comment nor reply. To those I return the favor.
And in the end, the love you send…
An article about Friday Fictioneers wouldn’t be complete without a few examples. I’ll begin
with the photo submitted by C. E. Ayr, who describes himself as a Scot who has discovered Paradise in a small town he calls Medville on the Côte d’Azur in France. The following five stories were inspired by this single photo: