You know, I like Billy Joel. He's pretty cool. But I don't think I'd sing Billy Joel songs to my great grandchildren.

On the other hand, by the time I had grandchildren I might well be singing them Barnacle Bill the Sailor. Still. Billy Joel? "Rock-a-bye, little baby, they got a deep shag carpet and a couple of paintings from Sears..."

I know. And I don't think the one she cited means what she thinks it means either.

A tiny Billy Joel?

In-Perceivable!

t /Vizzini

I have a question. A bit of a long question, so bear with me (also, I posted about this in my LJ, so if you read that, feel free to skip this), but I'm interested in opinions.

I recently read a fic that I really liked, by a person who I don't think likes me and my first impulse was to send feedback. But I hesitated because I wondered if this person would appreciate it, coming from me. And I don't want to stir up old, hard feelings or anything.

(Brief backstory: I'm a member of fandom_wank, and I know this person doesn't like f_w. I don't know if she doesn't like me *personally* - I don't even know if she knows who I am, but if she does identify me as a f_w member, chances are she doesn't like me.)

So, what do you all think? As writers, would you want feedback from someone you don't like? As readers, would you send feedback to someone you don't think likes you?

Speaking of f_w, I just got read up in the Jordan Wood kerfuffle.

That was fun.

I'm all for the end by non-renewal of the species.

Hee! Aren't they the craziest crazies to ever do the crazy limbo under the crazy stick?

Man. I'm glad I live on the opposite coast.

I wouldn't send any kind of criticism - constructive or otherwise - to someone I didn't get along with, just because of the possibility of misunderstandings & flame wars. But since it's positive feedback, I say go for it.

As a writer, I love getting feedback from anyone. (Though the few "OMG yuor fic is so kewl!!1!" ones took me somewhat aback.)

If the dislike was known to both parties, you might preface the feedback by saying "I know we've had our disagreements, but I had to tell how much I enjoyed X". Assuming you did enjoy X, that is. Personally, I'd be thrilled to receive good feedback from someone I'd had issues with, because I'd believe it more from them.

You know, I am thinking, I know more than one person from Days Of Old who would respond to Connie's perfectly nice "we've had our differences, but..." overture with snottiness. Isn't that sad?

My advice would probably be to say nothing directly to the author and instead do things like recommend the story to other people, who might themselves send feedback. I'm all about the avoidance.

The mad snickers from this corner is the result of my name and "perfectly nice" being joined in the same thought. Miss Manners is my guru, and I've learned how to hide the knives behind blameless courtesy. Apparently people would rather I swear at them rather than use exquisite politeness.

Yes, I've seen the "You spoke to me! I am mortaly offended!" reaction. I generally sigh, mutter a "feh", and move on.