I’ve read a lot of author blogs and to be perfectly honest, I find most of them so cautious, they’re boring.

It’s wise to be cautious. The internet is the world and things get back to people. Maybe I’m a fool for being less cautious.

I was thinking about yesterday’s post where I talked about the lady who complained a lot. And I was wondering how she would feel if she read my words. So I went back and edited it, so I still made the point but I didn’t focus on any one person.

I also got some interesting comments on my Anti-Linda Smith post. And two people stuck up for the person I called D. and one of them went on to admonish me that even though I’d tried to keep her anonymous she’d been able to figure out who I was mentioning easily.

That’s not good.

This is all such a learning process for me. I want to speak truthfully, and I feel that as long as I don’t mention names but rather refer to the behaviour of people, then I can make a valid point.

I think we all of us, are the sum results of both positive and negative influences. We try to emulate the postive people around us and we try to avoid becoming like the negative people.

Anyone who thinks that negative people don’t play a role, is mistaken.

All day I was also thinking of why I’m blogging. Why am I adding my voice to mix?

Unlike many authors, it’s not just to promote my books and my work.

I find that odious.

“Look at me! I’m an author! Buy my books! Blah blah blah!”

Yuk! 

Instead I want to use this as a platform about things that are important to me. Things that I’ve learned from and can share with other people.

I hate gossip.

I don’t believe using anecdotes about people without identifying them personally in any way, amounts to gossip. But, hey, feel free to disagree. What I did was try to share my perspective and what I learned from the event.

The facts are indisputable. D. was helped immensely by Linda Smith, and as soon as Linda died she cut off all ties with all of her and Linda’s friends.

In Islam, as in many faiths, gossipping or back-biting is considered a major sin.

I really believe that on the Day of Judgment I will have to pay for everyone I have ever gossipped about. On the Day of Judgment the most valuable commodity will be ‘good deeds’. Everyone will be scrounging around trying to make the balance of their good deeds exceed the weight of their bad.

And as for the gossipper, they will stand before God and have to pay back those they gossipped about with their good deeds. They will pay and they will pay until every victim of their gossip has been compensated.

And if their good deeds are not enough, if there are still victims to be compensated, then the gossipper will be given some of the bad deeds of their victims until the gossipping is paid for.

That’s another scary concept for me. It’s why I take gossip very seriously.

I went back and modified my Anti-Linda Smith post to take out the one line that may have identified her. (The line about the subject of her first book.)

If anyone feels I should still modify some of the other things I’ve said, then feel free to admonish me.

As for the rest, I stand by my perceptions of D.

It makes me sad.

I do miss her. And the fact is, I could not find one mention of Linda Smith on D.’s page.

If she even just promoted Linda’s books, after all Linda did for her, I would feel differently.