Hey, if anyone wants the scoop on my lawnmower phobia, we could talk about it, though it's kind of off-topic here and we might have to start another thread regarding how fears affect us--VERY Bradbury-related!

As far as posting fiction to the board, I have so far not automatically deleted all fictional entries. I think certain shorter poetry could be allowed to remain, particularly if Bradbury inspired/related. I am deleting any long, rambling fiction--the less relevant, the quicker it goes. I hope people don't get their noses out of joint, though, that I'm not going back through older posts and deleting all fiction just because I did so with some recent fictional offerings. As with all other deletions, these are somewhat subjective while following certain guidelines.

Yes,

That's probably best, I kind of hate it when someone posts their story on a Forum. I mean for two reasons. 1) Usually it's horrible, not able to make it anywhere else. 2) It's great could easily make it anywhere, the author just hasn't tried and now it's free to all. Author never can sell it properly after that.

Back to dandelions- I feed mine to my iguana.

While not forbidden, posting original fiction and poetry are strongly discouraged. Short quotes from other works are allowable if not too offensive. Any entries violating the rules by being actually offensive, or meeting or exceeding 1,000 words, will be deleted.

Thanks again, Dandy!
By the way, rather than starting another topic, I'll remind everyone here that Ray's friend and comedy genius Stan Freberg will complete his 79th solar orbit this Sunday!

To the best of my ability, I've covered content here, though probably by not specifically forbidding something no one has thought of yet, I've still missed something.

Many boards outright forbid any discussion of politics and religion, while this one has always allowed it. Be thankful for these freedoms and please observe at all times the warning as to namecalling. If someone calls members of an opposing political view by derogatory terms, makes unkind judgements about another poster's position or station in the next life or afterlife, or any other violation of rules stated or implied, then calls the moderator a censor for deleting them, that is namecalling.

If asked to either refrain from a certain type of posting, or to move it or continue it on another, already-existing thread, so flocks of nearly-identical threads don't multiply (HAL having effectively solved the actual duplicate-thread problem) it is not necessary to burst into tears, threaten to take your great superior intellect and pearls of wisdom to the "other board" or elsewhere on the internet, question the intellect, moral integrity, mental sanity, rational judgement, racial or ethnic background or prejudices, or personal hygiene of the moderator, or the olifactory qualities of the board in general. (This is known as overreacting, and, while possibly mildly amusing to some, is a breach of netiquette.)

In four years of this board existing in one form or another, NO ONE has been outright asked to leave. If they ever are, they will KNOW IT. Please don't assume you've been "asked to leave" unless told. If you "can't stand the oppressive atmosphere" here, please see above--it's worse nearly everywhere else that I've seen, and I've been actively online for six years now.

If people want (but only if they REALLY must) I can post the URLs to discussion boards for some fandoms, which, though the subjects to which they are devoted are perfectly fine, are run by people who make Nazi Germany look like a haven of tolerance. I DOUBLE DOG DARE anyone to set foot in one of these and see if they can so much as sneeze without being called an enemy of the people and a threat to the state!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dandelion,

Time to bump this up again, with a few notations:

1. Regarding poetry and fiction submissions, I'm willing to modify the stated position. On Orson Scott Card's boards, they allow posting no more than 13 lines from a work for feedback. I see nothing wrong with such a policy, since it establishes a limit. I just don't want to see unlimited poetry or fiction on the boards, either in terms of numerousness or length.

2. Regarding older postings, a few times things slipped by which I wasn't quick enough to modify. Anything done before the board changed formats can't be modified; some of us found this when trying to edit our old posts. So if you find an old posting with something objectionable...best keep it to yourself.

3. Banning. Back when I was first made moderator four or five years ago, no one told me how to do this. When a poster needed to be banned, I had to contact an authority at HarperCollins to do so. Since then, we have changed board formats and authorities at HarperCollins. Seems at least someone is now in charge of both. Anyway, I hunted around and have now figured out how to do it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dandelion,

The moderator said:

quote:

DANDELION RETURNS! REVENGE OF THE DANDELION!

And she is to be feared, indeed!

Good job, dandelion.

I wanted to address the posting-of-fiction question. Dandelion...you are correct. This is the Ray board, not the I-want-to-be-an-author board. You could try joining a forum where REAL editors with LONG experience will not only critique your work for free, but post it online in an organized fashion.

One of the best is BeWrite.net

Neil Marr and company have been publishing books and running that forum for five years. Neil and I have a very good relationship. These are some of the nicest folks on the internet for writing.

Now...you have to join, and it is not automatic. Always fill out ALL the little information-about-yourself boxes. It's all free and very friendly. Active site, books for sale, excellent forums, and occasionally if they see enough of your work there, they may publish you in print. They've done this before.

Publishing your fiction here...hmm. Wouldn't you be embarrassed if Ray saw it, anyway? (LOL) It's not like you are ever going to write better stuff than he has already.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Robert M Blevins,

Bumped for Philnic. May he use it wisely and well.

Thanks, dandelion. It will be deliberate spammers who get snipped, judging by recent activity round these parts.

Unfortunately, circumstances dictate moving up this thread again. I am patient to a point--patient to a fault, as many longtime users would attest--in letting some pretty silly stuff stay on the board as long as it doesn't violate the rules regarding obscenity, slander, or spam. To which I would add a sentiment:



I am not here to win over anybody, nor will I try, ever again, anymore, anywhere. I have taken enough abuse in the last month and a half (not here) to last a lifetime and I have HAD IT. Consider yourselves well-warned.

Updated rules:

ZERO TOLERANCE OF BULLYING AND HATE SPEECH

Not only will absolutely nothing defaming the character of Ray Bradbury (as opposed to simply commenting on his work) be tolerated, neither will hateful remarks directed at other users--definition of hateful to be carefully considered before posting and ultimately determined by the moderators. The same goes for the usual definitions of hate speech (smears against religion, race, politics, sexual orientation, etc.)

ANY FLAMING OF ANY BOARD MEMBER WILL RESULT IN AUTOMATIC DELETION AND BANNING, NO WARNING. THIS GOES DOUBLE FOR MODERATORS!

If you are a student here as part of a class project, any remarks of yours targeted for removal will be copied before deletion in the form of a web page snapshot, and your username, email, and the exact content of the remarks in context supplied to your teacher or other school official for appropriate action (and hopefully a failing grade--but, not for the moderators to say.)

This moderator is spending no more sleepless nights pondering what some puny-minded punks may post. I am also locking this thread as it doesn't need anyone else's comments. Will unlock to add to or bump up as needed.

THE MANAGEMENT HAS SPOKEN

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dandelion,

Reopening and bumping this to show the latest version of the rules.

Preparing for the new school year?

Not a bad idea, that.