THE CHRISTMAS BOOK- WILL IT BE PUBLISHED ?

3/30/2010

Hi Everyone..

We have to encourage Shelagh to publish the
Christmas Book , I just found out on the info board she
may not, I think Dick would have been very honored.
Shelagh I say go for it ! No matter what other people
think....It's a great idea.

Cheers...Joe.......

Let's not pressure Shelagh.

I'm sorry, Joe, but I have made my decision. Marie has won a battle but she will not win the war. The forum will stay part of the network. The anthology will not go ahead.

Marie is the most persistent person I have met online or in real life. She knows that I have deleted all her posts but she is insistent that I can recover those posts to use in some way. If I said that the posts have been deleted permanently, she would ask forumotion for confirmation -- she has already contacted forumotion and sent screenshots of the forum -- they would explain that there is a recovery program available for administrators, and then Marie would, once again, call me a liar. This persistence will continue over everything I do.

The complaint can be seen here:

http://help.forumotion.com/other-problems-f46/complaint-about-a-forum-t65936.htm

Dick would tell me to ignore them if the anthology was something I wanted to do and to ditch it if it wasn't. He would say that those railing against me are not worth fighting. He would be right.

I will inform all the contributors about my decision. If anyone else would like to put together an anthology, I will inform the contributors so that they can resend their submissions.

I don't want this thread to turn into a conversation about Marie. Whatever Marie does is no business of mine and I don't want to know. Her posts have been deleted from the forum. If I could remove them from the databases, I would. If she continues to pester the Forumotion technicians, I think that is precisely what they will do, thus ensuring that the posts cannot be recovered.

I am speechless. No matter what or where I say it, it is wrong. I will read for a bit and consider before I post again.

Shelagh,

I want to take this chance to thank you for the advice you gave me about revising "Christmas in the Piney Woods." I haven't quite finished them. I thought there was still time before the deadline. I plan to continue the work, regardless. It is becoming a better story for the increased depth and attention to detail.

I respect your decision. There would be a lot of work involved - more than any of us who haven't produced such an anthology could realize.

Thanks again.

Ann

Shelagh wrote:

Marie is the most persistent person I have met online or in real life. She knows that I have deleted all her posts but she is insistent that I can recover those posts to use in some way.
The complaint can be seen here:

http://help.forumotion.com/other-problems-f46/complaint-about-a-forum-t65936.htm

Well, that's just bizarre. She thinks you can recover her posts and is complaining to Forumotion about it?

They'll exchange a couple of emails before writing her off as a crank. I was always indifferent to Marie, actually, I thought she was allright, but I've found her behavior these past few weeks surprising and appalling. There must be a lot going on in her personal life that she has no control over, and this is one way she has of dealing with that.

Shelagh,

I respect your decision also.

I even met Marie and am surprised at her persistence on this. I think that once you put something on the internet it is your responsibility, as it is hers. What you would do with her posts I have no idea. You could not publish her poetry anywhere without her knowing and you would not do that.

Alice, what are you talking about? You threw me with your last post. The one about not pressuring Shelagh was a good one. I was hurt by Marie as a friend but it ended there. Shelagh is hurt by constant harassment that is not ending.

I don't think the complaint will go far either. It just proves we need to be careful what we write on the internet.

Carol

Marie's past history suggests that once she has something on her mind, she won't let go. She sold her home and moved to Maryland so that she could attend litigation proceedings against PA. After the trial, she didn't want to stay in Maryland and moved to her present home in another state. I have to look at this past behaviour to determine how she might behave in the future. At the moment, she is focusing all her attention on me. I have to distance myself so that she can find another cause. Sadly, someone else will unwittingly become the focus of her attention.

Talking about Marie will not help me to distance myself, which is why I said that I don't want this thread to turn into a conversation about her.

Carol Troestler wrote:

You could not publish her poetry anywhere without her knowing and you would not do that.

Carol,

If Marie was the last poet left on Earth, I would not publish her poetry. Thanks for understanding my decision.

~Shelagh

3/30/2010


Shelagh..

It saddens me that one person can try
to torment another person, we all know you and
love you dearly, I'm saddened by this decision, I
respect you for it, you have done so much for so
many people, but life goes on. Let's drop it right
here and become our merry selves again.....


Love Joe

Shelagh,
sorry to hear that there will be no Christmas anthology, but respect your decision.

Thanks everyone! Joe is right. Life goes on. It's springtime and a time to dust off the cobwebs and start afresh. I'm quite looking forward to having more time to do the things I want to do.

Good!

Dick didn't like Christmas anyway. Don't anyone feel guilty.

It would have been fun for you all and a ton of work for Shelagh.

Any money raised would have been a small amount.

Books are not usually money makers.

Shelagh, just a thought. Since you have all the manuscripts, is there any chance of publishing an ebook at Smashwords? They have entered into some agreement with Apple that will include the Smashword ebooks on the ipad aps. Some of the firsts might make a little money. I've no idea how much work it is to have Smashwords make an ebook - perhaps as much trouble as publishing. You can still have your publishing label, I believe, or theirs if you want it. Again - just a thought.

Quite right, Alice. I feel certain that Dick would understand.

dkchristi wrote:

Shelagh, just a thought. Since you have all the manuscripts, is there any chance of publishing an ebook at Smashwords? They have entered into some agreement with Apple that will include the Smashword ebooks on the ipad aps. Some of the firsts might make a little money. I've no idea how much work it is to have Smashwords make an ebook - perhaps as much trouble as publishing. You can still have your publishing label, I believe, or theirs if you want it. Again - just a thought.

Hi DK,

I wanted to produce a book so that I could hold it and treasure it. Maybe that is something that no one else could understand. They only see money where I see love. Like I said, I'm different.

I understand. Thank God you are different.

We see that love Shelagh.

Love, Carol

I have just finished formatting for a smashwords book. We plan to e-publish a few weeks after the print book is available.
It isn't that hard...just takes time to understand what they need. Most of the aggravation rests in locating any hinky little Word formatting--things like hard returns, extra spaces, etc. The guide on smashwords is very explicit as to what they require.
I like the idea that all e-formats are covered. Way I see it, this is just one more way to get books out there. While I happen to like a print book, many people have Kindles and other e-readers.