As many, if not all of you, know I am the editor of a website and Internet magazine about David. The sole purpose of both 'products' is to offset the(excuse my language for a moment) crap that certain people (one in particular, whom from henceforth shall be known as "she-who-must-not-be-named") prefer to spew about the world wide web. There is a reason I do not post about David's private life. It's because it is just that. Private. Or at least it should be. I've never been a fan of the paparazzi, National Enquirer or any other 'media' (and I use that term VERY lightly) source that prides itself on invading the lives of celebrities, whether they be A-list or D-list. I prefer to respect the privacy of celebrities regardless of their foibles.
But I digress. On Christmas Eve I published the most recent issue of RED (the Internet magazine) as a Christmas gift to the readers. It was never intended to be a full-size issue, but was only meant to be a small gift. That is why, though there were many pages, the issue contained only a few individual pieces. As always, the traffic on the site rose significantly over the course of the next few days as readers arrived to see the new issue. I've come to expect a certain number of posts in the Guestbook soon after an issue is released, which is why I was not surprised at the recent flare up in entries over the past few days.
However, there was one 'reader', whom we shall refer to by her preferred pseudonym, "Sam", who decided that it was necessary to openly denigrate RED, its contents, quality of writing, and the staff itself. Several people have chosen to respond to her and defend the magazine. Some of those people are on the writing staff of RED. Others are not.
[ON A SIDE NOTE: Earlier today I changed the settings on the guestbook so that the IP addresses would no longer be visible. Why? I don't think it's necessary to have them there. They serve no real purpose. However, after a post by she-who-must-not-be-named on her blog, I changed the setting once again so that the IP addresses can be seen. What did you-know-who say?
Interestingly enough, Em removed the IP-address of the posters. Meaning someone is posting under several different names to give the impression Em has support where in reality there is none.
If anyone wants to check the IP addresses to see if anyone has posted under more than one name, please be my guest. You'll see no such thing has occurred.]
As far as "Sam" is concerned, I do not intend to respond to her in the Guestbook. It is not the appropriate place for such a dialogue. I have answered her charges and questions on two different websites now and do not think it is necessary to answer her a third time. However, if she persists in her slanderous posts, I will not only defend myself, but, more importantly, I will speak the truth.
I find it ironic that "Sam" continues to ask the same question: Why could I not have stayed with the editor of the other magazine and work on the original magazine together? And yet Sam has insisted time and time again that RED is nothing more than garbage. Here are some of the things she has said about it.
"I am afraid if this mag of yours is the best you can come up with, then I think you should have either stuck with the other one OR stuck to being a reader. sorry but this 'Red' is not worthy of anything and is no christmas present ."
"The writing HERE is bad, and I have been chatting with other people and they cannot believe the amateurish product it is and bad spelling in Red."
"Again one professional mag is out, and one very bad mag is out too."
"And finally,you claim to have people who are professional writers etc God help them then with the style and grammar of 'Red'. btw that is not just me saying that as I have shown the ..copy of Red to professional people, they would NOT even look any further than the first two pages."
Sorry, but I simply MUST interject something quickly. Does anyone else find it ironic that in the very same paragraph in which she rants about the poor grammar in RED, she makes several of her own grammatical mistakes?
Anyway. Moving on...
"As for the ..well you cannot even class it as amateur..project, the layout is terrible and as for the spelling mistakes and grammar well...If that is the level of intelligence Ms Malone is aiming for her in her readership I think her readers ought to be asking does she consider them of low intelligence??"
Oh, wait. She did it again.
"I have also read Red, to compare, and to say I have been told it is written by PROFESSIONAL writers then that worries me as the level of grammar is disgusting and not worthy of even being called 'Amateur'. The layout is bland and even though it is several pages long, the actual number of stuff that is in the current issue is actually around 3 or 4 spread out over several pages. Don't know about being called Red it should be called Crap!"
(Oops. She did it in this paragraph, too.)
I have only one question for her: "Sam," if you think the quality of RED is so bad, then why on earth would you ever wish that I had stayed with the project that "your friend" began?
Now, I know that within 24 hours (if not much, much sooner) you-know-who will have responded to this post with her typical diatribe about how horrible David is and how I am a "silly fan-girl". I don't mind it. Actually, I consider it to be a badge of honor. If she hates what I'm doing, I know that whatever it is, I'm doing it right.
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." -- John Adams