Hello all. I'm a fantasy writer in the grotesque tradition, as well as a beta reader and occasional essayist. I'm proud of my ability to hammer unclear or convoluted sentences into a flowing but easy-to-read format. (I've done a lot of good work for writers whose native language isn't English.) In the near future, I'm looking to get into review blogging. Six years ago, I entered an erotic fiction contest on the writing subforum of a media discussion site. (I was the only person who submitted an entry by the original deadline.) People liked it and encouraged me to write more, so I tried my hand at various other erotic/grotesque stories before branching out into more conventional works. It was a quiet but fun place for discussion, right up until the moderators started accusing people of being pedophiles and/or spies from Something Awful. At least twenty people either left or were banned during the initial purge, myself included. The next site I went to was meant specifically for fantasy writers, which in practice largely meant authors of conventional high or heroic fantasy. Many of the posters there were highly knowledgeable about the technical aspects of writing, but my themes and subject matter felt increasingly out of place. As authors with a liberal bent slowly stopped posting, I began to feel like the remaining posters didn't like or respect the more countercultural and egalitarian aspects of my writing. (For reference, it was the only site I ever posted where I saw people praise the rape scenes in Game of Thrones.) Eventually I felt like I was just making myself angrier by hanging around. I feel like I still need a place to talk about writing. I hope this is that place, but I don't know yet. For now, I'll just take it slow and see what there is to see.
Sorry to hear your trouble. I have no life and have as such been here for over a year on a daily basis. This place is pretty nice, except for the occasional troll, but well. That is so rare, that I was taken aback the thought of hearing someone think one was here. So, you found a good place. So, you like fantasy? Welcome! You may never escape!
I'm a newbie here but came to say welcome! I think that writing violent scenes takes real talent. I for one am writing a thriller/horror thing, after telling the plot to my mom, she was shocked but she knows I'm into horror stuff, been like it all my life. I hope you find people who share the same interests and like reading/writing the same things as you do!
Hi Feo, Welcome to the forum. It's not so bad here, but there are a few human booby traps around, so stay vigilant. Other than that, have fun!
