Then I come across this post from How Publishing Really Works. And suddenly my blogging world feels a little vulnerable.
To summarise: the blog owner Ms Jane Smith has and is being - for want of a better word - harassed by another blogger - I'll call her Ms. B. Initially Ms. B sought out Ms. Smith for writerly advice and assistance and of course Ms Smith replied . [As an aside - the blog, btw, is a really good blog to follow if you are serious about writing and being published].
Ms B didn't like the response and continued to email, comment, email Ms Smith's friends, use her own blog to accuse Ms Smith of all sorts of things and blocked any of Ms Smith's ripostes. If that wasn't unsettling enough, Ms Smith then receives an email from Ms B informing her that her book has now been accepted for publication by a publishing company who wants £2,750. Ms B then ends her email asking what she thought of that?
If you read the note quoted on HPRW site, Ms B doesn't sound as if she's being sarcastic. She genuinely sounds as if she wants some kind of validation from no-one else but Ms. Smith.
And so it goes on. I think most of the commentators feel that this won't be the last of Ms. B. and some are even aware of her having been at her receiving end too.
It's just all so sad in a scary way. I shall pray very hard to all the goddesses and muses that this blogging world that I inhabit remain the nice lovely supportive thing it is for me and for all the gorgeous bloggers I've met so far!
