On Tue, 5 Dec 1995, Julian Fong wrote:

	You have to understand -- it was never my intention to hurt you at
all.  I'm sorry if if I have.  But the whole genre of authors writing
themselves into their stories presents a unique set of problems:  Is it
possible to criticize the writing -- its theme, plot, and characteriziation
-- without criticizing the author?  Where does the author end and the
character begin?  If a character is based on the author, does that
automatically mean nothing that character does can be considered to be a
cliche?

Look - I go no problems with taking criticism for my plots and theme, or 
even my portraly of any other character in the story - if you feel like 
it, go on criticise.... BUT while I don't mind criticism for those 
aspects, criticising MY character (as I have pointed out many times - 
I'm wiriting this as me) gets me a little angry, Oh, you can abuse the 
way I talk (I've already had that), you can criticise the way I interact 
with the other characters, but when you take my personal feelings and 
make them seem like a bunch on grabage the arn't relevant.. mate if had 
of been in the room I would have punched ya...

	Brett, how much have you read of Undocumented Features?  RoboRifts?
Otaku Rising?  The Misfold?  Misadventures of a Foreign Exchange Student?
Hopelessly Lost?  Serendipity?  Twisted Path?  The Crys Saga?  Bubblegum
Zone?  Ranma 1/100?  Street Fighter?  Legion's Quest?  As a reader, I can't
consider your story in isolation from what's come before it.  

I have read some of those and I realised that you were making a valid 
point - it had been done before... but my problem is not what you said, 
it's how you said it and how that made *ME* feel - I didn't like it...

	But for your choice to go in a new and different direction, your
audience *will* thank and support you.

Well I've already had several people tell me to ignore you and just leave 
it the way it is.. but I do recoginise your point as being valid - so 
I've edited that particular paragraph out and replaced it with some 
scenes in the next two parts that will fill in for it....

Oh.. I don't particularly want this threat to continue - if you want to 
keep talking, send it to me privately (Having over 100 people reading a 
discussion on my personal feelings is NOT something that I feel 
comfortable with - sorry ML)

-----Brett

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Address: darkwnd@sv.net.au   WWW page: http://www.sv.net.au/~darkwnd

Kane: "Master, the other children tease me..."
Old Master: "Have you learnt nothing from my teachings, Grasshopper?"
Kane: "What do you mean master?"
Old Master: "Well can you not beat the Sh#T out of them???"

  -----Fast Forward (1990)
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